1917?1920 territorial administration of Albania by Italy
Albanian Republic
|
---|
|
Motto:
Atdheu mbi te gjitha
"Homeland above all"
|
Anthem:
Himni i Flamurit
"Hymn to the Flag"
|
![Albania after fragmentation in 1916. The lower green area indicates the Italian protectorate as of summer 1917. In autumn 1918, it was enlarged to encompass the former Austro-Hungarian area.](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/75/1914_albania_en.svg/250px-1914_albania_en.svg.png) Albania after fragmentation in 1916. The lower green area indicates the Italian protectorate as of summer 1917. In autumn 1918, it was enlarged to encompass the former Austro-Hungarian area.
|
Status
| Protectorate
of the
Kingdom of Italy
|
---|
Capital
| Vlore
|
---|
Prefect
|
|
---|
Historical era
| Interwar period
|
---|
|
? Established
| 23 June 1917
|
---|
? Disestablished
| 2 August 1920
|
---|
|
ISO 3166 code
| AL
|
---|
|
The
Italian protectorate over Albania
was established by the
Kingdom of Italy
during
World War I
in an effort to secure a
de jure
independent
Albania
under Italian control. It existed from 23 June 1917 until the summer of 1920.
History
[
edit
]
The
Kingdom of Italy
occupied the port of
Vlore
in December 1914, but had to withdraw after the Austrian-Hungarian invasion in late 1915?early 1916, and the fall of
Durres
on 27 February 1916. In May 1916, the Italian XVI Corps, some 100,000 men under the command of General
Settimio Piacentini
, returned and occupied part of southern
Albania
by the autumn 1916,
[1]
while the
French
army occupied
Korce
and its surrounding areas on 29 November 1916. The
Italian
forces (in
Gjirokaster
) and
French
forces (in Korce), according mainly to the development of the
Balkans theatre
, entered the area of former
Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus
(controlled by the Greek minority) in autumn 1916, after approval of the Triple Entente.
The establishment of the
Autonomous Albanian Republic of Korce
was done on 10 December 1916, by French authorities with a protocol, according to which an autonomous province would be established on the territories of Korce,
Bilishti
,
Kolonja
,
Opar
and Gora in eastern Albania.
Italian soldiers in
Vlore
,
Albania
, during
World War I
. The tricolour flag of Italy bearing the
Savoy
royal shield is shown hanging alongside an Albanian flag from the balcony of the Italian
prefecture
headquarters.
On 12 December 1916,
Italy
asked for explanations from the
Quai d'Orsay
, through its ambassador, because the establishment of the Autonomous Albanian Republic of Korce violated the
Treaty of London
.
[2]
Austria-Hungary
used French precedent in Korce to justify the proclamation of independence of Albania under its protectorate on 3 January 1917, in
Shkodra
.
The Kingdom of Italy did the same when proclaiming independence of Albania under its protectorate on 23 June 1917, in
Gjirokastra
.
[3]
General
Giacinto Ferrero
proclaimed on that day the Italian Protectorate and the next weeks occupied
Ioannina
in
Epirus
.
[4]
Neither Great Britain nor France had been consulted beforehand, and they did not give any official recognition to the Italian Protectorate.
[5]
This Albanian republic under the leadership of
Turhan Permeti
, protected by 100,000 soldiers of the Italian Army, adopted officially a red flag with a black eagle in the middle, but raised a storm of protests even in the Italian Parliament.
[6]
1917 postcard from Italian-occupied
Sarande
In autumn 1918, the Italians expanded their Protectorate (without adding anything officially to Albania) to areas of northern
Greece
(around
Kastoria
) and western
Macedonia
(around
Bitola
), conquered from the Bulgarians and Ottomans. On 25 September the Italian 35 Division reached and occupied
Krusevo
deep inside western Macedonia.
[7]
In October 1918, the Italian
XVI Corpo d' Armata
(nearly four divisions, with 2 Albanian volunteers battalions) conquered all north-central Albania from the Austrians: on 14 October
Durres
, the next day
Tirana
and on 31 October
Scutari
; finally on 3 November
Ulcinj
and
Bar
in coastal
Montenegro
were taken.
[8]
In November 1918, when World War I finished, nearly all what is now contemporary Albania was under the Italian Protectorate. A
Regency
government was announced following the end of the war. The French expedition withdrew from
Korce
in May 1920, resulting in the area being ceded to the Regency.
[9]
Since then and for nearly two years until summer 1920 the Italian Protectorate over Albania was administered by the Italian government: in a country that lacked nearly everything after centuries of Ottoman rule, were built 546 km (339 mi) of new roads, 110 km (68 mi) of new railroads, 3,000 km (1,900 mi) of telegraph lines, 9 teleferics, a few hospitals and some modern administrative buildings.
