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108-928: During the Italo-Ottoman war of 1911–12, Italy had occupied the Dodecanese islands whose population was largely Greek. Under the Venizelos–Tittoni agreement of 1919, Italy promised to cede the Dodecanese islands except for Rhodes to Greece in exchange for Greek recognition of the Italian claims to part of Anatolia. However, the Turkish National Movement 's victory in the Turkish War of Independence had put an end to all plans for partitioning Asia Minor by 1922, and Mussolini took

216-532: A Greek destroyer saluted the Italian flag, and when the Greek flag hoisted, the Italian flagship saluted it. 40,000 residents of Corfu welcomed the prefect when he landed, and shouldered him to the prefecture. British and French flags were waved by the crowd which demonstrated enthusiastically in front of the Anglo-French consulates. The Italian squadron had been ordered to remain anchored till Italy received

324-677: A Serbian nationalist and the resulting Austro-Hungarian plan for military action against Serbia was a major precipitating event of the First World War (1914–1918) The Italo-Turkish War illustrated to the French and British governments that Italy was more valuable to them inside the Triple Alliance than being formally allied with the Entente . In January 1912, the French diplomat Paul Cambon wrote to Raymond Poincaré that Italy

432-513: A certain negligence before and after the crime." In addition, Italy demanded from Greece 1,000,000 lire per day for the cost of the occupation of Corfu and Conference of the Ambassadors replied that Italy reserved the right of recourse to an International Court of Justice in connection with the occupation expenses. In Greece there was a general depression over the decision, because Italy had obtained everything it demanded. Harold Nicolson ,

540-477: A chauffeur, were ambushed and assassinated by unknown assailants at Kakavia 's border crossing, near the town of Ioannina in Greek territory. The five victims were Tellini, Major Luigi Corti, Lieutenant Mario Bonacini, Albanian interpreter Thanas Gheziri and the chauffeur Remigio Farnetti. None of the victims were robbed. The incident occurred close to the disputed border and therefore could have been carried out by either side. According to Italian newspapers and

648-579: A clear advantage. The Italian Navy had seven times the tonnage of the Ottoman Navy and was better trained. In January 1912, the Italian cruiser Piemonte , with the Soldato class destroyers Artigliere and Garibaldino , sank seven Ottoman gunboats ( Ayintab , Bafra , Gökcedag , Kastamonu , Muha , Ordu and Refahiye ) and a yacht ( Sipka ) in the Battle of Kunfuda Bay . The Italians blockaded

756-514: A compromise. Mussolini who only became prime minister on 28 October 1922, was determined to assert his power by proving that he was an unconventional leader who did not follow the normal rules of diplomacy, and the Corfu crisis was the first clash between Mussolini and the traditional elites in Italy, who while not objecting to imperialistic policies, disliked Il Duce' s reckless style. At the time, Italy

864-632: A cult of patriotic sacrifice in which the colonial war was celebrated in an aggressive and imperialistic way. The ideology of "crusade" and "martyrdom" characterised the funerals. The result was to consolidate Catholic war culture among devout Italians, which was soon expanded to include Italian involvement in the Great War (1915–1918). That aggressive spirit was revived by the Fascists in the 1920s to strengthen their popular support. The resistance in Libya

972-536: A diplomatic exchange of notes. The agreement stipulated that Italy would support British control in Egypt, and that Britain would likewise support Italian influence in Libya. In 1902, Italy and France had signed a secret treaty which accorded freedom of intervention in Tripolitania and Morocco . The agreement, negotiated by Italian Foreign Minister Giulio Prinetti and French Ambassador Camille Barrère , ended

1080-660: A first secretary in the central department of the Foreign Office said: "In response to the successive menaces of M. Mussolini we muzzled the League, we imposed the fine on Greece without evidence of her guilt and without reference to the Hague, and we disbanded the Commission of Enquiry. A settlement was thus achieved." On September 27 the Italian flag was lowered and the Italian troops evacuated Corfu. The Italian fleet and

1188-483: A guerrilla war with local mujahideen . Many local Libyans joined forces with the Ottomans because of their common faith against the "Christian invaders" and started bloody guerrilla warfare . Italian authorities adopted many repressive measures against the rebels, such as public hangings as retaliation for ambushes. On 23 October 1911, over 500 Italian soldiers were slaughtered by Turkish troops at Sciara Sciatt , on

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1296-467: A strong influence over public opinion, but it was in opposition and also divided on the issue. It acted ineffectively against military intervention. The future Italian fascist leader Benito Mussolini , who was then still a left-wing Socialist, took a prominent antiwar position. A similar opposition was expressed in Parliament by Gaetano Salvemini and Leone Caetani . An ultimatum was presented to

1404-635: A visit to Rome, the British Foreign Secretary, Lord Curzon , told Mussolini that Britain would cede Jubaland and Jarabub to Italy as part of a general settlement of all of Italy's claims, saying that Italians had to settle their disputes with both Yugoslavia and Greece as part of the price of Jubaland and Jarabub. Under the terms of the Treaty of London of 1915, under which Italy entered World War I , Britain had promised to cede Jubaland and Jarabub to Italy, and as Mussolini had founded

