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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).
The Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus (Greek: Αὐτόνομος Δημοκρατία τῆς Βορείου Ἠπείρου, romanized: Aftónomos Dimokratía tis Voreíou Ipeírou) 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 (Northern Epirotes).
The Greek army entered Albania in November 1912 and its advance was met with local resistance from irregulars. The Greek army in southern Albania engaged in harsh reprisals against civilians. [17] The Greek Army controlled territory that would be later incorporated into the Albanian state before the declaration of Albanian Independence in Vlorë.
The question of Epirote's autonomy has remained a pivotal point of contention in Greek-Albanian diplomatic relations. [73] In the 1960s, Soviet Union General Secretary Nikita Khrushchev requested that Albanian Head of State Enver Hoxha grant autonomy to the Greek minority in the region. This initiative, however, ultimately proved unsuccessful.
Map of Northern Epirus presented to the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, by the exiled provisional government of Northern Epirus.. The Greek toponym Epirus (Greek: Ήπειρος), meaning "mainland" or "continent", first appears in the work of Hecataeus of Miletus in the 6th century BC and is one of the few Greek names from the view of an external observer with a maritime-geographical perspective.
The Albanian government claimed that although the Greek Army was evacuating the region, it was being replaced by guerrilla fighters organized by the Greek authorities. [10] Meanwhile, on March 7, 1914, Prince William of Wied arrived in Albania and immediately ordered the Dutch colonel Lodewijk Thomson to negotiate with the Northern Epirote ...
But, soon after the Italian invasion, the Greeks counter-attacked and a sizeable portion of Albania was in Greek hands (including the cities of Gjirokastër and Korçë). In April 1941, after Greece capitulated to the German forces, the Greek territorial gains in southern Albania returned to Italian command.
At least 145 Albanian villages in southern Albania were looted and destroyed by Greek forces in Northern Epirus. Accompanying this was the destruction of 48 Bektashi teqes, or shrines, at the hands of the Greek forces. In total, 80% of the teqes in Albania were either extremely damaged or destroyed entirely from 1914 to 1915. [53]