1.
Albanian Air Force
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The Albanian Air Force is the national Air Force of the Albanian military. The headquarters is located in Tirana and operates two airbases, Kuçovë Air Base and Tirana Air Base, military aviation started in Albania in 1914, when the Albanian government ordered three Lohner Daimler aircraft from Austria to form an air force. As a result of the outbreak of World War I, the order was cancelled, Albania did not have the resources to restart the development of a proper Air Force during the 1920s and 1930s. After the establishment of the Albanian Kingdom in 1928, King Zog formed the Royal Albanian Air Corps was formed under the direction of the Royal Albanian Army. The Royal Air Force, and the rest of Albanian armed forces, were abolished following the Italian invasion of Albania during the Second World War, on 24 April 1951, Following the end of the Second World War, Albania re-established its air force. An academy was founded in Vlorë in 1962, Albania cut diplomatic ties with the Soviet Union in 1962, leading to a shift to China for the supply of necessary parts to maintain its MiGs. After World War II, the Albanian Air Force finally came into existence when Albania was equipped with Soviet aircraft, the first squadron was equipped with Yakovlev Yak-9s. The first jet fighter to enter service was the MiG-15, dating officially the 15th of May 1955, some of the MiG-15s were Soviet fighters used and then withdrawn from the North Korean Air Force. The backbone of the Albanian Air Force jet fighters became MiG-19,12 MiG-19PM were delivered by the USSR in October 1959 and on the same year pilots and specialists were sent in USSR to train with the all-weather interceptor MiG-19 PM. After the collapse of USSR-Albanian relations, significant numbers of Shenyang J-6 fighters, were acquired from China, in the early 1970s, Albania exchanged its lot of Soviet-made MiG-19PM fighters equipped for beam-riding missiles, with 12, more advanced, Chengdu J-7A fighters. Two of them were lost in incidents in the early 1970s, a squadron of Shijiazhuang Y-5 was deployed in Tirana and the Air Force Academy in Vlora had 2 squadrons of Yak-18 for basic pilot training purposes. The helicopter component consisted in 18 Harbin Z-5 helicopters based in Farka Tirana, due to relations collapse between Albania and the Chinese, maintenance became extremely difficult and the number of deadly incidents involving Mikoyan fighters increased. The fuel conditioned the life-time of the jet engines and often was blamed as the reason of the deadly incidents. Following Fall of communism in Albania in 1990, the air force had 200 jets and 40 helicopters, during the 1997 uprising in Albania, seven MiGs were destroyed and their parts were stolen. In the early 90s, in an effort to keep the MiGs flying, by 2004, Albania still had 117 J-6C aircraft, although mostly were not operational and only 12 Chengdu J-7A. By 2006, Albania had scrapped over half of its Z-5s and had signed a contract for the delivery of six Bolkow 105s over three years and this expansion allowed air force to operate with 4 Y-5s,7 B206s,3 B205s,6 Bolkow 105s. Currently, the Albanian Air Brigade does not operate any old Soviet aircraft, since 2011,9 Shijiazhuang Y-5 are retired from service. In 2011, the air force sold four Il-14 transport planes for scrap, in 2016,40 retired Albanian military aircraft were prepared for auction at a future date
2.
Albanian Land Force
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The Albanian Land Force is a branch of the Albanian Armed Forces. Its main mission is the defense of the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Albania, participation in humanitarian, combat, non-combat, Land Force is a priority unit in the structure of the Armed Forces. Land Force was established on August 29,2000, and included military units with traditions and rich multi-year activity, in 2000 the Land Force included five infantry divisions with 55 brigades and 300 battalions deployed in 167 different regions of the country. During its continuous reform, the Land Force underwent new changes, in 2006 the Land Force was dissolved and the Joint Force Command was established. The structures of Land Force have been engaged in Peace Support Operations in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Iraq, Chad and currently in Heart and Kandahar, Land Force has the major share in peacekeeping operations in the framework of NATO, UN and EU. Since its establishment, the Land Force is led by experienced commanders, from 2000-06 it was headed by Maj. Gen. Kostaq Karoli, from 2006-08 it was led by Brig. Gen. Shpëtim Spahiu, from 2008-August 2012 by Brig. Gen. Viktor Berdo. From August 2012 to November 2013 it has been commanded by Maj. Gen. Zyber Dushku, since 11 November 2013, Maj. Gen. Jeronim Bazo is Chief of Staff. Maintaining and developing capacities to provide a level of readiness. Continuous and sufficient training to deal with the tasks that might be assigned to it, assisting the community in cases of humanitarian emergencies, supporting Search and Rescue Operations. Cooperating with other institutions in preventing illegal trafficking, smuggling of people. Training and participating with troops in support missions in the framework of NATO, EU. Albania will receive 250 Armoured Vehicles of unknown type from USA, the equipment is expected to be delivered until August 2017
3.
Albanian Naval Force
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The Albanian Naval Force is the naval branch of the Albanian military. Their name was changed from the Albanian Naval Defense Forces in 2010, the Naval Force is headquartered in Durrës, and operates multiple bases, including Kepi i Palit base in Durrës, and Pashaliman in Vlorë. The vessels of the Albanian Naval Force are mostly patrol craft, the Naval Force operates four large Damen Stan Type 4207 patrol boats, three of which were built in Albania. Some of the Naval Forces vessels were purchased from, or donated by Italy, most former Soviet or Chinese boats have been retired from service, only 1 Soviet built minesweeper remains in service. The Navy performs mainly duties, based on the concept of one Force, the legal framework has been updated in order to facilitate these missions and EU-NATO integration. The Navy is also responsible for aids to navigation, including lighthouses, the history of the Albanian navy dates back to the General Command of Military Powers in 1925, following the creation of the Albanian Republic. Earlier efforts to create an Albanian naval force following Albanian independence in 1912 failed due to the start of World War I, in this period Albania possessed few naval vessels. Following the establishment of the Albanian Kingdom by King Zog in 1928, following the Italian invasion of Albania and the Second World War, the Albanian Armed Forces were abolished and many ships were destroyed in the harbors of Albania. The early history of the Peoples Republic of Albania saw Albania recovering from the result of Italian occupation, in 1945, a shipyard was built in Durrës to repair Albanias remaining ships. In the mid-50s Albania began to modernize and expand its navy, in 1954, a torpedo boat unit and associated facility was established on Sazan Island, off the coast of Durrës. A submarine unit was established in 1958, a naval academy was opened in Vlorë in 1961. Until 1996 Albania had more than 145 vessels in service,45 of them were small, fast Chinese Type 25 Huchuan Class PHT torpedo boats, carrying two/four 533 mm Torpedoes, and some Shanghai-class coastal ASW patrol craft. The submarines were put into full service thanks to Chinese assistance, but by the end of 80s their efficiency was in due to Albanian isolation. The collapse of the Peoples Socialist Republic of Albania began in the early 1990s and was finalized with the 1992 elections, the fall of communism in Albania ushered in a new era of cooperation between the navies of Albania and other European nations. Starting in the 90s, Albania began to part in numerous search. Vessels of the Albanian navy were seriously damaged during the 1997 political conflict, in March 1998, the Albanian Navy docked in Italy for repair and refuge. The Naval Forces facilities were damaged in the conflict and repairs were made with the help of the United States, Italy, Germany, Greece, Turkey. In the same year, Albania retired its four Whiskey class submarines, as a result of numerous agreements made between 1998 and 2004, Albania received donated patrol vessels from the United States and Italy for use in search and rescue operations
4.
Tirana
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Tirana /tᵻˈrɑːnə/ is the capital and largest city of Albania and as well the heart of Albanias cultural, economic and governmental activity. It is located on the center of the country surrounded by hills with the Dajti Mountain on the east. The city is located some 700 kilometres north of Athens,290 km west of Skopje,250 km south-east of Pristina and 160 km south of Podgorica. Tirana is a city with a history dating from the Paleolithic times back 10,000 to 30,000 years ago to the present day. The oldest settlement located in the area of the city was the Cave of Pellumbas, as argued by various archaeologists, Tirana and its suburbs are filled with ancient Illyrian toponyms as its precincts are some of the earliest regions in Albania to be inhabited. One of the ancient monuments, the Tirana Mosaic is believed to have part of a 3rd century ancient Roman house. Later, in the 5th and 6th centuries, a Paleo-Christian Basilica was built around this site, Tirana was founded as a city in 1614 although the area has been continuously inhabited since antiquity. An almost unimportant centre until the beginning of the 20th century, the Congress of Lushnjë proclaimed Tirana as the capital of Albania, Tirana is one of largest cities in the Balkan Peninsula ranking 7th with a population of 800,000 and the largest Albanian-speaking city in the world. The municipality, has a population of 800,986. It is also the biggest Metropolitan area in Albania and the one with a population of over 800.000. Being Albanias primate city, Tirana is the political, social and cultural center of Albania. Almost all of the largest companies, media and scientific institutions have their headquarters in the city, the city is ranked in the Top 10 of the sunniest cities in Europe with a total of 2,544 hours of sun. As argued by various archaeologists, Tirana and its suburbs are filled with Illyrian toponyms, as its precincts are some of the earliest inhabited regions in Albania. A castle possibly called Tirkan or Theranda, whose remnants are found along Murat Toptani Street, was built by Emperor Justinian in 520 A. D. the area had no special importance in Illyrian and classical times. Records from the first land registrations under the Ottomans in 1431–32 show that Tirana consisted of 60 inhabited areas, Tirana is mentioned since 1572 as Borgo di Tirana. In 1614, Sulejman Bargjini, a ruler, built the Old mosque, a small commercial centre. During this period, the Ethem Bey Mosque, built by Molla Bey of Petrela, was constructed and it employed the best artisans in the country and was completed in 1821 by Mollas son Etëhem, who was also Sulejman Bargjinis grandnephew. In 1800, the first newcomers arrived in the settlement, the so-called ortodoksit and they were Vlachs from villages near Korçë and Pogradec, who settled around modern day Park on the Artificial Lake
5.
President of Albania
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The President of the Republic of Albania is the head of state of the Republic of Albania. The President is indirectly elected by the Assembly of Albania, the first President of Albanian Republic was Ahmet Zogu. The first President of the Republic of Albania was Ramiz Alia, the current President is Bujar Nishani, since 24 July 2012. Throughout all this period the function of the President of Republic, the very first government headed by Ismail Qemali who also enjoyed the competences of the head of State was created in 1912. On February 6,1914, Prince Wilhelm Wied was appointed as Head of State by the Ambassadors’ Conference, in 1924, Fan Noli was elected as head of government while exercising at the same time the functions of the head of State. After the frequent changes in governance, the National Assembly approved and passed the republican form of regime on January 25,1925, Albania was proclaimed a Monarchy and Ahmet Zogu was crowned the King of Albanians on September 28,1928. After Albania was occupied by Italy in April 1939 and the unification of the two countries, Victor Emmanuel III became the King of Albania, from 1943-1944 the regencies’ governance was introduced once again under the German occupation. The Presidential Council, headed by Ramiz Alia was founded on February 22,1991, there are four living former Albanian Presidents, An indirect presidential election was held in Albania on 30 May,4,8 and 11 June 2012. The first through third rounds of voting were inconclusive, the fourth round resulted in the incumbent partys member Bujar Nishani being elected as president
6.
