Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus
Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus Αὐτόνομος Δημοκρατία τῆς Βορείου Ἠπείρου Aftónomos Dimokratía tis Voreíou Ipeírou | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1914 | |||||||||
Anthem: Muslim | |||||||||
Demonym(s) | Northern Epirot | ||||||||
Government | Provisional | ||||||||
President | |||||||||
• 1914 | Georgios Christakis-Zografos | ||||||||
History | |||||||||
28 February 1914 | |||||||||
17 May 1914 | |||||||||
• 2nd Greek Administration | 27 October 1914 | ||||||||
Population | |||||||||
• Estimate | 223,000 | ||||||||
| |||||||||
Today part of | Albania |
The Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus (
The area, known as
In May, the autonomy was confirmed by the
Background
Northern Epirus and the Balkan Wars
In March 1913, during the First Balkan War, the Greek Army entered
At the same time, the Albanian
The last Ottoman census, conducted in 1908, counted 128,000 Orthodox Christians and 95,000 Muslims in the region.[11] Moreover, they expressed a strong pro-Greek feeling, and were the first to support the following breakaway autonomist movement.[12] Considering these conditions, loyalty in Northern Epirus to an Albanian government competing in anarchy, whose leaders were mostly Muslim, could not be guaranteed.[13]
Delineation of the Greek–Albanian border
The concept of an independent Albanian state was supported by the Great European Powers, particularly
In September 1913, an International Commission of the European Powers convened to determine the boundary between Greece and Albania. The delegates of the commission aligned themselves into two camps: those of
Treaty of London and Protocol of Florence
Though the
Reactions
Declaration of Independence
This turn of events was highly unpopular among the pro-Greek party in the area. The pro-Greek Epirotes felt betrayed by the Greek government, which had done nothing to support them with firearms. Additionally, the gradual withdrawal of the Greek army would enable Albanian forces to take control of the region. To avert this possibility, the Epirotes decided to declare their own separate political identity and self-governance.
Because of this inalienable right of each people, the Great Powers' desire to create for Albania a valid and respected title of dominion over our land and to subjugate us is powerless before the fundamentals of divine and human justice. Neither does Greece have the right to continue in occupation of our territory merely to betray it against our will to a foreign tyrant.
Free of all ties, unable to live united under these conditions with Albania, Northern Epirus proclaims its independence and calls upon its citizens to undergo every sacrifice to defend the integrity of the territory and its liberties from any attack whatsoever.
The flag of the new state was a variant of the Greek national flag, consisting of a white cross centred upon the blue background surmounted by the imperial Byzantine eagle in black.[25]
In the following days, Alexandros Karapanos, Zografos' nephew and an MP for Arta,[26] was installed as foreign minister. Colonel Dimitrios Doulis, a local from Nivice, resigned from his post in the Greek army and joined the provisional government as minister of military affairs. Within a few days, he managed to mobilize an army consisting of more than 5,000 volunteer troops.[27] The local bishop, Vasileios of Dryinoupolis, took office as minister of Religion and Justice. A number of officers of Epirote origin (not exceeding 30), as well as ordinary soldiers, deserted their positions in the Greek Army and joined the revolutionaries. Soon, armed groups, such as the "Sacred Band" or Spyromilios' men around Himarë (gr. Himárra), were formed[26] in order to repel any incursion into the territory claimed by the autonomous government. The first districts to join the autonomist movement outside of Gjirokastër were Himarë, Sarandë and Përmet.[28]
Greece's reaction and evacuation
The Greek government was reluctant to overtly support the uprising. Military and political officials continued to carry out a slow evacuation process, which had begun in March and ended on 28 April.
On 1 March, Kontoulis ceded the region to the newly formed Albanian gendarmerie, consisting mainly of former deserters of the Ottoman army and under the command of Dutch and Austrian officers.[28] On 9 March, the Greek navy blockaded the port of Sarandë (gr. Ágioi Saránda, known also as Santi Quaranta), one of the first cities that had joined the autonomist movement.[30] There were also sporadic conflicts between Greek army and Epirote units, with a few casualties on both sides.[31]
Negotiations and armed conflicts
As the Greek army withdrew, armed conflicts broke out between Albanian and Northern Epirote forces. In the regions of Himarë, Sarandë, Gjirokastër and Delvinë (gr. Delvínion), the revolt had been in full force since the first days of the declaration, and the autonomist forces were able to successfully engage the Albanian gendarmerie, as well as Albanian irregular units.[29] However, Zografos, seeing that the Great Powers would not approve the annexation of Northern Epirus to Greece, suggested three possible diplomatic solutions:[28]
- full autonomy under the nominal sovereignty of the Albanian prince;
- an administrative and cantonal system autonomy; and
- direct control and administration by the European Powers.
