History of Albania of young men led by Mehdi Frasheri, an enlightened Bektashi administrator, won a commitment from Italy to fulfill financial promises that Mussolini had made to Albania and to grant new loans for harbor improvements at Durrës and other projects that kept the Albanian government afloat. Soon Italians began taking positions in Albania's civil service, and Italian settlers were allowed into the country. Mussolini's forces overthrew King Zog when Italy invaded Albania in 1939. Starting in 1928, but especially during the Great Depression, the government of King Zog, which brought law and order to the country, began to cede Albania's sovereignty
Military history of Italy Once King Zog declined, Mussolini said that he must accept the demands by 7 April 1939, or Italy would invade. The invaders had already disembarked to invade before that time. General Alfredo Guzzoni led two Bersaglieri divisions with a battalion of tanks in the invasion, where resistance was minor, though various organizational problems in the Italian military showed themselves. King Zog fled the country to Greece, was granted asylum in Athens and eventually got to London. On 12 April, the Albanian parliament voted to unite their country with Italy, giving Victor Emmanuel III the Albanian crown. On May 22, 1939,