ПОЛИТИКАТА НА КРАЛ НИКОЛА ПО АЛБАНСКИЯ ВЪПРОС – 1910 г. : ПОГЛЕДА НА БЪЛГАРСКАТА ДИПЛОМАЦИЯ
THE POLICY OF KING NIKOLA REGARDING ALBANIAN QUESTION IN 1910 TROUGH THE VIEW OF BULGARIAN DIPLOMACY

Summary/Abstract: In 1878 the Great Powers determined the fate of the Balkan peoples/nations without their participation, leaving compact masses of Bulgarians, Albanians, Greeks and Serbs in the territory of European Turkey. This situation led to aspirations for national unity and for forming a state as is the case with the Albanians. At the same time the Ottoman Empire was in crisis and that non-colonized part of the continent became the center of a race for the “Turkish heritage”. The European diplomacy protected the integrity of Turkey, contrary to the interests of the Balkan countries. In turn, they attempted to achieve agreement on an anti-Turkish basis but failed to overcome their differences. In this connection, they kept an eye on every political development and paid more attention to Albania, which became the hottest spot in the Balkans. In the early twentieth century, the Albanians had not yet created complications, but after the coup in Constantinople in 1908, their concerns began to take shape in the panorama of the international relations. Influenced by the Young Turks promise of “equality, fraternity, freedom”, the Albanian patriots raised the idea of autonomy, which was formulated by the League of Prizren. The subsequent rapid development of the Albanian national movement created the Albanian question, and it became a significant part of the national question in the Balkans. On the other hand, the Great Powers were worried by the aspirations of the Balkan politicians to use the ongoing events to strengthen their positions in that important Turkish province. The Bulgarian governing authorities did not remain foreign to that interest as they regarded the solution of the Albanian and Macedonian questions in direct connection. The first Bulgarian agent in the Montenegrin capital was reminded that the main motive for the opening of the agency was to function as an observation point from where information about the positions and the opinions of the Montenegrin court and government on the situation in the Balkans was expected. With its location Cetinje proved to be a convenient place for close watching the movement of the Albanian people as well. The reports of the Bulgarian diplomatic agents are valuable evidences of both the Albanian history and the political life in Montenegro. The “historical right” of King Nikola to expand the state increased after the proclamation of the Kingdom of Montenegro, which coincided with the tensed situation in northern Albania. This circumstance was an argument to seek the support of Russia, but King Nikola was advised to give up his plans about Albania as Petersburg feared a conflict between Montenegro and Turkey in which the European coun88 И с т о р и ј с к и з а п и с и tries might intervene. Despite the warnings, King Nikola went on with his diplomacy - alongside with the pursuit of influence in northern Albania, the monarch displayed remarkable humanity towards the Albanian refug

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