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Esat Pasha and President Wilson: An unusual meeting

2022-05-19 20:41:58Histori SHKRUAR NGA ILIR IKONOMI
Esat Pasha and President Wilson: An unusual meeting
Esat Pasha

In 1919, when the fates of the post-war world were to be decided in Paris, US President Woodrow Wilson resided in the 'Prince Murat' residence, a Napoleonic-era palace.

His studio was visited daily by some of the world's most famous people: presidents, heads of cabinets, ambassadors, scientists and writers. Wilson was seen as the symbol of justice and as the great protector of small nations.

Esat was one of those who had expressed a desire to meet the American president and his prayer was heard. The audience with the pasha was included in the president's April 17 agenda and was left for 12:45 p.m. 

Five minutes before the meeting with Wilson, Esat was in the president's lobby with translator Stavro, who, in addition to Albanian, was fluent in French, Greek and Turkish.

While waiting, Esat recalled that President Wilson did not speak French, so he ordered Stavron to go and get an English translator at the Hotel de Crillon, where the American peace delegation was based. One of the secretaries stopped him and said: The president does not really speak French, but he understands, so a second translator would be unnecessary.

When the meeting took place, Esat spoke Albanian and Stavroja translated into French. It was a monologue, where Wilson listened in silence. Those in the room gave the impression that he understood the essence of Esat's harsh criticism of Italy's conduct. But to be sure, the president asked the visitor to write down everything he had said and send it to him.

Esat returned to the Continental Hotel and dictated to the translator a text, which I discovered in 2015 amid numerous archive materials of the French Foreign Ministry. The French text was undated and without further indication. This may have been the reason why the document has not been noticed before. It says:

"Esat Pasha calls it an honor received by the President. He regrets that his lack of knowledge of English forced him to express himself in Albanian and is curious to know if everything he said was understood… Throughout the war, Esat Pasha fought against the common enemy. As head of the Albanian government he declared war on Austria, but since the enemy was stronger, he had to flee the homeland.

He took refuge in Italy, then in France and, after an agreement, stationed in Thessaloniki his Albanian government and army, which performed the task there. As the allies themselves have acknowledged, they have never lacked the loyalty of Esat Pasha. However, when it was decided to hold the peace conference, we were not invited to attend as representatives of other states. Why? Because Italy intrigues near the Powers. It seeks to secure a treaty to take over the protectorate of Albania.

But Albania has fought for 500 years against the Turks, who wanted to impose another 'protectorate' that it did not want. It seeks to create a fully independent state and is capable of self-government.

How is it possible that the conference, which aims to liberate so many other nations, dares to put under the yoke again Albania that, because it declared war, has suffered as much as Belgium? How can she bargain with the reward she has fully deserved?

She has the right to independence. But Italy does not even turn its head for justice; it opposes guaranteeing a boundless peace in the Balkans and hinders Albania's progress towards the future.

The Italian protectorate, hated in all respects, would be a source of constant turmoil in the Balkans. On the contrary, a temporary mandate, entrusted to a disinterested power, would be a great thing. "This power should be America, from which Albanians expect their happiness."

***

I have included this document in the book "Esat pashë Toptani - Man, War, Power", published in 2016 by UET Press.

Esat Pasha and President Wilson: An unusual meeting

As can be seen from the text, Esat submits to the American President two basic demands: Not to accept the protectorate of Italy and that, as an uninterested power, America be entrusted with a temporary mandate over Albania.

Throughout 1919 and the early 1920s, the allied powers tossed out a number of ideas on how the issue of Albania's borders would be resolved. In all possible combinations Albania was seen as an exchange currency. Her fate was at stake. Eventually, the European powers, at the time when the American president had fled Paris, decided to mutilate the defenseless Albania.

On February 10, 1920, President Wilson sent a note to the Allies rejecting the idea of ​​changing Albania's borders to the north and south in exchange for an Italian mandate, as they demanded. This note of Wilson was the strongest support that the American President had given until then to the independence of Albania.

I explained it in a few words, because the equation with some unknowns about the post-war arrangements to the detriment of Albania was much more complicated than that.

Did the meeting with Esat, among others, influence President Wilson to oppose the split? Nothing in this world happens for a single reason, but Esat lobbying undoubtedly helped along with other factors.

Esat was the only Albanian representative who met face to face with the American president and the meeting was allowed because, during the war, he had lined up with the victorious powers. The other Albanian delegation, which also lobbied strongly in the interest of the country, did not have this privilege.

I think that Esat Pasha's meeting with the American President, long denied and underestimated by scholars, is an episode that should be seen not just as curiosity, but also seriously, when discussing such significant events as the Paris Peace Conference. Stubbornness has no value when we talk about truly objective and impartial studies.

Foreign authors such as Margaret MacMillan are also biased and contemptuous of Esat in her critically acclaimed book, 'Paris 1919: Six Months That Changed the World'. MacMillan, the granddaughter of British Prime Minister Lloyd George, is influenced by her opinion by authors such as Edith Durham, who openly despised Esat. It should be said that the part about Albania in the book of prof. MacMillan was written with noticeable haste.

There he finds such basic errors as "Esat temporarily achieved his dream of becoming king"; "Esat Pasha was the uncle of Ahmet Zogu"; Leka Zogu I "was a great-grandson of Esat". In fact, Ahmet Zogu had distant connections with Esat: his maternal grandfather, Emini, was the second cousin of the pasha.


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