Overview

Background.

Albania is largely believed to have been established by the ancient Illyrians, who were conquered by the Romans and reorganized under the Roman Empire into the provinces of Dalmatia and Pannonia. The territory was conquered in the succeeding years by the Byzantine Empire, the Bulgarian Empire, the Serbian Empire, and finally, the Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans ruled Albania until 1912. The country was ruled independently as a principality until World War II, when it was...