Protocol of Corfu - Background

Background

See also: Northern Epirote Declaration of Independence

During the First Balkan War, the Greek Army defeated the Ottoman forces and pushed north through the region of Epirus, reaching a line from Himara on the Ionian coast east to Prespa Lake by February 1913. Pending the final adjudication of the Great Powers regarding the border between Greece and the newly-established state of Albania, the region remained under Greek military control. On 17 December 1913, the Protocol of Florence ceded the northern part of this area, which became known as "Northern Epirus", to Albania. This turn of events was highly unpopular among local Greeks, who decided to declare their independence and secure the region against any opposing threat. The Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus was thus proclaimed in Argyrokastro (Gjirokastër) on 28 February 1914, with Georgios Christakis-Zografos, a distinguished Epirote politician from Lunxhëri, as its head.

Meanwhile, the Greek army evacuated from the region, and, on 1 March, Korytsa (Korçë) was ceded to the newly formed Albanian gendarmerie. Serious disturbances broke out in a number of places between the Autonomist forces and Albanian gendarmerie units and irregulars. Meanwhile, an International Commission formed by the Great Powers to secure stability and peace in the region was unable to achieve an agreement between the two sides.