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. [1] 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. [1] 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.
Albania was a country that declared its independence only two years before World War I. In the aftermath of the Balkan Wars Serbia, Montenegro and Greece all occupied and claimed parts of Albania. It was decided that Wilhelm of Wied, a German prince, would become the leader of the new Principality of Albania. [2] The principality under Wilhelm was established on 21 February 1914 and Prince Wilhelm arrived in Albania at his provisional capital of Durrës on 7 March 1914 along with the royal family. The security of Albania was to be provided by a gendarmerie commanded by Dutch officers. Inside Albania he was called King Wilhelm; outside Albania, Prince Wilhelm.
The southern part of the country, Northern Epirus, which had a large Greek population, grated at being part of Albania and when the Greek soldiers left, it rose up against William. Under pressure from the great powers the Greeks backed down on independence demands and negotiations were carried out on the island of Corfu, where on 17 May 1914 Albanian and Epirote representatives signed an agreement known as the Protocol of Corfu. According to its terms, Northern Epirus would acquire complete autonomous existence (as a corpus separatum ) under the nominal Albanian sovereignty of Prince William. [3] 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. [4]
On 7 March, one month after accepting the throne, King William arrived in his provisional capital of Durrës and started to organise his government, appointing Turhan Pasha Përmeti to form the first Albanian cabinet. [5] This first cabinet was dominated by members of the nobility (Essad Pasha Toptani, defence and foreign affairs, George Adamidi bey Frachery, finances, and Aziz pacha Vrioni, agriculture).
His brief reign proved a turbulent one. Immediately following his arrival Muslim unrest broke out in central Albania, influenced by Ottoman propaganda which portrayed the new regime as a tool of the Christian powers and the large landowners. [6] [7] By early May 1914, [8] the discontent had evolved into a general revolt led by Haxhi Qamili and other Muslim clerics. The aim of the rebels was to restore Ottoman rule over Albania, [9] and they violently rejected Albanian nationalism and secularism. [10]
There are differing accounts as to the exact nature of Toptani's involvement in the uprising. Some sources indicate that he had a leading role in the uprising from the beginning, [11] [12] yet others describe the rebels as explicitly anti-Toptani. [13] [14] In any case, and regardless of whether he actually enjoyed widespread support among the rebels, Toptani wanted to take advantage of the chaos to oust Prince Wilhelm and seize power for himself, and was backed by Italy, [15] [14] which viewed Wilhelm as too pro-Austrian. [16] Dutch officers led by Lodewijk Thomson who were stationed in Albania as part of the ICC ultimately decided to have Toptani arrested, [12] despite Wilhelm remaining indecisive on the matter. [14] On 19 May, Toptani's house was raided by government forces and he surrendered; the following day he was exiled to Italy. [12] [14]
History of Albania |
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War broke out in Europe on July 28, 1914, with Albania continuing to be in disarray. Throughout the war, occupying forces, of both Central and Allied powers, massacred the Albanian population on multiple occasions.
The outbreak of World War I presented more problems for Prince William as Austria-Hungary demanded that he send Albanian soldiers to fight alongside them. When he refused, citing the neutrality of Albania in the Treaty of London, the remuneration that he had been receiving was cut off. [17]
With the Muslim rebels placing Durrës under siege for months, and under overwhelming pressure, Wilhelm evacuated Albania on 3 September 1914. On 7 September, Durrës finally fell to the rebels. [18] With these events, remaining central authority crumbled and any sense of national unity in Albania evaporated. [19]
The "Senate of Central Albania" was the polity that was formed by the Muslim insurgents after their capture of Durrës on 7 September 1914. Inside the city, the victorious rebels hoisted the Ottoman flag, began imprisoning supporters of Wilhelm, and declared that they would seek to install a Muslim prince. [20] [21] Prince Şehzade Mehmed Burhaneddin, a son of the former Ottoman sultan Abdul Hamid II, was invited to take up this position, [22] [23] but this proposal never materialized. The vast majority of the population living in the northern and the southern part of Albania disassociated themselves from the Senate of Central Albania. [24]
The Senate apparently dropped its plans for a "Muslim prince" and invited Essad Toptani to return to Albania and take over as leader. [25] Toptani had been in France when World War I broke out and immediately left for Albania, seeking to take power and align Albania with the Entente Powers. [26] Along the way, he stopped at Serbia and signed the Treaty of Niš with the Serbian prime minister Nikola Pašić on 17 September. The treaty envisioned a Serb-Albanian alliance that would be implemented with Toptani returning to Albania and being elected as leader. On 19 September, [27] with full Serbian support, Toptani returned to Albania. He went to the Dibër region, where he gathered a force of 4,000 volunteers, and peacefully entered Durrës at the beginning of October 1914. [25] On 5 October, with the backing of the Senate, Toptani proclaimed himself as prime minister and president, [27] setting up the Toptani Government, considered the 3rd ruling government of Albania. Immediately afterwards, he declared war on Austria-Hungary to show he was on the side of the Entente. [26] [23]
