German Prince a King for six months

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33869, 14 June 1975, Page 11

German Prince a King for six months

• KENNETH ANTHONY) This stamp recalls one of the most curious episodes of European history in the eventful period just before the First World War. It is an Albanian stamp which was not issued until six years after it was printed. The man portraved on it is not an Albanian at all, but a ’ nrince who was nominated by the Great v...ers to be the first ruler of an independent Albania! It was not until 1913 that Albania achieved independence after more than four centuries of Turkish rule. But the Greeks. Serbs and Italians

all had ambitions in that part of the world, and to prevent further trouble in the Balkans, the principal European Powers got together and formed an international commission to maintain order. Many candidates In 1913 monarchies were in vogue. There were many candidates for the new Albanian throne, but eventually the compromise choice fell on Prince William, of Wied, then serving as a captain in the German army. He landed in Albania in March, 1914. Although at first his arrival was greeted enthusiastically, political intrigue inside Albania and attacks by Greece in the south and Montenegro in the north

soon made his position untenable. Home again Stamps bearing his portrait were meanwhile being printed in Vienna, but by the time they were ready, the prince had departed. The outbreak of the First World War, Albania’s troubles paled into insignificance. The prince was glad enough to forsake his short-lived throne and in September, 1914, he hastened home to Germany. After the war the idea of a German prince reigning over a Balkan country was no longer acceptable. After serving on Germany’s eastern front during the war Prince