Albania had been under the domination of the
Ottoman Empire since the 14th century, but gained a shaky independence in 1912 after an
uprising against the Turks. After suffering invasions and occupations during the
First and
Second Balkan Wars and the
Great War, Albania achieved a relatively stable degree of statehood. The United States established
diplomatic relations with Albania in 1922.
President Harding appointed the first U.S. Minister to Albania,
Ulysses Grant-Smith, who arrived in
Tirana in December 1922. The first envoys to Albania had the rank of Minister. Albania–United States relations were broken in 1939 upon the
Italian invasion of Albania just prior to the start of
World War II. Relations were not restored until the
downfall of Communism in Europe in 1991. ==Ambassadors==