Albania during World War I
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Albanian theatre of World War I.
Chronology
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January 1917: Austria-Hungary used the French precedent in Korçë to justify the proclamation of the independence of Albania under its protectorate on January 3, 1917 in Shkodër.
Invasion of Albania by the central powers during World War I.
May 1915: On 29 May 1915, a contingent of 20,000 Serbian soldiers under General Dragutin Milutinović invaded northern Albania from three directions, dispersing the pro-Habsburg militias of Bajram Curri and Isa Boletini.
June 1915: King Nicholas I of Montenegro, an ally of the Serbs, ordered the occupation of Albanian territory north of the Drin River on 11 June.
November 1916: French general Sarrail detached a French cavalry column which occupied Korçë the following November 29 with little resistance.
November 1914: Essad reentered Albania in October 1914, and his forces quickly secured control of Durres and the central regions, but failed to restore order in the rest of the country.
June 1917: On 3 June 1917, General Ferrero proclaimed the establishment of an Italian protectorate of Albania in Gjirokastra.
April 1917: Between March and May 1917 a series of operations by the French army involved the area between Lake Ohrid and Lake Prespa, on the border between Albania and Macedonia.
May 1916: The Kingdom of Greece proclaimed the formal annexation of Northern Epirus, provoking protests from the governments of the Entente.
August 1916: The Italian army created defensive positions in southern Albania.
June 1915: The Montenegrins entered Scutari.
December 1916: Descoins proclaimed the establishment of an Albanian Republic of Korçë under a protectorate of France.
August 1914: Valona conquered by Muslim Rebel Groups.
August 1916: On 24 August an Italian column arriving from Vlora by land and a contingent landed by sea took possession of Porto Palermo in southern Albania, without encountering resistance from the detachment of Greek gendarmes.
December 1914: Unopposed Italian landing in the port of Vlora.
June 1917: The ground recently gained by the French was largely lost in counter-attacks by the Bulgarian-German forces.
February 1916: An Austrian attack in force on the morning of February 23, immediately put Italian general Ferrero's units under pressure and prompting the Italian command to order the evacuation of the city. The last units of the Savona Brigade were embarked on the evening of 26 February.
January 1916: In late January 1916 Austro-Hungarian forces invaded northern Albania in pursuit of the remnants of the Serbian army.
August 1916: As early as 18 August 1916, a Bulgarian column from Ohrid had occupied the city of Korçë in southeastern Albania, without opposition from the local Greek garrison.
January 1916: Bulgarian units entered Albania from the north-east across the Drin river taking Elbasan on 29 January.
February 1918: On February 16, 1918, the new French commander of the Korçë sector, General Salle, formally abolished the previous autonomous statute of the republic proclaimed on December 10, 1916, bringing the area back under the strict control of the French military authorities.
February 1914: On 28 February 1914 the Greek inhabited regions of Northern Epirus proclaimed independence as the Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus under the leadership of Georgios Christakis-Zografos with the open support of the government in Athens.
October 1914: The Greek army invaded Northern Epirus and established a military administration on the territories formerly part of the Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus.
October 1914: On 31 October 1914 the government of Prime Minister Antonio Salandra ordered the occupation of the Albanian islet of Saseno.
February 1916: The embarkation of fleeing Serbs from Durazzo ended on 9 February, but the Italian authorities decided to keep the Italian garrison already present in the port.
February 1916: The Austro-Hungarian XIX Army Corps occupied Tirana without encountering resistance.
May 1916: An agreement between Vienna and Sofia in April 1916 finally resulted in the cession of the districts of Prizren and Pristina in Kosovo to Bulgaria in exchange for the Bulgarian evacuation of Elbasan in northeastern Albania, where the Austro-Hungarians established a provisional government.
October 1916: Italian forces of the Navy occupied Santi Quaranta.
June 1917: An Italian column crossed the Albanian-Greek border and occupied the important city of Ioannina without any opposition from Greek troops.
September 1917: French troops captured Pogradec from the Bulgarian army.
June 1915: The Serbs extended their occupation to the central regions of Albania, taking Elbasan and Tirana and liberating Essad's forces in Durazzo from the siege of the Muslim rebels.
October 1916: Two Italian army columns from Tepelenë and from Santi Quaranta itself occupied the city of Gjirokastra.
July 1914: A vast peasant revolt of Muslim inspiration, led by Haxhi Qamili starting from the central regions and in favor of a restoration of Ottoman rule over Albania. Capture of Berat by the rebels on July 12, 1914.
September 1914: Prince William, while not formally renouncing his role as monarch, left Albania to take refuge in Venice.
Selected Sources
Favre, F. (2008): La Marina nella Grande Guerra, Udine, Gaspari, p. 154
Favre, F. (2008): La Marina nella Grande Guerra, Udine, Gaspari, p. 156
Favre, F. (2008): La Marina nella Grande Guerra, Udine, Gaspari, p. 196
Favre, F. (2008): La Marina nella Grande Guerra, Udine, Gaspari, p. 55
Favre, F. (2008): La Marina nella Grande Guerra, Udine, Gaspari, pp. 140-141
The Times (1917): History of the War - vol. XII, London (UK), p. 35.
