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After the outbreak of the Balkan War by the “Balkan Alliance” against Turkey in
October 1912, the Greek army occupied the island of Sazani, and at the end of
November landed in Himarë, which was occupied together with some villages around.
The Greek fleet blocked Vlorë and put it under menace[…].
The population of the region of Himarë did not subjugate to the pressure of the Greek
agents who aimed at detaching it from the Provisional Government of Vlorë and
supported it. On March 14, 1913, the Council of elders of the Region of Himarë,
gathered in Vuno, sent a letter to the “government in Vlorë” in which greeted the
appeal of the Assembly of Vlorë, the hoisting of the national flag and the formation of
the free Albania, which was evaluated also as a blow to the plans of the Greek
“Ethniki”.
Despite the resistance of the population and the efforts of the Provisional Government
of Vlorë (1912-1913) for the expulsion of the Greek occupiers from Himarë, Greece
continued to hold it occupied even after the decisions of the Conference of the
Ambassadors of London (of 22 March and 13 August 1913) for the borders of the
Albanian Independent State. But its effort to annex this region failed [sic.] (Prifti
2004: 190).
The administrators of the website give us a completely different account. Instead of the
protest of the people of Himarë/Himara they write about them gaining autonomy.
On 9 February 1914 the people of Himara reacted against the plans of the Great
Powers to include the town within the boundaries of the Albanian state, up to 1921
Himara was successively autonomous, under Greek Administration, Italian military
occupation and once more autonomous [sic.] (http://himara.eu/index-en.html).
The paragraphs above illustrate the different interpretations of Himarë/Himara people’s
belonging. According to the authors defending the local position the area of Himarë/Himara is
described as autonomous or a part of Greece, with people courageously fighting to gain this
position of autonomy that is more related to Greece than Albania. Somewhat different
descriptions are given by the authors who defend the national position. Thus, Çami, for
example, points out the divided opinions about the annexation to Greece: whilst those who
supported the nationalist’s aims were in majority, the rest who supported the separatist’s
movement were in minority.
Moreover, the paragraphs also illustrate how the particular events from the past, namely the
Corfu Protocol, can be put aside in the writings defending the pro-Albanian perception or put
forth in the writings supporting the local perceptions. For example, authors defending the pro-
Albanian interests do not mention the Corfu protocol at all. They also have different attitudes
towards the local hero Spiro Milo, whose actions they interpreted from different perspectives
too. Administrators of the website, who defend the local perspective, describe Spiro Milo (or
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