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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.
Italy's invasion of Greece, launched with the divisions of the Royal Army based in Italian-controlled Albania, badly armed and poorly commanded, resulted in a setback: the Italian forces encountered unexpectedly tenacious resistance by the Hellenic Army and penetrated only a few kilometers into Greek territory and had to contend with the ...
After the Italian invasion of Albania in April 1939, the Greek General Staff was alerted to a potential Italian attack from Albanian territory. Faced with the strong likelihood of a concerted Italian-Bulgarian attack against both Epirus and Macedonia-Thrace, the main Greek contingency plan, codenamed "IB" (for "Italy-Bulgaria"), essentially prescribed a defensive stance in Epirus.
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.
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.
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 Balkans campaign of World War II began with the Italian invasion of Greece on 28 October 1940. In the early months of 1941, Italy's offensive had stalled and a Greek counter-offensive pushed into Albania.
The Battle of Himara (Greek: Η Μάχη της Χειμάρρας) was a military conflict that took place in the Greco-Italian War in December 1940, during the counteroffensive of the Greek Army that followed the failed Italian invasion of Greece. After the Greek victory in Himara, the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, admitted that one of ...