The Vlora War or the War of 1920 (Albanian: Lufta e Vlorës or Lufta e Njëzetës; Italian: Guerra di Valona) was a series of battles between Italian forces garrisoned throughout the Vlorë region of Albania (an Italian protectorate) and Albanian nationalists, who were divided into small groups of fighters.[6][page needed] The war lasted three months until an armistice, according to which Italy gave up plans to turn Albania into a mandate and relinquished Vlöre; in exchange Italy retained a diplomatic protection over Albania to guarantee the country's independence and annexed the island of Saseno. This settlement was confirmed within the League of Nations by the Conference of Ambassadors a year later. The conflict had great impact in the struggle of Albania for the safeguard of its territories while Albanian borders and future were discussed in the Paris Peace Conference. The Vlora War is seen as a turning point in the establishment of Albanian independence.[6][7][8]
Vlora War
Clockwise from top: Italian base; Albanian soldiers; Italian cannons captured by Albanian irregulars during one of the battles
Before entering the First World War as an ally of Triple Entente the Kingdom of Italy had signed the secret Treaty of London: Italy promised to declare war against Germany and Austria-Hungary within a month in exchange of some territorial gains at the end of the war. The promised territories of Albania to Italy were treated in Articles 6 and 7 of the treaty:[9]
Article 6Italy shall receive full sovereignty over Valona, the island of Saseno and surrounding territory....
Article 7Having obtained the Trentino and Istria by Article 4, Dalmatia and the Adriatic islands by Article 5, and also the gulf of Valona, Italy undertakes, in the event a small, autonomous, and neutralized state being formed in Albania Italy not to oppose the possible desire of France, Great Britain, and Russia to repartition the northern and the southern districts of Albania between Montenegro, Serbia, and Greece. The southern coast of Albania, from the frontier of the Italian territory of Valona to Cape Stilos, is to be neutralized. The Italy will be conceded the right of concluding the foreign relations of Albania; in any case, Italy will be bound to secure for Albania a territory sufficiently extensive to enable its frontiers to join those of Greece and Serbia to the west of Lake Ochrida ..
In 1920 in allies in the Paris Peace Conference had still reached no decision on Albania's future, but Italy's claims to sovereignty over Vlorë had never been seriously challenged. Italian Prime Minister Francesco Saverio Nitti had also hoped to obtain a mandate over the rest of the country according to the secret Treaty of London.[10]
The war started on June 4, after Italian General Settimo Piacentini refused to hand over the Vlora district to the Albanian government. Albania had previously forced much of the Italian occupation to leave the country, but after demands by Ahmet Zogu, the then interior-minister of Albania, to continue the evacuation were rejected by Italy, the Albanians announced the establishment of the National Defense Committee under the leadership of Qazim Koculi and began to gather volunteers.[6]Ahmet Lepenica became the commander in chief of the detachment consisting of around 4000 men. The Albanian insurgents were poorly armed and not everyone even carried a gun; some were armed with nothing but sticks and stones. In and around Vlora were around 25,000 Italian soldiers who were stationed in the area with artillery.[6]
The Albanians engaged in fighting in the Vlora region and soon the rebels were bolstered by volunteers in the region. This increased the size of the force to upwards of 10,000 irregulars, which also included the Banda e Vatrës, an Albanian military band that was formed in the United States that travelled 23 days by boat from the US to Durrës. However during the course of warfare not more than 4,000 Albanians engaged.[11][6] The advance of the Albanian troops as well as communist revolutionary movements and riots within the army in Italy made reinforcements to the Italian soldiers in Vlora impossible.[12][6] Italian soldiers remained barricaded inside Vlora, without orders and with malaria and communist agitation spreading among the ranks.[6][12]
End of hostilities
Italian cannons captured by Albanian irregulars during one of the battles
The military stalemate lasted for three months, until the following protocol (the Treaty of Tirana) was signed between the Italian and the Albanian governments:
Italy undertakes to recognize and defend the autonomy of Albania and, retaining only Saseno, abandons Vallona.
It was the first diplomatic pact between Albania and a foreign power. The agreement rescued the territory of the Albanian state from further partition. Albania had used all its influence to obtain full and unreserved recognition by the Western powers of the independence of Albania within 1913 borders.[13]
The armistice, introducing a ceasifire on 5 August, contained these main points:
The Italian Government completely acknowledged the independence, territorial integrity, and sovereignty of Albania, within the frontiers defined in 1913 by the Conference of Ambassadors in London.
