REPUBLIC OF KORITSA.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLIII, Issue 1389, 22 November 1918, Page 6

REPUBLIC OF KORITSA.

BY-.PRODUCT OF THE WAR. There is a lot of hidden history made in the war, and Albania, as "might he expected, i.s the scene of some of it, writes a correspondent of the Times. The Republic of Koritsa, or Korco, to use the official Albanian spelling, may, perhaps, ho described as a historical episode; “history” is too grand a word to use. This State originated in the late autumn of 101 (j, 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 the Adriatic, but between them and the allied Salonika forces was a solid wedge ol Austrians and King Constantine’s unfriendly Greeks. 1 1< the autumn 'Genera! Sarraii pushed forward in a north-westerly direction, and occupied Koritsa and the region near Lake Malik. This we, 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-east lay Soma and .southeast lay Greece, but 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 oaza, or administrative district of which it is the capital, to be an autonomous Albanian republic, under the protection of the Allies. General Sarraii 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 he not the genuine Albanian bird beloved of Skandorbeg and all good Shkipetari, 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 in some larger whole. Meantime, owing to various happy advances of the Allies, it lias gained several cxtensions of territory. J ' • ; •