1512-548: A war that was lasting much longer than expected. Italy occupied twelve islands in the sea, comprising the Ottoman province of Rhodes , which then became known as the Dodecanese, but that raised the discontent of Austria-Hungary , which feared that it could fuel the irredentism of nations such as Serbia and Greece and cause imbalance in the already-fragile situation in the Balkan area. The only other relevant military operation of

1620-717: Is a major road border crossing between southern Albania and northwestern Greece . On the Albanian side lies the village of Kakavijë , located in the Gjirokastër County , Dropull region. On the Greek side lies the village of Ktismata , in the Delvinaki municipality, Ioannina regional unit . The main road from Sarandë and Gjirokastër to Ioannina passes through this border crossing. The Greek National Road 22 (GR-22, European route E853 ) connects Kakavia with

1728-754: The Anglo-Russian Convention and the establishment of the Triple Entente , Tsar Nicholas II and King Victor Emmanuel III made the 1909 Racconigi Bargain in which Russia acknowledged Italy's interest in Tripoli and Cyrenaica in return for Italian support for Russian control of the Bosphorus . However, the Italian government did little to realise that opportunity and so knowledge of the Libyan territory and resources remained scarce in

1836-734: The Balkan League was completed in 1912, with the First Balkan War (1912–1913) beginning by a Montenegrin attack on 8 October 1912, ten days before the Treaty of Ouchy. The swift and nearly-complete victory of the Balkan League astonished contemporary observers. However, none of the victors were happy with the division of captured territory, which resulted in the Second Balkan War (1913) in which Serbia, Greece,

1944-680: The Dodecanese islands in the Aegean Sea . Italy agreed to return the Dodecanese to the Ottoman Empire in the Treaty of Ouchy in 1912. However, the vagueness of the text, combined with subsequent adverse events unfavourable to the Ottoman Empire (the outbreak of the Balkan Wars and World War I ), allowed a provisional Italian administration of the islands, and Turkey eventually renounced all claims on these islands in Article 15 of

2052-569: The Fascist Party in 1919 in part to protest the "mutilated victory" of 1918 as Italy did not obtain all of the territory promised by the Treaty of London, Jubaland and Jarabub had over-sized symbolic importance in Italy far out of proportion to the actual value of these territories. To obtain Jubaland and Jarabub would mean that Italy would have to settle the Fiume dispute with Yugoslavia and

2160-535: The First Treaty of Lausanne , which is often also called Treaty of Ouchy to distinguish it from the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne , (the Second Treaty of Lausanne). The main provisions of the treaty were as follows: Subsequent events prevented the return of the Dodecanese to Turkey, however. The First Balkan War broke out shortly before the treaty had been signed. Turkey was in no position to reoccupy

2268-509: The GR-20 at Kalpaki . On August 27, 1923, the Italian general Enrico Tellini , three of his assistants, and their interpreter fell into an ambush and were assassinated by unknown assailants at Kakavia, leading to the Corfu incident . This article about a specific location in Gjirokastër County , Albania, is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This Epirus location article

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2376-634: The Kingdom of Italy and the Ottoman Empire from 29 September 1911 to 18 October 1912. As a result of this conflict, Italy captured the Ottoman Tripolitania Vilayet , of which the main sub-provinces were Fezzan , Cyrenaica , and Tripoli itself. These territories became the colonies of Italian Tripolitania and Cyrenaica , which would later merge into Italian Libya . During the conflict, Italian forces also occupied

2484-660: The United Kingdom had agreed to the French occupation of Tunisia and British control over Cyprus respectively, which were both parts of the declining Ottoman state. When Italian diplomats hinted about possible opposition to the Anglo-French maneuvers by their government, the French replied that Tripoli would have been a counterpart for Italy, which made a secret agreement with the British government in February 1887 via

2592-503: The 1920 Treaty of Sèvres , which was never ratified, Italy was supposed to cede all of the islands except Rhodes to Greece in exchange for a vast Italian zone of influence in southwest Anatolia . However, the Greek defeat in the Greco–Turkish War and the foundation of modern Turkey created a new situation that made the enforcement of the terms of that treaty impossible. In Article 15 of the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne , which superseded

2700-434: The 1920 Treaty of Sèvres, Turkey formally recognised the Italian annexation of the Dodecanese. The population was largely Greek, and by treaty in 1947, the islands eventually became part of Greece. As the Dodecanese were part of Italy, the local population was not affected by the subsequent population exchange between Greece and Turkey , and a small community of Dodecanese Turks has remained to this day. In his book Primo,

2808-545: The 1923 Treaty of Lausanne . The war is considered a precursor of the First World War . Members of the Balkan League , seeing how easily Italy defeated the Ottomans and motivated by incipient Balkan nationalism , attacked the Ottoman Empire in October 1912, starting the First Balkan War a few days before the end of the Italo-Turkish War. The Italo-Turkish War saw some technological changes , most notably

2916-499: The 50 million lire. The 50,000,000 lire deposited in a Swiss bank were at the disposal of The Hague Tribunal and the bank refused to transfer the money to Rome without the authority of the Greek National Bank , which was given on the evening of the same day. On September 29, Mussolini ordered the return 10 million of the 50 million lire and directed it to be spent on needy Greek and Armenian refugees. On September 30,

