Prince Too Far

The book deals with Albania's transition from Ottoman possession to independent nation (1913-1914), mainly from the perspective of the Marquis San Giuliano, Italy's foreign minister. The newly liberated Albanians were not invited to the Great Powers' conference on the future of Albania in London in August 1913. The conferees established an International Commission of Control to oversee the creation of a new Albanian state, and in its final week drew the frontier between Albania and Greece. A compromise had to be struck between Austro-Hungary and Italy (supporters of Albanian claims) and Russia and France (supporters of Greek claims). It was decided that Albania should become an independent kingdom, and the designated leader was Prince Wilhelm of Wied, a Protestant minor prince related to the queens of Romania and the Netherlands. The Muslim minority in Albania lost no time in rising in rebellion against their new king. Salleo goes into considerable detail about the actual fighting, but he is at his best in describing the political maneuverings of the participating powers as they attempt to second guess each other, and to gain advantage as the larger conflict loomed ever larger.