The
Greco-Italian War (
Ellēnoїtalikós Pólemos or
Πόλεμος του Σαράντα Pólemos tou Saránda, "War of '40", , "War of Greece") was a conflict between Italy and
GreeceThe Kingdom of Greece was a state established in 1832 in the Convention of London by the Great Powers...
which lasted from 28 October 1940 to 23 April 1941. It marked the beginning of the
Balkans CampaignThe Balkans Campaign was the Axis Powers' invasion of Greece and Yugoslavia during World War II. It began with Italy's failed invasion of Greece on 28 October, 1940 and ended with the capture of Crete by German and Italian forces on 1 June, 1941....
of
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. From the 6 April 1941 intervention of
Nazi GermanyNazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany between 1933 and 1945, while it was led by Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Worker's Party . The name Third Reich refers to the state as the successor to the Holy Roman Empire of the Middle Ages and the German...
onwards, this conflict is known as the
Battle of GreeceThe Battle of Greece was a World War II battle that occurred on the Greek mainland and in southern Albania. The battle was fought between the Allied and Axis forces...
.
Regional politics
By mid-1940, Mussolini had grown jealous of
HitlerAdolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , popularly known as the Nazi Party...
's conquests and wanted to prove to his Axis partner that he could lead Italy to similar military successes. Italy had occupied
AlbaniaAlbania , officially the Republic of Albania , is a Mediterranean country in South Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Montenegro to the north, Kosovo to the northeast, Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south-east...
in spring 1939 and several
BritishThe British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom, that had originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height it was...
strongholds in Africa (
Italian conquest of British SomalilandThe Italian conquest of British Somaliland was a campaign in the Horn of Africa which took place in the summer of 1940 between forces of Italy and those of Great Britain and its Commonwealth. It formed part of the East African Campaign.-Background:...
in summer 1940), but could not boast victories on the same scale as Nazi Germany. At the same time, Mussolini also wanted to reassert Italy's interests in the
BalkansThe Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
, threatened by Germany (he was piqued that
RomaniaRomania is a country located in Southeastern and Central Europe, North of the Balkan Peninsula, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea. Almost all of the Danube Delta is located within its territory...
, a Balkan state in the supposed Italian influence zone, had accepted German protection for its
PloieştiPloieşti is the county seat of Prahova County and lies in the historical region of Wallachia, Romania. The city is located north of Bucharest. In 2002, it had a population of 232,527, making it the ninth-largest city in Romania.-History:The town was established in 1596, during the reign of Mihai...
oil fields in mid-October) and secure bases from which
BritishThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
eastern Mediterranean outposts could be attacked.
On 28 October 1940, after Greek dictator
Ioannis MetaxasIoannis Metaxas was a Greek General, appointed Prime Minister of Greece between April-August 1936 and dictator during the 4th of August Regime, from 1936 until his death in 1941.- Military career :...
rejected an Italian
ultimatumAn ultimatum is a demand whose fulfillment is requested in a specified period of time and which is backed up by a threat to be followed through in case of noncompliance. An ultimatum is generally the final demand in a series of requests...
demanding the occupation of Greek territory, Italian forces invaded Greece. The
Hellenic ArmyThe Hellenic Army is the land force of Greece. The Army of the modern nation of Greece has a history of nearly 190 years and came to its present form, gradually through those years....
counter-attacked and forced the Italians to retreat and by mid-December, the Greeks occupied nearly a quarter of Albania, tying down 530,000 Italian troops. In March 1941, a major Italian counter-attack failed, with small gains around Himare. In the first days of April, as the
German attackThe Battle of Greece was a World War II battle that occurred on the Greek mainland and in southern Albania. The battle was fought between the Allied and Axis forces...
on Greece unfolded, the Italian army resumed its attacks. From 12 April, the Greek army started retreating from Albania to avoid being cut off by the rapid German advance. On 20 April, the Greek army of Epirus surrendered to the Germans, and on 23 April 1941 the armistice was repeated including the Italians, and effectively ending the Greco-Italian war.
The Greek victory over the initial Italian offensive of October 1940 was the first Allied land victory of the Second World War, and helped raise morale in occupied Europe. Some historians argue that it may have influenced the course of the entire war by forcing Germany to postpone the invasion of the Soviet Union in order to assist Italy against Greece. This led to a delayed attack and subjected the German forces to the conditions of the harsh Russian winter, leading to their defeat at the
Battle of MoscowThe Battle of Moscow is the name given by Soviet historians to two periods of strategically significant fighting on a 600 km sector of the Eastern Front during World War II. It took place between October 1941 and January 1942...
.
Greco-Italian relations in the early twentieth century
Ever since the
Italian unificationItalian unification was the political and social movement that agglomerated different states of the Italian peninsula into the single state of Italy in the 19th century...
, Italy had aspired to
Great PowerA great power is a nation or state that has the ability to exert its influence on a global scale. Great powers characteristically possess economic, military, diplomatic, and cultural strength, which may cause other smaller nations to consider the opinions of great powers before taking actions of...
status and Mediterranean hegemony. Later, under the
Fascist regimeThe term Italian Fascism denotes the authoritarian nationalist Fascismo political movement that ruled Kingdom of Italy from 1922 until 1943 under leader Benito Mussolini...
, the establishment of a new
Roman EmpireThe Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean. The term is used to describe the Roman state during and after the time of the first emperor,...
, which included Greece, was often proclaimed by Mussolini.
Already in the 1910s, Italian and Greek interests clashed over
AlbaniaAlbania , officially the Republic of Albania , is a Mediterranean country in South Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Montenegro to the north, Kosovo to the northeast, Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south-east...
and the
DodecaneseThe Dodecanese are a group of 12 larger plus 150 smaller Greek islands in the Aegean Sea, off the southwest coast of Turkey, southward of the island of Samos and northeastward of the island of Crete...
. Albania, Greece's northwestern neighbour, was from its establishment effectively an Italian protectorate. Both Albania and Greece claimed Northern Epirus, inhabited by a large Greek population. Furthermore, Italy had been occupying the predominantly Greek-inhabited
DodecaneseThe Dodecanese are a group of 12 larger plus 150 smaller Greek islands in the Aegean Sea, off the southwest coast of Turkey, southward of the island of Samos and northeastward of the island of Crete...
islands in the southeastern
AegeanThe Aegean Sea is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea located between the southern Balkan and Anatolian peninsulas, i.e., between the mainlands of Greece and Turkey respectively. In the north, it is connected to the Marmara Sea and Black Sea by the Dardanelles and Bosporus...
since the
Italo-Turkish WarThe Italo-Turkish or Turco-Italian War was fought between the Ottoman Empire and the Kingdom of Italy from September 29, 1911 to October 18, 1912.As a result of this conflict, Italy was awarded the Ottoman provinces of Tripolitania, Fezzan, and Cyrenaica...
of 1912, and although it promised their return in the 1919
VenizelosEleftherios Venizelos was an eminent Greek revolutionary, a prominent and illustrious statesman as well as a charismatic leader in the early 20th century...
-
TittoniTommaso Tittoni was an Italian diplomat, politician and Knight of the Annunziata.-Biography:Tommaso Tittoni was born in Rome, to which he returned in 1870, because his Father Vincenzo, a devotee of the Risorgimento, was forced in 1860 to flee the Papal States.He studied law and, after graduating,...
accords, it later reneged on the agreement. Clashes between the two countries' troops occurred during the
occupation of AnatoliaThe Treaty of Sèvres was the peace treaty between the Ottoman Empire and Allies at the end of World War I. The Treaty of Versailles was signed with Germany before this treaty to annul the German concessions including the economic rights and enterprises. Also, France, Great Britain and Italy...
, and Italy helped the Turkish nationalists in their
war against GreeceThe Greco-Turkish War of 1919–1922, also called the War in Asia Minor or the Greek campaign of the Turkish War of Independence or The Asia Minor Catastrophe, was a series of military events occurring during the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire after World War I between May 1919 and October 1922...