3024-537: The Balkan Wars, followed shortly by World War I (which found Turkey and Italy again on opposing sides), meant that the islands were never returned to the Ottoman Empire. Turkey gave up its claims on the islands in the Treaty of Lausanne , and the Dodecanese continued to be administered by Italy until 1947, when after the Italian defeat in World War II, the islands were ceded to Greece. The invasion of Libya

3132-584: The Balkans to the Italian declaration of war was immediate. The first draft by Serbia of a military treaty with Bulgaria against Turkey was written by November 1911, with a defensive treaty signed in March 1912 and an offensive treaty signed in May 1912 focused on military action against Ottoman-ruled Southeastern Europe. The series of bilateral treaties between Greece , Bulgaria , Serbia and Montenegro that created

3240-422: The British. Giolitti refused. Italy declared war on 29 September 1911. The Italian army was ill-prepared for the war and was not informed of the government's plans for Libya until late September. The army had a shortage of soldiers as the class of 1889 was demobilized before the war started. Military operations started with the bombardment of Tripoli on 3 October. The city was conquered by 1,500 sailors, much to

3348-467: The Cabinet will give legitimate satisfaction to Italy without going beyond the limits of national dignity. Italy sent an ultimatum to Greece on August 29, 1923, demanding: In addition, Italy demanded that Greece must reply to the ultimatum within 24 hours. Greece replied to Italy on August 30, 1923, accepting four of the demands which with modifications as follows: The other demands were rejected on

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3456-651: The Council that Greece had deposited the 50,000,000 lire in a Swiss bank and on September 15, the Ambassadors Conference informed Mussolini that Italy must evacuate Corfu on the September 27, at the latest. On September 26, before the inquiry had finished, the Conference of Ambassadors awarded Italy an indemnity of 50,000,000 lire, on the alleged ground that "the Greek authorities had been guilty of

3564-729: The Dodecanese islands dispute with Greece, neither of which Mussolini wanted to compromise on. Though the Milner-Scialoja agreement of 1920 had committed Britain to cede Jubaland and Jarabub to Italy, the British had subsequently tied that to the Italians settling the Dodecanese islands dispute first. Under the Treaty of Lausanne in July 1923, all of the Allied powers abandoned their claims to Turkey, which badly damaged Mussolini's prestige as he promised as an opposition leader to obtain all of

3672-546: The Fascist regime was the only thing saving Italy from communism, and if Mussolini were defeated in a war, then the Fascist regime would collapse and the Italian Communist Party would take over. As Kennard much preferred Fascism in power in Italy to Communism, this led him to advocate appeasement, saying that Britain must pressure Greece to submit to the Italian terms while trying to persuade Mussolini to lower

3780-549: The Foreign Office wrote a memo calling for "concentrating our efforts to protect Greece through the agency of the League of Nations against an unfair exploitation by Italy". Lord Curzon's initial attempt to end the crisis by referring it to the League of Nations was dropped after Mussolini threatened to leave the League. More importantly, sanctions against Italy would require the approval of the League Council and it

3888-487: The Greek government's argument that the perpetrators had in fact originated from Albania and had crossed the border illegally to ambush the car inside Greece and thus inculpate the Greek side. Upon news of the murder, anti-Greek demonstrations broke out in Italy. The Greek newspapers were reported by Australian newspapers to condemn unanimously the Tellini crime, and express friendly sentiments towards Italy. They hope that

3996-703: The Greek island of Corfu and landed between 5,000 and 10,000 troops. Aeroplanes aided the attack. Italian fire was concentrated on the town's Old Fortress , which had long been demilitarized and served as a shelter for refugees from Asia Minor , and on the Cities Police school at the New Fortress , which was also a refugee shelter. The bombardment lasted 15 to 30 minutes. As a result of the bombardment 16 civilians were killed, 30 injured and two had limbs amputated, while according to other sources 20 were killed and 32 wounded. There were no soldiers reported among

4104-566: The Italian ambassador on 28 July that he would support Italy, not the Ottomans. On 19 September, Grey instructed Permanent Under-Secretary of State Sir Arthur Nicolson, 1st Baron Carnock that Britain and France should not interfere with Italy's designs on Libya. Meanwhile, the Russian government urged Italy to act in a "prompt and resolute manner". In contrast to its engagement with the Entente powers, Italy largely ignored its military allies in

4212-543: The Italian armies poured onto the coasts of Libya, facing numerous problems during their landings and deployments. One of these problems was that the Ottoman vice admiral in 1911, Bucknam Pasha , was at first successfully blockading the Italians from landing on the Tripolitanian coast. The Italians believed that a force of 20,000 would be able to take over Libya. The force was able to capture Tripoli, Tobruk, Derna, Bengasi, and Homs between 3 and 21 October. However,

4320-569: The Italian fleet, except one destroyer, departed. The reputation of Mussolini in Italy was enhanced. In Corfu during the first quarter of the 20th century, many Italian operas were performed at the Municipal Theatre of Corfu . This tradition came to a halt following the Corfu incident. After the bombardment, the theatre featured Greek operas as well as Greek theater performances by Greek actors such as Marika Kotopouli and Pelos Katselis  [ el ] . The ulterior motive for

