During classical antiquity, Albania was home to several Illyrian tribes such as the Albanoi, Ardiaei, Bylliones, Dassaretii, Enchele, Labeatae, Taulantii, Parthini, Penestae, Amantes, and many others, but also Bryges and Epirote tribes, as well as several Greek colonies established on the Illyrian coast in cooperation with the local Illyrians, notably Epidamnos-Dyrrhachium and Apollonia.
The Enchele's polity was the earliest to emerge and centered in Albania. Also the earliest known Illyrian king, Bardylis, emerged in what is now Albania around 400 BC, aiming to make Illyria a regional power interfering with Macedon. He united many southern Illyrian tribes under his realm and defeated the Macedonians and Molossians several times, expanding his dominion over Upper Macedonia and Lynkestis. Before the Rise of Macedon Illyrians were the dominant power in the region. The kingdom of the Taulantii under Glaukias' rule was based in central Albania and dominated southern Illyrian affairs in the late 4th century BC, exerting great influence on the Epirote state through the close ties with the Molossian king Pyrrhus. Under the Ardiaei the greatest known Illyrian kingdom emerged in the 3rd century BC encompassing also northern Albania in its core territory. It became a formidable power both on land and sea by assembling a great army and fleet, and directly ruling over a large area made up of different Illyrian tribes and cities that stretched from the Neretva River in the north to the borders of Epirus in the south, while its influence extended throughout Epirus and down into Acarnania. The dominant power of the Illyrian kingdom in the region ceased after the Illyrian defeat in the Illyro-Roman Wars (229–168 BC). The last known "King of the Illyrians" was Gentius, of the Labeatae tribe.
In the early 2nd century BC, the area was annexed by Rome and became part of the Roman provinces of Dalmatia, Macedonia and Moesia Superior. Afterwards, the territory remained under Roman and Byzantine control until the Slavic migrations of the 7th century. It was integrated into the Bulgarian Empire in the 9th century.
In the Middle Ages, the Principality of Arbër and a Sicilian union known as the medieval Kingdom of Albania were established. Some areas became part of the Venetian and later Serbian Empire. Between the mid-14th and the late 15th centuries, most of modern-day Albania was dominated by Albanian principalities, when the Albanian principalities fell to the rapid invasion of the Ottoman Empire. Albania remained under Ottoman control as part of the province of Rumelia until 1912, with some interruptions during the 18th and 19th century with the establishment of autonomy-minded Albanian lords. The first independent Albanian state was founded by the Albanian Declaration of Independence following a short occupation by the Kingdom of Serbia. The formation of an Albanian national consciousness dates to the later 19th century and is part of the larger phenomenon of the rise of nationalism under the Ottoman Empire.
A short-lived monarchical state known as the Principality of Albania (1914–1925) was succeeded by an even shorter-lived first Albanian Republic (1925–1928). Another monarchy, the Kingdom of Albania (1928–1939), replaced the republic. The country endured occupation by Italy just prior to World War II (1939–1945). After the Armistice of Cassibile between Italy and the Allies, Albania was occupied by Nazi Germany. Following the collapse of the Axis powers, Albania became a one-party communist state, the People's Socialist Republic of Albania, which for most of its duration was dominated by dictator Enver Hoxha (died 1985). Hoxha's political heir Ramiz Alia oversaw the disintegration of the "Hoxhaist" state during the wider collapse of the Eastern Bloc in the later 1980s.
The communist regime collapsed in 1990, and the former communist Party of Labour of Albania was routed in elections in March 1992, amid economic collapse and social unrest. The unstable economic situation led to an Albanian diaspora, mostly to Italy, Greece, Switzerland, Germany and North America during the 1990s. The crisis peaked in the Albanian Turmoil of 1997. An amelioration of the economic and political conditions in the early years of the 21st century enabled Albania to become a full member of NATO in 2009. The country is applying to join the European Union.
Prehistory
Mesolithic & Neolithic
The first traces of human presence in Albania, dating to the Middle Paleolithic and Upper Paleolithic eras, were found in the village of Xarrë, near Sarandë and Dajti near Tirana.The Prehistory of the Balkans; and the Middle East and the Aegean world, tenth to eighth centuries B.C. John Boardman p.189–90 The objects found in a cave near Xarrë include flint and jasper objects and fossilized animal bones, while those found at Mount Dajt comprise bone and stone tools similar to those of the Aurignacian culture. The Paleolithic finds of Albania show great similarities with objects of the same era found at Crvena Stijena in Montenegro and north-western Greece. There are several archaeological sites in Albania that carry artifacts dating from the Neolithic era, and they are dated between 6,000 and the end of the EBA. The most important are found in Maliq, Gruemirë, Dushman (Dukagjin), on the Erzen river (close to Shijak), near Durrës, Ziçisht, Nepravishtë, Finiq, and Butrint.