[10]
After World War I
[
edit
]
A delegation sent by a postwar
Albanian National Assembly
that met at
Durres
in December 1918 defended Albanian interests at the
Paris Peace Conference
, but the conference denied Albania official representation. The National Assembly, anxious to keep Albania intact, expressed willingness to accept Italian protection and even an Italian prince as a ruler so long as it would mean Albania did not lose territory.
But in January 1920, at the
Paris Peace Conference
, negotiators from
France
,
Britain
,
Italy
and
Greece
agreed to divide Albania among Yugoslavia, Italy, and Greece as a diplomatic expedient aimed at finding a compromise solution to the territorial conflict between Italy and Yugoslavia. The deal gave the
Valona
territory and areas of south-central Albania to Italy.
This deal created huge anti-Italian resentment between many Albanians and in May 1920 the Italians (even because of demobilisation of their troops after World War I ended) withdrew to some important cities (Durazzo, Scutari, Tirane, Valona, Tepelani and
Clisura
) and their surrounding areas: subsequently they were forced to fight the
Vlora War
. The revolutionary movements
[11]
in Italy made the presence of the last 20,000 soldiers of the Italian Army in Albania basically impossible.
On August 2, 1920, the Albanian-Italian protocol was signed, upon which Italy retreated from Albania (maintaining only the island of
Saseno
). This put an end to Italian claims for Vlora and for a mandate over Albania, rescuing the territory of the Albanian state from further partition.
[12]
The desire to compensate for this retreat would be one of
Benito Mussolini
's main motives in
invading Albania in 1939
.
[13]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Thomas, Nigel (25 July 2001).
Armies in the Balkans 1914-18
.
ISBN
9781841761947
. Retrieved
27 December
2015
.
- ^
Popescu, Stefan.
"Les francais et la republique de Kortcha (1916-1920)"
. France: Cairn info.
doi
:
10.3917/gmcc.213.0077
. Archived from
the original
on 26 January 2011
. Retrieved
17 January
2011
.
La signature de ce Protocole contrevient aux stipulations du traite de Londres ...Par consequent, l'Italie demanda des explications au quai d'Orsay, par l'intermediaire de son ambassadeur, le 12 decembre 1916.
- ^
Jaume Olle (15 July 1996).
"Republic of Korce (1917-1918)"
.
Archived
from the original on 24 November 2011
. Retrieved
12 January
2011
.
On 23 June 1917, Italy proclaimed the independence of Albania under her protectorate, justifying this with the French precedent in Korce. Austria-Hungary had done it before on 3 January 1917.
- ^
"PRIMA GUERRA MONDIALE - LA STORIA CON I BOLLETTINI UFFICIALI"
. Retrieved
27 December
2015
.
- ^
Southern Albania, 1912-1923
.
ISBN
9780804761710
. Retrieved
27 December
2015
.
- ^
Southern Albania, 1912-1923
.
ISBN
9780804761710
. Retrieved
27 December
2015
.
- ^
(in Italian)
War in 1918 Albania
- ^
(in Italian)
Italians in Albania during WWI: a forgotten war
- ^
"Albania during the First World War (1914?1920)"
. Retrieved
2 November
2021
.
- ^
(in Italian)
"Commissione d'inchiesta per l'impresa d'Albania del 1914-21"
- ^
"Gli Italiani si ritirano dall'Albania"
. Retrieved
27 December
2015
.
- ^
"Albania - Albania's Reemergence after World War I"
. Retrieved
27 December
2015
.
- ^
Pearson, Owen (2004).
Albania in the Twentieth Century, A History
.
ISBN
9781845110130
. Retrieved
27 December
2015
.
Bibliography
[
edit
]
- (in Italian)
Biagini, Antonello.
Storia dell'Albania contemporanea
. Bompiani editore. Milano, 2005
- (in Italian)
Borgogni, Massimo.
Tra continuita e incertezza. Italia e Albania (1914-1939). La strategia politico-militare dell'Italia in Albania fino all'Operazione "Oltre Mare Tirana"
. 2007 Franco Angeli
- (in Italian)
Bucciol, Eugenio.
Albania: fronte dimenticato della Grande guerra
. Nuova Dimensione Edizioni. Portogruaro, 2001
ISBN
88-85318-61-4
- Bushkoff, Leonard.
Albania, history of
. Collier's Encyclopedia. vol. 1. NY: P.F. Collier, L.P, 1996.
- Nigel, Thomas.
Armies in the Balkans 1914-18
. Osprey Publishing. Oxford, 2001
ISBN
1-84176-194-X
- Pearson, Owens.
Albania in the twentieth century: a history (Volume 3)
. Publisher I.B.Tauris. London, 2004
ISBN
1-84511-013-7
- Steiner, Zara.
The lights that failed: European international history, 1919-1933
. Oxford University Press. Oxford, 2005.
- Stickney, Edith.
Southern Albania
. Stanford University Press. Stanford, 1929
ISBN
0-8047-6171-X
External links
[
edit
]