4428-732: The Italian reservists in London to hold themselves in readiness for army service. The King of Italy, Victor Emmanuel III , returned to Rome from his summer residence immediately. The Italian military attaché who was sent to inquire into the murder of the Italian delegates was recalled by the Italian legation, and Greek journalists were expelled from Italy. Albania reinforced the Greco-Albanian frontier and prohibited passage across. Serbian newspapers declared that Serbia would support Greece, while elements in Turkey advised Mustafa Kemal to seize

Corfu incident - Misplaced Pages Continue

4536-466: The Italian ships took no casualties and also no direct hits from any of the Ottoman warships. Italy had feared that the Ottoman naval forces at Beirut could be used to threaten the approach to the Suez Canal . The Ottoman naval presence at Beirut was completely annihilated and casualties on the Ottoman side were heavy. The Italian Navy gained complete naval dominance of the southern Mediterranean for

4644-730: The Italians could easily extend their occupation of the country, seizing East Tripolitania, Ghadames , the Djebel and Fezzan with Murzuk during 1913. The outbreak of the First World War with the necessity to bring back the troops to Italy, the proclamation of the Jihad by the Ottomans and the uprising of the Libyans in Tripolitania forced the Italians to abandon all occupied territory and to entrench themselves in Tripoli, Derna, and on

4752-413: The Italians suffered a defeat at Shar al-Shatt , with at least 21 officers and 482 soldiers dead. The Italians executed 400 women and 4,000 men through firing squads and hanging in retaliation. The corps was consequently enlarged to 100,000 men who had to face 20,000 Libyans and 8,000 Ottomans. The war turned into one of position. Even the Italian utilisation of armoured cars and air power, both among

4860-412: The League and demanded that the Conference of Ambassadors should deal with the matter. Italy assured that it would leave the League rather than allow the League to interfere. Britain favored referring the Corfu matter to the League of Nations, but France opposed such a course of action fearing that it would provide a precedent for the League to become involved in the French occupation of the Ruhr . With

4968-412: The Libyans were estimated at 3,500, but they were being constantly reinforced, and a general assault on the Italian position was expected. The Italian and Turkish forces in Tripoli and Cyrenaica were constantly reinforced since the Ottoman withdrawal to the interior enabled them to reinforce their troops considerably. Lacking a considerable navy, the Ottomans were not able to send regular forces to Libya,

5076-433: The Ottoman Empire, mostly inhabiting Istanbul, Izmir, and Thessaloniki, dealing with trade and industry. The sudden declaration of war shocked both the Italian community living in the Empire as well as the Ottoman government. Depending on the mutual friendly relations, the Ottoman Government had sent their Libyan battalions to Yemen in order to suppress local rebellions, leaving only the military police in Libya. Therefore,

5184-445: The Ottoman commander, Enver Bey , attacked the Italian positions on the plateau. The larger Italian fire drove back the Ottoman soldiers, who were surrounded by a battalion of Alpini and suffered heavy losses. A later Ottoman attack had the same outcome. Then, operations in Cyrenaica ceased until the end of the war. Although some elements of the local population collaborated with the Italians, counterattacks by Ottoman soldiers with

5292-471: The Ottoman government supported a great number of young officers to travel to the area in order to rally the locals and coordinate the resistance. Enver Bey , Mustafa Kemal Bey , Ali Fethi Bey , Cami Bey , Nuri Bey and many other Turkish officers managed to reach Libya, traveling under secret identities such as covering as a medical doctor , journalist among others. The Ottoman Şehzade Osman Fuad had also joined these officers, granting royal support to

5400-423: The Ottoman government, led by the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), on the night of 26–27 September 1911. Through Austro-Hungarian intermediation, the Ottomans replied with the proposal of transferring control of Libya without war and maintaining a formal Ottoman suzerainty . That suggestion was comparable to the situation in Egypt , which was under formal Ottoman suzerainty but was under de facto control by

5508-463: The Ottomans did not have a full army in Tripolitania . Many of the Ottoman officers had to travel there by their own means, often secretly, through Egypt since the British government would not allow Ottoman troops to be transported en masse through Egypt. The Ottoman Navy was too weak to transport troops by sea. The Ottomans organised local Libyans for the defence against the Italian invasion. Between 1911 and 1912, over 1,000 Somalis from Mogadishu ,

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5616-417: The Ottomans, and Romania took almost all of the territory that Bulgaria had captured in the first war. In the wake of the enormous change in the regional balance of power, Russia switched its primary allegiance in the region from Bulgaria to Serbia and guaranteed Serbian autonomy from any outside military intervention. The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand , the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, by

5724-414: The Permanent Secretary to the Foreign Minister, were on vacation on the day of the bombardment. During the crisis, Contarini together with Antonio Salandra, the Italian delegate to the League of Nations, and Romano Avezzana, the Italian ambassador to France, emerged as a force for moderation within the Italian government, constantly working to persuade Mussolini to drop his more extreme demands and to accept

5832-427: The Red Sea ports of the Ottomans and actively supplied and supported the Emirate of Asir , which was also then at war with the Ottoman Empire. Then, on 24 February, in the Battle of Beirut , two Italian armoured cruisers attacked and sank an Ottoman casemate corvette and six lighters , retreated and returned and then sank an Ottoman torpedo boat . Avnillah alone suffered 58 killed and 108 wounded. By contrast,

