George Castriot, commonly known as Skanderbeg (from Turkish:İskenderBey; Albanian:Skënderbej or Gjergj Kastrioti Skënderbeu; 1405 – 17 January 1468), was a 15th-century Albanianwarrior and nobleman.
Skanderbeg was born in 1405 to the noble Kastrioti (or Castriota) family. Sultan Murad II took him hostage at a young age and he served the Ottoman Empire during the next twenty years. He was appointed as sanjakbey of the Sanjak of Dibra by the Ottomans in 1440. In 1443, he deserted the Ottomans during the Battle of Niš and became the ruler of Krujë, Svetigrad, and Modrič. In 1444, he was appointed as a commander of the short-lived League of Lezhë, which proclaimed him "Chief of the League of the Albanian people". He was admired for defending the region of Albania against the Ottoman Empire for 25 years. Despite his military valor he was not able to do more than to hold his own possessions within the very small area in northern Albania where almost all of his victories against the Ottomans took place.Skanderbeg's rebellion was not a general uprising of Albanians, due to the fact that he did not gain support in the Ottoman-controlled south of Albania or Venetian-controlled north of Albania. His followers, along with Albanians, included Slavs, Vlachs, and Greeks. For 25 years, from 1443 to 1468, Skanderbeg's 10,000 man army marched through Ottoman territory winning against consistently larger and better supplied Ottoman forces.
Skanderbeg was an Albanian military unit assigned to the 14th Italian Army Corp, composed of Albanian soldiers recruited in Albania during the Second World War. This unit participated in the Italian counteroffensive against insurgents in Montenegro, during the Uprising in Montenegro in 1941. Skanderbeg was composed of four battalions and had the strength of one division or two regiments.
Uprising in Montenegro
During the Italian offensive this military unit operated on the territory between Skadar Lake, Bar and Ulcinj. On 15 July 1941, two days after the outbreak of the uprising, the supreme command of Italian forces in Albania decided to support Italian forces in Montenegro by moving Skanderbeg to Ulcinj. On 17 July Biroli ordered Skanderbeg to seize area on the border between Albania and Montenegro, without crossing it. On 22 July Skanderbeg participated in cleansing action in Mikulići, near Bar.
The first military engagement of this unit was on 4 August 1941 in the area assigned to Division Venezia. Skanderbeg was engaged as vanguard of Italian divisions.
The steamboatSkanderbeg was used for transport of the goods and passengers mostly on the Skadar Lake in Montenegro in the first half of the 20th century. It was built in Trieste in 1914 or 1916. Skanderbeg's first owner was Lloyd's office in Trieste (then in Austria-Hungary). The ownership over Skanderbeg was transferred to Lloyd's office in Shkoder (its agent Tef Curani). When Italy took control over Trieste the ownership was transferred to Lloyd Triestino in Trieste. In 1924 Yugoslav a shipping company from Cetinje bought Skanderbeg to use it for transport of the goods and passengers over the Skadar Lake. Its route was between Rijeka Crnojevića and Shkoder. In April 1941, after the Axis occupied Yugoslavia during the Second World War, Skanderbeg was confiscated by Italians, together with all boats on Skadar Lake. On 12 February 1942 Skanderbeg was captured and sank by Yugoslav Partisans who scuttled it. Its wreck is in good condition, 11m (36ft) below the surface of the water and can be seen during the low water level.
Actors and locals in the Zadrima region in northern Albania reenacted the marriage of Albania’s medieval hero, GeorgeKastriot ‘Scanderbeg’, in the grounds of an ancient church, drawing on the colourful traditions of the area ....
PM Edi Rama's decision that the national anthem be sung in all state schools at least once a week has not been universally welcomed, with some calling it a nationalist stunt ....
