Italy presented an ultimatum to the government of Albania on March 25, 1939, making various demands including that Italian forces should control strategic points, that Italian farmers should settle in Albania with the rights of Albanian citizens, and that a customs union should be introduced. A response was required by 6 April 1939. This was kept secret by the Albanian government which offered a counterproposal on 5 April. This in turn was disregarded by Italy which started landing troops on 7 April (Good Friday). Little organized resistance was offered although there was some resistance by individual soldiers, sailors, and armed civilians. One such stand delayed the Italian transit from Durrës to Tirana. Despite this, Durrës was captured on 7 April, Tirana the following day, Shkodër and Gjirokastër on 9 April, and almost the entire country on 10 April. King Zog at once fled. On 12 April a constituent assembly composed of people who had previously entered into secret relations with the Italian embassy in Tirana proclaimed King Victor Emmanuel III as king of Albania. Francesco Jacomoni (former Italian Ambassador to Albania ) was appointed as his lieutenant. A new Albanian government was formed under Shefqey bey Verlaci, and signed with Jacomoni a series of conventions. The Albanian army was suppressed as an independent force; Albania would no longer have any parliament or diplomatic relations. The two countries were proclaimed united.
At the time, this occupation was viewed in the West as part of a coordinated plot by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. It is now known that it was more nearly a riposte by Mussolini to the German annexation of Bohemia and Moravia on 15 March 1939 which, shaking Europe like a thunderclap, precipitated the end of the Western powers' policy of appeasement. The Italian motives were, however, mixed. Albania, politically and economically undermined and incapable of serious resistance, appeared as an easy victory. The territory later served as a springboard for the Italian invasion of Greece launched on 28 October 1940.
From:
http://pro.corbis.com/default.asp