The Italian government relinquished its protectorate proclaimed in 1917 and the occupation and administration of Vlorë and its hinterland, and renounced all claims against Albania and all interference in Albanian political affairs, and abandoned the idea of a mandate over the country.
The Italian government agreed to withdraw its war materials from Vlorë and its hinterland, to evacuate all its holdings on the Albanian mainland, and to repatriate at an early date the Italian troops actually stationed in Vlorë and on the littoral, and all its forces still remaining in other parts of Albanian territory with the exception of the garrison on the island of Sazan at the entrance of the Vlorë bay; Italy retained the permanent possession only of the island of Sazan, but remained in temporary occupation of Cape Linguetta and cape Treporti, both dominating Vlorë bay, with the right to fortify them; the detachment of troops at Shkodër was also to remain in that town.
There would take place an exchange of prisoners, the liberation of arrested persons under a general mutual amnesty, and the settlement of outstanding questions concerning the private interests of Albanian and Italian subjects.
The agreement was confirmed within the League of Nations by the Conference of Ambassadors, in November 1921; the declaration of the Ambassadors again affirmed Albanian independence and recognized Italian special interests in Albania. Giovanni Giolitti, the Italian prime minister of the time, was satisfied by the Treaty of Tirana and described it in these terms:
What really interests us is that Vallona cannot form a base of operations against us; and this aim was achieved with the occupation of the islet of Sasseno, which lies at the mouth of the bay itself...For these reasons, I decided to renounce the mandate conferred on us by the Paris Conference on Albania, which would have represented an enormous liability without any profit, and to limit our action to the diplomatic protection of Albania against the aims of other States, and to abandon Vallona, ensuring however recognition of the possession of Sasseno
On the other hand, Benito Mussolini described Vlora as the "Albanian Caporetto".[1] However, when he rose to power, he too became a guarantor of Albanian independence and unleashed the crisis of Corfu following a dispute with Greece over the Albanian border.
References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Vlora War.
^ abArhire, Sorin; Roşu, Tudor, eds. (2019). The Paris Peace Conference (1919-1920) and Its Aftermath: Settlements, Problems and Perceptions. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 112. ISBN9781527543959. ... the political quarrel turned into an armed conflict, which ended with the unexpected victory of the Albanians.
^Giovanni Giolitti "Memorie della mia vita", Milan: F.lli Treves, 1922.)
^Krasniqi, Kolë (2019). Islamist Extremism in Kosovo and the Countries of the Region. Cham: Springer. ISBN978-3-030-18569-5. OCLC 1119613159.
^Marmullaku, Ramadan (1975). Albania and the Albanians. Hamden, Conn.: Archon Books. ISBN0-208-01558-2. OCLC 1963173.
^Vincenzo Gallinari, l'esercito italiano nel primo dopoguerra, 1918-1920, p.157
^ abcdefgAlbanian identities: myth and history Authors Stephanie Schwandner-Sievers, Bernd Jürgen Fischer Editors Stephanie Schwandner-Sievers, Bernd Jürgen Fischer Edition illustrated Publisher C. Hurst & Co. Publishers, 2002 ISBN1-85065-572-3, ISBN978-1-85065-572-5
^Ruggero Giacomini, La rivolta dei bersaglieri e le Giornate Rosse - I moti di Ancona dell'estate del 1920 e l'indipendenza dell'Albania, Assemblea legislativa delle Marche, Ancona 2010.
^Paolini M., I fatti di Ancona e l'11º Bersaglieri (giugno 1920), in "Quaderni di Resistenza Marche", n. 4 novembre 1982.
^Southern Albania, 1912-1923 Publisher Stanford University Press ISBN0-8047-6171-X, 9780804761710 p.61
^Italy from liberalism to fascism, 1870-1925 Author Christopher Seton-Watson Edition illustrated Publisher Taylor & Francis, 1967 ISBN0-416-18940-7, ISBN978-0-416-18940-7 p. 578
^"BANDA DHE VULLNETARËT E VATRËS NË LUFTËN E VLORËS DHE NË KONFLIKTIN ME GREKËT NË KUFIJTË JUGORË". gazetadielli.com. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
^ ab"Gli Italiani si ritirano dall'Albania". digilander.libero.it. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
^Albania and King Zog: independence, republic and monarchy 1908-1939 Volume 1 of Albania in the twentieth century, Owen Pearson Volume 1 of Albania and King Zog, Owen Pearson Author Owen Pearson Edition illustrated Publisher I.B.Tauris, 2004 ISBN1-84511-013-7, ISBN978-1-84511-013-0 page 151 [1]
Further reading
Akademia e Shkencave e RPSSH "Fjalori Enciklopedik Shqiptar", Tirana, 1985.
