The Albanian - A Master Abroad; A Slave At Home

Francesco Crispi led the national unification of Italy and became its Prime Minister. Giovanni Francesco was Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, the spiritual leader of 1/6 of the world’s population. Pavlos Kountouriotis became President of Greece twice. Muhammad Ali Pasha is regarded as the founder of Modern Egypt. His daughter Fawzia became Queen of Iran. Vasile Lupu was Prince of Movdalia. Pashko Vasa ruled over as Governor of Lebanon. Nearly thirty (30) Prime Ministers of Albanian ancestry directed the affairs of the Ottoman Empire from when it was founded to when it collapsed. Mustafa Kemal established the modern Turkish republic. All these people shared the same blood, as well as many emperors of Rome and Byzantium. Albanians have distinguished themselves in art, music, film, science, literature, religion, business, military, and government - Abroad. At home, Albanians have been enslaved by Romans, Byzantines, Ottomans, Slavs, Greeks. Albanians never created an empire. Albania never emerged as a great regional power. To this day, we struggle to create a truly united, modern, democratic, secular nation-state. Our ancestors marched to Babylon, Persia, India. They governed foreign empires and countries which became famous because of Albanian blood and toil. But what about Albania? It cannot even be compared to these foreign places. How do we explain this strange phenomenon?