Editing Zog I (section)

==President of Albania==
[[File:Flamuri i Kryetarit të Republikës (1925–1928).svg|thumb|150px|Standard used by Ahmet Zogu as President of the First Republic.]]
Zogu was officially elected as the first [[List of Presidents of Albania|President]] of [[Albanian Republic (1925–1928)|Albania]] by the Constituent Assembly on 21 January 1925, taking office on 1 February for a seven-year term. A new constitution vested Zogu with sweeping executive and legislative powers, to the point that he was effectively a dictator.<ref>{{Citation |title=Interwar Albania: The Rise of Authoritarianism, 1925–1939 |date=2022 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/concise-history-of-albania/interwar-albania-the-rise-of-authoritarianism-19251939/5111DEDE9F2BCE551D621E4EEB09D6F2 |work=A Concise History of Albania |series=Cambridge Concise Histories |pages=191–225 |editor-last=Fischer |editor-first=Bernd J. |publisher=Cambridge University Press |doi=10.1017/9781139084611.009 |isbn=978-1107017733 |editor2-last=Schmitt |editor2-first=Oliver Jens}}</ref> He had the right to appoint all major government personnel, as well as one-third of the lower house.<ref name="cs" />

Zogu's government followed the European model, though large parts of Albania still maintained a social structure unchanged from the days of Ottoman rule, and most villages were serf plantations run by the Beys. On 28 June 1925, Zogu ceded [[Sveti Naum]] to [[Yugoslavia]] in exchange for [[Buçimas|Peshkëpi (Pëshkupat)]] village and other concessions.<ref name="Pearson">{{cite book|title=Albania and King Zog: independence, republic and monarchy 1908–1939|last=Pearson|first=Owen|year=2004|publisher=IB Tauris|page=248|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3_Sh3y9IMZAC&q=Sh%C3%ABn+Naum&pg=PA248|isbn=978-1845110130}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.yllpress.info/14392/mehdi-bej-frasheri-pse-ia-dhashe-shen-naumin-serbise-.html| access-date=10 January 2014| language=sq| title=Mehdi Bej Frashëri: "Pse ia dhashë Shën-Naumin Serbisë"| trans-title=Mehdi bey Frasheri: Why St Naum was given to Serbia| date=5 August 2010| author=Dashnor Kaloçi| quote=...por kufini në vend që të vazhdonte që nga kodra e Zagoriçanit gjer te Qafa e Plloçit, ku ndodheshin dy versante: versanti i Maliqit dhe Liqeni i Ohrit, vija e kufinit të hidhej ke Mali i Thatë, e të përfshinte katundin shqiptaro-orthodoks Pëshkupat...| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140110231300/http://www.yllpress.info/14392/mehdi-bej-frasheri-pse-ia-dhashe-shen-naumin-serbise-.html| archive-date=10 January 2014| url-status=dead}}</ref>

Zogu enacted several major reforms. His principal ally during this period was the [[Fascist Italy (1922–1943)|Kingdom of Italy]], which lent his government funds in exchange for a greater role in Albania's fiscal policy. His administration was marred by disputes with [[Kosovo Albanians|Kosovo Albanian]] leaders, primarily [[Hasan Bej Prishtina|Hasan Prishtina]] and [[Bajram Curri]], among others.
[[File:Zog I of Albania Officer's Sword.jpg|left|thumb|150px|Royal sword commemorating the marriage of King Zog I]]
On the debit side, Zogu's Albania was a police state in which civil liberties were all but nonexistent and the press was closely censored. Political opponents were imprisoned and often killed. For all intents and purposes, he held all governing power in the nation.<ref name=cs>{{csref|country=albania|author=Charles Sudetic|section=Interwar Albania, 1918–41}}</ref>