. In its aftermath, the new Fascist government of Mussolini used the murder of an Italian general at the Greco-Albanian border to
bombard and occupy Corfu-Background:There was a boundary dispute between Greece and Albania. The two nations took their dispute to the Conference of Ambassadors. The Conference of Ambassadors created a commission to determine the boundary, which was authorized by the League of Nations to settle the dispute...
, the most important of the
Ionian IslandsThe Ionian Islands are a group of islands in Greece. They are traditionally called "Eptanisa", i.e...
. These had been under
VenetianThe Most Serene Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century AD until the year 1797...
rule until the late eighteenth century, and a target of Italian expansionism. A period of normalization followed, especially under the premiership of Eleftherios Venizelos in Greece (1928-1932) and the signing of a Friendship Agreement between the two countries on 23 September 1928.
On the Greek side, Venizelos made great efforts to normalize Greece's relations with her neighbours. After the Greco-Turkish Friendship Treaty of 1930 and the
Balkan PactThe Balkan Pact was a treaty signed by Greece, Turkey, Romania and Yugoslavia in 1934, aimed at maintaining the geopolitical status quo in the region following World War I. The signatories agreed to suspend all disputed territorial claims against each other and their immediate neighbors following...
of 1934, the threat from Greece's traditional enemy, Turkey, was removed. Albania was too weak to be a threat and the
Kingdom of YugoslaviaThe Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a kingdom stretching from the Western Balkans to Central Europe which existed during the often-tumultuous interwar era of 1918–1941...
, although periodically pressing for concession of a "free zone" in Thessaloniki, maintained good relations with Greece. In addition, both countries felt threatened by
BulgariaBulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a country in the Balkans in south-eastern Europe. Bulgaria borders five other countries: Romania to the north , Serbia and the Republic of Macedonia to the west, and Greece and Turkey to the south...
n revisionism. Bulgarian aspirations to reclaim
Western ThraceThrace is a geographic and historical region of Greece, located between the Nestos and Evros rivers in the northeast of the country. Together with the regions of Macedonia and Epirus, it is often referred to informally as northern Greece...
were the major foreign threat to Greece in the 1930s. Thus, when
MetaxasIoannis Metaxas was a Greek General, appointed Prime Minister of Greece between April-August 1936 and dictator during the 4th of August Regime, from 1936 until his death in 1941.- Military career :...
came to power in 1936 (see
4th of August RegimeThe 4th of August Regime was an authoritarian regime under the leadership of General Ioannis Metaxas that ruled Greece from 1936 to 1941. There is some debate over how the regime relates to other authoritarian regimes of the era: those of Franco's Spain, Italian Fascism, and German Nazism...
), plans had been laid down for the reorganization of the country's armed forces and for a fortified defensive line along the Greco-Bulgarian frontier. The line was constructed and named after the leader: the "
Metaxas LineThe Metaxas Line was a chain of fortifications constructed along the line of the Greco-Bulgarian border, designed to protect Greece in case of a Bulgarian invasion during World War II. It was named after Ioannis Metaxas, the then dictatorial ruler of Greece, and chiefly consists of tunnels that led...
". In the following years, the Army benefited from great investments aiming at its modernization; it was technologically upgraded, largely re-equipped and as a whole dramatically improved from its previous deplorable state. The Greek government purchased new arms for the three Armies. However, due to increasing threat and the eventual outbreak of war, the most significant purchases from abroad, made from 1938 to 1939, were never or only partially delivered. Also, a massive contingency plan was developed and great amounts of food and utilities were stockpiled by the Army in many parts of Greece for the eventuality of war.
Diplomatic and military developments 1939-1940
On 7 April 1939, Italian troops
occupied AlbaniaThe Italian invasion of Albania was a brief military campaign by the Kingdom of Italy against the Albanian Kingdom. The conflict was a result of the expansionist policies of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini...
, thereby gaining an immediate land border with Greece. This action led to a British and
FrenchThe French Third Republic was the republican government of France between the end of the Second French Empire in 1870 and the Vichy Regime after the invasion of France by the German...
guarantee for the territorial integrity of Greece, but for the Greeks, this development canceled all previous plans, and hasty preparations started for the event of an Italian attack. As war exploded in
Central EuropeCentral Europe is the region lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe. The term and widespread interest in the region itself came back into fashion after the end of the Cold War, which, along with the Iron Curtain, had divided Europe politically into East and West,...
, Metaxas tried to keep Greece out of the conflict, but as the conflict progressed, Metaxas felt increasingly closer to the United Kingdom, encouraged by the ardent anglophile
King George IIGeorge II, King of the Hellenes ruled Greece from 1922 to 1924 and from 1935 to 1947.-Early life, first period of kingship and exile:...
, who provided the main support for the regime. This was ironic for Metaxas, who had always been a
GermanophileA Germanophile is a person who is fond of German culture, and Germany in general, exhibiting as it were German nationalism in spite of not being an ethnic German. The term was especially in use in the 19th to 20th centuries after the creation of the German nation state and the rise of the German...
, and had built strong economic ties with Hitler's Germany.
At the same time, the Italians, especially the governor of Albania, Francesco Jacomoni, began agitating on the issue of the
Cham Albanian minorityCham Albanians, or Chams , are a sub-group of Albanians who originally resided in the coastal region of Epirus in northwestern Greece, an area known among Albanians as Chameria. The Chams have their own peculiar cultural identity, which is a mixture of Albanian and Greek influences as well as many...
in Greek Epirus as a means to rally Albanian support. Although in the event, Albanian enthusiasm for the "liberation of Chameria" was muted, Jacomoni sent repeated over-optimistic reports to Rome on Albanian support. In June 1940, the headless body of Cham leader Daut Hoxha was discovered near the village of
VrinaVrina is a village in Markat municipality, in Saranda District of Albania. It is the only Orthodox Cham Albanian village in Albania....
. Hoxha had been a military leader of the Chams, and was branded as a bandit by the Greek government. Jacomoni blamed his murder on Greek secret agents, and, as the possibility of an Italian attack on Greece drew nearer, he began arming Albanian irregular bands to use against Greece.
Soon after the
fall of FranceIn World War II, the Battle of France, also known as the Fall of France, was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries, executed from 10 May 1940, which ended the Phoney War. The battle consisted of two main operations...
ended, Mussolini set his sights on Greece. According to the 3 July 1940 entry in the diary of his son-in-law and foreign minister, Count
Galeazzo CianoGian Galeazzo Ciano, 2nd Count of Cortellazzo and Buccari , was Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Benito Mussolini's son-in-law.-Early life:Ciano was born in Livorno, Italy, in 1903...
:
...British ships, perhaps even aircraft, are sheltered and refueled in Greece. Mussolini is enraged. He has decided to act.
By 11 August, the decision for war had been taken:
Mussolini continues to talk about a lightning attack into Greece at about the end of September. In the meantime, the original Italian plan of attacking Yugoslavia was shelved, because of German opposition and lack of the necessary transport.
On 12 October 1940 the Germans occupied the Romanian oil fields. This action, of which he was not informed in advance, infuriated Mussolini, who regarded it as a German encroachment on south-eastern Europe, an area Italy claimed as its exclusive
sphere of influenceIn the field of international relations, a sphere of influence is an area or region over which a state or organization has significant cultural, economic, military or political influence....
. Three days later he ordered a meeting in
RomeRome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated municipality , with over 2.7 million residents in , while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat to be 3.46 million. The metropolitan area of Rome is estimated by OECD to have a population of 3.7 million...
to discuss the invasion of Greece. Only the Chief of the General Staff, Marshal
Pietro BadoglioPietro Badoglio, 1st Duca di Addis Abeba, 1st Marchese del Sabotino was an Italian soldier and politician...
, voiced objections, citing the need to assemble a force of at least 20 divisions prior to invasion, but the local commander in Albania, Lt. Gen.
Sebastiano Visconti PrascaSebastiano Visconti Prasca was an Italian military officer. He led the initial offensive of the Greco-Italian War, but was relieved of his command after two weeks for incompetence and substituted by General Ubaldo Soddu. Sebastiano Visconti Prasca was a member of the noble family of the House of...