5940-511: The Straits of Otranto to Greek ships. In addition, Italy suspended all Greek shipping companies sailing for her, and ordered Italian ships to boycott Greece, although the Greek ports were open to Italian vessels. Greek steamers were detained in Italian ports and one was seized by a submarine in the straits of Corfu, but on September 2, the Italian Ministry of Marine ordered all Greek ships to be released from Italian ports. Anti-Greek demonstrations broke out in Italy again. The Italian government ordered

6048-412: The Triple Alliance. Giolitti and Foreign Minister Antonino Paternò Castello agreed on 14 September to launch a military campaign "before the Austrian and German governments [were aware] of it". Germany was then actively attempting to mediate between Rome and Constantinople, and Austro-Hungarian Foreign Minister Alois Lexa von Aehrenthal repeatedly warned Italy that military action in Libya would threaten

6156-596: The Turkish Child , the renowned Turkish author Ömer Seyfettin tells the fictional story of a boy living in the Ottoman city of Selânik (Salonica, today Thessaloniki ), who has to choose his national identity between his Turkish father and Italian mother after the Italo-Turkish War of 1911–1912 and the Balkan Wars of 1912–1913 (Ömer Seyfettin, Primo Türk Çocuğu ). [REDACTED] Media related to Italo-Turkish War at Wikimedia Commons Kakavia (border crossing) The Kakavia or Kakavijë border crossing ( Albanian : Pika kufitare e Kakavijës ) ( Greek : Κακαβιά )

6264-439: The bombardment. After the protest of the Italian Minister, the Greek Government suspended for one day the newspaper Eleftheros Typos for characterizing the Italians as " the fugitives of Caporetto " and dismissed the censor for allowing the statement to pass. The Greek Government provided a detachment of 30 men to guard the Italian Legation in Athens. Greek newspapers were unanimous in condemning Italy's action. Italy closed

6372-461: The capital of Italian Somaliland , served as combat units along with Eritrean and Italian soldiers in the Italo-Turkish War. Most of the Somalian troops stationed would return home only in 1935, when they were transferred back to Italian Somaliland in preparation for the invasion of Ethiopia . The first disembarkation of Italian troops occurred on 10 October. Having no prior military experiences and lacking adequate planning for amphibious invasions,

6480-607: The coast between Tobruk and Solum to prevent contraband and troops from entering across the Egyptian frontier, and the naval blockaders guarded the coast as well as capturing several sailing ships laden with contraband. Italian troops landed at Tobruk after a brief bombardment on 4 December 1911, occupied the seashore, and marched towards the hinterlands facing weak resistance . Small numbers of Ottoman soldiers and Libyan volunteers were later organized by Captain Mustafa Kemal Atatürk . The small 22 December Battle of Tobruk resulted in Mustafa Kemal's victory. With that achievement, he

6588-400: The coast of Cyrenaica. The Italian control over much of the interior of Libya remained ineffective until the late 1920s when forces under the Generals Pietro Badoglio and Rodolfo Graziani waged bloody pacification campaigns. Resistance petered out only after the execution of the rebel leader Omar Mukhtar on 15 September 1931. The result of the Italian colonisation for the Libyan population

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6696-421: The compensation amounts as the best way of avoiding a war. Farther afield, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia were more supportive of Greece with both governments condemning Italy's actions. On September 1, Greece appealed to the League of Nations , but Antonio Salandra , the Italian representative to the League, informed the Council that he had no permission to discuss the crisis. Mussolini refused to co-operate with

6804-423: The crisis, Mussolini kept stating that Corfu had been ruled by Venice in a manner that suggested he viewed Corfu as rightfully part of Italy rather than Greece under the grounds that Italy was the heir to the Most Serene Republic of Venice . One of the few groups in Italy who did object to the bombardment were the senior diplomats of the Palazzo Chigi who were not informed. Many of them, including Salvatore Contarini,

6912-423: The discovery of the assassins. Mussolini and his cabinet were unsatisfied with the Greek government's reply and declared that it was unacceptable. The Italian press, including the opposition journals, endorsed Mussolini's demands and insisted that Greece must comply without discussion. Mussolini's decision was received with enthusiasm in all of Italy. On August 31, 1923, a squadron of the Italian Navy bombarded

7020-409: The dispute should be settled. The decision was that: Both Greece, on September 8, and Italy, on September 10, accepted it. The Italians added, however, that they would not evacuate the island until Greece had given full satisfaction. In Italy the press widely reported satisfaction with the Conference's decision and praised Mussolini. On September 11 the Greek delegate, Nikolaos Politis , informed

7128-467: The earliest in modern warfare, had little effect on the initial outcome. In the first military use of heavier-than-air craft , Capitano Carlo Piazza flew the first reconnaissance flight on 23 October 1911. A week later, Sottotenente Giulio Gavotti dropped four grenades on Tajura (Arabic: تاجوراء Tājūrā’, or Tajoura) and Ain Zara in the first aerial bombing in history. Technologically and numerically superior Italian forces easily managed to take

7236-428: The enthusiasm of the interventionist minority in Italy. Another proposal for a diplomatic settlement was rejected by the Italians, and so the Ottomans decided to defend the province. On 29 September 1911, Italy published the declaration of their direct interest towards Libya. Without a proper response, the Italian forces landed on the shores of Libya on 4 October 1911. A considerable number of Italians were living within

