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tintinsgf

Exactly my point and suggested archive clues or evidence!
The Muslim and Ottoman influence in the scenes of Syldavia are there deliberately and to set the scene for content.

Interestingly King Zog's Albania was a mixture of Muslim and Christian religions and people (as were Yugoslavia and Bulgaria too), and although King Zog was a Muslim, he always equally included clerics of all Albania's four main religious groups (Sunni Muslim, Bektashi Sufi Muslim, Greek and Albanian Orthodox, Roman Catholic) in official and Royal events, and on the Proclamation of the Monarchy in 1928 King Zog swore his Oath on both the Bible and the Koran!

I'm not disputing that Syldavia is multi-Balkan inspired (Romania and the Iron Guard, Bulgaria or Serbia and the Cyrillic script, "St.Vladimir's Day" and Slav Christianity, "Macedonia" cigarettes, Bohemian "Ottokar", and many generic or general Balkan and Slav inspirations).

Just that my point in the original posting "Did Bulgaria inspire Syldavia", i think, is a far wider discussion, and that yes of course you could say Bulgaria inspired Syldavia, but far more influences (in my opinion by study, and research) suggest Herge did not include multiple Ottoman/Turkish/Muslim influences and suggestions by chance or accident!

All these (plus the King Zog and Albanian situation of 1938-39) far more show inspiration (with Bulgarian and Romanian Balkan ingredients) from Albania, Turkish and Albanian Macedonia, Muslim Slav Sandzak, Albanian and Serb Kosovo, Muslim Slav Bosniak and Serb Bosnia, Turkish and Slav Pomak Macedonia (Bulgaria and Thrace).

Interestingly there are similar references to some of these inspirations among published Tintinologist's works.
Harry Thompson in his book "Tintin - Herge & His Creation" (2011 reprint, page.104) in his chapter on King Ottokar's Sceptre, writes that the mosques of the Syldavian countryside, and the dress of the peasants both paralleled the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.
Michael Farr in his book "Tintin - The Complete Companion" (page.81), writes that Herge himself wrote in a letter to his publisher that King Zog's Albania was one model that occurred to him in creating Syldavia.
Michael Farr goes on to add that the mosques and minaret dotted landscape, the peasants and their clothes, are all typical of Albania, as well as the comparisons between Syldavia's "Black Pelican" flag and Albania's black eagle flag, and the inclusion of Ottoman crescents in the quarterings of Syldavia's Royal Coat of Arms further suggests Muslim heritage and culture.

Further to the published Tintinologist authors references to Syldavia's inspiration, I have done some more checking, where I came across these interesting and confirming references in Philippe Goddin's book "The Art of Hergé - Inventor of Tintin" Vol.2 1937-49 (Translated by Michael Farr 2009) - on page.50…

"Albania, one of Herge's models for Syldavia, was going through a difficult time.
King Zog, who bore a physical resemblance to (King) Muskar XII, saw his country invaded by Italian troops on April 7th."

Then, on page.53, Goddin writes that Hergé argued to Casterman why Tintin in Syldavia should be urgently published in book form in Belgium only, at that time and therefore at extra cost:

"Syldavia is Albania, an annexation is being prepared"!

It is interesting that the Italian preparations for annexation and invasion of Albania started to gain speed in 1938, just before "King Ottokar's Sceptre" started serialisation in Belgium in August 1938 (Le Petit Vingtieme), and then the invasion of Albania was in April 1939, just before "King Ottokar's Sceptre" serialisation in France in May 1939 (Coeurs Vaillants)!

Another interesting reference from the Hergé Archives (Philippe Goddin) is that Hergé dropped his original idea of a dynastic quarrel, for that of political conspiracy (Syldavia and Borduria).

Syldavia has been a setting for numerous Tintin adventures, but what real country is it based on? I think I read in one of Michael Farr's books that it was supposed to be Poland. Can anyone confirm this?

Moderator Note: Not certain about the Polish reference, butthere is a whole lot of discussion about Albania being the model in this thread, to which your post has been moved.

The Ever-tidy Tintinologist Team