In March 1913, during the First Balkan War, the Greek Army entered Ioannina after breaching the Ottoman fortifications at Bizani, and soon afterwards advanced further north. Himarë had already been under Greek control since 5 November 1912, after a local Himariote, Gendarmerie Major Spyros Spyromilios, led a successful uprising that met no initial resistance. By the end of the war, Greek armed forces controlled most of the historical region of Epirus, from the Ceraunian mountains along the Ionian coast to Lake Prespa in the east.