Siege of Ioannina (1912–1913)
Engagement of the Second Balkan War
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The Siege of Ioannina[3][7][8] (November 1912 – March 1913) was a series of Greek military operations that culminated in the capture of the city of Ioannina during the Balkan Wars.The fighting for the capture of Ioannina lasted 85 days when the Ottoman forces surrendered to the Crown Prince Constantine, then head of the Greek army. After the liberation of Ioannina, and capture of Ioannina on 6 March 1913. The IV and VI Divisions of the Epirus Army were transferred to Thessaloniki.[9][10]
| Siege of Ioannina (1912–1913) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of First Balkan War | |||||||
Image of the liberation of Ioannina, during the First Balkan War c. 1913 | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 Ottoman Empire |
 Kingdom of Greece | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 28,000[4]–30,000[4] | 75,000[4]–75,000[4] | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 26,000 killed[5] | 1,700 killed[6] | ||||||
  Location within Mediterranean  Siege of Ioannina (1912–1913) (Greece) | |||||||
Background
As the main war effort of Greece was initially turned towards Macedonia,[11] on the Epirus front the Hellenic Army was outnumbered by the Ottoman Yanya Corps at the outbreak of hostilities in October 1912. After stopping an initial attack by the Ottoman commander Esad Pasha at Gribovo, however, the Greeks succeeded in liberating Preveza (October 21) and pushing north in the direction of Ioannina[8], repulsing an Ottoman attack at Pente Pigadia (Beshpinar).[12] On November 5, a small force from Corfu made a landing and captured the coastal area of Himarë without facing significant resistance,[13] and on December 20 Greek troops improved their positions in Epirus and entered Korçë, north of Ioannina, thus cutting off its last supply route and threatening the city's northeastern flank.[14][15]
Siege
Greek offensive towards Ioannina
According to the plans of the Greek military command, at the beginning of the war the main Greek forces were to advance in Thessaly and towards Thessaloniki, where the main Ottoman units in the area of the Greek border were also concentrated. The military operations in Epirus were led by a detachment under the command of General Konstantinos Sapountzakis, later transformed into the Eighth Division. On 3 November 1912, he captured the port of Preveza and slowly began to move inland towards Ioannina. The detachment reached the approaches to the city on 25 November, but due to its small numbers it was unable to surround it. Even after the capture of Thessaloniki (9 November), the Greek command was unable to transfer reinforcements to Ioannina for a long time. One of the reasons was the resistance of the remnants of the Ottoman troops in Macedonia.[16] An additional reason was the escalating territorial dispute with the Greek ally Bulgaria. Bulgarian claims to Thessaloniki forced the Greek command to retain a large part of its troops in the city and the region.[6]
Attempts to capture Ioannina
In mid-December, Greek troops, reinforced by one division, launched the first assault on the Ioannina fortress, but failed. The strong Ottoman garrison, led by Mehmet Esat Bülkat, counterattacked and pushed the Greeks south.[17]
In the first days of 1913, significant Greek reinforcements (three divisions) from the captured Thessaloniki and Chios were transferred to the approaches to Ioannina. The overall command passed into the hands of the Crown Prince Constantine.[18] With them, the balance of power changed and, although they suffered another setback, in their second attack on the fortress (on 20 and 22 January) the Greeks managed to push some of the defenders from their positions.[19]
Final takeover of Ioannina
By the end of February, the Greek army had reached 75,000 men. The defenders of Ioannina numbered about 30,000 men, half of whom were stationed in the city and the rest north of it. The besieged had very limited ammunition and could not count on significant reinforcements, but they continued to actively defend themselves.[4] Local Albanians and conscripted Aromanians from Ioannina also participated in the defense of the city;[20][21] nevertheless, according to Macedonian Aromanian historian Nikola Minov, most of these Aromanians can be assumed to have quickly deserted and joined the closest Allied troops.[20]
The Greek plan for the capture of Ioannina provided for a main attack on the best-defended western sector, for which a strike group of about 20,000 men was formed. Deceptive maneuvers were carried out in the remaining sectors. After artillery preparation on 3 March, the next morning the strike group attacked the Ottoman positions from the southwest. Misled by the enemy's actions, the Ottoman command had concentrated most of its forces in the southern sector at Bizani and failed to respond to the attack, suffering heavy losses.[citation needed] On 5 March, the city's commandant Esad Pasha capitulated, but a significant number of Ottoman troops managed to withdraw to the northwest and link up with the remnants of the Vardar Army.[22]