The Enchele's polity was the earliest to emerge and centered in Albania. Also the earliest known Illyrian king, Bardylis, emerged in what is now Albania around 400 BC, aiming to make Illyria a regional power interfering with Macedon. He united many southern Illyrian tribes under his realm and defeated the Macedonians and Molossians several times, expanding his dominion over Upper Macedonia and Lynkestis. Before the Rise of Macedon Illyrians were the dominant power in the region. The kingdom of the Taulantii under Glaukias' rule was based in central Albania and dominated southern Illyrian affairs in the late 4th century BC, exerting great influence on the Epirote state through the close ties with the Molossian king Pyrrhus. Under the Ardiaei the greatest known Illyrian kingdom emerged in the 3rd century BC encompassing also northern Albania in its core territory. It became a formidable power both on land and sea by assembling a great army and fleet, and directly ruling over a large area made up of different Illyrian tribes and cities that stretched from the Neretva River in the north to the borders of Epirus in the south, while its influence extended throughout Epirus and down into Acarnania. The dominant power of the Illyrian kingdom in the region ceased after the Illyrian defeat in the Illyro-Roman Wars. The last known "King of the Illyrians" was Gentius, of the Labeatae tribe.
Korçë is the eighth most populous city of Albania and the seat of Korçë County and Korçë Municipality. The total population of the city is 51,152 and 75,994 of Korçë municipality, in a total area of 806 km2 (311 sq mi). It stands on a plateau some 850 m (2,789 ft) above sea level, surrounded by the Morava Mountains.
The postal history of Northern Epirus, a region in the western Balkans, in southern modern Albania, comprises two periods; 1912–1916 and 1940–41. Northern Epirus was under Greek administration during the First Balkan War (1912–1913), but it was then awarded to the newly founded Albanian state by the Florence Protocol (1913). During this period, Greek stamps were used. Greece withdrew from the region in early 1914. The people of Epirus were unwilling to be part of Albania, though, and launched a revolution. Under a provisional government, the independent Northern Epirus was formed in February 1914 and it eventually managed to gain full autonomy under nominal Albanian sovereignty, according to the Protocol of Corfu. Northern Epirus operated its own postal service and issued postage stamps, both official and unofficial, during that year.
The Vlora War was a military conflict in the Vlorë region of Albania between the Kingdom of Italy and Albanian nationalists. Vlorë, occupied by Italy since 1914, was attacked four times by Albanian nationalists. While repelling the attacks, the Italian troops suffered from an outbreak of malaria and could not receive support as the Bersaglieri of Ancona refused to be sent to Albania, in the context of the Biennio Rosso agitations. Italian prime minister Giovanni Giolitti, considering the occupation of Vlorë pointless and unpopular, negotiated a treaty of compromise with the Albanians. This resulted in Italy abandoning its plans to make Albania a mandate and ending the occupation of Vlorë, while it retained diplomatic protection over Albania to ensure its independence and annexed the island of Saseno. The armistice agreement was confirmed a year later by the Conference of Ambassadors of the League of Nations, confirming Albanian sovereignty and the Italian special interests. The Vlora War is considered an important moment in the history of the Albania's independence. At the same time, the 1920 treaty of Tirana is considered the first of the Treaties of Tirana that gradually brought Albania into the Italian sphere of influence. Both the Albanian committee and the Italian foreign ministry claimed victory and expressed satisfaction with the agreements; many authors do not treat these clashes as forming an actual conflict and the very concept of a "Vlora War" is rare in historiography.
The Principality of Albania was a monarchy from 1914 to 1925. It was headed by Wilhelm, Prince of Albania, and located in modern Albania in the Balkan region of Europe. The Ottoman Empire owned the land until the First Balkan War (1912—1913), which ended in the Treaty of London that formed the principality. The Principality of Albania survived invasions during World War I (1914—1918) and subsequent disputes over Albanian independence during the Paris Peace Conference (1919—1920). In 1925, the monarchy was abolished and the Albanian Republic (1925—1928), a parliamentary republic and dictatorship, was declared.
The Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus was a short-lived, self-governing entity founded in the aftermath of the Balkan Wars on 28 February 1914, by the local Greek population in southern Albania.
The Italian colonists in Albania were Italians who, between the two World Wars, moved to Albania to colonize the Balkan country for the Kingdom of Italy.
The Protocol of Corfu, signed on May 17, 1914, was an agreement between the representatives of the Albanian Government and the Provisional Government of Northern Epirus, which officially recognized the area of Northern Epirus as an autonomous self-governing region under the sovereignty of the prince of the newly established Principality of Albania. The agreement granted the Greeks of the districts of Korytsa (Korçë) and Argyrokastro (Gjirokastër), which form Northern Epirus, wider religious, educational, cultural and political autonomy, inside the borders of the Albanian state.
