Siege of Scutari ( 1912 – 13 ) The Siege of Scutari took place from October 28 , 1912 to April 23 , 1913 , with allied forces of Montenegro and Serbia against forces of the Ottoman Empire . Naming . The Siege of Scutari is also referred to as the Siege of Shkodër , Siege of Shkodra ( , ) or Defence of Shkodra . ( Turkish : " İşkodra Müdafaası " or " İşkodra Savunması " ) Background . In 1912 the Balkan League — consisting of Serbia , Montenegro , Greece and Bulgaria — had jointly declared war against the Ottoman Empire . Montenegro mobilized its troops and prepared to attack the Ottoman forces in Albania directly to the south . It also enlisted the support of Catholic Albanian tribes across the border who had been fighting the Turkish armies for centuries . Catholic tribes from Northern Albania ( Kastrati , together with Hoti and Grude ) joined the forces of Kingdom of Montenegro . Scutari had long been desired by Montenegro because it was it ' s capital for 300 years during it ' s first 3 ruling families . Start of the war . On 8 October 1912 Gen . Hasan Riza Pasha announced that Montenegro had declared war on the Ottoman Empire and that its troops were crossing the border between Montenegro and Albania . Two hours after the news the Montenegrin troops , as expected , were approaching Scutari . At noon Hasan Riza Pasha in his headquarters gathered all his commanders and told them : When the Montenegrins crossed the border , only 10 , 000 volunteers from Mirdite , led by Gen . Essad Pasha Toptani , were available to defend the city . Two thousand soldiers from Mat , who were led by the 17 - year - old Ahmet Bey Zogolli , were trapped by the Serbs in Lezhë , while Turkish troops led by Gen . Mahmoud Jella Hajra , which were located in Berat , were trapped in the field of Myzeqe , under attack by a Serb - Bulgarian army . Hasan Riza Pasha did not expect other reinforcements to reach the 15 , 000 combatants in the city , who had to face more than 25 , 000 Montenegrins and 30 , 000 Serbs . Scutari withstood the siege of the Montenegrin and Serbian armies for seven months . A total of some 36 , 000 shells were fired on the city , but still it did not fall into the hands of the attacking armies . It became apparent that Turkey was suffering from domestic problems and would not be able to defend its possessions in the Balkans . It was theorized after the attack that Russia had advised Serbia to conquer as much territory as possible , with the idea that the Conference of Ambassadors , expected to meet in December , would decide the extent of their boundaries in all lands that were under control . Battle . The siege started on October 28 , 1912 . The attack was originally carried out by the Montenegrin army under the command of Prince Danilo . However , his forces encountered stiff resistance , and the Serb army sent reinforcements to help its Montenegrin allies . The combined Turkish and Albanian defenders led by Hasan Riza Pasha and his lieutenant , Esad Pasha Toptani , resisted for seven months and managed to inflict a heavy toll on the besiegers . Death of Hasan Riza Pasha . On January 30 , 1913 , Riza Pasha was ambushed and killed by Osman Bali and Mehmet Kavaja , two Albanian servants of Esad Pasha , as he left Esad ' s house after dining with him . Riza Pasha wanted to keep up the defense of the besieged city but Esad Pasha wanted to continue his secret negotiations with Montenegro , which were done through the counsel of Russia in Scutari . Esad Pasha ' s plan was to hand over Scutari to the Serbs and Montenegrins as the price for their support in his attempt to proclaim himself King of Albania . On 6 February King Nikola received delegation of chieftains from Malësia who stated that they recognize him as their suzerain and requested to join 3 , 000 of their fighters with Montenegrin forces to capture Scutari . On 7 February they were ordered to attack in the direction Jubani — Daut - agha ' s kulla . Surrender . On April 21 , 1913 , Esad Pasha made the official proposal to surrender the city to Montenegrin Gen . Vukotic . On April 23 his proposal was accepted and he was allowed to leave the city with full military honors and with all of his troops and equipment , except heavy guns . He also received a sum of £10 , 000 sterling from the Montenegrin King . Essad Pasha signed the final surrender protocol with the Montenegrins Essad Pasha surrendered Scutari to Montenegro only after its destiny was decided by the Great Powers , after they forced Serbia to retreat and after it was obvious that the Great Powers would not allow Montenegro to keep Scutari . Essad Pasha was able to save many of his soldiers , who would otherwise have died defending the city with no hope of prevailing . At the same time he managed to get the support of Serbia and Montenegro for the new Kingdom of Albania , which would gain Scutari indirectly by the Great Powers . Aftermath . The taking of Scutari removed the only obstacle to the Serbian advance in the remainder of Ottoman Albania . By November 1912 the country had declared independence but was yet to be recognized by anyone . The Serbian army eventually occupied most of northern and central Albania , stopping north of the town of Vlorë . It also managed to trap the remains of the Army of Vardar in what was left of Albania proper , but were not able to force them to surrender . However , when the war was over , the Great Powers did not award the city to the Kingdom of Montenegro , which was compelled to evacuate it in May 1913 , in accordance with the London Conference of Ambassadors . The army ' s withdrawal was hastened by a small naval flotilla of British and Italian gunboat s that moved up the Bojana River and across the Adriatic coastline . The Kingdom of Montenegro also later took Metohija , an area of Kosovo - Kosmet . Cultural influences . Albanian novelist Ndoc Nikaj wrote an historical novel titled " Shkodra e rrethueme " ( " Shkodra under siege " ) in 1913 . Aleksa Šantić , poet of Serbian descent , wrote a poem " " To Essad Pasha " " ( ) , inspired by the Siege of Scutari .