Tirana and Shkodra 1918-1938

The project investigates the urban, demographic and historical-anthropological developments in the biggest cities of Albania, Tirana und Shkodra. This application is conducted to the currently conducted project (P14350-SOZ) "The 1918 Albanian Population Census: Data Entry and Basic Analyses". The census of 1918, taken by the Austrian military authorities by the end of the World War I and stored in the archive of the Austrian Academy of Sciences covers almost the whole territory of the country. The census was taken very carefully and conducted precisely. lt provides the point of departure of a demographic history of Albania in the 20th century. The new project intends to investigate the urban development and the main demography and historical- anthropological trends in the two cities between 1918 and 1938. The relatively late intensified urban development (accompanied by industrialization and in-migration from the countryside) in the Balkans, which began in the 50ies of the 20th century, has led to a negation of treatment of the pre-modern period by modern urban research in general. The image of the Balkan societies of being `archaic` led to widespread but wrong opinions conceming the low potential of urban development. This view oversees that already an the eve of industrialized modemity the bigger Balkan cities acted as agents of modernity. Especially for the Albanian case this lack of research is more than considerable. The size of both cities was modest in the time period between 1918 and 1938 (Shkodra: 23.099, Tirana 16.513 inhabitants in 1927). This is insofar an advantage as the demographe and historicalanthropological developments can be reconstructed in its very details. The two decades from 1918 to 1938 were chosen because of two reasons: In 1918 the mentioned Austrian census was taken, which provides of a first precise picture of the composition of the cities: of their inhabitants, their professions, religious affiliations, family structures etc. 1938 marks a break in the development of the two cities and Albania as well: The Italian anny occupied the country and integrated it into its kingdom. Urban life changed significantly. The research project will focus an four main aims: 1) Social and economic framework; 2) General demographic trends: 31 Households and families: 41 Urban culture.