Enrico Tellini
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General Enrico Tellini (18??–August 27, 1923) was an Italian general officer. He and several members of his staff were assassinated near Yannina, Greece, 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 precipitated the Corfu Incident (aka Tellini Affair).
The Italian government, lead by Benito Mussolini, sent an ultimatum to the Greek government on August 29, 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 August 31, 1923, killing at least fifteen civilians. The location of Corfu, in a strategic position 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 September 27, 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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