Ilir Meta
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Ilir Rexhep Meta is an Albanian politician, who served as the 31st Prime Minister from 1999 to 2002. He was Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2002 to 2003 and again from 2009 to 2010 and he also held positions as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy, Trade and Energy, in both left-wing and right-wing governments. As a member of the Socialist Party of Albania, Meta was Prime Minister from 1999 to 2002 and he subsequently founded the Socialist Movement for Integration in 2004 and continues to lead the party. From 2009 to 2013, the LSI was a member of the coalition with the right-wing Democratic Party of Albania. Meta served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs as well as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy, Trade, prior to that, he held the Chairmanship of the Parliamentary Commission of European Integration. Following the 2013 parliamentary election, Ilir Meta was elected as Speaker of Parliament on September 10,2013, Meta was born in March 24,1969 in Skrapar. He graduated from the Faculty of Economy, Political Economy branch, of Tirana University, Ilir Meta has been lecturer at the Economic Faculty of Tirana University. He has also lectured at several renowned universities and academies overseas, including Harvard University, London School of Economics, Ilir Meta speaks Albanian, English and Italian. He is married to Monika Kryemadhi and they have two daughters and a son, Bora, Era and Besar. Ilir Meta has been engaged in politics since 1990 as a participant in the students movement against communism that brought political pluralism in Albania. Since 1992 he has been elected Member of Parliament in all legislatures and has been a member of several Parliamentary Commissions. In November 1999, Ilir Meta succeeded to Pandeli Majko as Prime Minister for the Socialist Party of Albania, after the Albanian parliamentary election,2001 he won a second mandate, lasting until February 2002, when he give back the post to Pandeli Majko. During this period, Albania engaged in a range of important reforms, in 2004 Meta left the Socialist Party and founded its own Socialist Movement for Integration. From 2004 to 2006, Ilir Meta was nominated as member of the International Commission on the Balkans, chaired by the former Italian Prime Minister, the Commission drafted a series of important recommendations towards the integration of the Western Balkan countries into the European Union. Meta was an early and strong campaigner for the visa-free with the Schengen area, in March 2012, Meta received the Most Positive Personality for 2010 in Foreign Policy AWARD by International Institute IFIMES in Ljubljana. The award was presented to Meta by former Croatian President Stjepan Mesic, IFIMES praised Metas vision at the head of Albanian diplomacy as a political personality with a regional weight and with a clear purpose to create a more open, positive and integrated region
7.
Minister of Defense of Albania
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The Ministry of Defence is part of the Albanian government responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters of the Albanian Armed Forces. The current minister is Mimi Kodheli, the Ministry of Defence includes numerous smaller agencies aside from the three main branches of the military. These agencies, centers, and offices report to the Minister of Defence, the Authority of the State Export Control is the agency tasked with controlling the export, import, and transportation of military goods. The Military Export Import Company is an agency tasked with carrying out related to importing and exporting military goods to meet the needs of the Albanian Armed Forces. The Center of Culture, Media, and Defence Publications is an involved in public relations. The Inter-Institutional Maritime Operation Center is an inter-ministry agecy tasked with managing Albanias maritime territory and it is a collaboration between the Ministries of Defence, Internal Affairs, Finance, Environment, Transportation, Agriculture, and Tourism. The Defence Intelligence Security Agency is an intelligence agency within the Ministry of Defence. It is governed by Law No
8.
Olta Xhacka
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The Socialist Party of Albania, is a social-democratic political party in Albania, it gained power following the 2013 parliamentary election. The party seated 66 MPs in the 2009 Albanian parliament and it achieved power in 1997 after a political crisis and governmental realignment. In the 2001 parliamentary election the party secured 73 seats in the Parliament, which enabled it to form the Government. In the general election of 3 July 2005, the Socialist Party lost its majority and the Democratic Party of Albania formed the new government, having secured, with its allies, a majority of 81 seats. The Socialist Party of Albania is an associate of the Party of European Socialists and its official newspaper is Zëri i Popullit, which had been the organ of its predecessor, the Communist Party of Labour of Albania. The party, formed in November 1941, has known as the Socialist Party since 1991. The Communist Party of Labour of Albania, the ruling party since the end of World War II, was the most rigid Stalinist party in Europe under its founder. However, Hoxhas successor, Ramiz Alia, was forced to introduce limited reforms in the late 1980s, finally, on 11 December 1990, Alia announced that the PPSh had given up its monopoly of power. The PPSh won the Constitutional Assembly elections of March 1991—the first free elections held in the country in almost 80 years, by this time, however, it was no longer a Marxist–Leninist party. At an extraordinary congress in June 1991, in its efforts to survive in the new system, fatos Nano, a man from the intelligentsia, was elected the new chairman. Nano helped to reform the old communist party and made it a member of the Socialist International, on 1 September 2005 Nano resigned as the chairman of the Socialist Party, after losing the elections. He was succeeded by Edi Rama, fatos Nano was the head of Socialist Party of Albania from 1991 to 2005. In 2005, after a defeat in the elections, he resigned from his post. PSs current leader is Edi Rama, former Mayor of Tirana, gramoz Ruçi, who was Interior Minister of the last cabinet of the communist regime and is well known for his loyalty to the party, is the head of the Socialist Group, which has 64 MPs. Ben Blushi is an important party politician that has strongly criticized the way Edi Rama is leading the Socialist Party. Vice-coordinators of the group are Erjon Braçe, Vasilika Hysi, Saimir Tahiri, Eduard Shalsi, arta Dade is the party secretary for international affairs, and she is assisted by Arben Ahmetaj, Taulant Balla, Olta Xhacka, Ditmir Bushati and Qemal Minxhozi. Ahmetaj and Balla usually deal with PS relationships with the left parties in Europe, especially with the Greek Panhellenic Socialist Movement. Blendi Klosi, is seen as a very important politician in PS
9.
Chief of the Albanian General Staff
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The Chief of the General Staff is the chief of the General Staff and Albanian Armed Forces. The chief of staff is appointed by the President of Albania, the position dates back to the Provisional Government of Albania. The current Chief of the General Staff is Major General Jeronim Bazo, in 1925, Prime Minister Ahmet Zogolli created a new constitution for Albania, forming the Albanian Republic. On 1 September 1928, Zogolli amended the constitution, dissolved parliament, the Kingdom collapsed following the Italian invasion of Albania. The following individuals served during the era of communism in Albania, serving the National Liberation Movement, the Democratic Government of Albania, in this time, the powers of Commander-in-chief were held by the First Secretary of the Party of Labour of Albania. The following individuals served following the fall of Communism in Albania, the new Albanian constitution shifted the powers of Commander in Chief to the newly formed office of the President of Albania. Albanian General Staff Albanian Armed Forces Former Chiefs of the Albanian General Staff 1913–2013
10.
Brigadier General
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Brigadier general is a senior rank in the armed forces. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries, usually sitting between the ranks of colonel and major general, when appointed to a field command, a brigadier general is typically in command of a brigade consisting of around 4,000 troops. In some countries a brigadier general is designated as a one-star general. The rank can be traced back to the militaries of Europe where a general, or simply a brigadier. An alternative rank of general was first used in the French revolutionary armies. Some countries, such as Brazil, Taiwan, and Japan, some of these countries then use the rank of colonel general to make four general-officer ranks. The naval equivalent is usually commodore and this gallery displays Air Force brigadier general insignia if they are different from the Army brigadier general insignia. Note that in many Commonwealth countries, the equivalent air force rank is Air Commodore, the rank of brigadier general is used in the Argentine Air Force. Unlike other armed forces of the World, the rank of general is actually the highest rank in the Air Force. This is due to the use of the rank of brigadier and its derivatives to designate all general officers in the Air Force, brigadier, brigadier-major, and brigadier-general. The rank of general is reserved for the Chief General Staff of the Air Force. The Argentine Army does not use the rank of brigadier-general, instead using brigade general which in turn is the lowest general officer before Divisional General, see also Argentine Army officer rank insignia. When posted elsewhere, the rank would be relinquished and the former rank resumed and this policy prevented an accumulation of high-ranking general officers brought about by the relatively high turnover of brigade commanders. Brigadier general was used as an honorary rank on retirement. The rank insignia was like that of the current major general, as in the United Kingdom, the rank was later replaced by brigadier. Prior to 2001, the Bangladesh Army rank was known as brigadier, in 2001 the Bangladesh Army introduced the rank of brigadier general, however the grade stayed equivalent to brigadier. It is the lowest ranking general officer, between the ranks of Colonel and Major General, Brigadier General is equivalent to commodore of the Bangladesh Navy and air commodore of the Bangladesh Air Force. It is still popularly called brigadier
11.
Afghanistan
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Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located within South Asia and Central Asia. It has a population of approximately 32 million, making it the 42nd most populous country in the world. It is bordered by Pakistan in the south and east, Iran in the west, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan in the north and its territory covers 652,000 km2, making it the 41st largest country in the world. The land also served as the source from which the Kushans, Hephthalites, Samanids, Saffarids, Ghaznavids, Ghorids, Khiljis, Mughals, Hotaks, Durranis, the political history of the modern state of Afghanistan began with the Hotak and Durrani dynasties in the 18th century. In the late 19th century, Afghanistan became a state in the Great Game between British India and the Russian Empire. Following the Third Anglo-Afghan War in 1919, King Amanullah unsuccessfully attempted to modernize the country and it remained peaceful during Zahir Shahs forty years of monarchy. A series of coups in the 1970s was followed by a series of wars that devastated much of Afghanistan. The name Afghānistān is believed to be as old as the ethnonym Afghan, the root name Afghan was used historically in reference to a member of the ethnic Pashtuns, and the suffix -stan means place of in Persian. Therefore, Afghanistan translates to land of the Afghans or, more specifically in a historical sense, however, the modern Constitution of Afghanistan states that he word Afghan shall apply to every citizen of Afghanistan. An important site of historical activities, many believe that Afghanistan compares to Egypt in terms of the historical value of its archaeological sites. The country sits at a unique nexus point where numerous civilizations have interacted and it has been home to various peoples through the ages, among them the ancient Iranian peoples who established the dominant role of Indo-Iranian languages in the region. At multiple points, the land has been incorporated within large regional empires, among them the Achaemenid Empire, the Macedonian Empire, the Indian Maurya Empire, and the Islamic Empire. Archaeological exploration done in the 20th century suggests that the area of Afghanistan has been closely connected by culture and trade with its neighbors to the east, west. Artifacts typical of the Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic, Bronze, urban civilization is believed to have begun as early as 3000 BCE, and the early city of Mundigak may have been a colony of the nearby Indus Valley Civilization. More recent findings established that the Indus Valley Civilisation stretched up towards modern-day Afghanistan, making the ancient civilisation today part of Pakistan, Afghanistan, in more detail, it extended from what today is northwest Pakistan to northwest India and northeast Afghanistan. An Indus Valley site has found on the Oxus River at Shortugai in northern Afghanistan. There are several smaller IVC colonies to be found in Afghanistan as well, after 2000 BCE, successive waves of semi-nomadic people from Central Asia began moving south into Afghanistan, among them were many Indo-European-speaking Indo-Iranians. These tribes later migrated further into South Asia, Western Asia, the region at the time was referred to as Ariana
12.
