Siege of Scutari (1912–13)

Siege of Scutari
Part of the First Balkan War
Clockwise from top left: Flags of Great Powers on Shkodër fortress; Ottoman troops defending Shkodër; Montenegrin flag flying over the Shkoder fortress; Captured flag standard of Montenegrin forces proudly displayed by Turkish and Albanian troops; Albanian guerillas shooting from a tree; Albanian officers posing with captured Montenegrin ammunition
Date 28 October 1912 – 23 April 1913 Location near Scutari, Scutari Province, Ottoman Empire (present-day Shkodër, Albania) Result Status quo ante bellum Essad Pasha Toptani signed the final surrender protcol on April 23, 1913. A Peace treaty signed by Essad Pasha and King Nikola, that returned Shkodër to the Albanian Principality.
Belligerents
Ottoman Empire Albanian volunteers	Montenegro  Serbia
Commanders and leaders
Hasan Riza Pasha  † Essad Pasha Toptani	King Nikola Crown Prince Danilo
Strength
20,000	40,000
Casualties and losses
Unknown	~ 15.000

The Siege of Scutari / Skadar took place from October 28, 1912 to April 23, 1913, with allied forces of Montenegro and Serbia against forces of the Ottoman Empire.

The Siege of Scutari is also referred to as the Siege of Shkodër (Albanian: Rrethimi i Shkodrës, Serbian: Опсада Скадра), known in Turkish as İşkodra Müdafaası or İşkodra Savunması.

In 1912, the Balkan League—consisting of Serbia, Montenegro, Greece and Bulgaria—had jointly declared war against the Ottoman Empire. Montenegro mobilized its troops and prepared to attack the Ottoman forces in Albania directly to the south. However, behind stood the intention to expand Montenegro at the expense of territories with an overwhelming Albanian majority.

On 8 October 1912 Gen. Hasan Riza Pasha announced that Montenegro had declared war on the Ottoman Empire in order to get rid of the 600 years of oppression by the "Turkish foot", as the enemy claimed, and that its troops were crossing the border between Montenegro and Albania. Two hours after the news the Montenegrin troops, as expected, were approaching Scutari. Up to 70% of the Turkish army in the inner parts of the Balkans was composed of Muslim Albanian conscripts during the freedom struggle from the Ottoman Empire. At noon Hasan Riza Pasha in his headquarters gathered all his commanders and told them:

The city will soon be surrounded, but this city will not fall into the hands of Montenegrins. Shkodra is our fate or our grave, but not our shame. Today we have five thousand troops, but over 20 thousand others are coming to our assistance. As of today begins an uphill battle, that none of us knows how long it will last

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