Status quo ante bellum[3] Serbian and Montenegrin front Greek front The siege of Scutari, also referred to as the siege of Shkodër [4] (Albanian: Rrethimi i Shkodrës, Serbian: Опсада Скадра), known in Turkish as İşkodra Müdafaası [10] (in Turkish) or İşkodra Savunması ,[11] took place from 28 October 1912 to 23 April 1913 when the army of the Kingdom of Montenegro defeated the forces of the Ottoman Empire and invaded Shkodër.

With the transition of power from the last feudal lords Balšići or Balsha to Venetians, and eventually Ottomans, who established a city as an administrative center of the region, the "lost capital" became a symbol of oppression for the Montenegrins.

Radomir Vešović, a Montenegrin army officer participated in the siege where he was wounded twice,[14] for which he earned a golden Obilić Medal and the nickname the knight of Brdanjolt (Serbian: витез од Брдањолта).

[16][17] The siege, however, continued and even escalated in February when King Nikola of Montenegro received a delegation of Malësian chieftains who stated their allegiance to him and volunteered to join the Montenegrin forces with 3,000 of their own soldiers.

[19][20] On 21 April 1913 approximately six months after the start of the siege, Essad Pasha offered an official proposal to surrender the city to Montenegrin General Vukotic.

On 23 April, Essad Pasha's proposal was accepted and he was allowed to leave the city with full military honors and all of his troops and equipment, except the heavy guns.

[13] During their retreat the Montenegrin army set fire to the Grand Bazaar burning 250 shops.>[22] The capture of Scutari by Montenegro and Serbia removed the only obstacle to a Serbian advance into Ottoman Albania.

An international peace keeping force (Scutari detachment) from five countries including Austria-Hungary, Great Britain, France, Italy and Germany was deployed in the city and kept until the start of World War I.