Bosnia and Herzegovina
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Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina, and, in short, often known informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeastern Europe located on the Balkan Peninsula. Sarajevo is the capital and largest city, in the central and eastern interior of the country the geography is mountainous, in the northwest it is moderately hilly, and the northeast is predominantly flatland. The inland is a larger region and has a moderate continental climate, with hot summers and cold. The southern tip of the country has a Mediterranean climate and plain topography, Bosnia and Herzegovina is a region that traces permanent human settlement back to the Neolithic age, during and after which it was populated by several Illyrian and Celtic civilizations. Culturally, politically, and socially, the country has a rich history, the Ottomans brought Islam to the region, and altered much of the cultural and social outlook of the country. This was followed by annexation into the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, which lasted up until World War I. In the interwar period, Bosnia was part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and after World War II, following the dissolution of Yugoslavia, the country proclaimed independence in 1992, which was followed by the Bosnian War, lasting until late 1995. The country is home to three ethnic groups or, officially, constituent peoples, as specified in the constitution. Bosniaks are the largest group of the three, with Serbs second and Croats third, a native of Bosnia and Herzegovina, regardless of ethnicity, is identified in English as a Bosnian. The terms Herzegovinian and Bosnian are maintained as a rather than ethnic distinction. Moreover, the country was simply called Bosnia until the Austro-Hungarian occupation at the end of the 19th century, Bosnia and Herzegovina has a bicameral legislature and a three-member Presidency composed of a member of each major ethnic group. The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is itself complex and consists of 10 cantons, additionally, the country has been a member of the Council of Europe since April 2002 and a founding member of the Mediterranean Union upon its establishment in July 2008. The name is believed to have derived from the hydronym of the river Bosna coursing through the Bosnian heartland. According to philologist Anton Mayer the name Bosna could be derived from Illyrian Bass-an-as which would be a diversion of the Proto-Indo-European root bos or bogh, meaning the running water. According to English medievalist William Miller the Slavic settlers in Bosnia adapted the Latin designation Basante, to their own idiom by calling the stream Bosna, the name Herzegovina originates from Bosnian magnate Stephen Vukčić Kosačas title, Herceg of Hum and the Coast. Hum, formerly Zahumlje, was a medieval principality that was conquered by the Bosnian Banate in the first half of the 14th century. Bosnia is located in the western Balkans, bordering Croatia to the north and west, Serbia to the east and it has a coastline about 20 kilometres long surrounding the city of Neum. It lies between latitudes 42° and 46° N, and longitudes 15° and 20° E, the countrys name comes from the two regions Bosnia and Herzegovina, which have a very vaguely defined border between them
13.
Chad
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Chad, officially the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east and it is the fifth largest country in Africa in terms of area. Chad has several regions, a zone in the north, an arid Sahelian belt in the centre. Lake Chad, after which the country is named, is the largest wetland in Chad, the capital NDjamena is the largest city. Chads official languages are Arabic and French, Chad is home to over 200 different ethnic and linguistic groups. The religions of Chad are Islam, followed by Christianity, beginning in the 7th millennium BC, human populations moved into the Chadian basin in great numbers. France conquered the territory by 1920 and incorporated it as part of French Equatorial Africa, in 1960, Chad obtained independence under the leadership of François Tombalbaye. Resentment towards his policies in the Muslim north culminated in the eruption of a civil war in 1965. In 1979 the rebels conquered the capital and put an end to the souths hegemony, however, the rebel commanders fought amongst themselves until Hissène Habré defeated his rivals. He was overthrown in 1990 by his general Idriss Déby, since 2003 the Darfur crisis in Sudan has spilt over the border and destabilised the nation, with hundreds of thousands of Sudanese refugees living in and around camps in eastern Chad. Unsustainable high birth rates and a lack of agriculture let the country persist in poverty, while many political parties are active, power lies firmly in the hands of President Déby and his political party, the Patriotic Salvation Movement. Chad remains plagued by violence and recurrent attempted coups détat. Chad is one of the poorest and most corrupt countries in the world, since 2003 crude oil has become the countrys primary source of export earnings, superseding the traditional cotton industry. In the 7th millennium BC, ecological conditions in the half of Chadian territory favored human settlement. Some of the most important African archaeological sites are found in Chad, mainly in the Borkou-Ennedi-Tibesti Region, for more than 2,000 years, the Chadian Basin has been inhabited by agricultural and sedentary people. The region became a crossroads of civilizations, the earliest of these were the legendary Sao, known from artifacts and oral histories. The Sao fell to the Kanem Empire, the first and longest-lasting of the empires that developed in Chads Sahelian strip by the end of the 1st millennium AD, two other states in the region, Baguirmi and Wadai Empire emerged in the 16th and 17th centuries. The power of Kanem and its successors was based on control of the trade routes that passed through the region
14.
Ivory Coast
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Ivory Coast or Côte dIvoire, officially the Republic of Côte dIvoire, is a country located in West Africa. Ivory Coasts political capital is Yamoussoukro, and its economic capital and its bordering countries are Guinea and Liberia in the west, Burkina Faso and Mali in the north, and Ghana in the east. The Gulf of Guinea is located south of Ivory Coast, prior to its colonization by Europeans, Ivory Coast was home to several states, including Gyaaman, the Kong Empire, and Baoulé. Two Anyi kingdoms, Indénié and Sanwi, attempted to retain their identity through the French colonial period. Ivory Coast became a protectorate of France in 1843–1844 and was formed into a French colony in 1893 amid the European scramble for Africa. Ivory Coast achieved independence in 1960, led by Félix Houphouët-Boigny, the country maintained close political and economic association with its West African neighbors while at the same time maintaining close ties to the West, especially France. Since the end of Houphouët-Boignys rule in 1993, Ivory Coast has experienced one coup détat, in 1999, the first took place between 2002 and 2007 and the second during 2010-2011. As a result, in 2000, the adopted a new Constitution. Ivory Coast is a republic with an executive power invested in its President. Through the production of coffee and cocoa, the country was a powerhouse in West Africa during the 1960s and 1970s. Ivory Coast went through a crisis in the 1980s, contributing to a period of political and social turmoil. Changing into the 21st-century Ivorian economy is largely market-based and still heavily on agriculture. The official language is French, with indigenous languages also widely used, including Baoulé, Dioula, Dan, Anyin. In total there are around 78 languages spoken in Ivory Coast, popular religions include Islam, Christianity, and various indigenous religions. Originally, Portuguese and French merchant-explorers in the 15th and 16th centuries divided the west coast of Africa, very roughly, there was also a Pepper Coast also known as the Grain Coast, a Gold Coast, and a Slave Coast. Like those, the name Ivory Coast reflected the major trade occurred on that particular stretch of the coast. One can find the name Cote de Dents regularly used in older works and it was used in Ducketts Dictionnaire and by Nicolas Villault de Bellefond, for examples, although Antoine François Prévost used Côte dIvoire. In the 19th century, usage switched to Côte dIvoire and it retained the name through French rule and independence in 1960
15.