Pearson, Owen. Albania in the Twentieth Century: A History. Volume One. New York: I.B. Tauris, 2006 (ISBN1-84511-013-7).
Sette, Alessandro. From Paris to Vlorë. Italy and the Settlement of the Albanian Question (1919-1920), in The Paris Peace Conference (1919-1920) and Its Aftermath: Settlements, Problems and Perceptions, eds. S. Arhire, T. Rosu, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Newcastle upon Tyne, 2020.
May 25, 2023
vlora, 1920, albanian, lufta, vlorës, lufta, njëzetës, italian, guerra, valona, series, battles, between, italian, forces, garrisoned, throughout, vlorë, region, albania, italian, protectorate, albanian, nationalists, were, divided, into, small, groups, fighte. The Vlora War or the War of 1920 Albanian Lufta e Vlores or Lufta e Njezetes Italian Guerra di Valona was a series of battles between Italian forces garrisoned throughout the Vlore region of Albania an Italian protectorate and Albanian nationalists who were divided into small groups of fighters 6 page needed The war lasted three months until an armistice according to which Italy gave up plans to turn Albania into a mandate and relinquished Vlore in exchange Italy retained a diplomatic protection over Albania to guarantee the country s independence and annexed the island of Saseno This settlement was confirmed within the League of Nations by the Conference of Ambassadors a year later The conflict had great impact in the struggle of Albania for the safeguard of its territories while Albanian borders and future were discussed in the Paris Peace Conference The Vlora War is seen as a turning point in the establishment of Albanian independence 6 7 8 Vlora WarClockwise from top Italian base Albanian soldiers Italian cannons captured by Albanian irregulars during one of the battlesDateJune 4 August 2 1920LocationVlore regionResultTreaty of Tirana between Italy and Albania 2 August 1920 confirmed by the Conference of Ambassadors 9 November 1921 Victory of Albanian independentists 1 Italy gives up plans to establish a mandate over Albania while retaining a diplomatic protection to guarantee the country s independence 2 TerritorialchangesItalian troops withdraw from Vlore and relinquish it to the Albanian state Saseno Island formally annexed to Italy BelligerentsAlbaniaItalyCommanders and leadersQazim KoculiAhmet LepenicaSelam Musai Giovanni GiolittiSettimio PiacentiniEnrico Gotti Strength3 000 4 000 were engaged 3 About 25 000 troops 4 with only a fraction engaded due to an oubreak of malaria 5 Casualties and lossesUnknownUnknown Contents 1 Background 2 Orders of battle 2 1 Albanian order of battle 2 2 Italian order of battle 3 Course of war 4 End of hostilities 5 References 6 Further readingBackground EditBefore entering the First World War as an ally of Triple Entente the Kingdom of Italy had signed the secret Treaty of London Italy promised to declare war against Germany and Austria Hungary within a month in exchange of some territorial gains at the end of the war The promised territories of Albania to Italy were treated in Articles 6 and 7 of the treaty 9 Article 6 Italy shall receive full sovereignty over Valona the island of Saseno and surrounding territory Article 7 Having obtained the Trentino and Istria by Article 4 Dalmatia and the Adriatic islands by Article 5 and also the gulf of Valona Italy undertakes in the event a small autonomous and neutralized state being formed in Albania Italy not to oppose the possible desire of France Great Britain and Russia to repartition the northern and the southern districts of Albania between Montenegro Serbia and Greece The southern coast of Albania from the frontier of the Italian territory of Valona to Cape Stilos is to be neutralized The Italy will be conceded the right of concluding the foreign relations of Albania in any case Italy will be bound to secure for Albania a territory sufficiently extensive to enable its frontiers to join those of Greece and Serbia to the west of Lake Ochrida In 1920 in allies in the Paris Peace Conference had still reached no decision on Albania s future but Italy s claims to sovereignty over Vlore had never been seriously challenged Italian Prime Minister Francesco Saverio Nitti had also hoped to obtain a mandate over the rest of the country according to the secret Treaty of London 10 Orders of battle EditAlbanian order of battle Edit Albanian order of battleForces from Shulleri Commander Kalo TelhaiForces from Kute Commander Rrapo Celo and Halim RakipiForces from Dukat Commander Sheme Sadiku and Hodo ZeqiriForces from Lumi i Vlores Commander Sali VranishtiForces from Fengu Commander Muco AliuForces from Kanina Commander Beqir VeloForces from Salari Commander