Provisional_Government_of_Northern_Epirus

⭐ In the context of the Protocol of Corfu, what specific form of governance was granted to the Greek populations residing within the districts of Korçë and Gjirokastër, which constituted Northern Epirus?

The Protocol of Corfu stipulated that Greeks in the districts of Korçë and Gjirokastër would receive expanded self-governance in key areas like religion, education, culture, and politics, while remaining a part of the Albanian state.

⭐ Core Definition: Provisional Government of Northern Epirus

The Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus (Greek: Αὐτόνομος Δημοκρατία τῆς Βορείου Ἠπείρου, romanized: Aftónomos Dimokratía tis Voreíou Ipeírou) was a short-lived, self-governing entity founded in the aftermath of the Balkan Wars on 28 February 1914, by the local Greek population in southern Albania (Northern Epirotes).

The area, known as Northern Epirus to Greeks and with a substantial Greek population, was taken by the Greek Army from the Ottoman Empire during the First Balkan War (1912–1913). The Protocol of Florence, however, had assigned it to the newly established Albanian state. This decision was rejected by the local Greeks, and as the Greek Army withdrew to the new border, an autonomous government was set up at Argyrokastron (modern Gjirokastër), under the leadership of Georgios Christakis-Zografos, a distinguished local Greek politician and former Minister of Foreign Affairs, and with tacit support from Greece.

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👉 Provisional Government of Northern Epirus in the context of Protocol of Corfu

The Protocol of Corfu (Greek: Πρωτόκολλο της Κέρκυρας, Albanian: Protokolli i Korfuzit), signed on 17 May 1914, was an agreement between the representatives of the Albanian Government and the Provisional Government of Northern Epirus, which officially recognized the area of Northern Epirus as an autonomous self-governing region under the sovereignty of the prince of the newly established Principality of Albania. The agreement granted the Greeks of the districts of Korytsa (Korçë) and Argyrokastro (Gjirokastër), which form Northern Epirus, wider religious, educational, cultural and political autonomy, inside the borders of the Albanian state.

After the end of the Balkan Wars (1912–1913), the subsequent peace treaties ceded the region to Albania. This turn of events catalyzed an uprising among the local Greeks, which led to the Northern Epirote Declaration of Independence, on 28 February 1914. The International Commission of Control, an organization responsible for securing peace and stability in the region, eventually intervened and the Protocol of Corfu was signed on 17 May 1914. However the protocol's terms were never fully implemented because of the politically unstable situation in Albania following the outbreak of World War I, and it was eventually annulled in 1921 during the Conference of Ambassadors.

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