Kosovo
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Kosovo is a disputed territory and partially recognised state in Southeastern Europe that declared independence from Serbia in February 2008 as the Republic of Kosovo. Kosovo is landlocked in the central Balkan Peninsula, with its strategic position in the Balkans, it serves as an important link in the connection between central and south Europe, the Adriatic Sea, and Black Sea. Its capital and largest city is Pristina, and other urban areas include Prizren, Pejë. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, the Republic of Macedonia to the southeast, Montenegro to the west, while Serbia recognises administration of the territory by Kosovos elected government, it still continues to claim it as its own Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija. In antiquity, the Dardanian Kingdom, and later the Roman province of Dardania was located in the region, the area was inhabited by several ancient Illyrian tribes. In the Middle Ages, it was part of the Byzantine, Bulgarian and Serbian Empires, Kosovo was the core of the medieval Serbian state and it has been the seat of the Serbian Orthodox Church from the 14th century when its status was upgraded into a patriarchate. After being part of the Ottoman Empire from the 15th to the early 20th century, the war ended with a military intervention of NATO, which forced the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to withdraw its troops from Kosovo, which became a UN protectorate under UNSCR1244. On 17 February 2008 Kosovos Parliament declared independence and it has since gained diplomatic recognition as a sovereign state by 111 UN member states, Taiwan, the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, the Cook Islands and Niue. Serbia refuses to recognise Kosovo as a state, although with the Brussels Agreement of 2013 it has accepted the legitimacy of Kosovar institutions, the entire region is commonly referred to in English simply as Kosovo and in Albanian as Kosova or Kosovë. The name of the plain was applied to the Kosovo Province created in 1864, Albanians refer to Kosovo as Dardania, the name of a Roman province located in Central Balkans that was formed in 284 AD which covered the territory of modern Kosovo. The name is derived from the Albanian word dardha/dardā which means pear, the former Kosovo President Ibrahim Rugova had been an enthusiastic backer of a Dardanian identity and the Kosovan flag and presidential seal refer to this national identity. However, the name Kosova remains more widely used among the Albanian population, the official conventional long name of the state is Republic of Kosovo, as defined by the Constitution of Kosovo, and is used to represent Kosovo internationally. This arrangement, which has dubbed the asterisk agreement, was agreed in an 11-point arrangement agreed on 24 February 2012. By the independence declaration in 2008, its long name became Republic of Kosovo. In prehistory, the succeeding Starčevo culture, Vinča culture, Bubanj-Hum culture, the area in and around Kosovo has been inhabited for nearly 10,000 years. During the Neolithic age, Kosovo lay within the area of the Vinča-Turdaş culture which is characterised by West Balkan black, bronze and Iron Age tombs have been found in Metohija. However, life during the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age is not confirmed yet, therefore, until arguments of Paleolithic and Mesolithic man are confirmed, Neolithic man, respectively the Neolithic sites are considered as the chronological beginning of population in Kosovo. From this period until today Kosovo has been inhabited, and traces of activities of societies from prehistoric, ancient, whereas, in some archaeological sites, multilayer settlements clearly reflect the continuity of life through centuries
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Mali
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Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali is the eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of just over 1,240,000 square kilometres, the population of Mali is 14.5 million. The countrys economy centers on agriculture and fishing, some of Malis prominent natural resources include gold, being the third largest producer of gold in the African continent, and salt. About half the population lives below the poverty line of $1.25 a day. A majority of the population are Muslims, present-day Mali was once part of three West African empires that controlled trans-Saharan trade, the Ghana Empire, the Mali Empire, and the Songhai Empire. During its golden age, there was a flourishing of mathematics, astronomy, literature, at its peak in 1300, the Mali Empire covered an area about twice the size of modern-day France and stretched to the west coast of Africa. In the late 19th century, during the Scramble for Africa, France seized control of Mali, French Sudan joined with Senegal in 1959, achieving independence in 1960 as the Mali Federation. Shortly thereafter, following Senegals withdrawal from the federation, the Sudanese Republic declared itself the independent Republic of Mali. After a long period of one-party rule, a coup in 1991 led to the writing of a new constitution and the establishment of Mali as a democratic, multi-party state. In January 2012, a conflict broke out in northern Mali, in which Tuareg rebels took control of by April and declared the secession of a new state. The conflict was complicated by a coup that took place in March. In response to Islamist territorial gains, the French military launched Opération Serval in January 2013, a month later, Malian and French forces recaptured most of the north. Presidential elections were held on 28 July 2013, with a second round held on 11 August. The name Mali is taken from the name of the Mali Empire, the name was originally derived from the Mandinka or Bambara word mali, meaning “hippopotamus”, but it eventually came to mean the place where the king lives. The word carries the connotation of strength, D. Niane suggests in Sundiata, An Epic of Old Mali that it is not impossible that Mali was the name given to one of the capitals of the emperors. 14th century Moroccan traveller Ibn Battuta reported that the capital of the Mali Empire was indeed called Mali and this name could have formerly been that of a city. In old Mali there is one village called Malikoma which means “New Mali. ”Another theory suggests that Mali is a Fulani pronunciation of the name of the Mande peoples. It is suggested that a sound shift led to the change, whereby in Fulani the alveolar segment /nd/ shifts to /l/, Mali was once part of three famed West African empires which controlled trans-Saharan trade in gold, salt, slaves, and other precious commodities
17.
Georgia (country)
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Georgia is a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. The capital and largest city is Tbilisi, Georgia covers a territory of 69,700 square kilometres, and its 2016 population is about 3.72 million. Georgia is a unitary, semi-presidential republic, with the government elected through a representative democracy, during the classical era, several independent kingdoms became established in what is now Georgia. The kingdoms of Colchis and Iberia adopted Christianity in the early 4th century, a unified Kingdom of Georgia reached the peak of its political and economic strength during the reign of King David IV and Queen Tamar in the 12th and early 13th centuries. Thereafter the kingdom declined and eventually disintegrated under hegemony of various powers, including the Mongols, the Ottoman Empire. Russian rule over Georgia was eventually acknowledged in various treaties with Iran. Since the establishment of the modern Georgian republic in April 1991, post-communist Georgia suffered from civil, the countrys Western orientation soon led to the worsening of relations with Russia, culminating in the brief Russo-Georgian War in August 2008. Georgia is a member of the United Nations, the Council of Europe, and it contains two de facto independent regions, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which gained limited international recognition after the 2008 Russo-Georgian War. Georgia and a part of the international community consider the regions to be part of Georgias sovereign territory under Russian military occupation. Georgia probably stems from the Persian designation of the Georgians – gurğān, in the 11th and 12th centuries adapted via Syriac gurz-ān/gurz-iyān, starting with the Persian word gurğ/gurğān, the word was later adopted in numerous other languages, including Slavic and West European languages. This term itself might have established through the ancient Iranian appellation of the near-Caspian region. The self-designation used by ethnic Georgians is Kartvelebi, the medieval Georgian Chronicles present an eponymous ancestor of the Kartvelians, Kartlos, a great-grandson of Japheth. However, scholars agree that the word is derived from the Karts, the name Sakartvelo consists of two parts. Its root, kartvel-i, specifies an inhabitant of the core central-eastern Georgian region of Kartli, ancient Greeks and Romans referred to early western Georgians as Colchians and eastern Georgians as Iberians. Today the full, official name of the country is Georgia, before the 1995 constitution came into force the countrys name was the Republic of Georgia. The territory of modern-day Georgia was inhabited by Homo erectus since the Paleolithic Era, the proto-Georgian tribes first appear in written history in the 12th century BC. The earliest evidence of wine to date has found in Georgia. In fact, early metallurgy started in Georgia during the 6th millennium BC, the classical period saw the rise of a number of early Georgian states, the principal of which was Colchis in the west and Iberia in the east
18.
Iraq
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The capital, and largest city, is Baghdad. The main ethnic groups are Arabs and Kurds, others include Assyrians, Turkmen, Shabakis, Yazidis, Armenians, Mandeans, Circassians, around 95% of the countrys 36 million citizens are Muslims, with Christianity, Yarsan, Yezidism, and Mandeanism also present. The official languages of Iraq are Arabic and Kurdish, two major rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates, run south through Iraq and into the Shatt al-Arab near the Persian Gulf. These rivers provide Iraq with significant amounts of fertile land, the region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, historically known as Mesopotamia, is often referred to as the cradle of civilisation. It was here that mankind first began to read, write, create laws, the area has been home to successive civilisations since the 6th millennium BC. Iraq was the centre of the Akkadian, Sumerian, Assyrian and it was also part of the Median, Achaemenid, Hellenistic, Parthian, Sassanid, Roman, Rashidun, Umayyad, Abbasid, Ayyubid, Mongol, Safavid, Afsharid, and Ottoman empires. Iraqs modern borders were mostly demarcated in 1920 by the League of Nations when the Ottoman Empire was divided by the Treaty of Sèvres, Iraq was placed under the authority of the United Kingdom as the British Mandate of Mesopotamia. A monarchy was established in 1921 and the Kingdom of Iraq gained independence from Britain in 1932, in 1958, the monarchy was overthrown and the Iraqi Republic created. Iraq was controlled by the Arab Socialist Baath Party from 1968 until 2003, after an invasion by the United States and its allies in 2003, Saddam Husseins Baath Party was removed from power and multi-party parliamentary elections were held in 2005. The American presence in Iraq ended in 2011, but the Iraqi insurgency continued and intensified as fighters from the Syrian Civil War spilled into the country, the Arabic name العراق al-ʿIrāq has been in use since before the 6th century. There are several suggested origins for the name, one dates to the Sumerian city of Uruk and is thus ultimately of Sumerian origin, as Uruk was the Akkadian name for the Sumerian city of Urug, containing the Sumerian word for city, UR. An Arabic folk etymology for the name is rooted, well-watered. During the medieval period, there was a region called ʿIrāq ʿArabī for Lower Mesopotamia and ʿIrāq ʿajamī, for the region now situated in Central and Western Iran. The term historically included the south of the Hamrin Mountains. The term Sawad was also used in early Islamic times for the region of the plain of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. In English, it is either /ɪˈrɑːk/ or /ɪˈræk/, the American Heritage Dictionary, the pronunciation /aɪˈræk/ is frequently heard in U. S. media. Since approximately 10,000 BC, Iraq was one of centres of a Caucasoid Neolithic culture where agriculture, the following Neolithic period is represented by rectangular houses. At the time of the pre-pottery Neolithic, people used vessels made of stone, gypsum, finds of obsidian tools from Anatolia are evidences of early trade relations
19.
Germany
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Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a federal parliamentary republic in central-western Europe. It includes 16 constituent states, covers an area of 357,021 square kilometres, with about 82 million inhabitants, Germany is the most populous member state of the European Union. After the United States, it is the second most popular destination in the world. Germanys capital and largest metropolis is Berlin, while its largest conurbation is the Ruhr, other major cities include Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf and Leipzig. Various Germanic tribes have inhabited the northern parts of modern Germany since classical antiquity, a region named Germania was documented before 100 AD. During the Migration Period the Germanic tribes expanded southward, beginning in the 10th century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire. During the 16th century, northern German regions became the centre of the Protestant Reformation, in 1871, Germany became a nation state when most of the German states unified into the Prussian-dominated German Empire. After World War I and the German Revolution of 1918–1919, the Empire was replaced by the parliamentary Weimar Republic, the establishment of the national socialist dictatorship in 1933 led to World War II and the Holocaust. After a period of Allied occupation, two German states were founded, the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic, in 1990, the country was reunified. In the 21st century, Germany is a power and has the worlds fourth-largest economy by nominal GDP. As a global leader in industrial and technological sectors, it is both the worlds third-largest exporter and importer of goods. Germany is a country with a very high standard of living sustained by a skilled. It upholds a social security and universal health system, environmental protection. Germany was a member of the European Economic Community in 1957. It is part of the Schengen Area, and became a co-founder of the Eurozone in 1999, Germany is a member of the United Nations, NATO, the G8, the G20, and the OECD. The national military expenditure is the 9th highest in the world, the English word Germany derives from the Latin Germania, which came into use after Julius Caesar adopted it for the peoples east of the Rhine. This in turn descends from Proto-Germanic *þiudiskaz popular, derived from *þeudō, descended from Proto-Indo-European *tewtéh₂- people, the discovery of the Mauer 1 mandible shows that ancient humans were present in Germany at least 600,000 years ago. The oldest complete hunting weapons found anywhere in the world were discovered in a mine in Schöningen where three 380, 000-year-old wooden javelins were unearthed
20.
