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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.
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).
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 Greek Army temporarily halted the invasion and pushed the Italians back into Albania. The Greek successes forced Nazi Germany to intervene. The Germans invaded Greece and Yugoslavia on 6 April 1941, and overran both countries within a month, despite British aid to Greece in the form of an expeditionary corps.
Italian forces in 1916 recruited Albanian irregulars to serve alongside them. [18] Italy, with the permission of Allied command, occupied Northern Epirus on August 23, 1916, forcing the Greek military to withdraw its occupation forces in the area. [18] In June 1917, Italy proclaimed central and southern Albania to be a protectorate of Italy.
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.
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 ...