Second Congress of Manastir

The Second Congress of Manastir (Albanian: Kongresi i dytë i Manastirit) was an Albanian congress held on 2–3 April 1910 in Manastir, back then Ottoman Empire, today's Bitola in the Republic of Macedonia. It dealt with the challenges that the Albanian language and schools faced at the time within the context of the empire, and the platform to overcome them.

The First Congress of Manastir of 14–22 November 1908, known as the congress of the Albanian alphabet, established a Latin script based alphabet to be used as a standard for Albanian writings, marking an important moment in the history of the Albanians. It was accepted with enthusiasm by the Albanian patriotic circles, but was not welcomed by the Ottoman authorities, the Greek Orthodox Church (there was no Albanian Orthodox church back then), and the pro-Turkish Muslim leaders. The Ottomans organized a joint Ottoman-Albanian congress in July 1909, known as the Congress of Dibra. It was seen as an attempt to convince the Muslim Albanian population to demand an alphabet based on the Arabic script, since the Latin script was "not conform the teaching of the Quran". Nevertheless, this attempt was not successful due a strong stance of a fraction of the Albanian delegates. Moreover, the Albanian schools continued to spread. During 2–9 September 1909, another congress was held in Elbasan. It dealt primary with the approach on spreading the Albanian education, considering the standard Alphabet a closed chapter. The Normal School of Elbasan was established, a milestone of the Albanian education marking the first high-education institution. The normal school prepared teachers who would be placed in newly established schools within the Albanian communities. The opposition from the pro-Turkish fractions would continue, encouraged by the authorities. An open meeting was organized in Monastir on 6 February 1910 by Rexhep Voka from Tetovo and Arif Hikmet of Kumanovo, where it was demanded the introduction of an Arabic-scripts based alphabet for the Muslim population. Similar meetings were organized in Elbasan and Ohrid (where around 3,000 people attended) soon after. As a countermeasure, the Albanian nationalists organized on 27 February another meeting at Shën Ilia near Korçë in support of the Latin-script alphabet, such meeting would be known later in the Albanian historiography as the "Albanian alphabet meeting". At the point, it was decided that another follow up congress should be held in order to bring a final end to the oppositions affirming the decisions of the first congress.

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