Selam MusaiForces from Kurvelesh Commander Riza RunaForces from Fterra Commander Xhaferr ShehuForces from Mallakaster Commander Bektash Cakrani and Halim HamitiForces from Skrapar Commander Riza KodheliForces from Berat Commander Seit Toptani and Izedin VrioniForces from Peqin Commander Adem GjinishiForces from Gjirokaster Commander Javer Hurshiti and Xhevdet PicariForces from Cameria Commander Alush Seit Taka and Muharrem RushitiForces from Korca Captain Ferit Frasheri and Tosun SelenicaForces from Tirana Captain Ismail Haki KuciAlbanian American Volunteers Captain Aqif Permeti and Kareiman TatzaniItalian order of battle Edit Italian order of battleArea Military Strength CommanderVlore Kanine area Center of High Command of 36th division forces Commander General Settimo Piacentini Division commander General Emanuele Pugliese and his aid General De Luca Kote Road food and hospital center 4th command of mixed artillery Alpine battalion 72nd battalion of Infantry Command of Carabinieri forces Commander General Enrico Gotti Commander of the garrison Cavallo Michele Gjorm Center of a machine gun company Commander Captain BergamaschiMatohasanaj Castle 72 infantry battalion infantry regiment 182nd mountain artillery section 70 mm Commander majorTepelene Castle Infantry battalion 157th artillery section carabinieri forces Commander major Bronzini Llogara Pass Part of 35th battalion of 35th regiment of bersaglieri 105th repart Commander Captain BoanseaHimare Center of command of 35th regiment of bersaglieri Commander general Rossi Colonel Manganeli Selenice Commander major GuadalupiVlora Gulf Battleships San Mario Bruceti Dulio Alkina Orion torpedinier Arcione Uje i Ftohte region outskirt south of Vlore Aviation forcesPanaja Central magazines of the Italian armyVajze hospital and post command Course of war Edit Illustration of the flag raised during the war The war started on June 4 after Italian General Settimo Piacentini refused to hand over the Vlora district to the Albanian government Albania had previously forced much of the Italian occupation to leave the country but after demands by Ahmet Zogu the then interior minister of Albania to continue the evacuation were rejected by Italy the Albanians announced the establishment of the National Defense Committee under the leadership of Qazim Koculi and began to gather volunteers 6 Ahmet Lepenica became the commander in chief of the detachment consisting of around 4000 men The Albanian insurgents were poorly armed and not everyone even carried a gun some were armed with nothing but sticks and stones In and around Vlora were around 25 000 Italian soldiers who were stationed in the area with artillery 6 The Albanians engaged in fighting in the Vlora region and soon the rebels were bolstered by volunteers in the region This increased the size of the force to upwards of 10 000 irregulars which also included the Banda e Vatres an Albanian military band that was formed in the United States that travelled 23 days by boat from the US to Durres However during the course of warfare not more than 4 000 Albanians engaged 11 6 The advance of the Albanian troops as well as communist revolutionary movements and riots within the army in Italy made reinforcements to the Italian soldiers in Vlora impossible 12 6 Italian soldiers remained barricaded inside Vlora without orders and with malaria and communist agitation spreading among the ranks 6 12 End of hostilities Edit Italian cannons captured by Albanian irregulars during one of the battles The military stalemate lasted for three months until the following protocol the Treaty of Tirana was signed between the Italian and the Albanian governments Italy undertakes to recognize and defend the autonomy of Albania and retaining only Saseno abandons Vallona It was the first diplomatic pact between Albania and a foreign power The agreement rescued the territory of the Albanian state from further partition Albania had used all its influence to obtain full and unreserved recognition by the Western powers of the independence of Albania within 1913 borders 13 The armistice introducing a ceasifire on 5 August contained these main points The Italian Government completely acknowledged the independence territorial integrity and sovereignty of Albania within the frontiers defined in 1913 by the Conference of Ambassadors in London The Italian government relinquished its protectorate proclaimed in 1917 and the occupation and administration of Vlore and its hinterland and renounced all claims against Albania and all interference in Albanian political affairs and abandoned the idea of a mandate over the country The Italian government agreed to withdraw its war materials