Albania during the Balkan Wars
| Albania during the Balkan Wars | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Balkan Wars | ||||||||
 | ||||||||
| ||||||||
| Belligerents | ||||||||
|
 Ottoman Empire | |||||||
| Commanders and leaders | ||||||||
 Ismail QemaliHasan Prishtina  Isa BoletiniIdriz SeferiAzem GalicaÇerçiz Topulli |
 Peter I  Nicholas I  George I Božidar Janković |
Mehmed V | ||||||
| Strength | ||||||||
|
As many as 63,000[1]
| Over 100,000s soldiers | Over 50,000s soldiers | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | ||||||||
|
up to 100,000 killed or died inside of Albania and over 120,000 killed in total[2][3][4][5] 60,000–300,000 expelled (by 1914)[6] | ||||||||
| History of Albania |
|---|
 |
| Timeline |
Independent Albania was proclaimed on 28 November 1912. This chapter of Albanian history was shrouded in controversy and conflict as the larger part of the self-proclaimed region had found itself controlled by the Balkan League states: Serbia, Montenegro and Greece from the time of the declaration until the period of recognition when Albania relinquished many of the lands originally included in the declared state. Since the proclamation of the state in November 1912, the Provisional Government of Albania asserted its control over a small part of central Albania including the important cities of Vlorë and Berat.
Background
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Provisional Government of Albania
1912 was to be an eventful year in Rumelia. From August, the Ottoman Government recognised the autonomy of Albania.[7][8] In October 1912, the Balkan states, following their own national aspirations[9][10] jointly attacked the Ottoman Empire and during the next few months partitioned nearly all of Rumelia, the Ottoman territories in Europe, including those inhabited by the Albanians.[11] In November, with the outbreak of the First Balkan War, the Albanians rose up and declared independence of Albania.[12]
Conflicts of the Balkan Wars in Albania
Serbian campaign
The Serb army first entered Ottoman territory inhabited by ethnic
The army of the Kingdom of Serbia captured Durrës on 29 November 1912 without any resistance. Right after their arrival in Durrës, on 29 November 1912, the Kingdom of Serbia established Drač County, its district offices and appointed the governor of the county, mayor of the city and commander of the military garrison.[15]
During the occupation, the Serbian army committed numerous crimes against the Albanian population "with a view to the entire transformation of the ethnic character of these regions."[11] The Serbian government denied reports of war crimes.[14]
Following the signing of the
Montenegrin campaign
Shkodër and its surrounding had long been desired by Montenegro, although its inhabitants were overwhelmingly ethnic Albanians. The Siege of Scutari took place on 23 April 1913 between the allied forces of Montenegro and Serbia against the forces of the Ottoman Empire and the Provisional Government of Albania.
Montenegro took Shkodër on 23 April 1913, but when the war was over, the
| This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (March 2010) |
Greek campaign
The Greek army entered Albania on November 1912 and its advance was met with local resistance from irregulars. The Greek army in southern Albania engaged in harsh reprisals against civilians.[17]
The Greek Army controlled territory that would be later incorporated into the Albanian state before the declaration of Albanian Independence in Vlorë. On 18 November 1912, after a successful uprising and 10 days prior to the Albanian Declaration of Independence, local Maj.
Greek forces were stationed in what would become southern Albania until March 1914. After the
| This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (March 2010) |
Aftermath
Under strong international pressure, Albania's Balkan neighbours were forced to withdraw from the territory of the internationally recognised state of Albania in 1913. The new Principality of Albania included only about half of the ethnic Albanian population, while a large number of Albanians remained in neighbouring countries.[23]
Sources
- Hall, Richard C. (2002). The Balkan Wars 1912-1913: Prelude to the First World War. Routledge. pp. 46–47. ISBN 978-1-134-58363-8.
References
- ^ Hall 2002, pp. 46–47.
- ^ Geshov, Ivan Evstratiev (1919). La genèse de la guerre mondiale: la débâcle de l'alliance balkanique (in French) (as for example that of the Serbian deputy Triša Kaclerovićh, who, in an article published in 1917 by the International Bulletin, affirms that in 1912-1913 120,000 Albanians were massacred by the Serbian army ed.). P. Haupt. p. 64. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
- ^ Rifati, Fitim. Kryengritjet shqiptare në Kosovë si alternativë çlirimi nga sundimi serbo-malazez (1913-1914) (PDF). Journal of Balkan Studies. p. 84.
According to Serbian Social Democrat politician Kosta Novakovic, from October 1912 to the end of 1913, the Serbo-Montenegrin regime exterminated more than 120,000 Albanians of all ages, and forcibly expelled more than 50,000 Albanians to the Ottoman Empire and Albania.
- ISBN 978-1-78453-609-1.
not including an estimated 100,000 dead in Albania
- ^ Ke, Jing. "Change the Hostile Other into Ingroup Partner: On the Albanian-Serb Relations" (PDF). Kosovo Public Policy Center: 83.
- ^ Štěpánek, Václav (2010). Problem of colonization of Kosovo and Metohija in 1918–1945 (PDF) (in Czech). p. 88.
- ^ Balkan studies, Volume 25 Author Hidryma Meletōn Chersonēsou tou Haimou (Thessalonikē, Greece) Publisher The Institute, 1984 p.385
- ISBN 978-1-84331-229-1p.55
- ^ Balkan studies, Volume 25 Author Hidryma Meletōn Chersonēsou tou Haimou (Thessalonikē, Greece) Publisher The Institute, 1984 p.387
- ISBN 978-0-7146-1974-3p.498
- ^ a b Report of the International Commission to Inquire into the Causes and Conduct of the Balkan War (1914)
- ^ Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia at peace and at war: selected writings, 1983 – 2007, by Sabrina P. Ramet
- ^ Borislav Ratković, Mitar Đurišić, Savo Skoko, Srbija i Crna Gora u Balkanskim ratovima 1912–1913, Belgrade: BIGZ, 1972, pages 50–62.
- ^ a b Leo Freundlich: Albania's Golgotha Archived 31 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Popović, Bogdan; Jovan Skerlić (1924). Srpski književni glasnik, Volume 11. p. 275. Retrieved 6 August 2011.
16. novembra odred je stigao u Drač gde je oduševljeno dočekan od hrišćanskog stanovništva. Odmah su postavljene naše policijske vlasti (načelstvo okruga dračkog, upravnik varoši, predsednik opštine i načelnik vojne stanice) i potom je bilo preduzeto utvrđivanje Drača... [transl.: 'On 16 November (i.e. Gregorian 29 November) the army units arrived in Durres, where they were welcomed warmly by the Christian population. They immediately began to organize our police authorities (the county of Durres, a city major, a president of the town and commander of the military station) and then set up further fortification of Durres.']
- ^ Edith Durham, The Struggle for Scutari (Turk, Slav, and Albanian), (Edward Arnold, 1914)
- ISBN 978-1785337758.
The military authorities also endorsed progressively harsher measures against civilians. Irregulars were shot on the spot without a trial. The killing of prisoners, which was initially rare, became customary. By the time the Greek army had reached Albania, where it again met resistance, such practices had become the norm.
- ^ Kondis Basil. Greece and Albania, 1908–1914. Institute for Balkan Studies, 1976, p. 93.
- ISBN 978-0-415-22946-3.
- ISBN 978-1-86064-541-9.
- ISBN 978-1-4051-8681-0.
- ^ The Albanians: a modern history, by Miranda Vickers (Page 80)
- ^ The Conference of London 1913 Archived 17 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Robert Elsie.
See also
- Albanian National Revival
- Massacres of Albanians in the Balkan Wars
- Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus
- Siege of Shkoder