Bronze Age The next period in the prehistory of Albania coincides with the Indo-Europeanization of the Balkans, which involved Pontic steppe migrations which brought the Indo-European languages in the region and the formation of the Paleo-Balkan peoples as the result of fusion between the Indo-European-speaking population and the Neolithic population. In Albania, consecutive movements from the northern parts of the region which became known as Illyria in the Iron Age had a significant impact in the formation of the new post-Indo-European migration population. The ancestral groups to Iron Age Illyrians are usually identified in Albania towards the end of the EBA with movements from north of Albania and are linked to the construction of tumuli burial grounds of patrilineally organized clans. Some of the first tumuli date to the 26th century BCE. These burial mounds belong to the southern expression of the Adriatic-Ljubljana culture (related to Cetina culture) which moved southwards along the Adriatic from the northern Balkans. The same community built similar mounds in Montenegro (Rakića Kuće) and northern Albania (Shtoj).
In the late Bronze Age and early Iron Age a number of possible population movements occurred in the territories of modern Albania, for example the settlement of the Bryges in areas of southern Albania-northwestern Greece and Illyrian tribes into central Albania.Nicholas Geoffrey Lemprière Hammond. Studies: Further studies on various topics . A.M. Hakkert, 1993, p. 231: "The leading dans of both groups buried their dead under a circular tumulus of soil in the second millennium BC The main reservoir of the Greek speakers was central Albania and Epirus, and it was from there that the founders of Mycenaean civilization came to Mycenae, c. 1600 BC, and buried their nobles in Grave Circle B. Further waves of immigrants passing through and from Epirus people the Greek peninsula and islands the last wave, called Dorians, settling from 1100 onwards. The lands they left in central Albania were occupied during the so-called Dark Age (U10-800BC) by Illyrians, whose main habitat was in the area now called Bosnia," The latter derived from early an Indo-European presence in the western Balkan Peninsula. The movement of the Byrgian tribes can be assumed to coincide with the beginning Iron Age in the Balkans during the early 1st millennium BC.The later (The Peoples of Europe) by John Wilkes, , 1996, page 39: "... the other hand, the beginnings of the Iron Age around 1000 BC is held to coincide with the formation of several different peoples in Albania and other countries. ..."
Antiquity
Illyrians
The Illyrians were a group of tribes who inhabited the western Balkans during the classical times. The territory the tribes covered came to be known as Illyria to Greek and Roman authors, corresponding roughly to the area between the Adriatic Sea in the west, the Drava river in the north, the Morava river in the east and the mouth of Vjosë river in the south.The Illyrians (The Peoples of Europe) by John Wilkes, 1996, , page 92, "Appian's description of the Illyrian territories records a southern boundary with Chaonia and Thesprotia, where ancient Epirus began south of river Aoous (Vjose)" also map Cambridge University Press. The Cambridge ancient history . 2000. , page 261,"...down to the mouth of Aous" The first account of the Illyrian peoples comes from the Coastal Passage contained in a periplus, an ancient Greek text of the middle of the 4th century BC.The Illyrians (The Peoples of Europe) by John Wilkes, 1996, page 94
Several Illyrian tribes that resided in the region of Albania were the Ardiaei, Taulantii and Albanoi(Ptolemy. Geogr. Ill 12,20) in central Albania,Appian, The Foreign Wars, III, 1.2 the Parthini, the Abri and the Cavii in the north, the Enchelei in the east,Wilkes, J. J. The Illyrians, 1992, , Page 96,"... 25 Enchelei the Bylliones in the south and several others. In the westernmost parts of the territory of Albania, along with the Illyrian tribes, lived the Bryges,The Illyrians (The Peoples of Europe) by John Wilkes,1996, , page 111. a Phrygian people, and in the southNicholas Geoffrey Lemprière Hammond, Guy Thompson Griffith. A History of Macedonia: Historical geography and prehistory. Clarendon Press, 1972, p. 92. lived the Greek tribe of the Chaonians.Boardman, John; Hammond, Nicholas Geoffrey Lemprière (1982), The Cambridge Ancient History: The Expansion of the Greek World, Eighth to Six Centuries B.C, Cambridge, p. 261Wilkes, John J. (1995), The Illyrians, Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, , p. 92
In the 4th century BC, the Illyrian king Bardylis united several Illyrian tribes and engaged in conflicts with Macedon to the south-east, but was defeated. Bardyllis was succeeded by Grabos II,Harding, p. 93. Grabos became the most powerful Illyrian king after the death of Bardylis in 358. then by Bardylis II,"The Journal of Hellenic Studies by Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies", 1973, p. 79. Cleitus was evidently the son of Bardylis II the grandson of the very old Bardylis who had fallen in battle against Phillip II in 385 BC. and then by Cleitus the Illyrian, who was defeated by Alexander the Great.
Around 230 BC, the Ardiaei briefly attained military might under the reign of king Agron. Agron extended his rule over other neighbouring tribes as well. He raided parts of Epirus, Epidamnus, and the islands of Corcyra and Pharos. His state stretched from Narona in Dalmatia south to the river Aoos and Corcyra. During his reign, the Ardiaean Kingdom reached the height of its power. The army and fleet made it a major regional power in the Balkans and the southern Adriatic. The king regained control of the Adriatic with his warships (lembi), a domination once enjoyed by the Liburnians. None of his neighbours were nearly as powerful. Agron divorced his (first) wife.