The Gallipoli War in Albanian cultural memory: Press, scholarship, school textbooks, and folk songs

Abstract

One of the well-known wars that took place during the period of the First World War is the War of Çanakkale, also known in the literature as the Gallipoli War. As is widely known, this war was fought between the Entente Powers on one side and the Ottoman Empire, supported by the Triple Alliance, on the other. In this war, on both sides, several different peoples from various countries of the world also took part. Among the peoples who responded to the call to fight were those from the Balkans, particularly the peoples who were part of the Ottoman Empire. Albanians, as a Balkan people and as a people who were part of the Ottoman Empire until 1912, were among those who responded in considerable numbers to the call for this war. Despite the fact that more than 100 years have passed since this event took place, it is still present in the memory of Albanians. Based on the above, through this presentation we aim to highlight how this war is perceived today among Albanians, specifically how it was presented in the press of the time, how it is treated today by Albanian scholars, how this event has been preserved in folkloric aspects, whether it is presented in Albanian history school textbooks, and so on.