Italy
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Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a unitary parliamentary republic in Europe. Located in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares open land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, San Marino, Italy covers an area of 301,338 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal and Mediterranean climate. Due to its shape, it is referred to in Italy as lo Stivale. With 61 million inhabitants, it is the fourth most populous EU member state, the Italic tribe known as the Latins formed the Roman Kingdom, which eventually became a republic that conquered and assimilated other nearby civilisations. The legacy of the Roman Empire is widespread and can be observed in the distribution of civilian law, republican governments, Christianity. The Renaissance began in Italy and spread to the rest of Europe, bringing a renewed interest in humanism, science, exploration, Italian culture flourished at this time, producing famous scholars, artists and polymaths such as Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Michelangelo and Machiavelli. The weakened sovereigns soon fell victim to conquest by European powers such as France, Spain and Austria. Despite being one of the victors in World War I, Italy entered a period of economic crisis and social turmoil. The subsequent participation in World War II on the Axis side ended in defeat, economic destruction. Today, Italy has the third largest economy in the Eurozone and it has a very high level of human development and is ranked sixth in the world for life expectancy. The country plays a prominent role in regional and global economic, military, cultural and diplomatic affairs, as a reflection of its cultural wealth, Italy is home to 51 World Heritage Sites, the most in the world, and is the fifth most visited country. The assumptions on the etymology of the name Italia are very numerous, according to one of the more common explanations, the term Italia, from Latin, Italia, was borrowed through Greek from the Oscan Víteliú, meaning land of young cattle. The bull was a symbol of the southern Italic tribes and was often depicted goring the Roman wolf as a defiant symbol of free Italy during the Social War. Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus states this account together with the legend that Italy was named after Italus, mentioned also by Aristotle and Thucydides. The name Italia originally applied only to a part of what is now Southern Italy – according to Antiochus of Syracuse, but by his time Oenotria and Italy had become synonymous, and the name also applied to most of Lucania as well. The Greeks gradually came to apply the name Italia to a larger region, excavations throughout Italy revealed a Neanderthal presence dating back to the Palaeolithic period, some 200,000 years ago, modern Humans arrived about 40,000 years ago. Other ancient Italian peoples of undetermined language families but of possible origins include the Rhaetian people and Cammuni. Also the Phoenicians established colonies on the coasts of Sardinia and Sicily, the Roman legacy has deeply influenced the Western civilisation, shaping most of the modern world
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Turkey
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Turkey, officially the Republic of Turkey, is a transcontinental country in Eurasia, mainly in Anatolia in Western Asia, with a smaller portion on the Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. Turkey is a democratic, secular, unitary, parliamentary republic with a cultural heritage. The country is encircled by seas on three sides, the Aegean Sea is to the west, the Black Sea to the north, and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. The Bosphorus, the Sea of Marmara, and the Dardanelles, Ankara is the capital while Istanbul is the countrys largest city and main cultural and commercial centre. Approximately 70-80% of the countrys citizens identify themselves as ethnic Turks, other ethnic groups include legally recognised and unrecognised minorities. Kurds are the largest ethnic minority group, making up approximately 20% of the population, the area of Turkey has been inhabited since the Paleolithic by various ancient Anatolian civilisations, as well as Assyrians, Greeks, Thracians, Phrygians, Urartians and Armenians. After Alexander the Greats conquest, the area was Hellenized, a process continued under the Roman Empire. The Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm ruled Anatolia until the Mongol invasion in 1243, the empire reached the peak of its power in the 16th century, especially during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent. During the war, the Ottoman government committed genocides against its Armenian, Assyrian, following the war, the conglomeration of territories and peoples that formerly comprised the Ottoman Empire was partitioned into several new states. Turkey is a member of the UN, an early member of NATO. Turkeys growing economy and diplomatic initiatives have led to its recognition as a regional power while her location has given it geopolitical, the name of Turkey is based on the ethnonym Türk. The first recorded use of the term Türk or Türük as an autonym is contained in the Old Turkic inscriptions of the Göktürks of Central Asia, the English name Turkey first appeared in the late 14th century and is derived from Medieval Latin Turchia. Similarly, the medieval Khazar Empire, a Turkic state on the shores of the Black. The medieval Arabs referred to the Mamluk Sultanate as al-Dawla al-Turkiyya, the Ottoman Empire was sometimes referred to as Turkey or the Turkish Empire among its European contemporaries. The Anatolian peninsula, comprising most of modern Turkey, is one of the oldest permanently settled regions in the world, various ancient Anatolian populations have lived in Anatolia, from at least the Neolithic period until the Hellenistic period. Many of these peoples spoke the Anatolian languages, a branch of the larger Indo-European language family, in fact, given the antiquity of the Indo-European Hittite and Luwian languages, some scholars have proposed Anatolia as the hypothetical centre from which the Indo-European languages radiated. The European part of Turkey, called Eastern Thrace, has also been inhabited since at least forty years ago. It is the largest and best-preserved Neolithic site found to date, the settlement of Troy started in the Neolithic Age and continued into the Iron Age
22.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
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China
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China, officially the Peoples Republic of China, is a unitary sovereign state in East Asia and the worlds most populous country, with a population of over 1.381 billion. The state is governed by the Communist Party of China and its capital is Beijing, the countrys major urban areas include Shanghai, Guangzhou, Beijing, Chongqing, Shenzhen, Tianjin and Hong Kong. China is a power and a major regional power within Asia. Chinas landscape is vast and diverse, ranging from forest steppes, the Himalaya, Karakoram, Pamir and Tian Shan mountain ranges separate China from much of South and Central Asia. The Yangtze and Yellow Rivers, the third and sixth longest in the world, respectively, Chinas coastline along the Pacific Ocean is 14,500 kilometers long and is bounded by the Bohai, Yellow, East China and South China seas. China emerged as one of the worlds earliest civilizations in the basin of the Yellow River in the North China Plain. For millennia, Chinas political system was based on hereditary monarchies known as dynasties, in 1912, the Republic of China replaced the last dynasty and ruled the Chinese mainland until 1949, when it was defeated by the communist Peoples Liberation Army in the Chinese Civil War. The Communist Party established the Peoples Republic of China in Beijing on 1 October 1949, both the ROC and PRC continue to claim to be the legitimate government of all China, though the latter has more recognition in the world and controls more territory. China had the largest economy in the world for much of the last two years, during which it has seen cycles of prosperity and decline. Since the introduction of reforms in 1978, China has become one of the worlds fastest-growing major economies. As of 2016, it is the worlds second-largest economy by nominal GDP, China is also the worlds largest exporter and second-largest importer of goods. China is a nuclear weapons state and has the worlds largest standing army. The PRC is a member of the United Nations, as it replaced the ROC as a permanent member of the U. N. Security Council in 1971. China is also a member of numerous formal and informal multilateral organizations, including the WTO, APEC, BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the BCIM, the English name China is first attested in Richard Edens 1555 translation of the 1516 journal of the Portuguese explorer Duarte Barbosa. The demonym, that is, the name for the people, Portuguese China is thought to derive from Persian Chīn, and perhaps ultimately from Sanskrit Cīna. Cīna was first used in early Hindu scripture, including the Mahābhārata, there are, however, other suggestions for the derivation of China. The official name of the state is the Peoples Republic of China. The shorter form is China Zhōngguó, from zhōng and guó and it was then applied to the area around Luoyi during the Eastern Zhou and then to Chinas Central Plain before being used as an occasional synonym for the state under the Qing
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Soviet Union
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The Soviet Union, officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a socialist state in Eurasia that existed from 1922 to 1991. It was nominally a union of national republics, but its government. The Soviet Union had its roots in the October Revolution of 1917 and this established the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and started the Russian Civil War between the revolutionary Reds and the counter-revolutionary Whites. In 1922, the communists were victorious, forming the Soviet Union with the unification of the Russian, Transcaucasian, Ukrainian, following Lenins death in 1924, a collective leadership and a brief power struggle, Joseph Stalin came to power in the mid-1920s. Stalin suppressed all opposition to his rule, committed the state ideology to Marxism–Leninism. As a result, the country underwent a period of rapid industrialization and collectivization which laid the foundation for its victory in World War II and postwar dominance of Eastern Europe. Shortly before World War II, Stalin signed the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact agreeing to non-aggression with Nazi Germany, in June 1941, the Germans invaded the Soviet Union, opening the largest and bloodiest theater of war in history. Soviet war casualties accounted for the highest proportion of the conflict in the effort of acquiring the upper hand over Axis forces at battles such as Stalingrad. Soviet forces eventually captured Berlin in 1945, the territory overtaken by the Red Army became satellite states of the Eastern Bloc. The Cold War emerged by 1947 as the Soviet bloc confronted the Western states that united in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 1949. Following Stalins death in 1953, a period of political and economic liberalization, known as de-Stalinization and Khrushchevs Thaw, the country developed rapidly, as millions of peasants were moved into industrialized cities. The USSR took a lead in the Space Race with Sputnik 1, the first ever satellite, and Vostok 1. In the 1970s, there was a brief détente of relations with the United States, the war drained economic resources and was matched by an escalation of American military aid to Mujahideen fighters. In the mid-1980s, the last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, sought to reform and liberalize the economy through his policies of glasnost. The goal was to preserve the Communist Party while reversing the economic stagnation, the Cold War ended during his tenure, and in 1989 Soviet satellite countries in Eastern Europe overthrew their respective communist regimes. This led to the rise of strong nationalist and separatist movements inside the USSR as well, in August 1991, a coup détat was attempted by Communist Party hardliners. It failed, with Russian President Boris Yeltsin playing a role in facing down the coup. On 25 December 1991, Gorbachev resigned and the twelve constituent republics emerged from the dissolution of the Soviet Union as independent post-Soviet states
25.
Royal Albanian Army
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The Royal Albanian Army was the army of Albanian Kingdom and King Zogu from 1928 until 1939. Its commander-in-chief was King Zog, its commander General Xhemal Aranitasi, the army was mainly financed by Italy during period 1936–39. There were two systems, the first was replaced in 1936. The new ranks were used until 1939, shqipnja & Skanderbeg 4 Italian MAS boats Built & bought in 1926 in Venice 46 t,17 kn
26.
Albanian People's Army
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The Albanian Peoples Army was the army of the Peoples Socialist Republic of Albania from 1946 to 1990. It took part in the Warsaw Pact until it withdrew in 1968 and it was dissolved in 1990 and retained its current form through the Albanian Armed Forces. Before 1948 the UPS was heavily funded by Yugoslavia after however, after relations declined between the two countries Albania turned to the Soviet Union of military aid, Army units would be vulnerable to attack by modern fighter-bombers. After the World War II when the Enver Hoxha regime took power, military ranks were changed in looks. The original design for ranks for the UPS came from the Soviet Union, in May 1966 military ranks were abolished following the Sino Soviet Split switching over to the Chinese example. The equipment of the UPS had lacked in modernization. These types included Soviet BTR-40, BTR50, BTR-152, BRDM-1 vehicles, armored forces were equipped with 200 T-34 and T-54 tanks made in the Soviet Union. Soviet and Chinese artillery in the ground forces inventory was towed rather than self-propelled and it included Soviet M-1937 and D-1 howitzers and Chinese Type-66 152mm guns, Chinese Type-59 130mm guns, Soviet M-1931/37 and M-1938 guns of 122mm, and Chinese Type-60 guns of 122mm
27.