On 7 March, Prince
At this point, the entire region that had been claimed by the provisional government, with the exception of Korçë, was under its control. On 22 March, a Sacred Band unit from Bilisht reached the outskirts of Korçë and joined the local guerillas, and fierce street fighting took place. For several days, Northern Epirote units controlled the city, but on 27 March, this control was lost to the Albanian gendarmerie upon the arrival of Albanian reinforcements.[29]
The International Control Commission, in order to avoid a major escalation of the armed conflicts with disastrous results, decided to intervene. On 6 May, Zografos received a communication to initiate negotiations on a new basis. Zografos accepted the proposal and an armistice was ordered the next day. By the time the cease-fire order was received, the Epirote forces had secured the Morava heights near Korçë, making the city's Albanian garrison's surrender imminent.[33]
Recognition of autonomy and outbreak of World War I
Protocol of Corfu
Negotiations were carried out on the island of
The execution of and adherence to the Protocol was entrusted to the International Control Commission, as was the organization of public administration and the departments of justice and finance in the region.[35] The creation and training of the local gendarmerie was to be conducted by Dutch officers.[36]
Territory: All the provisions in question shall apply to the populations of the territories previously occupied by Greece and annexed to Albania.
Armed Forces: Except in case of war or revolution, non-native military units shall not be transferred to or employed in these provinces.
Occupation: The International Control Commission (I.C.C.) will take possession in the territory in question, in the name of the Albanian Government, by proceeding to the place. The officers of the Dutch mission will at once begin the organization of the local gendarmerie...Before the arrival of the Dutch officers, the necessary steps will be taken by the Provisional Government of Argyrokastro for the removal of the country of all armed foreign elements. These provisions will not only be applied in that part of the provinces of Korytsa now occupied militarily by Albania, but in any other southern regions.
Liberty of language: The permission to use both Albanian and Greek shall be assured, before all authorities, including the Courts, as well as the elective councils.
Guarantee: The Powers who, by the Conference of London, have guaranteed the institution of Albania and established the I.C.C. guarantee the execution and maintenance of the foregoing provisions.— From the Protocol of Corfu, 17 May 1914[37]
The agreement of the Protocol was ratified by the representatives of the Great Powers at Athens on 18 June and by the Albanian government on 23 June.[38] The Epirote representatives, in an assembly in Delvinë, gave the final approval to the terms of the Protocol, although the delegates from Himara protested, claiming that union with Greece was the only viable solution.[39] On July 8, control of the cities of Tepelenë and Korçë passed to the provisional government of Northern Epirus.[26]
Instability and disestablishment
After the outbreak of
These events worried Greek Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos, as well as the possibility that the unstable situation could spill over outside Albania, triggering a wider conflict. On 27 October, after receiving the approval of the Great Powers,[42] the Greek Army's V Army Corps entered the area for a second time. The provisional government formally ceased to exist, declaring that it had accomplished its objectives.
Aftermath
Greek administration (October 1914 – September 1916)
During the Greek administration at the time of the First World War, it had been agreed to by Greece, Italy and the Great Powers that the final settlement of the Northern Epirote issue would be left for the post-war future. In August 1915, Eleftherios Venizelos stated in the Greek parliament that "only colossal faults" could separate the region from Greece. Upon Venizelos' resignation in December, however, the succeeding royalist governments were determined to exploit the situation and predetermine the region's future by formally incorporating it into the Greek state. In the first months of 1916, Northern Epirus participated in the
Italian–French occupation and Interwar period
The politically unstable situation that followed in Greece during the next months, with the
Under the terms of the
In February 1922, the Albanian Parliament approved the Declaration of Minority Rights. However, the Declaration, contrary to the Protocol of Corfu, recognized minority rights only in a limited area (parts of Gjirokastër, Sarandë district and 3 villages in Himarë), without implementing any form of local autonomy. All Greek schools in the excluded area were forced to close until 1935, in violation of obligations accepted by the Albanian government at the League of Nations.[46] In 1925, Albania's present borders were set, leading Greece to abandon its claims to Northern Epirus.[47]
The Northern Epirote issue and the autonomy question
From the Albanian perspective, adopted also by Italian and Austrian sources of that time, the Northern Epirote movement was directly supported by the Greek state, with the help of a minority of inhabitants in the region, resulting in chaos and political instability in all of Albania.[48] In Albanian historiography, the Protocol of Corfu is either scarcely mentioned[49] or seen as an attempt to divide the Albanian state and proof of the Great Powers' disregard for Albania's national integrity.[50]
With the ratification of the Protocol of Corfu, the term "Northern Epirus", the state's common name—and consequently that of its citizens, "Northern Epirotes"—acquired official status. However, after the region's cession to Albania, these terms were considered associated with Greek irredentist action and not granted legal status by the Albanian authorities;[51] anyone making use of them was persecuted as an enemy of the state.[52]
The autonomy question remains on the diplomatic agenda in
See also
- Albania during World War I
- Epirus
- Postage stamps and postal history of Epirus
- List of Greek countries and regions
- Drač County (Kingdom of Serbia)
- Republic of Mirdita
- Republic of Central Albania
- Autonomous Albanian Republic of Korçë
- Italian protectorate over Albania
- Peasant Revolt in Albania
References
- ^ limited use in education, equal in justice and public administration (under the terms of Corfu Protocol).
