The Siege of Scutari is also referred to as the Siege of Shkodër, known in Turkish as İşkodra Müdafaası or İşkodra Savunması.
Background
In 1912, the Balkan League—consisting of Serbia, Montenegro, Greece and Bulgaria—had jointly declared war against the Ottoman Empire. Montenegro mobilized its troops and prepared to attack the Ottoman forces in Albania directly to the south. However, behind stood the intention to expand Montenegro at the expense of territories with an overwhelming Albanian majority. Montenegro considered itself successor of Zeta, a medieval Slavic realm, with Skhoder as its capital. With the transition of power from the last feudal lords Balšići or Balsha to Venetians, and eventually Ottomans, who established a city as an administrative center of the region, the "lost capital" became a symbol of oppression for the Montenegrins. Historically, the border between the medieval Zeta and Albanian principalities was the Drin river, as pointed out by 17th century Montenegrin ruler and historiographer Vasilije and Montenegro sought to expand itself to its traditional borders. Furthermore, the region had considerable Slavic population. Many Montenegrins trace their heritage back to the region, which their ancestors abandoned after the Turkish occupation.
Start of the war
On 8 October 1912 Gen. Hasan Riza Pasha announced that Montenegro had declared war on the Ottoman Empire in order to get rid of the 600 years of oppression by the "Turkish foot", as the enemy claimed, and that its troops were crossing the border between Montenegro and Albania. Two hours after the news the Montenegrin troops, as expected, were approaching Scutari. Up to 70% of the Turkish army in the inner parts of the Balkans was composed of Muslim Albanian conscripts during the freedom struggle from the Ottoman Empire. At noon Hasan Riza Pasha in his headquarters gathered all his commanders and told them:
Battle
The siege started on October 28, 1912. The attack was originally carried out by the Montenegrin army under the command of Prince Danilo. However, his forces encountered stiff resistance, and the Serb army sent reinforcements to help its Montenegrin allies. Radomir Vešović participated in the siege where he was wounded twice, showing an exemptional courage which earned him a golden Obilić Medal and nickname the knight of Brdanjolt. The combined Turkish and Albanian defenders led by Hasan Riza Pasha and his lieutenant, Esad Pasha Toptani, resisted for seven months and managed to inflict a heavy toll on the besiegers.
Death of Hasan Riza Pasha
On January 30, 1913, Riza Pasha was ambushed and killed by Osman Bali and Mehmet Kavaja, two Albanian servants of Esad Pasha, as he left Esad's house after dining with him. Riza Pasha wanted to keep up the defense of the besieged city but Esad Pasha wanted to continue his secret negotiations with Montenegro, which were done through the counsel of Russia in Scutari. Esad Pasha's plan was to hand over Scutari to the Serbs and Montenegrins as the price for their support in his attempt to proclaim himself King of Albania. On 6 February King Nikola received delegation of chieftains from Malësia who stated that they recognize him as their suzerain and requested to join 3000 of their fighters with Montenegrin forces to capture Scutari. On 7 February they were ordered to attack in the direction Jubani—Daut-agha's kulla.
Surrender
On April 21, 1913, Esad Pasha made the official proposal to surrender the city to Montenegrin Gen. Vukotic. On April 23 his proposal was accepted and he was allowed to leave the city with full military honors and with all of his troops and equipment, except heavy guns. He also received a sum of £10,000 sterling from the Montenegrin King. Essad Pasha signed the final surrender protocol with the Montenegrins Essad Pasha surrendered Scutari to Montenegro only after its destiny was decided by the Great Powers, after they forced Serbia to retreat and after it was obvious that the Great Powers would not allow Montenegro to keep Scutari. Essad Pasha was able to save many of his soldiers. At the same time he managed to get the support of Serbia and Montenegro for the new Kingdom of Albania, which would gain Scutari indirectly by the Great Powers.
Aftermath
The taking of Scutari removed the only obstacle to the Serbian advance in the remainder of Ottoman Albania. By November 1912 the country had declared independence but was yet to be recognized by anyone. The Serbian army eventually occupied most of northern and central Albania, stopping north of the town of Vlorë. It also managed to trap the remains of the Army of Vardar in what was left of Albania proper, but were not able to force them to surrender. However, when the war was over, the Great Powers did not award the city to the Kingdom of Montenegro, which was compelled to evacuate it in May 1913, in accordance with the London Conference of Ambassadors. The army's withdrawal was hastened by a small naval flotilla of British and Italian gunboats that moved up the Bojana River and across the Adriatic coastline. International peace keeping force from five countries - Austria-Hungary, Great Britain, France, Italy and Germany - was deployed in the city and kept until the start of WWI. The Kingdom of Montenegro also later took Metohija, an area of Kosovo.
International reaction
's Foreign Minister, Count Leopold Berchtold, demanded that Scutari be evacuated by the Great Powers within 48 hours.
supported Austria-Hungary and sent a part of the peace force.
supported Montenegro in its efforts to keep Scutari.