Albanian language
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Centuries-old communities speaking Albanian-based dialects can be found scattered in Greece, Southern Italy, Sicily, and Ukraine. Due to the large Albanian diaspora, the number of speakers is much higher than the native speakers in Southeast Europe. The first audio recording of Albanian was made by Norbert Jokl on 4 April 1914 in Vienna, the Albanian language is part of the Indo-European language group. In general there is insufficient evidence to connect Albanian with one of those languages, Albanian is now considered an isolate within Indo-European, no extant language shares the same branch. The only other languages that are the surviving member of a branch of Indo-European are Armenian. Although Albanian shares lexical isoglosses with Greek, Balto-Slavic, and Germanic languages, in 1995, Ann Taylor, Donald Ringe and Tandy Warnow described as surprising their finding, using quantitative linguistic techniques, that Albanian appears to comprise a subgroup with Germanic. This theory is reinforced by subsequent research by the same authors, Albanian also shares two features with Balto-Slavic languages, a lengthening of syllabic consonants before voiced obstruents and a distinct treatment of long syllables ending in a sonorant. Other conservative features of Albanian include the retention of the distinction between active and middle voice, present tense and aorist. In another but uncommon hypothesis, Albanian is grouped with both Balto-Slavic and Germanic based on the merger of Proto-Indo-European *ǒ and *ǎ into *ǎ in a northern group. However, this shift is now regarded as only part of a larger push chain that affected all long vowels. The earliest loanwords attested in Albanian come from Doric Greek, whereas the strongest influence came from Latin, curtis, the loanwords do not necessarily indicate the geographical location of the ancestor of Albanian language. However, according to linguists, the borrowed words can help to get an idea about the place of origin. The period during which Proto-Albanian and Latin interacted was protracted and drawn out roughly from the 2nd century BC to the 5th century AD. This is borne out into three layers of borrowings, the largest number belonging to the second layer, which may be compared to, for example. The first, with the fewest borrowings, was a time of less important interaction, the final period, probably preceding the Slavic or Germanic invasions, also has a notably smaller number of borrowings. Other formative changes include the syncretism of several case endings, especially in the plural. Such borrowing indicates that the Romanians migrated from an area where the majority was Slavic to an area with a majority of Albanian speakers and their movement is probably related to the expansion of the Bulgarian Empire into Albania around that time. Jernej Kopitar was the first to note Latins influence on Albanian, Kopitar gave examples such as Albanian qiqer from Latin cicer, qytet from civitas, peshk from piscis and shigjetë from sagitta
28.
Albania
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Albania, officially the Republic of Albania, is a country in Southeastern Europe. It has a population of 3.03 million as of 2016, Tirana is the nations capital and largest city, followed by Durrës and Vlorë. The country has a coastline on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea, the Adriatic Sea to the west. Albania is less than 72 km from Italy, across the Strait of Otranto which connects the Adriatic Sea to the Ionian Sea. In antiquity, the area of Albania was home to several Illyrian, Thracian. After the Illyrian Wars, it part of the Roman provinces of Dalmatia, Macedonia and Moesia Superior. In 1190, the first Albanian state, the Principality of Arbanon was established by archon Progon in the region of Krujë, the territory of Albania was conquered by the Ottoman Empire in the 15th century, of which it remained part of for the next five centuries. After the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in Europe, following the Balkan Wars, the Kingdom of Albania was invaded by Italy in 1939, which formed Greater Albania, before becoming a Nazi German protectorate in 1943. The following year, a socialist Peoples Republic was established under the leadership of Enver Hoxha, Albania experienced widespread social and political transformations in the communist era, as well as isolation from much of the international community. In 1991, the Socialist Republic was dissolved and the Republic of Albania was established, Albania is a democratic and developing country with an upper-middle income economy. The service sector dominates the economy, followed by the industrial. After the fall of communism in Albania, Free-market reforms have opened the country to foreign investment, especially in the development of energy, Albania has a high HDI and provides universal health care system and free primary and secondary education to its citizens. Albania is a member of the United Nations, NATO, WTO, World Bank, the Council of Europe, the OSCE and it is also an official candidate for membership in the European Union. Albania is one of the members of the Energy Community, Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation. It is home to the largest lake in Southern Europe and one of the oldest lakes in Europe, Albania is the Medieval Latin name of the country. The name may have a continuation in the name of a settlement called Albanon and Arbanon. During the Middle Ages, the Albanians called their country Arbëri or Arbëni, Albanians today call their country Shqipëri. As early as the 17th century the placename Shqipëria and the ethnic demonym Shqiptarë gradually replaced Arbëria, the two terms are popularly interpreted as Land of the Eagles and Children of the Eagles
29.
Albanian Declaration of Independence
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The Albanian Declaration of Independence is the declaration of independence of the Albanian Vilayet from the Ottoman Empire. Independent Albania was proclaimed in Vlorë on 28 November 1912, the success of the Albanian Revolt of 1912 sent a strong signal to the neighboring countries that the Ottoman Empire was weak. The Kingdom of Serbia opposed the plan for an Albanian Vilayet and that was the reason for Ismail Qemali to organize All-Albanian Congress in Vlora. Under these circumstances, delegates from all over Albania were gathered in the Assembly of Vlorë, Ismail Qemali returned to Albania with Austro-Hungarian support and, at the head of a swiftly convened national assembly, declared Albanian independence in the town of Vlora on 28 November 1912. The declaration was more theoretical than practical because Vlora was the town in the whole country under the delegates’ control―yet it proved to be effective in the vacuum of power. The Ottoman Government had never taken their interests into consideration and had never been willing to recompense the Albanians for the services they had rendered. It had recently shown some interest in coming to an understanding with our people, War had recently broken out with four countries in the Balkans that were seeking change and rights for their peoples, united by their ethnicity and religion. Later, these countries put aside their initial objective and, as the war was going well for them, they agreed to divide the Empire up among themselves, including Albania. As there was no hope of saving Albania by means of arms. Ismail Kemal bey promoted this idea and objective, that was received by all the Great Powers, in particular by Austria. It was only Russia that remained somewhat hostile to the idea because of the Slavs, but it did not deny the existence of Albania and an Albanian people. The delegates unanimously agreed with the words of Ismail Kemal bey and resolved that Albania, as of today, should be on her own, free and independent under a provisional government. The meeting was adjourned until the day and the delegates went out. The assembly of eighty-three leaders meeting in Vlorë in November 1912 declared Albania an independent country, the complete text of the declaration, composed in Albanian and Ottoman Turkish, was, In Vlora, on the 15th/28th of November. This flag was sewn after Skanderbegs principality flag, which had used more than 400 years earlier. On 4 December 1912, the Assembly of Vlorë created the first Government of Independent Albania and it established also a Council of Elders, which would help the Government to it duties. On 1 March 1913, they convened an Albanian Congress of Trieste, there were 119 representatives in all, coming from the United States, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Egypt, Italy, and of course from the new state itself. Bishop Fan Noli of Boston was one of the featured speakers, on December 1912 the Great Powers met in London to deal with territorial adjustments arising out of the conclusion of the First Balkan War
30.
Commander-in-Chief
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A commander-in-chief is the person or body that exercises supreme operational command and control of a nations military forces or significant elements of those forces. In the latter case, the element is those forces within a particular region. Often, a given countrys commander-in-chief need not be or have been an officer or even a veteran. This follows the principle of civilian control of the military, the role of commander-in-chief derives from the Latin, imperator. Imperatores of the Roman Republic and Roman Empire possessed imperium powers, in its modern use, the term first applied to King Charles I of England in 1639. It continued to be used during the English Civil War, a nations head of state usually holds the nominal position of commander-in-chief, even if effective executive power is held by a separate head of government. Governors-general and colonial governors are also often appointed commander-in-chief of the forces within their territory. A commander-in-chief is sometimes referred to as commander, which is sometimes used as a specific term. The term is used for military officers who hold such power and authority, not always through dictatorship. The term is used for officers who hold authority over an individual military branch. According to the Constitution of Albania, The President of the Republic of Albania is the Commander-in-chief of Albanian Armed Forces, the incumbent Commander-in-chief is President Bujar Nishani. The Ministry of Defense is the government department that assists and serves the President in the management of the armed forces, the Minister for Defence and several subordinate ministers exercise this control through the Australian Defence Organisation. The Constitution states, in Article 80, that the President is the Commander-in-Chief of the Federal Armed Forces. e, the cabinet under the chairmanship of the Federal Chancellor, as defined in Article 69. The commander-in-chief is the president, although executive power and responsibility for national defense resides with the prime minister and he retired on 7 April 1972 and relinquished all authority and duties to the President of Bangladesh. Article 142 of the Brazilian Constitution of 1988 states that the Brazilian Armed Forces is under the command of the President of the Republic. The Sultan of Brunei is the Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Brunei Armed Forces, the powers of command-in-chief over the Canadian Armed Forces are vested in the Canadian monarch, and are delegated to the Governor General of Canada, who also uses the title Commander-in-Chief. In this capacity, the general is entitled to the uniform of a general/flag officer, with the crest of the office. According to the National Defence Act, the Minister of National Defence is responsible and accountable to parliament for all related to national defence
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Prime Minister of Albania
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Prime Ministers of Albania is the head of government of the Republic of Albania. The Prime Minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the branch of government in a parliamentary system. Executive power rests with the Council of Ministers, the Chairman of the Council is appointed by the President, ministers are nominated by the President on the basis of the Prime Ministers recommendation. The Peoples Assembly must give approval of the composition of the Council. The Council is responsible for carrying out foreign and domestic policies. It directs and controls the activities of the ministries and other state organs, the first Prime Minister of Albania was Ismail Qemali. The current Prime Minister is Edi Rama, since 15 September 2013, the Constitution of Albania states that the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister can also initiate a proceeding of the Constitutional Court of Albania
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Ministry of Defence (Albania)
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The Ministry of Defence is part of the Albanian government responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters of the Albanian Armed Forces. The current minister is Mimi Kodheli, the Ministry of Defence includes numerous smaller agencies aside from the three main branches of the military. These agencies, centers, and offices report to the Minister of Defence, the Authority of the State Export Control is the agency tasked with controlling the export, import, and transportation of military goods. The Military Export Import Company is an agency tasked with carrying out related to importing and exporting military goods to meet the needs of the Albanian Armed Forces. The Center of Culture, Media, and Defence Publications is an involved in public relations. The Inter-Institutional Maritime Operation Center is an agency tasked with managing Albanias maritime territory. It is a collaboration between the Ministries of Defence, Internal Affairs, Finance, Environment, Transportation, Agriculture, the Defence Intelligence Security Agency is a military intelligence agency within the Ministry of Defence, which provides intelligence to the Ministry as well as the Albanian Armed Forces. It is governed by Law No
33.
