REPUBLIC OF KORITSA.

Taihape Daily Times, 25 November 1918, Page 5

REPUBLIC OF KORITSA.

A BY-PRODUCT'/OF THE WAR.

There is much hidden history made in the war, and Albania, as might be expected, is the scene of some of it, writes a correspondent of the Times. The Republic of Koritsa, or Korce, to use the official Albanian spelling, may, perhaps, be described as a historical episode; "history” is too grand a word to use. This state originated in the late autumn of 1916, in the brilliant brain of a, French cavalry colonel. The bulk of Albania was at that time occupied by the Austrians* In the south the Italians held Avlona, on tho Adriatic, but between them and the Allied Salonika forces was a solid wedge of Austrians and King Constantine’s unfriendly Greeks.

In the autumn General Sarrail pushed forward in a north-westerly direction, aud occupied Koritsa and the region near Lake Malik. This was the first time that French troops from Salonika had found themselves in Albanian territory, and the colonel in command was faced with the problem of setting up a civil administration. North-cast lay Servia and south-east lay Greece, hut Koritsa was neither. According to the Treaty of Bucharest, the only legal instrument recognised by the Allies, it was part of Albania. The colonel solved the difficulty by proclaiming Koritsa, and the caza, or administrative district of which it is the capital, to he an autonomous Albanian republic, under the protection of the Allies.

General Sarrail accepted the situation, and Koritsa has remained a republic. A Council of 12 Elders, mixed Mahommedan and Christian, was set up as the governing body, Essad Pasha uttered a blessing in 'Albanian, a flag was devised, a post office system instituted, and stamps issued. All has not gone without a hitch. The two-headed eagle, which flaunted so bravely on the flag, and the first stamp issue, roused antagonism, and was said to be not the genuine Albanian bird beloved of Skanderberg and all good Tshkipetari, but a monstrous Austrian Imperial creature. Yet, on the whole. Koritsa has greatly enjoyed its autonomy, even if it realises that the days are coming when it will be . merged into some '' larger whole. Meantime, owing to various happy .advances of the Allies, it has gained several extensions of territory.