7344-473: The evolution of that first aggression." Unlike the British-controlled Egypt, the Ottoman Tripolitania vilayet , which made up modern-day Libya, was core territory of the Empire, like that of the Balkans. The coalition that had defended the Ottomans during the Crimean War (1853–1856), minimised Ottoman territorial losses at the Congress of Berlin (1878) and supported the Ottomans during the Bulgarian Crisis (1885–88) had largely disappeared. The reaction in

7452-472: The following years. The removal of diplomatic obstacles coincided with increasing colonial fervor. In 1908, the Italian Colonial Office was upgraded to a Central Directorate of Colonial Affairs. The nationalist Enrico Corradini led the public call for action in Libya and, joined by the nationalist newspaper L'Idea Nazionale in 1911, demanded an invasion. The Italian press began a large-scale lobbying campaign for an invasion of Libya in late March 1911. It

7560-490: The ground that they would infringe the sovereignty and honor of Greece. In addition, the Greek government declared its complete willingness to grant, as a measure of justice, an equitable indemnity to the families of the victims, and that it didn't accept an enquiry in the presence of the Italian military attaché but it would be pleased to accept any assistance which Colonel Perone (the Italian military attaché) might be able to lend by supplying any information likely to facilitate

7668-400: The help of local troops confined the Italian army to the coastal region. In fact, by the end of 1912 the Italians had made little progress in conquering Libya . The Italian soldiers were in effect besieged in seven enclaves on the coasts of Tripolitania and Cyrenaica . The largest was at Tripoli and extended barely 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) from the town. At sea, the Italians enjoyed

7776-459: The historic rivalry between both nations for control of North Africa . The same year, the British government promised Italy that "any alteration in the status of Libya would be in conformity with Italian interests". Those measures were intended to loosen Italian commitment to the Triple Alliance and thereby weaken Germany , which France and Britain viewed as their main rival in Europe. Following

7884-742: The integrity of the Ottoman Empire and create a crisis in the Eastern Question , which would destabilise the Balkan Peninsula and the European balance of power . Italy also foresaw that result since Paternò Castello, in a July report to the king and Giolitti, laid out the reasons for and against military action in Libya, and he raised the concern that the Balkan revolt, which would likely follow an Italian attack on Libya, might force Austria-Hungary to take military action in Balkan areas claimed by Italy. The Italian Socialist Party had

7992-515: The intervention of Ottoman artillery threatened the Italian line, and the Libyans attempted to surround the Italian troops. Further Italian reinforcements, however, stabilised the situation, and the battle ended in the afternoon with an Italian victory. On 14 September, the Italian command sent three columns of infantry to disband the Arab camp near Derna. The Italian troops occupied a plateau and interrupted Ottoman supply lines . Three days later,

8100-469: The invasion was Corfu's strategic position at the entrance of the Adriatic Sea . Italo-Turkish War Mobilisation 1911: 89,000 troops 14,600 quadrupeds 2,550 wagons 132 field guns 66 mountain guns 28 siege guns The Italo-Turkish or Turco-Italian War ( Turkish : Trablusgarp Savaşı , "Tripolitanian War", Italian : Guerra di Libia , "War of Libya") was fought between

8208-511: The island's interior. Following the landing, the Italian officers feared British citizens may have been wounded or killed, and were relieved to discover that there were no British subjects among the victims. However, the residence of the British officer in charge of the police training school was looted by Italian soldiers. Mussolini in a speech denounced the Greek government for not understanding that "Corfu had been Venetian for four hundred years", before becoming part of Greece in 1864. Throughout

8316-477: The islands while its main armies were engaged in a bitter struggle to preserve its remaining territories in the Balkans. To avoid a Greek invasion of the islands, it was implicitly agreed on that the Dodecanese would remain under neutral Italian administration until the conclusion of hostilities between the Greeks and the Ottomans, after which the islands would revert to Ottoman rule. Turkey's continued involvement in

8424-590: The manner in which Corfu occupied as inhuman." Lord Curzon, wrote that the "terms demanded by Mussolini are extravagant-much worse than the ultimatum after Sarajevo". In a telegram to the Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin, who was vacationing at Aix-les-Bains, Lord Curzon wrote that Mussolini's actions were "violent and inexcusable" and if Britain did not support the Greek appeal to the League of Nations then "that institution may as well shut its doors". Harold Nicolson and Sir William Tyrrell at

8532-508: The news of the massacre from getting out, the incident soon became internationally known. The Italians started to show photographs of the massacred Italian soldiers at Sciara Sciat to justify their revenge. Italian diplomats decided to take advantage of the situation to obtain a favourable peace deal. On 18 October 1912, Italy and the Ottoman Empire signed a treaty in Ouchy in Lausanne called

8640-588: The official statement of the Albanian government, the attack was carried out by Greeks, while other sources, including the Greek government and its officials and the Romanian consul in Ioannina, attributed the murder to Albanian bandits. In April 1945, the British Ambassador to Greece, Reginald Leeper , sent a letter to British Foreign Secretary Sir Anthony Eden that expressed the viewpoint that it

8748-546: The opportunity to invade Western Thrace . Head of the Near East Relief said that the bombardment was completely unnecessary and unjustified. Italy called the American legation to protest against this statement. Chairman on the League of Nations commissioning assisting deported women and children, who was eyewitness of the bombardment said: "The crime of Corfu was official murder by a civilized nation...I consider