Toptani was aware that the vast majority of the population governed by the Senate of Central Albania remained pro-Ottoman (the Ottoman Empire was neutral at this point in the war). Therefore, he did not question the Senate's pro-Ottoman policy nor its nominal declaration that the Ottoman sultan (Mehmed V) had suzerainty over Albania. [28]
In the following days after Prince Wilhelm's departure, an Epirote unit launched an attack on the Albanian garrison in Berat without approval from the provisional government, managing to capture its citadel for several days, while Albanian troops loyal to Essad Pasha initiated small-scale armed operations. [29] 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 October 27, 1914, after receiving the approval of the Great Powers the Greek Army's V Army Corps entered the area for a second time. The provisional government of Northern Epirus formally ceased to exist, declaring that it had accomplished its objectives. Greek troops crossed the southern Albanian border at the end of October 1914, officially reoccupying southern Albania, exclusive of Vlorë, and establishing a military administration by 27 October 1914. [30] The Italians were not happy with the Greek occupation and sent in Italian marines to occupy Vlorë, or Avlona, or Valona, as they called it. [31] On October 31 the Italians seized the strategic island of Saseno or Sazan Island. [32] In December Italy reiterated that Albania would remain neutral as stated at the London Conference and that Italian bluejackets were landed at Valona with this objective. [33]
The Ottoman Empire declared war against the Entente on 31 October 1914. This shattered Toptani's balance between his pro-Entente administration and his overtures to the pro-Ottoman majority of Central Albania. Emboldened especially by the Ottoman declaration of jihad against the Entente (14 November), a Muslim revolt occurred once more, this time starting from the Krujë area. [34] These rebels were extremely anti-Serbian and influenced by Ottoman propaganda which branded Toptani as a traitor to Islam and called for the reconquest of Kosovo from Serbia. [35] Haxhi Qamili returned to become one of the commanders of this new revolt. [36]
These Krujë rebels significantly jeopardized Toptani's position. Many of his followers, swayed by the rebels' rhetoric, defected over to their side. The Central Powers actively supported them, with Ottoman officers arriving in the region to command rebel forces, and Austria-Hungary regularly supplying the rebels with money, weapons, and ammunition. [35] The Krujë rebels also began conducting cross-border raids into Serbia alongside Bulgarian irregulars. [34]
The Krujë rebels continued to expand their territorial gains at the expense of the Senate of Central Albania. Under significant pressure, Toptani requested multiple times for both Serbia and Greece to come to his aid. [35] Seeking to placate Greece, he recognized Greek control of Northern Epirus in a secret agreement. [37] Serbia finally ordered preparations for an intervention in support of the Senate to be made in December 1914, but this was delayed significantly by the concerns of fellow Entente member Russia that operations in Albania might distract from the Austro-Hungarian front and appear to challenge the Italian interests in the country. [35] By then, the Senate- just like Prince Wilhelm's administration before it- had been stripped of all territorial control outside of Durrës, which was under constant siege by the Krujë rebels. [35] [38] Only the Italian navy, present in the adjacent bay, was helping defend Durrës from the rebels. [38] In May 1915, Qamili was elected as leader of the rebels, marking his second time leading a pro-Ottoman revolt in Albania. [39]
After months of delay, the Serbian intervention finally got underway at the beginning of June 1915. The Serbs organized a massive three-pronged offensive into Albania and successfully crushed the insurgency, relieving Toptani. [35] The defeated Qamili and his fellow rebel leaders were sent as prisoners to Durrës, where they were hanged. [40] A special "Albanian Detachment" was set up by the Serbs to completely pacify Albania and consolidate Toptani's authority. [35]
The Serbian intervention was strongly opposed by Italy and other Entente members, but Serbia stated that these were temporary actions and that its troops would withdraw from Albania as soon as Toptani's rule over the country was consolidated. [35]
On 28 June 1915, Toptani and the Serbian interior minister signed a treaty aiming to set up a Serbian-Albanian union with an envisioned joint army, customs administration, national bank, and foreign missions, with Toptani being recognized as prince over Albania, and with Serbian forces remaining in Albania for the foreseeable future in order to support Toptani and eliminate common enemies. [35]
As anarchy grew in Northern Albania and the Greeks moved into the South, Italy sent its troops to occupy Vlorë while Serbia and Montenegro occupied parts of northern Albania. Successful defensive moves during the Serbian Campaign of World War I kept the Central Powers out of Albania until 1915. Bulgaria was finally coaxed into entering the War on the side of the Central Powers and the Austro-Hungarians and Germans began their attack against Serbia on October 7 while on October 14, 1915, the Bulgarian Army attacked from two directions sending the Serbian armies into disarray.
