The "Albanian Golgotha". Italy and the Serbian Army's Retreat through Albania (1915-1916)

The paper discusses the position of Italy during the retreat of the Serbian Army through Albania. Relations between Italy and Serbia in the autumn of 1915 were quite complex and rife with distrust and misunderstandings. Both Italy and Serbia had territorial claims to the Eastern coats of Adriatic Sea. The military situation in Serbia led the diplomats of the Entente to put pressure on Italy to open a front in Albania. As Austria-Hungary and Germany announced their intentions to annihilate both Montenegro and Albania in order to crush Serbian resistance, pressure on Italy grew stronger and in December 1915 an Italian expeditionary force arrived in Durres. From that moment the Entente naval force was tasked with helping Serbian soldiers and civilians. Brindisi was chosen as the port for the shipment of materials, Durres/Durazzo and Shengjin/San Giovanni di Medua as collection centers. Serbian and Montenegrin soldiers and civilian refugees were evacuated in 248 trips, of which 151 were made by Italian ships.