On December 7, 1912, the Greek army entered Korçë after primarily fighting fierce battles with the Ottoman troops, while in February 1913 the Great Powers decided to award Korçë to the newly established Albanian state.

However, the Christian and Muslim residents of the area were opposed to such a decision.

Thus, on April 13, 1913, a committee of Korytsa residents, Muscovites and Colonists, including Muslims and representatives of the mufti of Korytsa, appeared in Thessaloniki, where they protested before the consuls of the Great Powers about the annexation of Korytsa to Albania and at the same time demanded union with Greece and proceeded dynamically in the well-known Northern Epirus Struggle, which unfortunately did not bring the desired result.

Two years later, on the 15th^or In November 1916, Colonel Dequan, former Chief of Staff of the Dardanelles campaign, was sent to the region to administer it in the name of France, installing the Venizelist Pericles Argyropoulos as the Greek representative and like today on December 10, 1916, the region of Korçë, isolated from the rest of the newly formed Albanian state due to the war, was declared independent.

Τότε υπεγράφη ένα πρωτόκολλο ανάμεσα στις γαλλικές στρατιωτικές αρχές, υπό του χριστιανού λήσταρχου Θεμιστοκλή Γκερμένι και τους προύχοντες της περιοχής, με στόχο την οργάνωση της συνεργασίας μεταξύ των τοπικών αρχών και των στρατευμάτων κατοχής. Η περιοχή ανακηρύχθηκε Αυτόνομη Δημοκρατία, ηγούνταν από Γάλλο εκπρόσωπο και από επιτροπή 14 Κορυτσαίων (7 χριστιανοί και 7 μουσουλμάνοι), επίσημη γλώσσα ήταν η αλβανική και παράλληλα διδάσκονταν η αλβανική, ενώ η ελληνική απαγορεύτηκε.