Learn the story: Esat Papa Toptan was not a traitor

Besides the natural difficulties of studying and interpreting history, the problem has been complicated because the Communist regime badly distorted our past, putting it in service of its power. To that end, he prepared his propagandists, who do not intend to give up their trade. For the period 1912-1939, four were the old regime's great lies:

1. Haji Qamili had been a hero.
2. Ahmet Zogu had sold or donated St. Naum.
3. In 1924 there had been a democratic-borganeous revolution.
4. Esat Toptan was a traitor.

Let us review matters briefly. Haxhi Qamil's “Heroism” and the dymbatists, artified by the dictator's own order, fell soon after 1990. The issue of St. Nahum, presented by ancient regime historians, sometimes as sales and sometimes as donations, is already four-sided, which sʹka was. In June 1924, the parliamentary minority took power by force and ruled six months without Parliament in terms of a coup. Only the parties and the endoctrinated continue their going on, while these three issues have long been clear.

The most complex and intriguing problem, Esat Toptan's, remained. The difficulty of whitening out the truth about him was great because:

1. For nearly 100 years, efforts had not been made to illuminate the image of the test. Tahir Kolgjin's book,<x0...
2. Essat's slander or branding had begun earlier than his murder as a result of the political struggle of the time he carried out his activity.
3. Many periodicals, archives, and important documents that could shed light on the matter are abroad and in some foreign languages.
4. It took vigorous effort by an open - minded, unprejudiced scholar.

It finally happened that two and a half years ago we had a new, welcome development. Journalist Ilir Ikonomi, after four years of work, with the publication of the book “Toptan, man, war, power” managed to shine across and impartially General Toptan. For this book, I had published a critical article in the Albanian “Gaseta” (10.12.2016), welcoming great achievements and setting the possibilities for further.

But what results?

It turns out that Esat Toptan has exercised his political activity in extremely difficult conditions, little imagined today, after 100 years of change and has committed no treason. In the meantime, I have not read any criticism or Replica of Ikonomi's book, from past historians, who teach otherwise. In fact, there was one, but it was worth mentioning.

The question naturally arises: Why the bitterness of Esat? As I highlighted earlier, the problem has been complicated and beyond lies told after 1945. Let us take turns in a brief analysis.

The Shkodra War: Esat did not participate in the flag-building in Vlora. Thus, he did not receive the aureola of the independence firm, but chose to fight and protect Shkodra from Montenegrins and Serbs. The war in the northern city has been the greatest war fought on our soil since 1912, and Shkodra remained to Albania, due to its own and Austro-Hungarian pressure. I remember that even in Janina there was a bitter battle with Greek forces; the city surrendered on March 6, 1913, and remained with Greece, but Janina's commander was never called a traitor. And Esat, who fought nearly seven months, in extreme resistance, as Gino Barry and Hortense von Zambaur have testified in their journals (“L'Assedio di Scutari” and “Die shaggerung von Scutari”), for the population who died of hunger, when the army had neither ammunition nor food, is called by the inoctrients who sold Shkodra. The school that remained with Albania.

In fact, Toptan received honours in Vlora in July 1913 and took up the post of interior minister in the government of Ismail Kemal. Did Ismail Behu accept a traitor into the government? This is logical nonsense. The truth is what Mihal Grameno wrote, in 1925, in his book Last Night, “Albanian Speaker”: “Europe was impressed... with the courage and bravery of Esat pas” (f.148).

The Rivalry Esat d'Email do: In the Vlora government, rivalry between Toptan and Ismail Kemal was openly demonstrated, with the Albanian custom of who would be the country's first. We should not succumb to emotion in front of one and the other, with prejudiced, white - minded, much more so that according to Brancachios, opponents made peace in 1918, and Toptan linked a monthly pension to Ismail beu under economic hardship. However, the rivalry for the time we are speaking won Esat, who went to the head of the delegation in Newvied for the crown - on February 22, 1914 - to the German prince assigned to the Great Powers. In the government of Turhan, I saw Permet, who was formed in March 1914, Esat was minister of interior and war.

