The challenge for the predominance in Albania and, therefore, in the lower Adriatic was the other (less known) aspect of the Italian-Yugoslavian rivalry that arose after the First World War. The article analyzes the stages that, from the Paris negotiations to the Treaty of Tirana of 2 November 1927, characterized the harsh political and diplomatic confron-tation between Rome and Belgrade, resolved by the superior economic means available to Italy’s ambitions and by King Zog’s desire to have a munificent protector who was, however, geographically at a safe distance.
