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  AlbaniaAlbanian volunteers	Montenegro  Serbia
Commanders and leaders
Hasan Rıza Pasha  † Essad Pasha Toptani	King Nikola Crown Prince Danilo Radomir Vešović
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. Montenegro considered itself successor of Zeta, a medieval Serb polity that played an important part in the overall development of Serbian Empire, with Skhoder as its capital. With the transition of power from the last feudal lords Balšići to Venetians, and eventually Ottomans, who established a city as an administrative center of the region, the "lost capital" became a symbol of oppression for the Montenegrins. Historically, the border between the medieval Zeta and Albanian principalities was the Drin river, as pointed out by 17th century Montenegrin ruler and historiographer Vasilije and Montenegro sought to expand itself to its traditional borders. Furthermore, the region had considerable Slavic population. Many Montenegrins trace their heritage back to the region, which their ancestors abandoned after the Turkish occupation.

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