- ISBN 978-0-313-37511-8.
- ^ a b Boeckh 1996: 114
- ^ a b Miller 1966: 543–44
- ^ Gregory C. Ference, ed. Chronology of 20th Century Eastern European History. 1994.
- ^ Kondis 1976: p. 93
- ^ Schurman 1916: "During the first war the Greeks had occupied Epirus or southern Albania as far north as a line drawn from a point a little above Khimara on the coast due east toward Lake Presba, so that the cities of Tepeleni and Koritza were included in the Greek area."
- ^ Stickney 1924: 51
- ^ Winnifrith 2002: 130
- ^ a b Miller 1966: 518
- ^ Nußberger Angelika; Wolfgang Stoppel (2001). "Minderheitenschutz im östlichen Europa (Albanien)" (PDF) (in German). Universität Köln: 11. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
{{cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires|journal=
(help) - ISBN 978-1-4067-5374-5.
- ^ Winnifrith 2002: 130 "...in Northern Epirus loyalty to an Albania with a variety of Muslim leaders competing in anarchy cannot have been strong".
- ^ Schurman 1916: 'This new kingdom was called into being by the voice of the European concert at the demand of Austria-Hungary supported by Italy.'
- ^ Chase 2007: 37–38
- ^ Stickney 1924: 38
- ^ Stickney 1924: 32–33 "In view of the opposition of the part of the Dual monarchy...showed his irrecontiliation."
- ^ Kitromilides 2008: 150–151
- ^ Greek ministry of Foreign Affairs. Note of the Great Powers to Greece. Archived 2008-12-09 at the Wayback Machine It concerned the decision of the Powers to cede irrevocably to Greece all the Aegean islands already occupied by the latter (with the exception of Imbros, Tenedos and Castellorizo) on the date on which Greek troops would evacuate the parts of Northern Epirus awarded to Albania by the Florence Protocol.
- ^ a b c Kondis 1976: 124
- ^ Schurman 1916: "It is little wonder that the Greeks of Epirus feel outraged by the destiny which the European Powers have imposed upon them... Nor is it surprising that since Hellenic armies have evacuated northern Epirus in conformity with the decree of the Great Powers, the inhabitants of the district, all the way from Santi Quaranta to Koritza, are declaring their independence and fighting the Albanians who attempt to bring them under the yoke."
- ^ The Greek term autonomos can mean either "independent" or "autonomous".
- ^ Stickney 1924: 42
- ^ Pyrrhus Ruches. Albanian historical folksongs, 1716–1943: a survey of oral epic poetry from southern Albania, with original texts. Argonaut, 1967 p.106
- ^ Ruches 1965: 83
- ^ a b c d e f g h Miller 1966: 519
- ^ Boeckh 1996: 115
- ^ a b c Heuberger, Suppan, Vyslonzil 1996: 68–69
- ^ a b c d Kondis 1976: 127
- ^ Stickney 1924: 43
- ^ Ruches 1965: 84–85
- ISBN 978-960-213-371-2.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location (link - ^ a b Ruches 1965: 91
- ^ Miller 1966: 520
- ^ Stickney 1924: 49
- ^ Boeckh 1996: 116
- ^ Ruches 1965: 92–93.
- ^ Stickney 1924: 50
- ^ Kondis: 132–133
- ^ Ruches 1965: 94
- ^ Leon, George B. (1970). "Greece and the Albanian Question at the Outbreak of the First World War". Institute for Balkan Studies: 61–80 [74].