After attacks from both Bulgaria and Austria, Serbian army leader Marshal Putnik ordered a full retreat, south and west through Montenegro and into Albania. The weather was terrible, the roads poor, and the army had to help the tens of thousands of civilians who retreated with them with almost no supplies or food left. But the bad weather and poor roads worked for the refugees as well, as the Central Powers forces could not press them hard enough, and so they evaded capture. Many of the fleeing soldiers and civilians did not make it to the coast, though – they were lost to hunger, disease, attacks by enemy forces and Albanian tribal bands. [41]
The Toptani government provided support to the retreating Serbian army when it could, and Toptani's forces engaged in skirmishes with the Albanian irregulars attacking the Serbians. [42] [43]
However, with Austro-Hungarian forces on the verge of taking Durrës, Toptani and several hundred of his personnel evacuated out of the country in February 1916; prior to his departure he declared war on the Central Powers (in October 1914 he had declared war only on Austria-Hungary). With the support of Serbia, Greece, and France, Toptani's government was recognized as a legitimate government-in-exile. However, Toptani was ultimately marginalized as Albania became a battleground between the Entente and the Central Powers. [44]
The circumstances of the retreat were disastrous, and all told, only some 155,000 Serbs, mostly soldiers, reached the coast of the Adriatic Sea, and embarked on Italian transport ships that carried the army to various Greek islands (many to Corfu) before being sent to Salonika. The evacuation of the Serbian army from Albania was completed on 10 February 1916. In the Serb's wake came the armies of Austria-Hungary and Bulgaria. They would occupy most of Albania until the Vardar Offensive of September 1918.
The largest part of Albania was occupied by Austria-Hungary. Albania was considered a Besetztes Freundesland (Friendly Occupied Country). The Austro-Hungarians left the local administration in place, formed an Albanian gendarmerie and opened schools. The development of a proper Albanian language and orthography was promoted to reduce Italian influences. They also built roads and other infrastructure. Less popular was their attempt to confiscate weapons, which were all-present amongst the civilian population. [45] Nevertheless, several thousand Albanians fought on the side of the Austro-Hungarians against the Allies, including when the Italian Army landed at Durazzo.
The Military Administration was established at Scutari.
Austro-Hungarian Military Commanders were:
Civil administrator was August Ritter von Kral.
On December 10, 1915, the Bulgarian army crossed the Drin river, entered Albania, and attacked the positions of the retreating Serbian army. [46] Firstly the Bulgarian army advanced into the valley of river Mat, threatening to capture Shkodra and Lezhë. [46]
There was a rivalry between the Kingdom of Bulgaria and Austria-Hungary in establishing their influence in Albania. [46] Attempting to establish its influence in Albania, Bulgaria allowed Ahmed Zogu to establish his administration in Elbasan and supported him in his attempts to revive support for the regime of Wilhelm of Wied. [46] The double invasion by Austria-Hungary and Kingdom of Bulgaria and a lack of support by the Kingdom of Serbia or Italy, forced Essad Pasha Toptani to leave Albania on February 24, 1916, when he again declared war against Austria-Hungary. [46]
In September 1917 the French troops commanded by general Maurice Sarrail undertook an action against the armies of Austria-Hungary and Bulgaria in Albania. Although the armies of Bulgaria and Austria-Hungary were joined by Albanians, led by Hysejn Nikolica, [46] French troops captured Pogradec, ending the Bulgarian occupation of Albania. [46]
In May 1916, the Italian XVI Corps, some 100,000 men under the command of General Settimio Piacentini, returned and occupied the region of southern Albania by the autumn 1916, [47] while the French army occupied Korçë and its surrounding areas on November 29, 1916. The Italian (in Gjirokastër) and French forces (in Korçë), according mainly to the development of the Balkan Front, 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 Korçë was done on December 10, 1916, by French authorities with a protocol, according to which an autonomous province would be established on the territories of Korçë, Bilishti, Kolonja, Opar and Gora in eastern Albania.