, argued that only 3 further divisions would be needed, and these only after the first phase of the offensive (the capture of Epirus) had been completed. Mussolini was reassured by his staff that the war on Greece would be a campaign of two weeks, and Foreign Minister
Galeazzo CianoGian Galeazzo Ciano, 2nd Count of Cortellazzo and Buccari , was Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Benito Mussolini's son-in-law.-Early life:Ciano was born in Livorno, Italy, in 1903...
(who said that he could rely on the support of several Greek personalities, who would be easy to corrupt) was deputed to find a
casus belliCasus belli is a Latin expression meaning the justification for acts of war. Casus means "incident", "rupture" or indeed "case", while belli means "of war"...
. The following week King
Boris III of BulgariaBoris III the Unifier, Tsar of Bulgaria , originally Boris Klemens Robert Maria Pius Ludwig Stanislaus Xaver , son of Ferdinand I, came to the throne in 1918 upon the abdication of his father, following the defeat of the Kingdom of Bulgaria during World War I...
was invited to take part in the coming action against Greece, but refused Mussolini's invitation.
A propaganda campaign against Greece was launched in Italy, and repeated acts of provocation were carried out, such as overflights of Greek territory and attacks by aircraft on Greek naval vessels, reaching their peak with the
torpedoThe modern torpedo is a self-propelled explosive projectile weapon, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater toward a target, and designed to detonate on contact or in proximity to a target...
ing and sinking of the Greek light cruiser
ElliElli was a 2,600 ton Greek light cruiser named for a naval battle of the First Balkan War in which Greece was victorious....
in
TinosTinos is a Greek island situated in the Aegean Sea. It is located in the Cyclades archipelago. In ancient times, Tinos was also known as Ophiussa and Hydroessa . The closest islands are Andros, Delos, and Mykonos...
harbor on 15 August 1940 (a
national religious holidayThe Dormition of the Theotokos is a Great Feast of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches which commemorates the "falling asleep" or death of the Theotokos . It is celebrated on August 15 The Dormition of the Theotokos ( Koímēsis, often anglicized as Kimisis) is a...
), by an Italian submarine. Despite undeniable evidence of Italian responsibility, the Greek government announced that the attack had been carried out by a submarine of "unknown nationality". Although the facade of neutrality was thus preserved, the people were well aware of the real perpetrator (accusing Mussolini and his Foreign Minister Count Ciano).
Italian ultimatum and Greek reaction
| "I said that we would crush the Negus' kidneys. Now, with the same, absolute certainty, I repeat, absolute, I tell you that we will crush Greece's kidneys." |
| Mussolini's speech in Palazzo Venezia The Palazzo Venezia is a palazzo in central Rome, Italy, just north of the Capitoline Hill. Its name recalls that it once served as the embassy of the Republic of Venice. The palazzo faces piazza Venezia and via del Plebiscito a Roma. Vi ha sede il Museo nazionale di Palazzo Venezia e, al n...
, 18 November 1940 |
On the eve of 28 October 1940, Italy's ambassador in
AthensAthens , the capital and largest city of Greece, dominates the Attica periphery; as one of the world's oldest cities, its recorded history spans around 3,400 years....
, Emmanuele Grazzi, handed an ultimatum from Mussolini to Metaxas. In it, the Duce demanded free passage for his troops to occupy unspecified "strategic points" inside Greek territory. Greece had been friendly towards National Socialist Germany, especially profiting from mutual trade relations, but now Germany's ally Italy was to invade Greece. Metaxas rejected the ultimatum with the words (
FrenchFrench is a Romance language globally spoken by about 65 million people as a first language , by 50 million as a second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired foreign language, with significant speakers in 57 countries. Most native speakers of the language live in France,...
for "
Then, it's war."). In this he echoed the will of the Greek people to resist, a will which was popularly expressed in one word: "
Ohi" (
GreekGreek , an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, is the language of the Greeks. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. In its ancient form, it is the language of classical...
for "
No"). Within hours Italy began attacking Greece from Albania. The outbreak of hostilities was first announced by the Athens Radio early in the morning of the 28th, with the famous two-sentence dispatch of the General Staff: "
Since 0630 this morning, the enemy is attacking our vanguard on the Greek-Albanian border. Our forces are defending the fatherland".
Shortly thereafter, Metaxas addressed the Greek people with these words: "
The time has come for Greece to fight for her independence. Greeks, now we must prove ourselves worthy of our forefathers and the freedom they bestowed upon us. Greeks, now fight for your Fatherland, for your wives, for your children and the sacred traditions. Now, over all things, fight!", the last sentence being a verbatim quote from The Persians by the dramatist
AeschylusAeschylus was an ancient Greek playwright. He is often recognized as the father of tragedy, and is the earliest of the three Greek tragedians whose plays survive, the others being Sophocles and Euripides...
. In response to this address, the people of Greece reportedly spontaneously went out to the streets singing Greek patriotic songs and shouting anti-Italian slogans, and hundreds of thousands of volunteers, men and women, in all parts of Greece headed to the Army recruitment offices to enlist. The whole nation was united in the face of aggression. Even the imprisoned leader of Greece's banned Communist Party,
Nikolaos ZachariadisNikolaos Zachariadis was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Greece from 1931 to 1956.-Early life:...
, issued an open letter advocating resistance, despite the still existing
Nazi-Soviet PactThe Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, colloquially named after the Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov and the German foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop, was an agreement officially titled the Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and signed in...
, thereby contravening the current
CominternThe Comintern was an international Communist organization founded in Moscow in March 1919...
line (although in two further letters he accused Metaxas of waging an "imperialistic" war and called upon Greek soldiers to desert their ranks and overthrow the regime).
Order of Battle and opposing plans
The front, roughly 150 km in breadth, featured extremely mountainous terrain with very few roads. The
PindusThe Pindus mountain range is located in northern Greece and southern Albania. It is roughly 160 km long, with a maximum elevation of 2637 m . Because it runs along the border of Thessaly and Epirus, the Pindus range is often called the "spine of Greece"...
mountain range practically divided it into two distinct theatres of operations:
EpirusEpirus is a geographical and historical region of Greece in southeastern Europe, currently divided between the periphery of Epirus in Greece and the prefectures of Gjirokastër, Vlorë, Berat, and Korçë in southern Albania.-Name & Etymology:...
and Western Macedonia.
The order to invade Greece was given by Mussolini to
BadoglioPietro Badoglio, 1st Duca di Addis Abeba, 1st Marchese del Sabotino was an Italian soldier and politician...
and
RoattaMario Roatta was an Italian general, Mussolini's Chief-of-Staff, and head of the military secret service.-SIM:From 1934 to 1936, Roatta headed up the Italian Military Intelligence Service .-Spain:...
on 15 October with the expectation that the attack would commence within 12 days. Badoglio and Roatta were appalled given that, acting on his orders, they had demobilised 600, 000 men three weeks prior to provide labor for the harvest. Given the expected requirement of at least 20 divisions to facilitate success, the fact that only eight divisions were currently in Albania, and considering the inadequacies of the Albanian ports and connecting infrastructure, adequate preparation would require at least three months. Nonetheless, D-day was set at dawn on 26 October.
The Italian war plan, codenamed
Emergenza G ("Contingency [Greece]"), called for the occupation of the country in three phases. The first would be the occupation of Epirus and the
Ionian IslandsThe Ionian Islands are a group of islands in Greece. They are traditionally called "Eptanisa", i.e...
, followed, after the arrival of reinforcements, by a thrust into Western Macedonia and towards
ThessalonikiThessaloniki , Thessalonica, or Salonica is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the Greek region of Macedonia. It is honorarily called the Συμπρωτεύουσα Symprotevousa of Greece, as it was once called the συμβασιλεύουσα symvasilevousa of the Byzantine Empire...
, aimed at capturing northern
GreeceGreece , officially the Hellenic Republic , is a country in southeastern Europe, situated on the southern end of the Balkan Peninsula....
. Afterwards, the remainder of the country would be occupied. Subsidiary attacks were to be carried out against the Ionian Islands, while it was hoped that
BulgariaBulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a country in the Balkans in south-eastern Europe. Bulgaria borders five other countries: Romania to the north , Serbia and the Republic of Macedonia to the west, and Greece and Turkey to the south...
would intervene and pin down the Greek forces in Eastern
MacedoniaMacedonia is a geographical and historical region of Greece in southeastern Europe. Macedonia is the largest and second most populous Greek region...
