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Revision as of 23:15, 9 February 2005 by RetiredUser2 (talk | contribs) (bio stub)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)General Enrico Tellini (?–27 August 1923) was an Italian general officer. He and several members of his staff were assassinated in Greece, near the town of Yannina, while participating in a Delimitation Commission set up by the Conference of Ambassadors to investigate a dispute over the location of the Greek border with Albania. This precipited the so-called "Corfu Incident" or "Tellini Affair".
The Italian government, lead by Benito Mussolini, sent a stiff ultimatum to the Greek government 29 August 1923, demanding the payment of 50 million lire in reparations and that the assassins be executed. The Greeks were unable to identify the assassins, so Italian forces bombarded and occupied the Greek island of Corfu on 31 August 1923, killing at least fifteen civilians people. The location of Curfu, in a strategic posistion at the head of the Adriatic Sea, provided Mussolini with an ulterior motive for the invasion, for which Tellini's assassination was a convenient pretext.
Greece appealed to the League of Nations, which initially condemned the Italian occupation. The dispute was handed over to the Conference of Ambassadors, an organization established by the allies in 1919 to deal with problems arising out of the peace treaties following the First World War, and Italy and Greece agreed to be bound by its decision. The Conference of Ambassadors largely followed the Italian demands, ordering Greece to apologise and pay reparations, a decision that Greece accepted. Italy left Corfu on 27 September 1923.
Arguably, this was one of the first major setbacks for the League, since Italy was not punished for its aggression.
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