The Capture of Korytsa by the Hellenic

armed forces A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a ...

, happened on 20 December 1912, during the

First Balkan War The First Balkan War lasted from October 1912 to May 1913 and involved actions of the Balkan League (the Kingdoms of Kingdom of Bulgaria, Bulgaria, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, Kingdom of Greece, Greece and Kingdom of Montenegro, Montenegro) agai ...

Capture

During the early stages of the war while the Balkan allies were victorious, the Hellenic Army liberated

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

and continued to advance west in Macedonia to

Kastoria Kastoria (, ''Kastoriá'' ) is a city in northern Greece in the modern regions of Greece, region of Western Macedonia. It is the capital of Kastoria (regional unit), Kastoria regional unit, in the Geographic regions of Greece, geographic region ...

and then

Korçë Korçë (; sq-definite, Korça) is the List of cities and towns in Albania, eighth most populous city of Albania and the seat of Korçë County and Korçë Municipality. The total population of the city is 51,152 and 75,994 of Korçë municipal ...

. The Epirus front was also active and the Ottoman forces under Djavid Pasha placed 24,000 Ottoman troops in Korçë in order to protect north of

Ioannina Ioannina ( ' ), often called Yannena ( ' ) within Greece, is the capital and largest city of the Ioannina (regional unit), Ioannina regional unit and of Epirus (region), Epirus, an Modern regions of Greece, administrative region in northwester ...

, the urban center of the

Epirus Epirus () is a Region#Geographical regions, geographical and historical region, historical region in southeastern Europe, now shared between Greece and Albania. It lies between the Pindus Mountains and the Ionian Sea, stretching from the Bay ...

region. On December 20, three days after peace negotiations started, the Greek forces pushed the Ottomans out of Korçë. This would give the Greek forces a significant advantage in controlling Ioannina and the entire area in March 1913 at the Battle of Bizani. After Ioannina was captured, the town was visited on 17 May, 1913, by Prince George (later

George II of Greece George II (; 19 July ld Style and New Style dates, Old Style: 7 July1890 – 1 April 1947) was King of Greece from 27 September 1922 until 25 March 1924, and again from 25 November 1935 until his death on 1 April 1947. The eldest son of King ...

). Prince George was welcomed by the Muslim mayor of the town and he visited a Dervish monastery nearby.

Citations

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Korytsa, Capture Battles of the First Balkan War Conflicts in 1912 1912 in the Ottoman Empire 1912 in Albania Capture Battles involving Greece Battles involving the Ottoman Empire Military history of Albania History of Korçë County Modern history of Epirus Manastir vilayet December 1912 in Europe