On December 12, 1916, Italy asked for explanations from the Quai d'Orsay, through its ambassador, because the establishment of the Autonomous Albanian Republic of Korçë violated the Treaty of London. [48] Austria-Hungary used French precedent in Korçë to justify the proclamation of independence of Albania under its protectorate on January 3, 1917, in Shkodra.
The Kingdom of Italy did the same when proclaiming independence of Albania under its protectorate on June 23, 1917, in Gjirokastra. [49] General Giacinto Ferrero proclaimed on that day the Italian Protectorate and the next weeks entered Greece and occupied Ioannina in Epirus. [50] Neither Great Britain nor France had been consulted beforehand, and they did not give any official recognition to the Italian Protectorate. [51] This Albanian republic under the leadership of Turhan Përmeti, 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. [52]
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 September 25 the Italian 35th Division reached and occupied Krusevo deep inside western Macedonia. [53]
The Macedonian front, also known as the Salonika Front, of World War I was formed as a result of an attempt by the Allied Powers to aid Serbia. The Allies were able to move the Serbian Army from Corfu to regions of Greece and Albania where eventually, a stable front was established, running from the Albanian Adriatic coast to the Struma River, pitting a multinational Allied force against the Bulgarian Army, which was at various times bolstered with smaller units from the remaining Central Powers. The Macedonian Front remained quite stable, despite local actions, until the great Allied offensive in September 1918.
In September 1918, Entente forces finally broke through the Central Powers' lines north of Thessaloniki and within days Austro-Hungarian forces began to withdraw from Albania. On October 2, 1918, the city of Durrës was shelled on the orders of Louis Franchet d'Espèrey, during the Battle of Durazzo. According to d'Espèrey, the Port of Durrës, if not destroyed, would have served the evacuation of the Bulgarian and German armies, involved in World War I. [54] When the war ended on 11 November 1918, Italy's army had occupied most of Albania; Serbia held much of the country's northern mountains; Greece occupied a sliver of land within Albania's 1913 borders; and French forces occupied Korçë and Shkodër as well as other regions with sizeable Albanian populations.
Under the secret Treaty of London signed in April 1915, Triple Entente powers promised Italy that it would gain Vlorë (Valona) and nearby lands and a protectorate over Albania in exchange for entering the war against Austria-Hungary. Serbia and Montenegro were promised much of northern Albania, and Greece was promised much of the country's southern half. The treaty left a tiny Albanian state that would be represented by Italy in its relations with the other major powers.
Albania's political confusion continued in the wake of World War I. The country lacked a single recognised government, and Albanians had reasonable fears that Italy, Yugoslavia, and Greece would extinguish Albania's independence and carve up the country. Italian forces controlled Albanian political activity in the areas that they occupied. The Serbs, who largely dictated Yugoslavia's foreign policy after World War I, strove to take over northern Albania, and the Greeks sought to control southern Albania.
In 1918, the Serbian army devastated 150 villages in the Drin valley in northern Albania. [55] There were series of massacres carried out in the regions of Podgor, Rozaj, Gjakova, Rugova, and Gusinje and Plav with the goal of suppressing the local resistance movement. [56]
US President Woodrow Wilson intervened to block the Paris agreement. The United States underscored its support for Albania's independence by recognising an official Albanian representative to Washington, DC, and on December 17, 1920, the League of Nations recognised Albania's sovereignty by admitting it as a full member. The country's borders, however, remained unsettled.
In the meantime, the Italian army had been chased out of Albania by an Albanian volunteer force during the Vlora War (June–September 1920). Instability in the country came to an end when the Parliament abolished the Principality of Albania and proclaimed the Republic, vesting dictatorial powers into the new President Ahmet Zogu.
Wilhelm, Prince of Albania was sovereign of the Principality of Albania from 7 March to 3 September 1914. His reign officially came to an end on 31 January 1925, when the country was declared an Albanian Republic.
