Northern Epirus

Northern Epirus (Greek: Βόρεια Ήπειρος, Vóreia Ípeiros; Albanian: Epiri i Veriut) is a term used for specific parts of southern Albania which were first claimed by the Kingdom of Greece in the Balkan Wars and later were associated with the Greek minority in Albania and Greece-Albania diplomatic relations in the region. First used by Greece in 1913, upon the creation of the Albanian state following the Balkan Wars, it was originally used in a political and diplomatic context rather than a clearly defined geographical one. Today, the term is used mostly by Greeks and is associated with the existence of a substantial ethnic Greek minority in the region and had acquired in the past irredentist connotations (Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus). With the outbreak of the First Balkan War (1912–13) and the Ottoman defeat, the Greek army entered the region and claimed it. The term started to be used by the Kingdom of Greece in 1913, upon the creation of the Albanian state following the Balkan Wars, and the area's incorporation into the latter. During this period, the Greek Army and Greece-backed irregulars used violence against local Albanians and have been accused of atrocities against civilians. In the spring of 1914, the Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus was proclaimed by ethnic Greeks and pro-Greek parts of the population with official support by Greece and recognized by the Albanian government, though it proved short-lived as the First World War started. Greece held the area between 1914 and 1916 and unsuccessfully tried to annex it in March 1916. In 1917 Greek forces were driven from the area by Italy, in accordance with a general consensus in the Entente, and as a result Italy took over most of southern Albania and part of northwestern Greece. The Paris Peace Conference of 1919 awarded the...