Chaulev’s Considerations on the Albanians and Shqipnia (Albania)

Peter Chaulev (Ohrid, 1880 ‒ Milan, 1924), was one of the most important figures in the Macedonian liberation movement. We have followed his rolethrough historical events and processes that have marked the most turbulent period in Macedonian history, namely theperiod of the national-liberation and revival movements. As an activist of IMRO we met him as a teacher in the villages surrounding Orhis, where, from 1899, he also appeared as an organizer of the revolutionary committees in the region of Ohrid, Prespa and Florina. At the time of the Ilinden Uprising,he appeared as a voivode (governor) in the Ohrid area. During the Young Turk Revolution in 1908,he againreturned to his hometown of Ohrid, where he was arrested and jailedby the newly constituted authorities. However, he was released under the pressure of the residents. His revolutionary activity is significant also in relation to the cooperation with Albanian national activists, especially during the period of the Balkan wars. The result of this cooperation was also the so called Ohrid-Debar Uprising in September of 1913. Although, in the beginning of the Uprising, the Macedonian and Albanian chetas had significant successes, however,the supremacy of the Serbian army engaged in suppressing it, hadinflicted a major defeat on the rebels. After the suppression of the Uprising, Peter Chaulev took refuge at the territory of the Albanian state as to avoid the wrath of the Serbian authorities stationed in the border areas. Chaulev’sstay in Tirana and other Albanian cities enabled him to easily observe the day-to-day life of the population, their customs, but also the state of political turmoil in the country. He wrote and published his observations in the book titled Skipnia (Albania), in Constantinoplein 1924.