At 5.30 in the morning of October 28, 1940, the Italian troops launched their attack against Greece. The Italian side implemented the decisions of the war council held at the Palazzo Venezia on October 15. After all, the Italian provocations had increased dramatically in the summer of 1940, after the defeat of France, making the intentions of the neighboring country evident, culminating in the torpedoing of the cruiser “Elli” in the port of Tinos on the day of the Assumption of the Virgin.
Albania had been founded in November 1912 with the assistance of Italy and Austria-Hungary, and a few months later, on July 29, 1913, it was recognized as a sovereign and independent state by the Great Powers’ Diplomatic Conference in London. Although the Greek army had liberated a large part of Northern Epirus, an area with a Greek population of 120,000, with a rich ecclesiastical and educational life, the Great Powers awarded with the Protocol of Florence (December 17, 1913) the cities of Delvino, Himara, Agioi Saranda, Tepeleni, Premeti, Argyrokastro and Kortsa in newly formed Albania. In response to the losses in Northern Epirus, with their announcement on February 13, 1914, the Great Powers informed that Greece would acquire the sovereignty of the islands of the Northeast Aegean, except for Imbros and Tenedos (and Kastellorizos). In the texts of the Great Powers there was no provision for the protection of the Greek minority of Albania.
Albania became a member of the League of Nations in December 1920. The country’s accession to the international organization entailed the adoption of a specific framework of commitments, which concerned the protection of the rights of minorities living in its territories. At the 14th Session of the Council of the League of Nations, on October 2, 1921, Albania officially recognized through the mouth of the Albanian representative Van Noli the Hellenism of the Northern Epirus as an ethnic and linguistic minority. A few months later, on February 17, 1922, the Albanian Parliament ratified the decision of October 1921.
From about the middle of the 1920s, Albania was under the direct influence of Italy, while from the middle of the following decade it became its protectorate. In April 1939, Albania was occupied by the Italian army. Although its occupation “simply made apparent the pre-existing relationship of servitude, which it transformed into a relationship of direct dependence,” as Emanuele Grazzi, the Italian ambassador to Greece from May 1939 until the outbreak of the Greco-Italian War in 1940, wrote in his Memoirs, caused intense concern in Greece about Italy’s future intentions in the Balkans and the Mediterranean. The fears of the Greek side about the extension of Italian views to the southern part of the Balkan Peninsula were confirmed in October 1940.
The Italian troops in Pindos and Epirus met strong resistance from the Greek forces, who with unparalleled heroism repelled the attacks of the invaders. The Italian divisions had difficulty moving on the muddy paths of the Greek mountains, and the weather did not help their air support. Soon, at the beginning of November, the great Greek counterattack began. On November 14, the 3rd Army Corps launched an attack against the Italian positions at Pindo. After hard fighting, the units of the Corps penetrated to a depth of 25 kilometers and managed, on the 21st of the month, to occupy the Morova and Ivan mountain ranges, which are located around Korča. The Italians retreated, evacuating the city. On November 22, 1940, the Greek army liberated Koritsa once again (the first was on December 19, 1912). It was the first major victory of the Greek forces during the counterattack they were carrying out. The operations continued with undiminished intensity, as a result of which other cities were liberated and without, where the Greek Northern Epirotians lived.
“Kathimerini” spoke of a “triumph of the Greek arms” in the paper of November 23, 1940. In the main article of the newspaper, George A. Vlachos praised the heroism of the Greeks, who defended themselves by defending their homeland. Furthermore, he stated that Greece’s original intention was not to get involved in the great war that had broken out in Europe, but was forced to do so after Italy’s insults, provocations and declaration of war on October 28.
The newspaper also quoted a detailed description of the occupation of the city by the Greek forces. “The capture of Kortsa was the fruit of a persistent struggle in which the glorious troops proved themselves in cooperation after the air force. As of yesterday morning already, after the completion of the occupation of the Marova mountain range, the Greek troops had already secured the possession of the city, and all that remained was to determine the time of its realization”, he said characteristically.
Column editor: Myrto Katsigera, Vassilis Minakakis, Antigoni-Despina Poimenidou, Athanasios Syroplakis
