Corfu incident
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The Corfu Incident was a 1923 diplomatic crisis between Greece and Italy.
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[edit] Background
There was a boundary dispute between Greece and Albania. The two nations took their dispute to the Conference of Ambassadors. The Conference of Ambassadors created a commission to determine the boundary, which was authorized by the League of Nations to settle the dispute. Several countries (including Italy) provided small detachments of soldiers to assist the commission in carrying out the survey.
[edit] The incident in Greece
On August 27, 1923, three Italian soldiers drove in one vehicle on the Greek side of the border. They stopped where the road was blocked by a fallen tree. As they got out to move it, they were attacked and killed, presumably by Albanian bandits that were pretending that they were Greeks[1] Among the soldiers was General Enrico Tellini.
[edit] Italian reaction
Italy sent an ultimatum to Greece on August 29, 1923, demanding 50 million lire in reparations and execution of the killers. Greece was unable to identify the killers, so Italian forces bombarded and occupied the Greek island of Corfu on August 31, 1923, killing at least fifteen civilians. The ulterior motive for the invasion was Corfu's strategic position at the entrance of the Adriatic Sea. Tellini's assassination is considered a convenient pretext.
[edit] Resolution
Greece appealed to the League of Nations, which initially condemned the Italian occupation. The dispute was handed over to the Conference of Ambassadors, and Italy and Greece agreed to be bound by its decision. The Conference largely followed the nominal Italian demands, ordering Greece to apologise and pay reparations, a decision that Greece accepted.
Italian forces left Corfu on September 27, 1923.
This decision was internationally criticized: in effect the world commuity had accepted Italy's aggression against Greece, instead of protecting the smaller country.
In Corfu during the first quarter of the twentieth 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 distinguished Greek actors such as Marika Kotopouli and Pelos Katselis.
[edit] References
- ^ Albania's Captives. Pyrrhus J. Ruches. Argonaut, 1965 p. 120 "He had no trouble recognizing three of them. They were Major Lepenica, Nevruz Belo and Xhellaledin Aqif Feta, alias Daut Hohxa."
[edit] See also
- Stylianos Gonatas, Greek Prime Minister during incident
- Benito Mussolini, Italian Prime Minister during incident