The Autonomous Province of Korçë, sometimes referred to as Republic of Korçë, was an autonomous legal entity established in 27/10 December 1916, by the local French forces after the city of Korçë fell under their control during World War I, and which lasted until 1920.
The Bulgarian occupation of Albania was an occupation of the eastern parts of Albania by the Kingdom of Bulgaria's army during World War I. It lasted from December 10, 1915, when the Bulgarian army after had occupied then Eastern Serbia, crossed the Drin river and entered Albania, until September 9, 1917, when French troops captured Pogradec from the Bulgarian army.
In World War I, Albania had been an independent state, having gained independence from the Ottoman Empire on 28 November 1912, during the First Balkan War. It was recognised by the Great Powers as the Principality of Albania, after the Ottoman Empire officially renounced all its rights in May 1913. Being a fledgling new country, it quickly unravelled and just a few months after taking power, its German ruler, Prince Wilhelm, was forced to flee. After World War I broke out, anarchy took hold of the country as tribes and regions rebelled against central rule. To protect the Greek minority, Greek control was established in the southern districts replacing the Northern Epirote units beginning in October 1914. In response to this, Italy, although officially neutral at the time, also sent troops into the port of Vlorë, while Serbia and Montenegro took control of northern regions. In 1915 Serbia was overrun by combined German, Austro-Hungarian, and Bulgarian forces; the Serbian army retreated across the mountain passes of northern Albania, towards the Adriatic. Italian troops drove the Greeks from southern Albania and brought almost all Albanian territory under their control. Austrian forces invaded in June 1916; Austro-Hungarian forces remained in Albania until the end of the war when a multinational Allied force broke through and pushed them out in 1918.
Themistokli Gërmenji was an Albanian nationalist figure and guerrilla fighter. One of the activists of the Albanian National Awakening and the leader of the Albanian irregulars from 1909 to 1914, he became the prefect of police of the Autonomous Albanian Republic of Korçë from 1916 until his execution due to a miscarriage of justice by a French military tribunal in 1917.
The Northern Epirote Declaration of Independence occurred on February 28, 1914, as a reaction to the incorporation of Northern Epirus into the newly established Principality of Albania. The region of Northern Epirus, which corresponds to modern-day southern Albania, came under the control of the Greek forces during the Balkan Wars of 1912–13. However, the subsequent Protocol of Florence assigned it to the newly established Albanian state, a decision that was rejected by the local Greek population. As the Greek army withdrew to the new border, a Panepirotic Assembly was organized by the representatives of Northern Epirus in Gjirokastër. Given the fact that union of Northern Epirus with Greece had already been dismissed by the European Great Powers, they decided that only autonomy or alternatively an international occupation would be appropriate for the region. Finally, Georgios Christakis-Zografos, the head of the assembly, declared the independence of the Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus.
The Peasant Revolt, also known as the Muslim uprising and in Albania as the Central Albania Uprising, was an uprising of peasants from central Albania, mostly Muslims against the regime of Wilhelm, Prince of Albania during 1914. It was one of the reasons for the prince's withdrawal from the country which marked the fall of the Principality of Albania. The uprising was led by Muslim leaders Haxhi Qamili, Arif Hiqmeti, Musa Qazimi and Mustafa Ndroqi. Along with a demand of total amnesty, the rebels sought the return of Albania to the suzerainty of the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire.
Protocol of Kapshtica also known as Kapshtica Protocol, or Kapshtica Agreement, was an agreement between Albanian and Greek representatives signed in the border town of Kapshticë on 28 May 1920. Under this agreement both sides accepted the pre-World War I Greek-Albanian border status, as well as a number of provisions for the protection of the local Greek population of Korçë District and its educational and religious rights.
Georgios Soulios was a Greek guerrilla fighter of the early 20th century. He participated in the Macedonian Struggle, the Balkan Wars, and in the struggle for the establishment of the Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus.
The Liberation of Serbia, Albania and Montenegro was a military action in the Balkans in the final weeks of World War I. Between 29 September and 11 November 1918, the Allied Army of the Orient liberated these three countries from occupation by the Central Powers.
Samarina Republic or Republic of the Pindus is a historiographic name for the attempt and proposal to create an Aromanian canton under the protection of Italy during World War I. A declaration of independence was issued on 29 August 1917 by some Aromanian figures at Samarina and other villages of the Pindus mountains of northern Greece during the short period of occupation by Italy of the area in July and August 1917. In the immediate withdrawal of Italians a few days later, Greek troops retook control of the region claimed by the canton without meeting any resistance.
The collapse of the Principality of Albania, sometimes described as a civil war, was the period of violent political fragmentation within the country that began in early 1914.
The history of Northern Epirus from 1913 to 1921 is characterized by the desire for "enosis", or union with the Greek national state, among the Greek minority residing in this region of southern Albania. Additionally, the irredentist aspirations of the Hellenic kingdom to annex the region are noteworthy.