.
The Italian High Command had accorded an Army Corps to each theatre, formed from the existing forces occupying Albania. The stronger XXV "Ciamuria" Corps in Epirus (23rd "Ferrara" and 51st "Siena" Infantry Divisions,
131 Armoured Division CentauroThe 131st Armoured Division Centauro was an armoured division of the Italian Army during World War II. It was formed in February 1939, by upgrading the 1st Armoured Brigade . It took part in operations in Albania, Greece and Yugoslavia before returning to Italy. Sent to North Africa in August...
, in total ca. 30, 000 men and 163 tanks) intended to drive towards
IoanninaIoannina is a city of Epirus, north-western Greece, with a metropolitan population of approximately 100,000, and lies at an elevation of 600 metres above sea level. It is the capital of Ioannina Prefecture and of Epirus, lying on the western side of lake Pamvotis...
, flanked on its right by a small brigade-sized "Littoral Group" of ca. 5, 000 men along the coast, and to its left by the elite
"Julia" Alpine DivisionThe 3rd Alpine Division Julia was a World War II light Infantry division of the Italian Army, specializing in Mountain Combat. The Alpini that formed the divisions are a highly decorated and elite mountain corps of the Italian Army comprising both infantry and artillery units...
which would advance through the
Pindus MountainsThe Pindus mountain range is located in northern Greece and southern Albania. It is roughly 160 km long, with a maximum elevation of 2637 m . Because it runs along the border of Thessaly and Epirus, the Pindus range is often called the "spine of Greece"...
. XXVI "
CorizzaKorçë is a city in southeastern Albania and the capital of the Korçë District. It has a population of around 57,758 people , making it the seventh largest city in Albania...
" Corps in the Macedonian sector (
29th "Piemonte"The 29 Infantry Division Peloritana was an infantry division of the Italian Royal Army . The division fought in Ethiopia during the interwar period...
, 49th "Parma" Infantry Divisions, with 19th "Venezia" Division en route from the north of the country, in total ca. 31, 000 men) was initially intended to maintain a defensive stance. In total, the force facing the Greeks comprised about 85, 000 men, under the command of Lt. General
Sebastiano Visconti PrascaSebastiano Visconti Prasca was an Italian military officer. He led the initial offensive of the Greco-Italian War, but was relieved of his command after two weeks for incompetence and substituted by General Ubaldo Soddu. Sebastiano Visconti Prasca was a member of the noble family of the House of...
.
After the Italian occupation of Albania, the Greek General Staff had prepared the "IB" (Italy-Bulgaria) plan, anticipating a combined offensive by Italy and Bulgaria. The plan was essentially prescribing a defensive stance in Epirus, with a gradual retreat to the
Arachthos RiverThe Arachthos River is a river in eastern Epirus in Greece that flows from the Pindus mountains and begins in the area southeast of Metsovo in the Ioannina Prefecture near the Trikala Prefecture and flows by numerous village including Elliniko...
-Metsovon-Aliakmon River-
Mt. VermionThe Vermio Mountains are a mountain range in between Imathia and Kozani Prefecture in west-central Greek region of Macedonia. The range is west of the plain of Kambania. The town of Veria, also capital of Imathia prefecture, is built οn the foot of these mountains...
line, while maintaining the possibility of a limited offensive in Western Macedonia. Two variants of the plan existed for the defence of Epirus, "IBa", calling for forward defence on the border line, and "IBb", for defence in an intermediate position. It was left to the judgment of the local commander, Maj. General
Charalambos KatsimitrosCharalambos Katsimitros was a Greek general who distinguished himself during the Italian invasion of Greece.-Early life and career:...
, to choose which plan to follow. A significant factor in the Greeks' favour was that they had managed to obtain intelligence about the approximate date of the attack, and had just completed a limited mobilization in the areas facing the expected Italian attack.
The main Greek forces in the immediate area at the outbreak of the war were: In Epirus the 8th Infantry Division, fully mobilized and prepared for forward defence by its commander, Maj. Gen. Katsimitros. In Western Macedonia was the Corps-sized TSDM (
Tmēma Stratias Dytikēs Makedonias, "Army Section of Western Macedonia") under Lt. Gen. Ioannis Pitsikas, including the "Pindus Detachment" (
Apospasma Pindou) of regimental size under Colonel
DavakisKonstantinos Davakis was a Greek military figure during World War II.-Early life:He was born in the village of Kechrianika, Laconia prefecture in 1897. After graduating military school, he saw action in World War I and the Greco-Turkish War ....
, the 9th Infantry Division and the 4th Infantry Brigade. The Greek forces amounted to about 35, 000 men, but could be quickly reinforced by the neighbouring formations in southern Greece and Macedonia.
The Greeks enjoyed a small advantage in that their divisions had 30% more infantry (three regiments as opposed to two) and slightly more medium artillery and machine-guns than the Italian ones, but they completely lacked tanks, while the Italians could count on complete air superiority over the small Hellenic Royal Air Force. Furthermore, the majority of Greek equipment was still of World War I issue, or else came from countries like Belgium, Austria and France, which were now under Axis occupation, with adverse effects on the supply of spare parts and suitable ammunition. However, many senior Greek officers were veterans of a decade of almost continuous warfare (from the
Balkan WarsThe Balkan Wars were two wars in South-eastern Europe in 1912–1913. The First Balkan War broke out on 8 October 1912 when Bulgaria, Greece, Montenegro and Serbia , having large parts of their ethnic populations under Ottoman sovereignty, attacked the Ottoman Empire, terminating its five-century...
of 1912-13 and the First World War to the
Greco-Turkish War of 1919-22The Greco-Turkish War of 1919–1922, also called the War in Asia Minor or the Greek campaign of the Turkish War of Independence or The Asia Minor Catastrophe, was a series of military events occurring during the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire after World War I between May 1919 and October 1922...
), and, despite its limited means, the Greek Army had actively prepared itself for the forthcoming war during the late 1930s. In addition, Greek morale, contrary to Italian expectations, was high, with many eager to "
avenge TinosElli was a 2,600 ton Greek light cruiser named for a naval battle of the First Balkan War in which Greece was victorious....
".
Initial Italian Offensive (28 October 1940 13 November 1940)
The Greco-Italian War started with the
Italian military forcesDuring World War II , the Kingdom of Italy had a varied and tumultuous military history. While the Italian forces are widely viewed by the victorious nations as weak, historians believe this was largely down to circumstances such as poor equipment and ineffective political leadership, rather than...
launching an invasion of Greece from Albanian territory. The invasion force included several hundred native Albanian and Chams in blackshirt battalions attached to the Italian army. Their performance however was distinctly lackluster, as most Albanians, poorly motivated, either deserted or defected. Indeed, the Italian commanders, including Mussolini, would later use the Albanians as scapegoats for the Italian failure.
These two Albanian battalions, namely, battalion
Tomorri and
Gramshi, were formed in the Italian army only three months before the invasion, and during the Greco-Italian War, the majority of them crossed to the Greek Army. The leader of these two battalions, Spiro Moisiu, would become the general in chief of the Albanian Anti-Fascist Army, and eventually a head of the Albanian Army after the war.
The Italians attacked on the morning of 28 October, pushing back the Greek screening forces. The "Ciamuria" Corps, spearheaded by the "Ferrara" and "Centauro" divisions, attacked towards Kalpaki (Elaia), while οn its right the Littoral Group advanced along the coast and was able to secure a bridgehead over the Kalamas River. The Italians faced difficulties because of the harshness of the terrain, with their light
L3/35The L3/35 or Carro Veloce CV-35 was an Italian tank used before and during World War II. Although designated a light tank by the Italian Army, its turretless configuration, weight and firepower make it closer to contemporary tankettes....
tankettes and medium M13/40 tanks, unable to cope with the hilly terrain or the muddy tracks that served as roads.