Essad Toptani was an Albanian politician who served as the third prime minister of Albania from 1914 to 1916. He previously established the Republic of Central Albania based in Durrës. An Ottoman army officer, he served as the Albanian deputy in the Ottoman Parliament and later cooperated with the Balkan League after the Balkan Wars.
The Allies or the Entente was an international military coalition of countries led by France, the United Kingdom, Russia, the United States, Italy, and Japan against the Central Powers of Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria in World War I (1914–1918).
The Balkans theatre or Balkan campaign was a theatre of World War I fought between the Central Powers and the Allies.
The Macedonian front, also known as the Salonica front, was a military theatre of World War I formed as a result of an attempt by the Allied Powers to aid Serbia, in the autumn of 1915, against the combined attack of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Bulgaria. The expedition came too late and with insufficient force to prevent the fall of Serbia and was complicated by the internal political crisis in Greece. Eventually, a stable front was established, running from the Albanian Adriatic coast to the Struma River, pitting a multinational Allied force against the Bulgarian army, which was at various times bolstered with smaller units from the other Central Powers. The Macedonian front remained stable, despite local actions, until the Allied offensive in September 1918 resulted in Bulgaria capitulating and the liberation of Serbia.
The Kingdom of Bulgaria participated in World War I on the side of the Central Powers from 14 October 1915, when the country declared war on Serbia, until 30 September 1918, when the Armistice of Salonica came into effect.
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 following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to World War I:
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 Republic of Central Albania was a short-lived unrecognised state established on 16 October 1913, with its administrative centre in Durrës, today in Albania.
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.
The Peasant Revolt, also known as the Central Albania Uprising, was an uprising of peasants from central Albania, mostly pro-Ottoman 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 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.
The International Gendarmerie was the first law enforcement agency of the Principality of Albania. It was established by the decision of the ambassadors of the six Great Powers that participated in the London Peace Conference. This decision was made on the basis of the London Treaty signed on 30 May 1913. Since most of the members were from the Netherlands, this force was also known as the Dutch Military Mission.
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.
The Great Retreat, also known in Serbian historiography as the Albanian Golgotha, refers to the retreat of the Royal Serbian Army through the mountains of Albania during the 1915–16 winter of World War I.
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.
After the 1912 Parliamentary Election, a Caretaker Government had to be formed quickly because of the sudden death of the Prime Minister Milovan Milovanović. Marko Trifković of the People's Radical Party was asked to lead it, because Nikola Pašić, the leader of this party was in Russia at the time. On August 29, Trifković was summoned to the Royal Court by King Peter I, who told him that he has accepted the resignation of the cabinet, and that he had entrusted the formation of the new cabinet to Pašić.
Musa Qazimi was an Albanian politician and rebel. A Turcophile mufti, he was first the mayor (1904-1908), then the mufti (1908-1913), and finally the prefect of Tirana (1913-1914). In the turbulent period after the Albanian declaration of independence from the Ottoman Empire, he was first a supporter of the Young Turks, then of Essad Pasha. After he broke with Essad Pasha, he defected and became a leader in the sectarian, reactionary and clerically tinged pro-Ottoman revolt against the new Albanian state's authorities. While the official head of the movement was Haxhi Qamili and the head of its armed forces was Mustafa Ndroqi, Qazimi has been considered to be the ideological inspiration of the movement., and the "real leader" of the uprising. After the revolt was shattered by a makeshift alliance consisting of Mirdita Catholics, local resistance, Kosovar Albanians led by Isa Boletini and some foreign volunteers mainly from Romania, he was found guilty of orchestrating the slaughter that occurred during his revolt against supporters of the Albanian national movement as well as Bektashis and Christians, and he was executed on July 7, 1915.
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.
peasants..willing listeners to Ottoman propaganda... attached the new regime as a tool of the beys and Christian powers
vast majority of northern and southern Albanians disassociated themselves from the actions of the Senate.
In return, Essad reconfirmed a promise he had made in the fall of 1914 to support Greece's annexation of North Epirus... he was willing to come to a secret agreement with the Greek government on this question...
La signature de ce Protocole contrevient aux stipulations du traité de Londres ...Par conséquent, l'Italie demanda des explications au quai d'Orsay, par l'intermédiaire de son ambassadeur, le 12 décembre 1916.
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