Battle of Vlora
| Vlora War | |||||||||
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 Clockwise from top: Italian base; Albanian soldiers; Italian cannons captured by Albanian irregulars during one of the battles |
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Principality of AlbaniaAlbanian irregulars |
 Kingdom of Italy
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
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Qazim Koculi Ahmet Lepenica Selam Musai †
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Giovanni Giolitti Settimo Piacentini Enrico Gotti †
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| Strength | |||||||||
| 2,500 in the city, 10,000 in the region | 20,000 infantry | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| 1,000 dead | 4,000-5,000 dead | ||||||||
The Vlora War or the War of 1920 (Albanian: Lufta e Vlorës or Lufta e Njëzetës; Italian: Guerra di Valona) was a series of battles between Italian forces garrisoned throughout the Vlorë region and Albanian nationalists divided into small groups of fighters. The war lasted three months and had great impact in the struggle of Albania for the safeguard of its territories at a time when Albanian borders and future were discussed in the Paris Peace Conference. The Vlora War is seen as a turning point in the establishment of the Albanian independence.
Before entering the First World War as an ally of Triple Entente the Kingdom of Italy had signed the Secret Treaty of London in which Italy promised to declare war against Germany and Austria-Hungary within a month, in exchange of some territorial gains at the end of the war. In this treaty the promised territories of Albania to Italy were treated in articles 6 and 7:
Article 6 Italy shall receive full sovereignty over Valona, the island of Saseno and surrounding territory...
Article 7 Having obtained the Trentino and Istria by Article 4, Dalmatia and the Adriatic islands by Article 5, and also the gulf of Valona, Italy undertakes, in the event a small, autonomous, and neutralized state being formed in Albania Italy not to oppose the possible desire of France, Great Britain, and Russia to repartition the northern and the southern districts of Albania between Montenegro, Serbia, and Greece. The southern coast of Albania, from the frontier of the Italian territory of Valona to Cape Stilos, is to be neutrazied. The Italy will be conceded the right of concluding the foreign relations of Albania; in any case, Italy will be bound to secure for Albania a territory sufficiently extensive to enable its frontiers to join those of Greece and Serbia to the west of Lake Ochrida ..
In 1920 in the Paris Peace Conference the allies had still reached no decision on Albania's future, but Italy's claims to sovereignty over Vlorë had never been seriously challenged. Italian Prime Minister Nitti had also hoped to obtain a mandate over the rest of the country according to the Secret Treaty of London.
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Wikipedia