Albanian nationalism in North Macedonia traces its roots in the wider Albanian nationalist movement which emerged as a response to the Eastern Crisis (1878) and proposed partitioning of Ottoman Albanian inhabited lands in the Balkans among neighbouring countries. During the remainder of the late Ottoman period various disagreements culminated between Albanian nationalists and the Ottoman Empire over socio-cultural rights. The Balkan Wars (1912–13) ending with Ottoman defeat, Serbian and later Yugoslav sovereignty over the area generated an Albanian nationalism that has become distinct to North Macedonia stressing Albanian language, culture and identity within the context of state and sociopolitical rights. Pan-Albanian sentiments are also present and historically have been achieved only once when western Macedonia was united by Italian Axis forces to their protectorate of Albania during the Second World War.
Reincorporated within Yugoslavia, Albanian nationalism in North Macedonia has drawn upon sociopolitical influences stemming from Albanian nationalism in Kosovo. Being a minority population, the addition of Islam has also shaped and blended into definitions of local national Albanian identity in opposition to the Orthodox Slavic Macedonian majority. Traditions of armed resistance by local Albanians have occurred over time with the most recent fighting (2001) being between National Liberation Army (NLA) guerilla fighters and the Macedonian armed forces. The conflict ended with the adoption of the Ohrid Agreement (2001) guaranteeing extensive Albanian sociopolitical and linguistic rights in the country satisfying a main tenet of Albanian nationalism in North Macedonia.
History
Late Ottoman period
The Albanian National movement first emerged in Kosovo through the League of Prizren with Albanian delegates in attendance from Macedonia that attempted to prevent Albanian inhabited territories from being awarded to neighbouring states. Muslim Albanians in Macedonia during the Ottoman period were either mainly supporters of the Ottoman Empire or some like Albanian parliamentarians critical of Ottoman measures aimed at curtailing socio-cultural Albanian expression. The province of Monastir was an important centre for the Bulgarian IMRO and the beginnings of an emerging Albanian nationalist movement among its majority Muslim population appeared due to frustration with Ottoman authorities and their ineffectiveness to protect them. Prominent individuals within the Albanian movement from Monastir province believed that joint action with the Young Turk movement (CUP) would improve their situation and the majority membership of the Albanian committee were also CUP members. In 1908, an Ottoman officer of Albanian origin Ahmed Niyazi Bey along with Albanians from the region instigated the Young Turk revolution (1908).
Some people coming from a Balkan Albanian speaking or cultural space and often belonging to the urban elite in Macedonia that migrated to Anatolia did not always identify with a concept of Albanianess. Instead they adopted an Ottoman Turkish outlook and came to refer to themselves as Turks or Ottoman Turkish speaking citizens. Due to the effects of socio-linguistic assimilation, promoters of Albanian nationalism became concerned about migration to Anatolia and degraded Albanians from the lower classes who undertook the journey. In 1908, an alphabet congress in Bitola with Muslim, Catholic and Orthodox delegates in attendance agreed to adopt a Latin character-based Albanian alphabet and the move was considered an important step for Albanian unification. Some conservative Albanian Muslims and clerics along with the Ottoman government opposed the Latin alphabet and preferred an Arabic-based Albanian alphabet due to concerns that a Latin alphabet undermined ties with the Muslim world. The Ottoman state organised a congress in Debar (1909) with the intention that Albanians there declare themselves as Ottomans, promise to defend its territorial sovereignty and adopt an Albanian Arabic character alphabet. Due to the alphabet matter and other Young Turk policies, relations between Albanian elites and nationalists, many Muslim and Ottoman authorities broke down. The Ottoman Young Turk government was concerned that Albanian nationalism might inspire other Muslim nationalities in the direction of nationalism and separatism and threaten the Islam-based unity of the empire.