On 31 October the Italian Supreme Command announced that "Our units continue to advance into Epirus and have reached the river Kalamas at several points. Unfavourable weather conditions and action by the retreating enemy are not slowing down the advances of our troops". But in reality, the Italian offensive was carried out without conviction and without the advantage of surprise (not even for air action which was rendered ineffective by poor weather), under a leadership uncertain and divided by personal rivalries, and was already becoming exhausted. Adverse conditions at sea made impossible to do a projected landing at Corfu. By 1 November, the Italians had captured
KonitsaKonitsa is a town in Epirus, Greece, near the Albanian border located at Mertzani near Melissopetra. It lies amphi-theatre shaped on a mountain slope of the Pindos mountain range, overlooking the valley where the river Aoos meets the river Voidomatis. The valley is used for farming...
and reached the Greek main line of defence. On that same day, the Albanian theatre was given priority over Africa by the Italian High Command. However, despite repeated attacks the Italians failed to break through the Greek defences and the attacks were suspended on 9 November.
A greater threat to the Greek positions was posed by the advance of the 10, 800-strong
"Julia" DivisionThe 3rd Alpine Division Julia was a World War II light Infantry division of the Italian Army, specializing in Mountain Combat. The Alpini that formed the divisions are a highly decorated and elite mountain corps of the Italian Army comprising both infantry and artillery units...
over the
PindusThe Pindus mountain range is located in northern Greece and southern Albania. It is roughly 160 km long, with a maximum elevation of 2637 m . Because it runs along the border of Thessaly and Epirus, the Pindus range is often called the "spine of Greece"...
mountains towards Metsovon, which threatened to separate the Greek forces in Epirus from those in Macedonia. "Julia" achieved early success, breaking through the central sector of Colonel Davakis' force. The Greek General Staff immediately ordered reinforcements into the area, which passed under the control of II Greek Army Corps. A first Greek counteroffensive was launched on 31 October, and met with little success. Having covered 25 miles of mountain terrain in icy rain
"Julia" DivisionThe 3rd Alpine Division Julia was a World War II light Infantry division of the Italian Army, specializing in Mountain Combat. The Alpini that formed the divisions are a highly decorated and elite mountain corps of the Italian Army comprising both infantry and artillery units...
managed to capture
VovousaVovousa is a community in the Ioannina Prefecture, Greece. It is originally part of the Zagori villages. Population 179 . The name possibly derives from "Voiousa" or "Vovousa" or "vous" for male cow....
, 30 km north of Metsovon, on 2 November, but it had become clear that the Division lacked the manpower and the supplies to continue in the face of the arriving Greek reserves.
Greek counterattacks resulted in the recapture of several villages, including Vovousa, by 4 November, practically encircling "Julia". Prasca tried to reinforce it with the newly arrived 47th "Bari" Division (originally intended for the invasion of
CorfuCorfu is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the second largest of the Ionian Islands, and its northern part lies off the coast of Sarandë, Albania from which it is separated by straits varying in breadth from 3 to 23 km , including one near ancient Butrint, while its southern part lies...
), but it arrived too late to change the outcome. During the next days the
AlpiniThe Alpini, , are the elite mountain warfare soldiers of the Italian Army. They are currently organized in two operational brigades, which are subordinated to the Alpini Corps Command. The singular is Alpino ....
fought bravely in atrocious weather conditions and under constant attacks by the Greek Cavalry Division led by Major-General
Georgios StanotasGeorgios Stanotas was a Greek cavalry officer who rose to the rank of Lieutenant General.-Early life and career:He was born in the village of Kastanitsa, in the prefecture of Arcadia in the Peloponnese. He left his village early and went to Athens, where, in 1909, he joined the Hellenic Army as a...
. However, on 8 November, the commander of "Julia", General Mario Girotti, was forced to order his units to begin their retreat via Mt.
SmolikasMount Smolikas , also with the o accented , at a height of 2,637 metres above sea level, is the second highest mountain in Greece, after Mount Olympus, and the highest of the Pindus Mountains. The mountain is formed in ophiolite rocks. During the Pleistocene the northern and eastern cirques and...
towards Konitsa. This fighting retreat lasted for several days, until by 13 November the frontier area had been cleared of Italian presence and the "Julia" division was completely destroyed , ending the "
Battle of PindusThe Battle of Pindus took place in the Pindus Mountains in Epirus, Greece in the autumn of 1940. The battle was fought between the Greeks and the Italians during the first stages of the Italian invasion of Greece. Even though the Italians had better weapons and machinery, the Greeks fought back...
" in a complete Greek victory.
With the Italians inactive in Western Macedonia, the Greek High Command moved III Corps (10th and 11th Infantry Divisions and the Cavalry Brigade, under Lt. Gen.
Georgios TsolakoglouGeorgios Tsolakoglou was a Greek military officer who became the country's first Prime Minister of the Greek collaborationist government during the Axis Occupation in 1941-1942.-Military career:...
) into the area on 31 October and ordered it to attack into Albania together with TSDM. For logistical reasons this attack was successively postponed until 14 November.
The unexpected Greek resistance caught the Italian High Command, which was expecting a 'military picnic', by surprise. Several divisions were hastily sent to Albania, and the plans for subsidiary attacks on Greek islands were definitively scrapped. Enraged by the lack of progress, Mussolini reshuffled the command in Albania, replacing Prasca with General
Ubaldo SodduUbaldo Soddu was an Italian military officer, who commanded the Italian Forces in the Greco-Italian War for a month.Soddu was born in Salerno. During the period of 1939-1940, Soddu was under-secretary at the Ministry of War...
, his former Vice-Minister of War, on 9 November. Immediately upon arrival, Soddu ordered his forces to turn to the defensive. It was clear that the Italian invasion had failed.
Greek counter-offensive and stalemate (14 November 1940 8 March 1941)
Greek reserves started reaching the front in early November, while Bulgarian inactivity allowed the Greek High Command to transfer the majority of its divisions from the Greco-Bulgarian border and deploy them in the Albanian front. This enabled Greek Commander-in-Chief Lt Gen Papagos to establish numerical superiority by mid-November, prior to launching his counter-offensive. Walker cites that the Greeks had a clear superiority of 250, 000 men against 150, 000 Italians by the time of the Greek counterattacks, with only six of the Italian divisions, the
AlpiniThe Alpini, , are the elite mountain warfare soldiers of the Italian Army. They are currently organized in two operational brigades, which are subordinated to the Alpini Corps Command. The singular is Alpino ....
, being trained and equipped for mountainous conditions. Bauer states that by 12 November
General PapagosMarshal Alexander Papagos , was a Greek General who led the Greek Army in the Greco-Italian War and the later stages of the Greek Civil War and became the country's Prime Minister.- Military career :...
had at the front over 100 infantry battalions fighting in terrain to which they were accustomed, compared with less than 50 Italian battalions.
TSDM and III Corps, continuously reinforced with units from all over northern Greece, launched their attack on 14 November, in the direction of
KorytsaKorçë is a city in southeastern Albania and the capital of the Korçë District. It has a population of around 57,758 people , making it the seventh largest city in Albania...
. After bitter fighting on the fortified frontier line, the Greeks broke through on the 17th, entering Korytsa on the 22nd. However, due to indecisiveness among the Greek High Command, the Italians were allowed to break contact and regroup, avoiding a complete collapse.
The attack from Western Macedonia was combined with a general offensive along the entire front. I and II Corps advanced in Epirus, and after hard fighting captured
Agioi SarandaSarandë or Saranda is the capital of the District of Sarandë, Albania, and is one of the most important tourist attractions of the Albanian Riviera. It is situated on an open sea gulf of the Ionian Sea in the Mediterranean, 2 nautical miles from the Greek island of Corfu. The city of Saranda has...