8856-474: The outskirts of Tripoli . This massacre occurred, at least in part, reportedly due to the rape and sexual assault of Libyan and Turkish women by the Italian troops. Nevertheless, as a consequence, on the next day the 1911 Tripoli massacre had Italian troops systematically murder thousands of civilians by moving through local homes and gardens one by one, including by setting fire to a mosque with 100 refugees inside. Although Italian authorities attempted to keep

8964-588: The plan to seize Corfu for budgetary reasons, believing a triumph by the Regia Marina would show the Italian people the navy's importance and thus lead to a bigger naval budget. At the same time, Mussolini did not inform the professional diplomats of the Palazzo Chigi about his plans to seize Corfu, expecting them to object, an expectation that was confirmed when Corfu was indeed bombarded. On 27 August 1923, Tellini and two aides, plus an interpreter and

9072-607: The prerequisite of a blockade. Howard William Kennard , in charge of the British embassy in Rome as the ambassador Sir Ronald Graham was on vacation, wrote in a dispatch to Lord Curzon that Mussolini was possibly insane, a man suffering from a "mixture of megalomania and extreme patriotism". Kennard drew the conclusion that Mussolini was perhaps rash enough to turn the crisis into an all-out war between Italy and Greece as he kept demanding sums of money in compensation that were well beyond Greece's ability to pay. However, Kennard believed that

9180-493: The relations between Greece and the commission were bad. Eventually the Greek delegate openly accused Tellini of working in favour of Albania's claims. In July 1923, Mussolini ordered the Regia Marina 's admirals to start preparing for Corfu's occupation, which he predicated would happen that summer in response to the " expected provocative acts" by Greece. The Italian Navy minister, Admiral Paolo Thaon di Revel , welcomed

9288-524: The resistance. During the war, Mustafa Kemal Bey, the future founder of the Republic of Turkey , was wounded by shrapnel to his eye. The cost of the war was defrayed chiefly by voluntary offerings from Muslims; men, weapons, ammunition and all kinds of other supplies were constantly sent across to the Egyptian and Tunisian frontiers, not withstanding their neutrality. The Italians occupied Sidi Barrani on

9396-437: The rest of the war. Although Italy could extend its control to almost all of the 2,000 km of the Libyan coast between April and early August 1912, its ground forces could not venture beyond the protection of the navy's guns and so were limited to a thin coastal strip. In the summer of 1912, Italy began operations against the Ottoman possessions in the Aegean Sea with the approval of the other powers, which were eager to end

9504-439: The shores. However, the Italians still could not penetrate deep inland. The Libyans and Turks, estimated at 15,000, made frequent attacks day and night on the strongly-entrenched Italian garrison in the southern suburbs of Benghazi . The four Italian infantry regiments on the defensive were supported by the cruisers San Marco and Agordat . The Italians rarely attempted a sortie. An attack of 20,000 Ottoman and local troops

9612-529: The summer was an attack of five Italian torpedo boats in the Dardanelles on 18 July. With a decree of 5 November 1911, Italy declared its sovereignty over Libya. Although the Italians controlled the coast, many of their troops had been killed in battle and nearly 6,000 Ottoman soldiers remained to face an army of nearly 140,000 Italians. As a result, the Ottomans began using guerrilla tactics. Indeed, some "Young Turk" officers reached Libya and helped organize

9720-466: The territories the Italians had fought for in World War I including a large chunk of Anatolia. Having denounced his predecessors as weak leaders who had brought about the "mutilated victory" of 1918 and promised that he was a "strong leader" who would undo the "mutilated victory", Mussolini by the summer of 1923 was to face the reality that Italy was simply too weak to achieve all of his promises. There

9828-452: The threat of Mussolini to withdraw from the League and lack of French support the matter went to the Conference of Ambassadors. Italy's prestige was safeguarded and the French were relieved from any linkage between Corfu and the Ruhr at the League of Nations. On September 8 the Conference of Ambassadors announced to both Greece and Italy, as well as to the League of Nations, the terms upon which

9936-500: The use of airplanes in combat . On 23 October 1911, an Italian pilot, Capitano Carlo Piazza, flew over Turkish lines on the world's first aerial reconnaissance mission, and on 1 November, the first aerial bomb was dropped by Sottotenente Giulio Gavotti , on Turkish troops in Libya , from an early model of Etrich Taube aircraft. The Turks , using rifles, were the first to shoot down an airplane. Another use of new technology

10044-524: The victims, all of whom were refugees and orphans. The majority of those killed were children. The Commissioner of the U.K. based charity, Save the Children Fund , described the Italian bombardment as "inhuman and revolting, unjustifiable and unnecessary". The Corfu's prefect, Petros Evripaios, Greek officers and officials were arrested by the Italians and detained aboard an Italian warship. The Greek garrison of 150 men did not surrender but retired to

10152-421: The view that since the Italians had been forced out of Turkey that cancelled out the obligation to cede the Dodecanese islands to Greece. The Greeks continued to press Mussolini on the Dodecanese issue, and in the summer of 1923, he ordered the Italian garrison in the Dodecanese reinforced as part of his plans to formally annex the islands to Italy, which caused Greece to issue notes of protest. In May 1923, during

