Albania (1928-1939, Kingdom)

In 1928 Albania became a Kingdom, which it would remain unil 1939 with King Zog I Scanderberg III as king. During the 30's of the 20th Century, the country became more and more dependant from Italy. On March 25th, 1939, Mussolini send an ultimatum to the Albanian King Zog I, demanding the country to enter a total union with Italy. The Albanian King refused any cooperation.

Italian Invasion.
Italian Troops under the command of General Alfredo Guzzoni, then invaded the country on April 7th, 1939. The only 15,000 strong forces of Albania were no match to the over 100,000 strong Italian Forces and King Zog fled to Greece on April 9th. April 12th the short war was over. In common the Italian annexation of Albania can be seen as an effort from Mussolini to strengthen his prestige as an answer to the German annexation of Austria and the invasion of Czechoslovakia.