,
PogradecPogradec is one of the southeastern cities of Albania, which is by the Ohrid lake. It is the capital of the District of Pogradec, in the County of Korçë, located at 40.87°N and 20.70°E with a population of around 30,000 . The total area of the district is 725 km². Pogradec alone occupies about...
and
ArgyrokastronGjirokastër or Gjirokastra , is a city in southern Albania with a population of around 34,000. Lying in the historical region of Epirus, it is also the capital of both the Gjirokastër District and the larger Gjirokastër County...
by early December, and
HimaraHimara is a town and a region in southern Albania, part of the District of Vlorë. Apart from the town, the region consists of 7 other villages: Dhërmi, Palase, Vuno, Pilur, Qeparo, Kudhës and Iliasi...
on Christmas' Eve, occupying practically the entire area of southern Albania (called "
Northern EpirusNorthern Epirus is a term used to refer to those parts of the historical region of Epirus, in the western Balkans, that are part of the modern Albanian state. The term is used mostly by Greeks and is associated with the existence of a substantial ethnic Greek population in the region...
" by the Greeks). A final Greek success was the forcing of the strategically important and heavily fortified Klisura pass on 10 January by II Corps. But the Greeks did not succeed in breaking through towards Berat, and their offensive towards Valona failed. In the fight for Valona, the Italians suffered serious losses to their
7 Infantry Division Lupi di ToscanaThe 7 Infantry Division Lupi di Toscana was a Infantry Division of the Italian Army during World War II. It was held as part of the Army reserve in June 1940,during the Italian invasion of France. The Lupi di Toscana then took part in the Greco-Italian War where it suffered heavy losses in the...
,
3 Alpine Division JuliaThe 3rd Alpine Division Julia was a World War II light Infantry division of the Italian Army, specializing in Mountain Combat. The Alpini that formed the divisions are a highly decorated and elite mountain corps of the Italian Army comprising both infantry and artillery units...
,
24 Infantry Division Pinerolo and
5 Alpine Division PusteriaThe 5th Alpini Division Pusteria was a light Infantry division of the Italian Army, specializing in Mountain Combat. The Alpini are a mountain infantry corps of the Italian Army, that distinguished itself in combat during World War I and World War II...
divisions, but by the end of January, due to a combination of Italy finally gaining numerical superiority and their own bad logistical situation, the Greeks' advance was finally stopped.
Meanwhile, General Soddu had been replaced in mid-December by Gen
Ugo CavalleroUgo Cavallero was an Italian military commander before and during World War II.-Biography:Born in Casale Monferrato, Piedmont, Cavallero had a privileged childhood as a member of the Italian nobility....
. On 4 March, the British sent their first convoy of troops and supplies to Greece, under the orders of Lieutenant-General Sir Henry Maitland Wilson. Their forces were four divisions (57, 000 soldiers), two of them armoured.
The following passage aptly summarizes the episode from the perspective of both the brilliant Greek defence of their homeland and the ill-prepared Italian debacle:
Italian Spring Offensive and German Attack (9 Mar 1941 23 April 1941)
The stalemate continued, despite local actions, as both enemies were not strong enough to launch a major attack. Despite their gains, however, the Greeks were in a precarious position, as they had virtually stripped their northern frontier of weapons and men in order to sustain the Albanian front, and were too weak to resist a possible German attack via Bulgaria.
The Italians, on the other hand, wishing to achieve a success in the Albanian front before the impending German intervention, gathered their forces to launch a new offensive, codenamed "Primavera" (Spring). They assembled 17 divisions opposite the Greeks' 13, and, under Mussolini's personal supervision, launched a determined attack against the Klisura Pass. The assault lasted from 9 March to 20 March, but failed to dislocate the Greeks and obtained only small conquests like Himare, the area of Mali Harza and mount Trebescini near Berat. From that moment until the German attack on 6 April, the stalemate continued, with operations on both sides scaled down.
In anticipation of the German attack, the British and some Greeks urged a withdrawal of the Army of Epirus, so as to spare badly needed troops and equipment for the repulsion of the Germans. However, national sentiment forbade the abandoning of such hard-won positions, overriding military logic, and retreat in the face of the defeated Italians was deemed disgraceful. Therefore the bulk of the Greek Army (fifteen divisions) was left deep in Albania, while the German attack approached. General Wilson derided this reluctance as "the fetishistic doctrine that not a yard of ground should be yielded to the Italians" and so only six of the twenty-one Greek divisions were left to fight the German attack.
From 6 April the Italians recommenced their offensive in Albania in connection with the German Operation Marita. The initial attacks made little progress, but on 12 April, the Greek High Command, alarmed by the rapid progress of the German invasion, ordered a withdrawal from Albania. The Italian 9th Army took Korçë on 14 April, followed by Ersekë three days later. On 19 April the Italians occupied the Greek shores of
Lake PrespaPrespa is the name of two freshwater lakes in southeast Europe, shared by Greece, Albania, and the Republic of Macedonia. Of the total surface area, 190 km² belongs to the Republic of Macedonia, 84.8 km² to Greece and 38.8 km² to Albania...
and on 22 April the 4th Bersaglieri Regiment reached the bridge of the border village Perati, crossing into Greek territory the next day.
In the meantime, the Greek Army of Epirus was cut off in 18 April, when elements of the
Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler motorized
brigadeA brigade is a military unit that is typically composed of two to five regiments or battalions, depending on the era and nationality of a given army. Usually, a brigade is a sub-component of a division, a larger unit consisting of two or more brigades; however, some brigades are classified as a...
captured the Metsovon Pass after overcoming local Greek resistance. The next day,
IoanninaIoannina is a city of Epirus, north-western Greece, with a metropolitan population of approximately 100,000, and lies at an elevation of 600 metres above sea level. It is the capital of Ioannina Prefecture and of Epirus, lying on the western side of lake Pamvotis...
fell to the Germans, completing the isolation of the Greek Army. Aware of the hopelessness of his situation, Lt. General
TsolakoglouGeorgios Tsolakoglou was a Greek military officer who became the country's first Prime Minister of the Greek collaborationist government during the Axis Occupation in 1941-1942.-Military career:...
, in agreement with several other generals but without authorization from Papagos, relieved Army commander Lt. General Pitsikas and offered the Army's surrender to
Sepp DietrichJosef "Sepp" Dietrich was a German Waffen-SS general, an SS-Oberstgruppenführer, and one of the men closest to Adolf Hitler...
on 20 April, primarily to avoid the perceived dishonour of surrendering to the Italians. The terms of surrender were deemed honourable, as the Greek Army would not be taken prisoner, and officers were allowed to retain their sidearms. Mussolini, however, was enraged by this unilateral surrender, and after many protests to Hitler, the surrender ceremony was repeated on 23 April to include Italian representatives.
On 24 April the Italian troops joined up with the German forces attacking the Attica area near
AthensAthens , the capital and largest city of Greece, dominates the Attica periphery; as one of the world's oldest cities, its recorded history spans around 3,400 years....
, while the defeated British forces started their evacuation and Bulgaria invaded northern Greek territory around
XanthiXanthi is a city in northern Greece, in the East Macedonia and Thrace periphery. It is the capital of Xanthi Prefecture.-History:...
. On 3 May, after the final conquest of
CreteCrete is the largest of the Greek islands and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea at 8,336 km²...
, an imposing German-Italian parade in Athens celebrated the Axis victory. It was after the victory in Greece (and Yugoslavia) that Mussolini started to talk and boast in his propaganda about the Italian Mare Nostrum.
Naval operations
At the outbreak of hostilities, the
Royal Hellenic NavyThe Hellenic Navy is the naval force of Greece, part of the Greek Armed Forces. The modern Greek navy has its roots in the naval forces of various Aegean Islands, which fought in the Greek War of Independence...
was composed of the old cruiser
AverofGeorgios Averof is a Greek warship which served as the flagship of the Royal Hellenic Navy during most of the first half of the 20th Century...
, 10 destroyers (4 old
Theria classThe Wild Beast class, or Aetos class, of destroyers were bought by the Royal Hellenic Navy before World War I when the Greek government expanded its navy after losing the Greco-Turkish War of 1897 and in anticipation of the Balkan Wars. These four ships had originally been ordered by Argentina from...
, 4 relatively modern
Dardo classThe Freccia class destroyer was a class of destroyers built for the Regia Marina, the Italian Royal Navy, in the 1930s. It was basically an enlarged version of the earlier Turbine class destroyers. Four modified ships were built and delivered in 1933 for Greece.-Italian Navy:*RN...
and 2 new
Greyhound class), several torpedo boats and 6 old submarines. Faced with the formidable
Regia MarinaThe Regia Marina dates from the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861 after Italian unification...