10260-579: Was "more burdensome than useful as an ally. Against Austria, she harbours a latent hostility that nothing can disarm". The tensions within the Triple Alliance would eventually lead Italy to sign the 1915 Treaty of London , which had it abandon the Triple Alliance and join the Entente. In Italy itself, massive funerals for fallen heroes brought the Catholic Church closer to the government from which it had long been alienated. There emerged

10368-513: Was a boundary dispute between Greece and Albania . The two nations took their dispute to the Conference of Ambassadors , which created a commission of British, French, and Italian officials to determine the boundary, which was authorized by the League of Nations to settle the dispute. The Italian General Enrico Tellini became the chairman of the commission. From the outset of the negotiations,

10476-407: Was a costly enterprise for Italy. Instead of the 30 million lire a month judged sufficient at its beginning, it reached a cost of 80 million a month for a much longer period than was originally estimated. The war cost Italy 1.3 billion lire , nearly a billion more than Giovanni Giolitti estimated before the war. This ruined ten years of fiscal prudence. After the withdrawal of the Ottoman army

10584-650: Was a network of wireless telegraphy stations established soon after the initial landings. Guglielmo Marconi , the inventor of wireless telegraphy, came to Libya to conduct experiments with the Italian Corps of Engineers. Italian claims to Libya date back to the Ottoman defeat by the Russian Empire during the War of 1877–1878 and subsequent disputes thereafter. At the Congress of Berlin in 1878, France and

10692-625: Was an important experience for the young officers of the Ottoman Army, such as Mustafa Kemal Bey , Enver Bey , Ali Fethi Bey , Cami Bey , Nuri Bey and many others. These young officers were to perform important military duties and accomplishments in the First World War, led the Turkish independency war and found the Republic of Turkey. Because of the First World War, the Dodecanese remained under Italian military occupation. According to

10800-411: Was assigned to Derna War quarters to coordinate the field on 6 March 1912. The Libyan campaign ground to a stalemate by December 1911. On 3 March 1912, 1,500 Libyan volunteers attacked Italian troops who were building trenches near Derna. The Italians, who were outnumbered but had superior weaponry, held the line. A lack of coordination between the Italian units sent from Derna as reinforcements and

10908-665: Was believed that France would veto any sanctions against Italy if the Corfu incident was referred to the League. Within Whitehall, the Treasury objected to sanctions against Italy under the grounds that the United States was not a member of the League and any League sanctions if adopted would be ineffective as the United States would continue to trade with Italy while the Admiralty demanded a declaration of war against Italy as

11016-660: Was engaging in negotiations with Britain for the cession of Jubaland in East Africa and Jarabub in North Africa to the Italian empire. From the viewpoint of the Palazzo Chigi, the success of these negotiations hinged in part on presenting Italy as a responsible partner to Britain, which was threatened by Mussolini's rash behavior such as the occupation of Corfu. Following the incident, the Greek government proclaimed martial law throughout Greece. The Greek fleet

11124-528: Was fancifully depicted as rich in minerals and well-watered, defended by only 4,000 Ottoman troops. Also, its population was described as hostile to the Ottomans and friendly to the Italians, and they predicted that the future invasion would be little more than a "military walk". The Italian government remained committed into 1911 to the maintenance of the Ottoman Empire, which was a close friend of its German ally. Prime Minister Giovanni Giolitti rejected nationalist calls for conflict over Ottoman Albania , which

11232-519: Was ordered to retire to the Gulf of Volos to avoid contact with the Italian fleet. In the Athens Cathedral , a solemn memorial service was held for the people who were killed in the Corfu bombardment, and the bells of all of the churches were tolled continuously. After the service, demonstrations against Italy broke out. All places of amusement were closed as a sign of mourning for the victims of

11340-402: Was repulsed on 30 November with considerable losses. Shortly afterward, the garrison was reinforced by the 57th infantry regiment from Italy. The battleship Regina Elena also arrived from Tobruk. During the night of 14 and 15 December, the Ottomans attacked in great force but were repulsed with aid of the fire from the ships. The Italians lost several field guns. At Derna , the Ottomans and

11448-579: Was seen as a possible colonial project, as late as the summer of 1911. However, the Agadir Crisis in which French military action in Morocco in July 1911 would lead to the establishment of a French protectorate , changed the political calculations. The Italian leadership then decided that it could safely accede to public demands for a colonial project. The Triple Entente powers were highly supportive. British Foreign Secretary Edward Grey stated to

11556-456: Was that by the mid-1930s it had been cut in half due to emigration, famine, and war casualties. The Libyan population in 1950 was at the same level as in 1911, approximately 1.5 million. In 1924, the Serbian diplomat Miroslav Spalajković could look back on the events that led to the First World War and its aftermath and state of the Italian attack, "all subsequent events are nothing more than

11664-476: Was the Cham Albanians who were responsible for General Tellini's murder. The letter stated that Daout Hodja (Daut Hoxha), a Cham Albanian bandit, killed General Tellini and the other officers. Summarising the most recent evidence, the Greek historian Aristotle Kallis wrote: Much about the incident which resulted in Tellini's assassination remains unclear. There is sufficient evidence to lend credence to

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