THE VIENNESE DIPLOMACY AND THE ALBANIAN EDUCATIONAL MOVEMENT DURING THE YEARS 1900-1912

Over the years, the role and contribution of the Austro-Hungarian diplomacy towards the Albanian national cause of XIX-XX century, has been an issue of discussion. In the view of the Albanian communist historiography, this contribution has never been treated objectively and has not been enlightened enough, not only for political reasons but also due to the lack of archival documentary sources. In this context, this paper aims to highlight the contribution that the Viennese diplomacy gave, through its consulates in the Albanian cities, towards the educational and cultural movement in the region of Elbasan, by becoming a significant factor in the progress of the Albanian language writing and learning. It focuses on the teaching of the Albanian language in the end of the XIX century and the first years of the XX century in the ethnic lands which were held under prohibitive conditions and punitive measures by the Ottoman Empire, by constituting the main obstacle to the Albanian language. Archival sources, facts, and evidence are identified through Vienna's official reports of the AustroHungarian consuls, that shed light on this issue by providing a comprehensive overview of the comprehensive support received by the educational movement in the region of Elbasan during the XIX-XX century.