, its role was primarily limited to patrol and convoy escort duties in the
Aegean SeaThe Aegean Sea is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea located between the southern Balkan and Anatolian peninsulas, i.e., between the mainlands of Greece and Turkey respectively. In the north, it is connected to the Marmara Sea and Black Sea by the Dardanelles and Bosporus...
. This was essential both for the completion of the Army's mobilization, but also for the overall resupply of the country, the convoy routes being threatened by Italian aircraft and submarines operating from the Dodecanese Islands.
Nevertheless, the Greek ships also carried out limited offensive operations against Italian shipping in the
Strait of OtrantoThe Strait of Otranto connects the Adriatic Sea with the Ionian Sea. Its width is 45-55 nautical mile . The strait is named after the Italian city of Otranto.- History :...
. The destroyers carried out three bold but fruitless night-time raids (14-15 November 1940, 15-16 December 1940 and 4-5 January 1941). The main successes came from the submarines, which managed to sink some Italian transports. On the Italian side, although the
Regia MarinaThe Regia Marina dates from the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861 after Italian unification...
suffered severe losses in capital ships from the
Royal NavyThe Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of HM Armed Forces . From the beginning of the 18th century until well into the 20th century, it was the most powerful navy in the world, playing a key part in establishing the British Empire as the dominant world power from 1815 until the early...
during the
Taranto raidThe naval Battle of Taranto took place on the night of 11 November 1940 – 12 November 1940 during World War II. The Royal Navy launched the first all-aircraft naval attack in history, flying a small number of aircraft from an aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean Sea and attacking the Italian...
, Italian cruisers and destroyers continued to operate covering the convoys between Italy and Albania. Also, on 28 November, an Italian squadron bombarded Corfu, while on 18 December and 4 March, Italian task forces shelled Greek coastal positions in Albania.
From January 1941, the RHN's main task was the escort of convoys to and from
AlexandriaAlexandria , with a population of 4.1 million, is the second-largest city in Egypt, and is the country's largest seaport, serving about 80% of Egypt's imports and exports...
, in cooperation with the British Royal Navy. As the transportation of the British Expeditionary Corps began in early March, the Italian Fleet decided to sortie against them. Well informed by
ULTRAUltra was the name used by the British for intelligence resulting from decryption of encrypted German radio communications in World War II. The term eventually became the standard designation in both Britain and the United States for all intelligence from high-level cryptanalytic sources...
intercepts, the British fleet intercepted and decisively defeated the Italians at the
Battle of Cape MatapanThe Battle of Cape Matapan was a World War II naval battle fought from March 27 to March 29, 1941. The cape is on the southwest coast of Greece's Peloponnesian peninsula...
on 28 March.
With the start of the German offensive on 6 April, the situation changed rapidly. German control of the air caused heavy casualties to the Greek and British navies, and the occupation of the mainland and later Crete by the Wehrmacht signaled the end of Allied surface operations in Greek waters until the
Dodecanese CampaignThe Dodecanese Campaign of World War II was an attempt by Allied forces, mostly British, to capture the Italian-held Dodecanese islands in the Aegean Sea following the surrender of Italy in September 1943, and use them as bases against the German-controlled Balkans...
of 1943.
Aftermath
With the
fall of CreteThe Battle of Crete was a battle during World War II on the Greek island of Crete. The battle began on the morning of 20 May 1941, when Nazi Germany launched an airborne invasion of Crete under the code-name Unternehmen Merkur Greek and Allied forces along with Cretan civilians defended the...
in May 1941, all of Greece was under the complete control of the Axis. For the next 3 years it would endure a harsh joint occupation by Germany, Italy and Bulgaria. In the occupied country, an effective
ResistanceThe Greek Resistance is the blanket term for a number of armed and unarmed groups from across the political spectrum that resisted the Axis Occupation of Greece in the period 1941-1944, during the Second World War.-Origins:...
network was established, which achieved the liberation of much of the mountainous mainland by 1944. At the same time, Greek troops and ships were continuing the fight along with the British in
North AfricaDuring the Second World War, the North African Campaign took place in North Africa from 10 June 1940 to 16 May 1943. It included campaigns fought in the Libyan and Egyptian deserts and in Morocco and Algeria and Tunisia .The campaign was fought between the Allies and Axis powers...
and, eventually, in Italy itself. With the German withdrawal from the Balkans in October-November 1944, Greece, with the exception of some isolated German garrisons in the islands, was liberated. Soon however, the country would be engulfed by a new conflict, the
Greek Civil WarThe Greek Civil War was fought from 1946 to 1949 between the Greek governmental army, backed by the United Kingdom, United States, and the Democratic Army of Greece , the military branch of the Greek Communist Party , backed by Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and Albania...
.
Effects on World War II
Despite the ultimate triumph of the Axis powers in the Greek campaign, the Greek resistance to the Italian invasion, according to several historians, greatly affected the course of the Second World War. More specifically, it has been argued that the need for a German intervention in the Balkans delayed
Operation BarbarossaOperation Barbarossa was the code name for Nazi Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a 2,900 km front...
, and caused losses, especially in aircraft and
paratroopersare German paratroopers. Fallschirmjäger of Germany in World War II were the first to be committed in large-scale airborne operations. They came to be known as the "Green Devils" by the Allied forces they fought against...
during the airborne invasion of Crete, which affected its outcome. Adolf Hitler, in conversation with
Leni RiefenstahlHelene Bertha Amalie "Leni" Riefenstahl was a German film director, actress and dancer widely noted for her aesthetics and innovations as a filmmaker. Her most famous film was Triumph des Willens , a propaganda film made at the 1934 Nuremberg congress of the Nazi Party...
, would bitterly say that "if the Italians hadn't attacked Greece and needed our help, the war would have taken a different course. We could have anticipated the Russian cold by weeks and conquered Leningrad and Moscow. There would have been no
StalingradThe Battle of Stalingrad was a battle of World War II between Nazi Germany and its allies and the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad in southwestern Russia. The battle took place between 17 July 1942 and 2 February 1943....
". Furthermore, the need to occupy the country, suppress the partisans and defend it against Allied actions, tied down several German and Italian divisions during the course of the war. However, some popular historians such as
Antony BeevorAntony James Beevor is a British historian, educated at Winchester College and Sandhurst. He studied under the famous historian of World War II, John Keegan. Beevor is a former officer with the 11th Hussars who served in England and Germany for 5 years before resigning his commission...
claim that it was not Greek resistance that delayed the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union, but instead the slow construction of airfields in Eastern Europe.
At the same time, however, the Greek resistance ultimately necessitated an Allied intervention. The decision to send British forces into Greece was primarily motivated by political considerations, and is considered in hindsight, in the words of General Alan Brooke, "a definite strategic
blunderA blunder is a particularly bad mistake. Specific instances include:* Blunder * Hopetoun Blunder, an event in Australian history* Brand blunder, in marketing* Draft blunder, in American sports* Himalayan Blunder, in Indian history...
", as it diverted forces from the Middle East, at a very critical stage, to Greece. These forces in the event proved insufficient to halt the German invasion of Greece, but could have played a decisive role in the
North African CampaignDuring the Second World War, the North African Campaign took place in North Africa from 10 June 1940 to 16 May 1943. It included campaigns fought in the Libyan and Egyptian deserts and in Morocco and Algeria and Tunisia .The campaign was fought between the Allies and Axis powers...
, bringing it to a victorious conclusion much sooner.
Hitler calls Mussolini on the phone:
"Benito aren't you in Athens yet?"
"I can't hear you Adolf."
"I said aren't you in Athens yet?"
"I can't hear you. You must be ringing from a long way off, presumably London." |
| Joke circulating in Occupied France, winter 1940-41 |
Also important was the moral example, set in a time when only the
British EmpireThe British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom, that had originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height it was...
resisted the
Axis PowersThe Axis powers comprised the countries that were opposed to the Allies during World War II. The three major Axis powers—Germany, Italy, and Japan—were part of a military alliance on the signing of the Tripartite Pact in September 1940, which officially founded the Axis powers...