from Vlore and its hinterland to evacuate all its holdings on the Albanian mainland and to repatriate at an early date the Italian troops actually stationed in Vlore and on the littoral and all its forces still remaining in other parts of Albanian territory with the exception of the garrison on the island of Sazan at the entrance of the Vlore bay Italy retained the permanent possession only of the island of Sazan but remained in temporary occupation of Cape Linguetta and cape Treporti both dominating Vlore bay with the right to fortify them the detachment of troops at Shkoder was also to remain in that town There would take place an exchange of prisoners the liberation of arrested persons under a general mutual amnesty and the settlement of outstanding questions concerning the private interests of Albanian and Italian subjects The agreement was confirmed within the League of Nations by the Conference of Ambassadors in November 1921 the declaration of the Ambassadors again affirmed Albanian independence and recognized Italian special interests in Albania Giovanni Giolitti the Italian prime minister of the time was satisfied by the Treaty of Tirana and described it in these terms What really interests us is that Vallona cannot form a base of operations against us and this aim was achieved with the occupation of the islet of Sasseno which lies at the mouth of the bay itself For these reasons I decided to renounce the mandate conferred on us by the Paris Conference on Albania which would have represented an enormous liability without any profit and to limit our action to the diplomatic protection of Albania against the aims of other States and to abandon Vallona ensuring however recognition of the possession of Sasseno On the other hand Benito Mussolini described Vlora as the Albanian Caporetto 1 However when he rose to power he too became a guarantor of Albanian independence and unleashed the crisis of Corfu following a dispute with Greece over the Albanian border References Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Vlora War a b Arhire Sorin Rosu Tudor eds 2019 The Paris Peace Conference 1919 1920 and Its Aftermath Settlements Problems and Perceptions Cambridge Scholars Publishing p 112 ISBN 9781527543959 the political quarrel turned into an armed conflict which ended with the unexpected victory of the Albanians Giovanni Giolitti Memorie della mia vita Milan F lli Treves 1922 Krasniqi Kole 2019 Islamist Extremism in Kosovo and the Countries of the Region Cham Springer ISBN 978 3 030 18569 5 OCLC 1119613159 Marmullaku Ramadan 1975 Albania and the Albanians Hamden Conn Archon Books ISBN 0 208 01558 2 OCLC 1963173 Vincenzo Gallinari l esercito italiano nel primo dopoguerra 1918 1920 p 157 a b c d e f g Albanian identities myth and history Authors Stephanie Schwandner Sievers Bernd Jurgen Fischer Editors Stephanie Schwandner Sievers Bernd Jurgen Fischer Edition illustrated Publisher C Hurst amp Co Publishers 2002 ISBN 1 85065 572 3 ISBN 978 1 85065 572 5 Ruggero Giacomini La rivolta dei bersaglieri e le Giornate Rosse I moti di Ancona dell estate del 1920 e l indipendenza dell Albania Assemblea legislativa delle Marche Ancona 2010 Paolini M I fatti di Ancona e l 11º Bersaglieri giugno 1920 in Quaderni di Resistenza Marche n 4 novembre 1982 Southern Albania 1912 1923 Publisher Stanford University Press ISBN 0 8047 6171 X 9780804761710 p 61 Italy from liberalism to fascism 1870 1925 Author Christopher Seton Watson Edition illustrated Publisher Taylor amp Francis 1967 ISBN 0 416 18940 7 ISBN 978 0 416 18940 7 p 578 BANDA DHE VULLNETARET E VATRES NE LUFTEN E VLORES DHE NE KONFLIKTIN ME GREKET NE KUFIJTE JUGORE gazetadielli com Retrieved 21 March 2018 a b Gli Italiani si ritirano dall Albania digilander libero it Retrieved 21 August 2018 Albania and King Zog independence republic and monarchy 1908 1939 Volume 1 of Albania in the twentieth century Owen Pearson Volume 1 of Albania and King Zog Owen Pearson Author Owen Pearson Edition illustrated Publisher I B Tauris 2004 ISBN 1 84511 013 7 ISBN 978 1 84511 013 0 page 151 1 Further reading EditAkademia e Shkencave e RPSSH Fjalori Enciklopedik Shqiptar Tirana 1985 Pearson Owen Albania in the Twentieth Century A History Volume One New York I B Tauris 2006 ISBN 1 84511 013 7 Sette Alessandro From Paris to Vlore Italy and the Settlement of the Albanian Question 1919 1920 in The Paris Peace Conference 1919 1920 and Its Aftermath Settlements Problems and Perceptions eds S Arhire T Rosu Cambridge Scholars Publishing Newcastle upon Tyne 2020 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Vlora War amp oldid 1154468822, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