- ^ Guy 2007: Greek troops crossed the southern Albanian border at the end of October 1914, officially reoccupying all of southern Albania, exclusive of Vlorë, and establishing a military administration by 27 October 1914, p. 117.
- ^ Stickney 1924: 57- 63
- ^ Winnifrith 2002: 132
- ^ Kitromilides 2008: 162–163
- ^ Basil Kondis & Eleftheria Manda. The Greek Minority in Albania – A documentary record (1921–1993). Thessaloniki. Institute of Balkan Studies. 1994, p. 20.
- ^ Brad K. Blitz: War and change in the Balkans: nationalism, conflict and cooperation, Cambridge University Press, 2006. Page 225
- ^ Ruches 1965: 87
- ^ Nataša Gregorič Contested Spaces and Negotiated Identities in Dhermi/Drimades of Himare/Himara area, Southern Albania, University of Nova Gorica 2008, p. 144.
- ISBN 1-85065-290-2, p 2.
- ISBN 978-1-903900-78-9.
- ^ Two friendly peoples: excerpts from the political diary and other documents on Albanian-Greek relations, 1941–1984. Enver Hoxha, Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin Institute. 1985.
- ^ a b Heuberger, Suppan, Vyslonzil 1996: 73
- ^ It was not until 1925 that Albania's present borders were fixed through the Florence Protocol, the Kingdom of Greece finally abandoning its claims to northern Epirus. ... in, Brad K. Blitz: War and change in the Balkans: nationalism, conflict and cooperation, Cambridge University Press, 2006. Page 225 [1]
- ISBN 1-85065-290-2, p. 188-189.
- ^ Albania and the Sino-Soviet rift William E. Griffith. M. I. T. Press, 1963
- ^ Working Paper. Albanian Series. Gender Ethnicity and Landed Property in Albania. Sussana Lastaria-Cornhiel, Rachel Wheeler. September 1998. Land Tenure Center. University of Wisconsin, p.38
- ^ Minorities at Risk Project, Chronology for Greeks in Albania, 2004. Online. UNHCR Refworld accessed 17 March 2009. "Zef Preci, of the Albanian Center for Economic Research says the danger of a Greek minority-inspired breakaway republic is very much alive"
Sources
- Boeckh, Katrin (1996). Von den Balkankriegen zum Ersten Weltkrieg: Kleinstaatenpolitik und ethnische Selbstbestimmung auf dem Balkan (in German). Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag. p. 418. ISBN 978-3-486-56173-9.
- Chase, George H. (2007) [1943]. Greece of Tomorrow. READ BOOKS. ISBN 978-1-4067-0758-8.
- Glenny, Misha (1999). The Balkans: Nationalism, War, and the Great Powers, 1804–1999. Viking. ISBN 978-0-670-85338-0.
The Balkans: Nationalism, War, and the Great Powers, 1804-1999.
- Guy, Nicola (2007). "The Albanian Question in British Policy and the Italian Intervention, August 1914 – April 1915". Diplomacy & Statecraft. 18. Diplomacy & Statecraft, Volume 18, Issue 1: 109–131. S2CID 153894515.
- Kondis, Basil (1976). Greece and Albania, 1908–1914. Thessaloniki: Institute for Balkan Studies. ISBN 9798840949085.
- Kitromilides, Paschalis (2008). Eleftherios Venizelos: The Trials of Statesmanship. Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 978-0-7486-3364-7.
- Miller, William (1966). The Ottoman Empire and Its Successors, 1801–1927. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-7146-1974-3.
- Ruches, Pyrrhus J. (1965). Albania's captives. Chicago: Argonaut.
- Schurman, Jacob Gould (1916). "The Balkan Wars: 1912–1913". Project Gutenberg.
- Stickney, Edith Pierpont (1926). Southern Albania or Northern Epirus in European International Affairs, 1912–1923. Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-0-8047-6171-0.
- Valeria Heuberger; Arnold Suppan; Elisabeth Vyslonzil (1996). Brennpunkt Osteuropa: Minderheiten im Kreuzfeuer des Nationalismus (in German). Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag. ISBN 978-3-486-56182-1.
- Winnifrith, Tom (2002). Badlands-borderlands: a history of Northern Epirus/Southern Albania. London: Duckworth. ISBN 0-7156-3201-9.
Official documents
- Documents Officiel concernant l'Epire du Nord, 1912–1935. Digital library of the Parliament of Greece. (in French)