Ismail Qemali
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Ismail Qemal Bej Vlora commonly known as Ismail Qemali was a leader of the Albanian national movement. Qemali was born to a family in Vlorë. During these years he took part in efforts for the standardization of the Albanian alphabet, however, his liberal policy recommendations caused him to fall out of favour with the Sultan again, and in May 1900 Ismail Qemali boarded the British ambassadors yacht and claimed asylum. He was conveyed out of Turkey and for the eight years lived in exile. Qemalis reasons for closer ties with Greece during this time was to thwart Bulgarian ambitions in the wider Balkans region, after the Young Turk Revolution of 1908, he became a deputy in the restored Ottoman Parliament, working with liberal politicians and the British. In 1909, during a rising against the Young Turks, he was briefly made President of the Ottoman National Assembly but was forced to leave Constantinople forever a day or two later, thereafter his political career concentrated solely on Albanian nationalism. The Athens embassy of the Ottoman Empire reported that Qemali negotiated with organization financed by wealthy Tosks and he was a principal figure in the Albanian Declaration of Independence and the formation of the independent Albania on 28 November 1912. This signaled the end of almost 500 years of Ottoman rule in Albania, together with Luigj Gurakuqi, he raised the flag on the balcony of the two-story building in Vlorë where the Declaration of Independence had just been signed. The establishment of the government was postponed for the session of the Assembly of Vlorë, held on 4 December 1912. Qemali was prime minister of Albania from 1912 to 1914, in November 1913, Albanian pro-Ottoman forces had offered the Albanian throne to the Ottoman war minister of Albanian origin, Izzet Pasha. The Ottoman Empire sent agents to encourage a revolt, hoping to restore Ottoman suzerainty over Albania, Izzet Pasha sent major Beqir Grebenali, another ethnic Albanian, to be one of his chief representatives in Albania. The Provisional Government of Albania under control of Ismail Qemali captured and executed major Beqir Grebenali, such provocative and damaging display of independence of Qemalis government angered Great Powers and International Commission of Control forced Qemali to step aside and leave Albania. He died of an apparent heart attack at dinner one evening. After his death, his body was brought to Vlorë and buried in the local Tekke of the Bektashi Order, Ismail Qemali is depicted on the obverses of the Albanian 200 lekë banknote of 1992–1996, and of the 500 lekë banknote issued since 1996. On 27 June 2012, Albanian President, Bamir Topi decorated Qemali with the Order of the National Flag, petro Poga Minister of Education, Dr. Ismail Kemal Bey and Sommerville Story, ed. The memoirs of Ismail Kemal Bey, twenty years in Paris with a pen, A. Xoxi, Koli, Ismail Qemali, jeta dhe vepra, Shtëpia Botuese 8 Nentori
34.
Ali Shefqet Shkupi
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Ali Shefqeti was the son of Hysen Shefqeti, and Albanian originating from İpek who had settled in Uskub. His mother was a local Albanian woman from a rich family, Ali was born in Uskub in September 1883. His brother was Naxhi Shkupi, another Albanian nationalist who invested most of his wealth into the Albanian new state, at the end of the Academy he was given the rank captain. Later, he served various positions in the Ottoman Third Army in Macedonia and he supported the Young Turks movement, being part of the military units which attacked Istambul in 1908. Disappointed from the Young Turks, and taking advantage of his location in Macedonia where most of the Albanian nationalist movements were situated, the end of Albanian Revolt of 1912 would find him in Istambul with the rank major. Ali Shkupi received information that he was on the list to get arrested, in March 1913, he participated in the Albanian Congress of Trieste. Ali Shkupi could not reach Vlora because of the blockage from the Greek Navy although his desire was to join the Albanian government and he managed to land near Fier area from an Austro-Hungarian ship. He was immediately assigned with the organization of the Ministry of War which he succeeded, Ali Shkupi put in place all the experience he had gathered from the extended military education and military service in the Ottoman Army. On May 5,1913, Vlora Government would approve the Statute for the organization of the Ministry of War. The newly created Ministry of War would also have Back Lines Office, Personnel Office, the statute was detailed and included all necessary structures and mechanisms of a modern army. On 31 May 1913, the General Staff of Shkupi informed the Albanian Ministry of War for the creation of military units. The Albanian Army so far consisted mostly of irregulars, Shkupi proposed the mandatory military service. He also built a special commission engaged with military terminology, together with former Ottoman military figures Mustafa Maksuti, after the resignation of Ismail Qemalis government on 22 January 1914, Shkupi still held high military positions under Prince Wied. With the break out of World War I, he settled in Shkoder, with the Montenegrin occupation of Shkoder, he got arrested and released only in 1916 when Austro-Hungary invaded Montenegro. He was a supporter of Congress of Lushnje, the government that came out of the congress in January 1920 would assign him first Commander of the General Command, and later Chief of the General Staff. Ali Shkupi was a supporter of Hasan Prishtina and the June Revolution of Bishop Noli, with the return of Ahmet Zogu in power in December 1924, he would be arrested and interned twice. He was accused as an organizer of the Fier Revolt of 1935, and got sentenced to death. Ali Shkupi was not active during World War II, although he was an opponent of the Italian invasion, the Nazis would burn his house in Tirana
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Berat
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Berat is a city and a municipality located in south-central Albania, and the capital of the County of Berat and also one of the worlds oldest continuously inhabited cities. In July 2008, the old town called Mangalem district, was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, the municipality was formed at the 2015 local government reform by the merger of the former municipalities Berat, Otllak, Roshnik, Sinjë and Velabisht, that became municipal units. The seat of the municipality is the city Berat, the total population is 60,031, in a total area of 379.98 km2. The population of the municipality at the 2011 census was 32,606. That name was rendered as Bellegrada in Greek and it is believed to have been the site of an Ancient Macedonian stronghold, Antipatreia or Antipatrea in Latin, while during the early Byzantine Empire the name of the town was Pulcheriopolis. In the Republic of Venice the city was known as Belgrad di Romania, Berat lies on the right bank of the river Osum, a short distance from the point where it is joined by the Molisht river. The old city consists of three parts, Kalaja, Mangalem and Gorica. It has a wealth of buildings of high architectural and historical interest. The pine forests above the city, on the slopes of the towering Tomorr mountains, according to an Albanian legend, the Tomorr mountain was originally a giant, who fought with another giant, called Shpirag over a young woman. They killed each other and the drowned in her tears. Mount Shpirag, named after the giant, is on the left bank of the gorge. Berat is known to Albanians as the city of One above another Windows and it was proclaimed a Museum City by the dictator Enver Hoxha in June 1961. The earliest recorded inhabitants of the city were the Greek tribe of the Dassaretae or Dexarioi, the northernmost subgroup of the Chaonians, modern Berat occupies the site of Antipatreia, which originally was a settlement of the Dexarioi and later a Macedonian stronghold in southern Illyria. The founding date is unknown, although if Cassander is the founder it has suggested that Antipatreia was founded after he took control of the region around 314 BC. In 200 BC it was captured by the Roman legatus Lucius Apustius, during the Roman and early Byzantine period, the city was known as Pulcheriopolis. The town became one of the most important towns in the Bulgarian region Kutmichevitsa, during the 13th century, it fell to Michael I Ducas, the ruler of the Despotate of Epirus. However, they sent the letters to Charles as a sign of their loyalty, in 1274 Michael VIII recaptured Berat and after being joined by Albanians who supported the Byzantine Empire, marched unsuccessfully against the Angevin capital of Durrës. In 1280-1281 the Sicilian forces under Hugh the Red of Sully laid siege to Berat, in March 1281 a relief force from Constantinople under the command of Michael Tarchaneiotes was able to drive off the besieging Sicilian army
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Colonel
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Colonel is a senior military officer rank below the general officer ranks. However, in small military forces, such as those of Iceland or the Vatican. It is also used in police forces and paramilitary organizations. Historically, in the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of a regiment in an army, the rank of colonel is typically above the rank of lieutenant colonel. The rank above colonel is typically called brigadier, brigade general or brigadier general, equivalent naval ranks may be called captain or ship-of-the-line captain. In the Commonwealth air force rank system, the equivalent rank is group captain, the word colonel derives from the same root as the word column and means of a column, and, by implication, commander of a column. The word colonel is therefore linked to the column in a similar way that brigadier is linked to brigade. By the end of the medieval period, a group of companies was referred to as a column of an army. Since the word is believed to derive from sixteenth-century Italian, it was presumably first used by Italian city states in that century. The first use of colonel as a rank in an army was in the French National Legions created by King Francis I by his decree of 1534. Building on the reforms of Louis XIIs decree of 1509. Each colonel commanded a legion with a strength of six thousand men. With the shift from primarily mercenary to primarily national armies in the course of the seventeenth century, the Spanish equivalent rank of coronel was used by the Spanish tercios in the 16th and 17th centuries. Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba, nicknamed the Great Captain, divided his armies in coronelías or colonelcies, however, the Spanish word probably derives from a different origin, in that it appears to designate an officer of the crown, rather than an officer of the column. This makes the Spanish word coronel probably cognate with the English word coroner and this regiment, or governance, was to some extent embodied in a contract and set of written rules, also referred to as the colonels regiment or standing regulation. By extension, the group of companies subject to a colonels regiment came to be referred to as his regiment as well, the position, however, was primarily contractual and it became progressively more of a functionless sinecure. By the late 19th century, colonel was a military rank though still held typically by an officer in command of a regiment or equivalent unit. As European military influence expanded throughout the world, the rank of colonel became adopted by every nation
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Italian invasion of Albania
