looks with deep suspicion on a road that links a tribe to its neighbour
is not very promising for those who dream of an Albanian nation; it is a
prevalent and fundamental frame of mind. "The Prince of Wied," we are
told by his countryman, Dr. Max Müller, "succeeded in conquering the
hearts of those Albanians who supported him and of gaining the highest
respect of those who were his political opponents." No doubt they were
flattered when they noticed that he had so far become an Albanian as to
surround his residence at Durazzo with barbed-wire entanglements.
Among the solutions of the Albanian problem was that which Dr. Müller
very seriously, not to say ponderously, put forward in 1916.[73] This
gentleman, with a first-hand knowledge of the country, which he gained
during the War, did not minimize the task which would face the Prince of
Wied on his return. Of that wooden potentate one may say that his work
in Albania did not collapse for the reason that it was never started; a
few miles from Durazzo, his capital, from which, I believe, he made only
that one excursion whose end was undignified, a few miles away he
excited the derision of his "subjects," and a few miles farther off they
had not heard of him. Dr. Müller, after reproving us sternly for smiling
at the national decoration, in several classes, with which his Highness
on landing at the rickety pier was graciously pleased to gladden the
meritorious natives, admits that at his second coming he will have to
take various other steps. Austrians and Germans should be brought to
colonize the country, and not peasants, forsooth, like those who have
laboriously made good in the Banat, but merchants, manufacturers,
engineers, doctors, officials and large landowners--not by any means
without close inquiry, so as to admit only such as are in possession of
a blameless repute and a certain amount of cash. Dr. Müller was resolved
that, so far as lay with him, none but the very best Teutons should
embark upon this splendid mission. He desired that, after landing, they
should first of all remain at the harbour, there to undergo a course of
tuition in the customs and peculiarities of the tribe among which they
proposed to settle. His compatriots would be so tactful--apparently not
criticizing any of the customs--that the hearts of the Albanians would
incline towards them and by their beautiful example they would make
these primitive, wild hearts beat not so much for local interests but
very fervently for the Albanian fatherland. One cannot help a feeling of
regret that circumstances have prevented us from seeing Dr. Müller's
scheme put into action.
3. SERBS, ALBANIANS AND THE MISCHIEF-MAKERS
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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