, of a small country fighting off Fascist Italy, something reflected in the exuberant praise the Greek struggle received at the time. Most prominent is the quote of
Winston ChurchillSir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill KG, OM, CH, TD, FRS, PC was a British politician known chiefly for his leadership of the United Kingdom during World War II. He served as Prime Minister from 1940 to 1945 and again from 1951 to 1955. A noted statesman and orator, Churchill was also an officer...
:
Hence we will not say that Greeks fight like heroes, but that heroes fight like Greeks.
FrenchFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
general
Charles de GaulleCharles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II...
was among those who praised the fierceness of the Greek resistance. In an official notice released to coincide with the Greek national celebration of the Day of Independence (25 March), De Gaulle expressed his admiration for the heroic Greek resistance:
In the name of the captured yet still alive French people, France wants to send her greetings to the Greek people who are fighting for their freedom. The 25th of March, 1941 finds Greece in the peak of their heroic struggle and in the top of their glory. Since the battle of SalamisThe Battle of Salamis , was a naval battle fought between an Alliance of Greek city-states and the Achaemenid Empire of Persia in September 480 BC in the straits between the mainland and Salamis, an island in the Saronic Gulf near Athens...
, Greece had not achieved the greatness and the glory which today holds.
Greece's siding with the Allies also contributed to its annexation of the Italian-occupied but Greek-populated Dodecanese islands at the conclusion of World War II, in 1947.
The Greco-Italian War remembered
The 1940 war, popularly referred to as the
Épos toú Saránda in Greece, and the resistance of the Greeks to the
Axis PowersThe Axis powers comprised the countries that were opposed to the Allies during World War II. The three major Axis powers—Germany, Italy, and Japan—were part of a military alliance on the signing of the Tripartite Pact in September 1940, which officially founded the Axis powers...
, is celebrated to this day in Greece every year. 28 October, the day of
Ioannis MetaxasIoannis Metaxas was a Greek General, appointed Prime Minister of Greece between April-August 1936 and dictator during the 4th of August Regime, from 1936 until his death in 1941.- Military career :...
' rejection of the Italian ultimatum, is a day of national celebration in Greece, named Ohi Day (Greek for "Day of No"). A military parade takes place in
ThessalonikiThessaloniki , Thessalonica, or Salonica is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the Greek region of Macedonia. It is honorarily called the Συμπρωτεύουσα Symprotevousa of Greece, as it was once called the συμβασιλεύουσα symvasilevousa of the Byzantine Empire...
(to coincide with the city's anniversary of liberation during the
First Balkan WarThe First Balkan War, which lasted from October 1912 to May 1913, pitted the Balkan League against the Ottoman Empire. The combined armies of the Balkan states overcame the numerically inferior and strategically disadvantaged Ottoman armies, and achieved rapid success...
and the feast of its patron saint, St. Demetrius) and student parades in
AthensAthens , the capital and largest city of Greece, dominates the Attica periphery; as one of the world's oldest cities, its recorded history spans around 3,400 years....
and other cities. For several days, many buildings in Greece, public and private, display the Greek flag. In the days preceding the anniversary, television and radio often feature historical films and documentaries about 1940, or broadcast Greek patriotic songs, especially those of Sophia Vembo, a singer whose songs gained immense popularity during the war. It serves also as a day of remembrance for the "dark years" of the Axis Occupation of Greece (1941-1944).
Military insights gained from the War
General
Sebastiano Visconti PrascaSebastiano Visconti Prasca was an Italian military officer. He led the initial offensive of the Greco-Italian War, but was relieved of his command after two weeks for incompetence and substituted by General Ubaldo Soddu. Sebastiano Visconti Prasca was a member of the noble family of the House of...
, in his memoirs, attributes the failure of the campaign mainly to poor organization, personal agendas, corruption and lack of cooperation among the top ranks of Italy's Armed Forces. Prasca compared the stubborn Greek resistance in Epirus with that of the Turks in the
DardanellesThe Gallipoli Campaign took place at Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey from 25 April 1915 to 9 January 1916, during the First World War. A joint British Empire and French operation was mounted to capture the Ottoman capital of Istanbul, and secure a sea route to Russia...
in
World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
. At the same time, however, Prasca is considered one of those mainly responsible for underestimating the strength of the Greek Army, making inadequate plans and leading the Italian army to its blunder in the mountains of Epirus. The Italian forces certainly faced tactical problems, being weaker in infantry, with only two regiments per division. However the Italians were stronger in artillery and
mortarsA mortar is a muzzle-loading indirect fire weapon that fires shells at low velocities, short ranges, and high-arcing ballistic trajectories. It typically has a barrel length less than 15 times its caliber.- Function :...
than the Greeks, and enjoyed absolute superiority in air forces, which they did not manage to exploit properly. Poor motivation, as opposed to the Greeks, and the rough terrain of Epirus, which favoured the Greek defence, also played a role in the outcome.
However, the Italians failed primarily at a strategic level, i.e. at the level of Mussolini and the High Command. Barely a month before the invasion of Greece, on 1 October, Mussolini ordered the demobilization of half the Italian army, a measure accepted by the General Staff, although General
Mario RoattaMario Roatta was an Italian general, Mussolini's Chief-of-Staff, and head of the military secret service.-SIM:From 1934 to 1936, Roatta headed up the Italian Military Intelligence Service .-Spain:...
warned that much of the army would become unserviceable for many months. In addition, the persistent underestimation of Greek preparedness doomed the campaign to failure from the start. As the Italian historian Renzo De Felice wrote: "The military superiority (numerical and technical) was always, in the first months of the war, on the side of the Greeks. The Italians had only eight divisions in Albania (and two of these were facing the Yugoslavian Army) in October 1940, while the Greeks had initially 14 divisions well trained to the fight in their mountainous terrain. The Greek Army spent all available resources to attain their victorious defence and counterattack; as a consequence, the German attack Operation Marita found a limited resistance from the exhausted Greeks in April 1941" Another notable failure of the Italian offense is the lack of any attack on the
Ionian IslandsThe Ionian Islands are a group of islands in Greece. They are traditionally called "Eptanisa", i.e...
or
CreteCrete is the largest of the Greek islands and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea at 8,336 km²...
, which were obvious and relatively undefended targets, and could have provided Italy with strong forward naval and air bases.
See also
- Adriatic Campaign of World War II
The Adriatic Campaign of World War II was a naval campaign fought during World War II between the Greek, Yugoslavian and Italian navies, the Kriegsmarine, and the Mediterranean squadrons of the United Kingdom, France, and the Yugoslav Partisan naval forces...
- Military history of Italy during World War II
During World War II , the Kingdom of Italy had a varied and tumultuous military history. While the Italian forces are widely viewed by the victorious nations as weak, historians believe this was largely down to circumstances such as poor equipment and ineffective political leadership, rather than...
- Military history of Greece during World War II
Greece entered World War II on 28 October 1940, when the Italian army invaded from Albania. The Greek army dealt the first victory for the Allies by defeating the invasion and pushing Mussolini's forces back into Albania. Hitler was reluctantly forced to send his own forces to overcome Greece in...
- Italian invasion of Albania
The Italian invasion of Albania was a brief military campaign by the Kingdom of Italy against the Albanian Kingdom. The conflict was a result of the expansionist policies of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini...
- Operation Alpenveilchen
During World War II, Operation Alpine Violet was a proposed German operation designed to help the Italians in 1941 break out of their Albanian colony and into Greece. This operation was never executed....
- Invasion of Yugoslavia
The Invasion of Yugoslavia , also known as the April War , was the Axis Powers' attack on Kingdom of Yugoslavia on April 6, 1941 during World War II...
- Battle of Greece
The Battle of Greece was a World War II battle that occurred on the Greek mainland and in southern Albania. The battle was fought between the Allied and Axis forces...
- Battle of Crete
The Battle of Crete was a battle during World War II on the Greek island of Crete. The battle began on the morning of 20 May 1941, when Nazi Germany launched an airborne invasion of Crete under the code-name Unternehmen Merkur Greek and Allied forces along with Cretan civilians defended the...
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