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Siege of Scutari (1912–1913)

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Siege of Shkoder
Part of the First Balkan War

Montenegrin flag on Shkoder fortress.
DateApril 23, 1913
Location
near Shkodër, Albania
Result Decisive Montenegrin victory[1] City given to Albania in May 1913
Belligerents

Ottoman Empire Ottoman Empire,

Provisional Government of Albania		 Montenegro
Serbia Serbia
Commanders and leaders

Ottoman EmpireHasan Riza Pasha †,

Ottoman EmpireEsad Pashë Toptani		 King Nikola
Prince Danilo
Strength
5,000 Ottoman Empire
10,000 Albanian volunteers		 25,000 Montenegrins
Three Serbian Divisions
Casualties and losses
Unknown - Probably heavy; The defenders evacuated the city Unknown - Heavy

Background

The Balkan League consisting of Serbia, Montenegro, Greece and Bulgaria had jointly declared war against the Ottoman Empire. Montenegro mobilized her forces and prepared to attack the Ottoman forces in Albania directly to the south of her. It also enlisted the support of catholic Albanian tribes across the border who had been fighting the Turkish armies for centuries[2]. Shkodër had long been a territorial ambition of Montenegro, despite the fact that its inhabitants were overwhelmingly ethnic Albanians.

Battle

The siege started on October 28, 1912. The attack was originally carried out by the Montenegrin army commanded by Prince Danilo. However, his forces encountered stiff resistance, and the Serbian army sent large reinforcements to the aid of their Montenegrin allies. The combined Turkish and Albanian defenders led by Hasan Riza Pasha and his lieutenant Esad Pasha Toptani, resisted for seven months and through skillful defenses, managed to inflict a heavy toll on the besiegers[2]. After the death of the Ottoman commander, Hasan Pasha, in an ambush under mysterious circumstances, Esad Pasha finally surrendered the city to Montenegro in April 23, 1913 and the Balkan allies allowed the defenders to evacuate peacefully.

Aftermath

The conquest of Shkodër removed the only obstacle for the Serbian advance in the remainder of Ottoman Albania. By November 1912 the country had declared independence but it was yet to be recognized by anyone. The Serbian army eventually occupied most of northern and central Albania stopping north of the town of Vlorë. They also managed to trap the remains of the Army of Vardar into what was left of Albania proper, but were not able to force them to surrender[2]. However, when the war was over, the Great Powers didn't award the city to the Kingdom of Montenegro which was compelled to evacuate it in May 1913, in accordance with the London Conference of Ambassadors. The army's withdrawal was forced when a small naval flotilla comprising of British and Italian gun boats moved up the Bojana river as well as across the Adriatic coastline [3].

Notes

  1. ^ Somel, Selçuk Akşin, Historical dictionary of the Ottoman Empire, (Scarecrow Press Inc., 2003), lxvi.
  2. ^ a b c Eqerem bej Vlora, Lebenserinnerungen ('Memoirs'), Munich 1968, 1973.
  3. ^ Edith Durham, The Struggle for Scutari (Turk, Slav, and Albanian), (Edward Arnold, 1914)

References

  • Somel, Selçuk Akşin, Historical dictionary of the Ottoman Empire, (Scarecrow Press Inc., 2003).
  • Eqerem bej Vlora, Lebenserinnerungen ('Memoirs'), Munich 1968, 1973.
  • Edith Durham, The Struggle for Scutari (Turk, Slav, and Albanian), (Edward Arnold, 1914)
  • Edith Durham, Twenty Years of Balkan Tangle, (Adamant Media Corporation, April 20, 2005)

See also

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