A Good Way To Run A Country, Despotically

I don’t advocate dictatorships. Despite all its drawbacks, democracy comes up trumps every time. But there is one despot that I quite admire, and what a name he gave himself: King Zog. This blog post is dedicated to the last political romantic.

Ahmet Muhtar Bej Zogolli was born in Albania, in October 1895. In a move that makes Britain’s career politicians to shame (not that I’m saying Zog was a career politician; far from it, in fact!), Zog was elected as the first President of Albania at the paltry age of 30. With the support of his coalition, an efficient police force, and Italian banking, King Zog brought stability to Albania. Under his rule, the notoriously awkward tribes in the highlands acknowledged the central government, and the rampant lawlessness that had characterized the country was curbed. The society of the cities started to resemble the social life of Western countries, and he initiated universal education.

As Albania was so close to Mussolini’s Italy geographically, it was inevitable that Albania was to be exploited for its natural resources. Mussolini tricked Zog into letting many Italian officials enter Albiania’s government, a move that the plucky King swiftly rejected. Zog subsequently ordered the national budget to be slashed by 30 percent, dismissed all Italian military advisers, and nationalized Italian-run Roman Catholic schools in the north of Albania to decrease Italian influence on the population of Albania. In 1934, he tried without success to build ties with France, Germany, and the Balkan states, and Albania drifted back into the Italian orbit.

In retaliation, Mussolini and his troops invaded Albania and forced Zog into exile. He moved to London and, according to Sandi Toksvig, the Telegraph columnist, “Zog once walked into the Ritz Hotel with a large bag under his straining arms. He gave the bag to a young porter, but the bag was so heavy he dropped it to the floor immediately in shock! Zog replied, with a smile on his face, ‘Watch the gold, my dear boy, for you will be paying a refund if ought happens to it!”

Zog died in 1961 after trying on numerous occasions to reclaim power in Albania, all without success.

So to the Albanian leader who reputedly smoked 150 cigarettes a day, you were a fine leader, and one of the last political romantics.