Wied, rebels, Serbs and Antanta: The good prince Wied did not know the Albanian reality; the Austrian and Italian Legs were involved in a rivalry for the dominance of the newly recognised principalate, while Princess Sophie was very active in her husband's affairs. And, just in this troubled situation, the rebellion shows up, pushed by the rebels, as Gabriel Louis Jerey has confessed to us in his book “Au Jeune Royaume d Albanie”, but not by Serbian and Greek agents. In the situation when Dutch Colonel Sluys failed to comply with his order, Esat resigned to the prince who refused. Two days later, though, on May 19, 1914, foreign intrigues had made their own, and Esatin, labeled as a philosopher, was arrested and deported abroad. No evidence was found for his involvement with the rebels, no betrayal of the State was committed (readon Armstrong, the secretary of Wiedi), while the prince thus lost the only capable man who could suppress the dubbbist uprising from its beginning.

Under pressure from the rebels and left without the support of the Great Powers that enthroned him, Prince Wiedi left Albania on September 3, 1914. It was under circumstances that the prince could not endure, among the chaos, that Esat returned to besieged Durres, resisting for months all the rebels. Unlike all other Albanian politicians who were pro-Austro-Hungary, he had the foresight to line up for Antanta after she, according to him, would win the world war that had already begun; the country should not be a party to losers, because it would bring at least other losses from the territory that was left to Albania at the Ambassador Conference in London. For political pragmatism and the consequence of the alliance with Antanta, Esat made an alliance with Serbs, historic enemies who used them to suppress the rebels, and it happened. Serbian forces broke the rebels in Quka in June 1915, and then Essat caught one by one of their leaders and they were hanged after a regular judicial process. Later, the alliance with Antanta respected it, helping to remove possible Serb forces from Durres in January 1916, but would be labeled by its opponents as proserb, proitalian, etc. On the other hand, his conflict with almost all relevant politicians of time would make him feel that negative doubts and opinion (even demonization) would be on the rise.

The memo and the memorandum: During World War I, like no other Albanian, Esat Toptan was greeted with honours in Rome, Paris and London, receiving decorations that no one received later. When the war ended, Esat presented the promotion to US President Wilson and the memorandum of April 16, 1919 to the Paris Peace Conference, which were ignored not by Albanian history, but that you can read in the book of Ikonomi. No less is required there than London's Albania, and no amendment on Albanian territories does. These documents last night dismiss any charges brought against him.

Witness murder: However, Western cadres were upset by Toptan's demands, such as the man who had been pro - Antanta. On the other hand, Lushnje Congress had left Esatin out of the power cake, which he couldn't reconcile, so he had begun to revolt with the esadist that could bring down the government. Tirana authorities sent a delegation to Paris for talks with Esatin, but already prepared an assassination. The money that was found to killers and the investigation of Kastriot Dervis in the book “Plubba politics” for the order are clear indicators (K. Dervisi, Plumba politics, Tirana, 2009, p.46).

The murder was carried out on June 13, 1920. This was a serious mistake in the country's new political class, which thought of solving political problems through cobras. The great surprise was that the trial against Rustem ended without condemning it and releasing it from prison. This leads to the degradation that foreign services were involved in this relationship and the Great Powers were interested in eliminating the oath. But the big bullshit is that even today “requires a score of” Assat where he is buried, while this “event” has its history.

After 1920, it happened that the killer got into politics and organized another assassination, but ended up killing himself. Until the Italian invasion, Rustemi was completely forgotten, but for dictatorial regimes the killers are heroes, and so today we have a square to which the fascists baptized, with a bust that the Communists made. I hope the <x0...

Conclusion: According to documents and a logical analysis, all the false columns of betrayal have fallen. Had not Father Zef Plum told us in his book “Rno about the market”, while studying Esat's correspondence with Father Paul Dodane, in the Francisan archive that test “aty came to a different light”? (Rron for Markets, Tirana, 2006, p.42)

Esat acted at a very difficult time and terrain, when countless intrigues were devised by Italians, Austrians, Frenchs, Serbs, rebels, etc., in a period where Albanians had not yet shaped as a people, a clear national conscience.

Toptan was a skilled military man and a pragmatist politician; he predicted and demanded that Tirana be the capital since 1914. Being powerful, you produced enemies everywhere, but that was also the result of his character. As Mustafa Kruja said: Abdi Betu (Tooptan) was the beloved, and Esat was d.m. They feared him. I think that in his judgment, partial and irreverent, he had a role that he came from a large, wealthy, tyrannical family.

As I saw Toptan was certainly neither a traitor nor a hero, and we must leave behind anyone, the communist-folk labels. Toptan was an important politician, who has his contribution to the history of the Albanian state. It is already part of an unformed story, but freeing minds from the peace that has been told about it (and not just for it) will be a long process.