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The Italian invasion of Albania was a brief military campaign by the Kingdom of Italy against the Albanian Kingdom. The conflict was a result of the imperialist policies of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, Albania was rapidly overrun, its ruler, King Zog I, forced into exile, and the country made part of the Italian Empire as a separate kingdom in personal union with the Italian crown. Albania had long been of strategic importance to the Kingdom of Italy. Italian naval strategists coveted the port of Vlorë and the island of Sazan at the entrance to the Bay of Vlorë, in addition, Albania could provide Italy with a beachhead in the Balkans. Before World War I Italy and Austria-Hungary had been supportive to the creation of an independent Albanian state, at the outbreak of the war, Italy had seized the chance to occupy the southern half of Albania, to avoid it being captured by the Austro-Hungarians. That success did not last long, as Albanian resistance during the subsequent Vlora War and post-war domestic problems forced Italy to pull out in 1920, the desire to compensate for this failure would be one of Mussolinis major motives in invading Albania. Later, during the High Middle Ages, some areas had been influenced and owned by Italian powers, chiefly the Kingdom of Naples. The Italian Fascist regime legitimized its claim to Albania through studies proclaiming the racial affinity of Albanians and Italians, when Mussolini took power in Italy he turned with renewed interest to Albania. Italy began penetration of Albanias economy in 1925, when Albania agreed to allow Italy to exploit its mineral resources and that was followed by the First Treaty of Tirana in 1926 and the Second Treaty of Tirana in 1927, whereby Italy and Albania entered into a defensive alliance. Among other things the Albanian government and economy were subsidised by Italian loans, despite strong Italian influence, King Zog I refused to give in completely to Italian pressure. In 1931 he stood up openly to the Italians, refusing to renew the 1926 Treaty of Tirana, after Albania signed trade agreements with Yugoslavia and Greece in 1934, Mussolini made a failed attempt to intimidate the Albanians by sending a fleet of warships to Albania. As Nazi Germany annexed Austria and moved against Czechoslovakia, Italy saw itself becoming the member of the Pact of Steel. The imminent birth of an Albanian royal child meanwhile threatened to give Zog a lasting dynasty, after Hitler invaded Czechoslovakia without notifying Mussolini in advance, the Italian dictator decided to proceed with his own annexation of Albania. Italys King Victor Emmanuel III criticized the plan to take Albania as an unnecessary risk, Rome, however, delivered Tirana an ultimatum on March 25,1939, demanding that it consent to Italys occupation of Albania. Zog refused to accept money in exchange for allowing a full Italian takeover, the Albanian government tried to keep secret the news of the Italian ultimatum. While Radio Tirana persistently broadcast that nothing was happening, people became suspicious, on April 5 the kings son was born and the news was announced by cannons. People poured out into the streets alarmed, but the news of the newborn prince calmed them, people were suspicious that something else was going on, which led to an anti-Italian demonstration in Tirana the same day. On 6 April there were demonstrations in Albanias main cities
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Zogu
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Zog I, King of the Albanians, born Ahmet Muhtar Zogolli, taking the surname Zogu in 1922, was the leader of Albania from 1922 to 1939. He first served as Prime Minister of Albania, then as President and his rule as king was characterized by oppression of civil liberties and was similar to the concurrent regime in Italy. His family was a family of landowners, with feudal authority over the region of Mati. His mothers Toptani family claimed to be descended from the sister of Albanias greatest national hero and he was educated at Galatasaray High School in Constantinople, then the seat of the decaying Ottoman Empire, which controlled Albania. Upon his fathers death in 1911, Zogolli became governor of Mat, being appointed ahead of his elder brother, in 1912, he signed the Albanian Declaration of Independence as the representative of the Mat District. As a young man during the First World War, Zogolli volunteered on the side of Austria-Hungary and he was detained at Vienna in 1917 and 1918 and in Rome in 1918 and 1919 before returning to Albania in 1919. During his time in Vienna, he grew to enjoy a Western European lifestyle, upon his return, Zogolli became involved in the political life of the fledgling Albanian government that had been created in the wake of the First World War. His political supporters included many southern feudal landowners and noble families in the north, along with merchants, industrialists, during the early 1920s, Zogolli served as Governor of Shkodër, Minister of the Interior, and chief of the Albanian military. His primary rivals were Luigj Gurakuqi and Fan S. Noli, in 1922, Zogolli formally changed his surname from Zogolli to Zogu, which sounds more Albanian. In 1923, he was shot and wounded in Parliament and he returned to Albania with the backing of Yugoslav forces and Yugoslavia-based White Russian troops under General Wrangel and became Prime Minister. Zogu was officially elected as the first President of Albania by the Constituent Assembly on 21 January 1925, on 28 June 1925, Zogu ceded Sveti Naum to Yugoslavia as a gesture of recognition to the Yugoslav aid to him and in exchange for Peshkëpi village and other minor concessions. His principal ally during this period was Italy, which lent his government funds in exchange for a role in Albanias fiscal policy. During Zogus presidency, serfdom was gradually eliminated, for the first time since the death of Skanderbeg, Albania began to emerge as a nation, rather than a feudal patchwork of local Beyliks. His administration was marred by disputes with Kosovar leaders, primarily Hasan Prishtina, however, Zogus Albania was a police state. He all but eliminated civil liberties, muzzled the press and murdered political opponents, under the constitution, Zogu was vested with sweeping executive and legislative powers, including the right to appoint one-third of the upper house. For all intents and purposes, he held all governing power in the nation, on 1 September 1928, Albania was transformed into a kingdom, and President Zogu became Zog I, King of the Albanians. He took as his name his surname rather than his forename. He also initially took the parallel name Skanderbeg III, but this fell out of use, on the same day as he was declared king, he was declared Field Marshal of the Royal Albanian Army
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Xhemal Aranitasi
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Xhemal Aranitasi - was a general and commander in chief of the Royal Albanian Army. He was the son of Ibrahim Aranitasi, a colonel of the Ottoman Empire. He graduated from the Monastir Military High School, and then at the academy in Istanbul. During the Balkan wars he fought in the Ottoman army, as the leader of a machine gun unit, during World War I, when most of the territory of Albania was invaded by the Austro-Hungarian Army, he served in the Aranitas municipality as a commander of the gendarmerie. In 1920 he joined the Royal Albanian Army and four years later he was a battalion commander, in 1925, with the rank of lieutenant colonel, he became the general commander of the Royal Albanian Army. Although major decisions on the Army were taken by officers of foreign origin, such as Gustav von Myrdacz and Leon Ghilardi, in 1929 he was promoted to general. He served as aide-de-camp of Zog of Albania before this task was taken by Mehmet Konica. On April 6,1939, on the eve of the invasion of Albania by the Italian Army, Aranitasi left the country and settled in Turkey and he was awarded the Grand Ribbon of the Order of Skanderbeg
40.
Gustav von Myrdacz
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Gustav von Myrdacz was an Austrian noble who was instrumental in organising the Royal Albanian Army from the early 1920s to 1945. He was referred in Albania as Gustav Mirdashi, Gustav von Myrdacz was born in Vienna on 11 July 1874 to a German-speaking Silesian noble family. His father, Paul von Myrdacz, was born in Konská, little is known of his mother, Emma Zettl. As such Dr Paul von Myrdacz had been involved in the occupation of Bosnia in 1878, Gustav von Myrdacz grew up in the multi-lingual, multi-cultural environment of the late Habsburg empire and trained to become a military engineer. He attended high school in Vienna and the Theresian Military Academy in Wiener Neustadt, over 1901-03 he attended the military school of the General Staff College and served in various infantry brigades as a staff officer after 1904. From 1909 he was an instructor at the technical military academy in Mödling. When World War I began in 1914, von Myrdacz served as an officer in Sarajevo. In December 1915 he was attached to the General Division of the XIX, here he helped Austria conquer and occupy Serbia and enter northern Albania to engage Italian soldiers. From 1 May 1917 Gustav von Myrdacz commanded the guard battalion IV. Here he participated in the Battles of the Isonzo, in 1918, partly because of his involvement in the occupation of Albania, von Myrdacz was introduced to a young honorary Colonel named Ahmed Zog in Vienna. On 5 January 1918, von Myrdacz was appointed Colonel in the General Staff Corps, from 16 July 1918 he commanded the last offensive of Austria-Hungary in Venetia when he led Infantry Regiment No.117 on the Tonale Pass in Tyrol. A day after the armistice he was captured and became a prisoner of war in Italy and he was discharged after one year. Returning to republican Austria Gustav von Myrdacz was appointed commander at the State Office of Styria and he was then posted to Graz to become Stellvertretender Stadtkommandant. In 1920, von Myrdacz retired from service in Austria at the rank of Brigadier-General, three years later he accepted a commission to become Chief of Staff. Most of his duties, beyond training officers and small military formations in basic manoeuvres, in 1928 the new Fascist regime in Italy tried to increase influence and power within Albania, and General Alberto Pariani was sent as a military advisor. The Albanian Prime Minister Ahmed Zog sidestepped the Italian Military Mission, Colonel Gustav von Myrdacz was immediately entrusted with the same post in the new Royal Albanian Army. It suited Zog and the Albanians to have their army trained by a man who had fought against the Italians, when Fascist Italy invaded Albania in April 1939, King Zog The king escapes in Greece, leaving the country without defense. General Myrdaczy and the other high-ranking officers Albanians, were not perceived of attack it of 7 fascist Italy of April 1939, Albania was occupied in three days without to find some resistance
41.
Second world war
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
42.
Party of Labour of Albania
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The Party of Labour of Albania was the vanguard party of Albania during the communist period as well as the only legal political party. It was founded on November 8,1941, as the Communist Party of Albania, in 1991, the party was succeeded by the Socialist Party of Albania. For most of its existence, the party was dominated by its First Secretary, Enver Hoxha, in the 1920s, Albania was the only Balkan country without a Communist party. The first Albanian communists emerged from the followers of Albanian clergyman and politician Fan S. Noli, once in Moscow, they formed the National Revolutionary Committee and became affiliated to the Comintern. In August 1928, the first Albanian Communist Party was formed in the Soviet Union, the most prominent figure of the party was Ali Kelmendi who left Albania in 1936, to fight in the Spanish Civil War. He was later regarded as the leader of a group of Albanian Communists in France. However, no unified organization existed in Albania until 1941, following the German attack on Russia, Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito under Comintern directives sent two Yugoslav delegates Miladin Popović and Dušan Mugoša to Albania. These two helped unite the Albanian communist groups in 1941, after intensive work, the Albanian Communist Party was formed on November 8,1941 by the two Yugoslav delegates with Enver Hoxha from the Korça branch as its leader. The PKSh was the dominant element of the National Liberation Movement, the LNC drove out the German occupiers on 29 November 1944. From that day onward, Albania was a full-fledged Communist state, in every other Eastern European country, the Communists were at least nominally part of a coalition government for a few years before seizing power at the helm of out-and-out Communist dictatorships. King Zog was barred from returning to Albania, though the monarchy was not formally abolished until 1946. Under Hoxha, the party became the most rigidly anti-revisionist party in the Soviet bloc, the party even went as far as to engineer an Albanian version of the Chinese Cultural Revolution. When it became apparent that Maos successors were moving away from his legacy in 1978, Hoxha led the party and state more or less without resistance until his death in 1985. His successor, Ramiz Alia, was forced to initiate reforms in order to revive the countrys stagnant economy. However, in late 1989, various elements of society began to speak out against the still in place. The execution of Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu led Alia to fear hed be next, in response, he allowed Albanians to travel abroad, ended the regimes longstanding policy of state atheism, and slightly loosened government control of the economy. However, these only served to buy Alia more time. Finally, bowing to the inevitable, on 11 December 1990, Alia announced that the PPSh had abandoned power, the PPSh won the Constitutional Assembly elections of 1991
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