The Reçi War (), was the toughest and most successful resistance against the

Royal Italian Army The Royal Italian Army () (RE) was the land force of the Kingdom of Italy, established with the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy. During the 19th century Italy started to unify into one country, and in 1861 Manfredo Fanti signed a decree c ...

in the Shkodra region. This war took place in

World War II in Albania In Albania, World War II began with its invasion by Italy in April 1939. Fascist Italy set up Albania as its protectorate or puppet state. The resistance was largely carried out by Communist groups against the Italian (until 1943) and then ...

, 1943 and was the last Albanian war against the Italian invaders.

Background

As the Albanian partisans retook many of the

regions In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

that were under Italian occupation, the situation in

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

got better and better. To clear the Mbishkodra area, where the influence of the National Liberation Movement was increasing and the partisan formations were growing day by day, they prepared the

Italian fascists Italian fascism (), also called classical fascism and Fascism, is the original fascist ideology, which Giovanni Gentile and Benito Mussolini developed in Italy. The ideology of Italian fascism is associated with a series of political parties le ...

before a

military operation A military operation (op) is the coordinated military actions of a state, or a non-state actor, in response to a developing situation. These actions are designed as a military plan to resolve the situation in the state or actor's favor. Operati ...

. The direction of the operation was entrusted to Colonel De Blazio, the deputy

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

of the sector. The

forces In physics, a force is an influence that can cause an object to change its velocity unless counterbalanced by other forces. In mechanics, force makes ideas like 'pushing' or 'pulling' mathematically precise. Because the magnitude and directi ...

would be accompanied by

artillery Artillery consists of ranged weapons that launch Ammunition, munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, and l ...

and the actions would be supported by aviation.

The War

The attack of the Italian fascists began on August 30, the Albanian partisans were prepared and defended themselves against the Italians. The Italians started the operation on the village of Reç with 200 soldiers. However, when the Italians expected a counterattack from the Albanian partisans, the Italians brought in reinforcements and had a total manpower of 1,200–2,400 soldiers, greatly outnumbering them. The Albanian partisans attacked the Italians back and also inflicted a great deal of damage on the Italians. The Albanian partisans were outnumbered they had about 143 soldiers in this battle. However, only 30 to 40 Albanian partisans took part in this Battle, nevertheless they fought to the end and remained steadfast.

Aftermath

The

battle A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force co ...

ended victoriously for the

Albanians The Albanians are an ethnic group native to the Balkan Peninsula who share a common Albanian ancestry, Albanian culture, culture, Albanian history, history and Albanian language, language. They are the main ethnic group of Albania and Kosovo, ...

, many of the

Italian soldiers Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

were killed or wounded in battle. Altogether it is estimated that 40–147 Italian soldiers were killed in action by the Albanian partisans and several hundred wounded

References

{{coord missing, Italy Albania in World War II 1943 in Albania Partisans during World War II Battles of World War II involving Italy