The “Vlora War” began an armed struggle of the Albanian people to liberate the province of Vlora from the Italian invaders and for its administrative union with the rest of Albania. Italian forces were stationed in Vlora during World War I. The Vlora war started after the great political victories within the country, achieved with the Congress of Lushnja in the first months of 1920, and after all the efforts of the Albanian side to solve the Vlora issue by political means had failed. The government of Rome had certainly opposed the request of the Albanians to renounce their annexationist claims. It relied on the approval obtained at the 1919–1920 Peace Conference of the main Powers of the World Conflict, to pass Vlora under the sovereignty of Italy and the superiority of its armed forces. The decision to start the war was taken by the representatives of the province of Vlora, gathered in the Assembly of Barçallai on May 29, 1920, which chose the “National Defense” Committee headed by Osman Haxhiu for the organization and direction of the war. The organization at the national level was done by the “National Defense” committees of the various provinces of the country, as well as by the government of Tirana, which provided its assistance, despite not officially participating in the war. The Vlora War began on June 5, 1920, after General Settimio Piaçentini rejected the ultimatum of the National Defense Committee two days earlier to hand over to the government of Tirana, within 48 hours, the administration of the province of Vlora, of which they were a part also Tepelena and Himara. The battle of Vlora took place in a frontal manner. In front of the regular Italian army, which had two divisions in Albania, the Albanian forces, assembled voluntarily and amounting to about 4 thousand people, were placed. The forces of the province of Vlora were engaged in the military actions of the first week, and so were those from other provinces of the country. On 5-6 June, all the Italian garrisons in the province, from Tepelena to Drashovica, were hit simultaneously. The attack on the Italian forces in Vlora and its surroundings began on June 11, after all other garrisons had fallen, except that of Tepelena, which surrendered on June 21. The Italian garrison in Vlora consisted of approximately 7,000–7,500 infantry, equipped with armored vehicles, supported by aircraft and naval vessels. However, the Italian troops could not break the siege of the Albanian forces. Rome was forced to give up sovereignty over the province of Vlora and sign the Albanian-Italian Protocol of August 2, 1920, with the government of Tirana, which marked the end of the Vlora War. On September 3, 1920, the Albanian forces triumphantly entered the city of Vlora, emptied by the invading troops. Along with the province of Vlora, the Italian government was forced to withdraw the military garrisons from Saranda, Durrës and Shengjini. (In the photo: Moment of celebration after the victory of the Battle of Vlora.)
Text: Albanian encyclopedic dictionary – Vol. 2 , Academy of Sciences of Albania, “Kristalina-KH”, Tirana, 2008, page 1554.
Photo: © Central State Archives
Graphic processing: AHCF
