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turned the tide and chased Gjoni to Yugoslavia on August 9, where he stayed until
his death.
On September 15, 1921, Eyres, a British representative, passed through Aras, which
was held by Albanians but sat on the Yugoslavian side of the Armistice line. Three
days later a Yugoslav commander ordered the Albanians to abandon the post. When
they refused, Yugoslav troops attacked, seized the area, and continued to march to
Rechi. The Albanians launched a counteroffensive and pushed the Yugoslavs back.
The Albanian government also appealed to the League of Nations and to the powers
for a cessation of hostilities. On November 9, the Council of Ambassadors delimited
Albania’s borders with four corrections, three in favor of Yugoslavia and one in favor
of Albania. The Council of the League of Nations met on November 17.
Yugoslavia argued that the Yugoslavs were only trying to regain what belonged
to them and, because Albania’s borders were not fixed yet, that it could not be said
that Yugoslavia was seizing Albanian territory. The council passed a resolution that
recognized the boundaries established on November 9 and that proscribed interference
in Albania’s internal affairs.
Coding changes: End Date changed from October 18, 1921.
MID#2328
Dispute Number: 2328
Date(s): March 1949 to September 21, 1951
Participants: 345 Yugoslavia/339 Albania
Outcome (and Settlement): Unclear (Negotiated)
Fatalities: 26–100 deaths
Narrative: Yugoslavia had sought to incorporate Albania at least since Albanian
liberation in November 1944, when Tito sent a representative to the Second Plenary
session of the Albanian Communist Party to persuade the Albanians to accede. In the
following years high-ranking Albanians agreed to subordinate the Albanian economy
to Yugoslavia’s, to form a customs union, and to accept Yugoslav advisors in the
Albanian military. In July 1947 Albania entered an agreement with the Soviet Union
for agricultural machinery, while Yugoslavia protested that Albania lacked the abil-
ity to enter international agreements without Yugoslav approval. In February 1948
the Albanian Communist Party agreed to join the Yugoslav union, but by May 1948
Albania had backed out of the agreement. Upon taking control of the Albanian gov-
ernment in mid-1948, the Albanian Communist Party, led by Premier Enver Hoxha,
canceled its trade agreements with Yugoslavia even though Yugoslavia was Albania’s
main source of food. Within eight months the Albanians had “been reduced to a near
starvation diet.”
On February 19, 1949, Albania accused Yugoslavia of what it called “border
provocations.” Two days later Yugoslavia accused Albania of shots fired across the
border 16 times, Yugoslav citizens seized at the border 10 times, several flights over
Yugoslav territory, Albanian patrols crossing the border, and an Albanian naval vessel
entering Yugoslav waters, all since July 1948.
Some of these provocations led to a disruption in mail services. All Albanian mail
came through Yugoslavia, but at one point Albania failed to pick up the sacks of mail