Post by mini on Oct 28, 2010 15:01:51 GMT 10
Listen to this song, while reading about Oxi Day, will bring a tear to your eye.
The Greco-Italian War (Greek: Ελληνοϊταλικός Πόλεμος Ellinoitalikós Pólemos or Πόλεμος του Σαράντα Pólemos tou Saránda, "War of '40", Italian: Guerra di Grecia, "War of Greece") was a conflict between Italy and Greece which lasted from 28 October 1940 to 23 April 1941. It marked the beginning of the Balkans Campaign of World War II. From the 6 April 1941 intervention of Nazi Germany onwards, the conflict is known as the Battle of Greece.
On the eve of 28 October 1940, Italy's ambassador in Athens, Emanuele 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 "Alors, c'est la guerre" (French 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: "Ochi" (Όχι) (Greek 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, above all, the struggle!",[25] the last sentence being a verbatim quote from The Persians by the dramatist Aeschylus. 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.[26] The whole nation was united in the face of aggression. Even the imprisoned leader of Greece's banned Communist Party, Nikolaos Zachariadis, issued an open letter advocating resistance, despite the still existing Nazi-Soviet Pact, thereby contravening the current Comintern 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).
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 Barbarossa, and caused losses, especially in aircraft and paratroopers during the airborne invasion of Crete, which affected its outcome. Adolf Hitler, in conversation with Leni Riefenstahl, 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 Stalingrad".[14] 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 Beevor 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.[41]
For Mussolini, the failure of the Italian forces to subdue Greece without German assistance proved damaging to his prestige both internationally and at home. Instead of asserting Italian independence as he had hoped, Mussolini instead found himself more indebted to Hitler than he had ever been. For the duration of the war Mussolini would never again be in a position to act unilaterally in the sort of manner he attempted to do against Greece.
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 blunder", 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 Campaign, bringing it to a victorious conclusion much sooner.
Also important was the moral example, set in a time when only the British Empire resisted 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 Churchill:
"Hence we will not say that Greeks fight like heroes, but that heroes fight like Greeks."[43]
French general Charles de Gaulle 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 Salamis, Greece had not achieved the greatness and the glory which today holds.[44]
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 (Greek: Ελληνοϊταλικός Πόλεμος Ellinoitalikós Pólemos or Πόλεμος του Σαράντα Pólemos tou Saránda, "War of '40", Italian: Guerra di Grecia, "War of Greece") was a conflict between Italy and Greece which lasted from 28 October 1940 to 23 April 1941. It marked the beginning of the Balkans Campaign of World War II. From the 6 April 1941 intervention of Nazi Germany onwards, the conflict is known as the Battle of Greece.
On the eve of 28 October 1940, Italy's ambassador in Athens, Emanuele 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 "Alors, c'est la guerre" (French 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: "Ochi" (Όχι) (Greek 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, above all, the struggle!",[25] the last sentence being a verbatim quote from The Persians by the dramatist Aeschylus. 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.[26] The whole nation was united in the face of aggression. Even the imprisoned leader of Greece's banned Communist Party, Nikolaos Zachariadis, issued an open letter advocating resistance, despite the still existing Nazi-Soviet Pact, thereby contravening the current Comintern 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).
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 Barbarossa, and caused losses, especially in aircraft and paratroopers during the airborne invasion of Crete, which affected its outcome. Adolf Hitler, in conversation with Leni Riefenstahl, 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 Stalingrad".[14] 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 Beevor 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.[41]
For Mussolini, the failure of the Italian forces to subdue Greece without German assistance proved damaging to his prestige both internationally and at home. Instead of asserting Italian independence as he had hoped, Mussolini instead found himself more indebted to Hitler than he had ever been. For the duration of the war Mussolini would never again be in a position to act unilaterally in the sort of manner he attempted to do against Greece.
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 blunder", 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 Campaign, bringing it to a victorious conclusion much sooner.
Also important was the moral example, set in a time when only the British Empire resisted 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 Churchill:
"Hence we will not say that Greeks fight like heroes, but that heroes fight like Greeks."[43]
French general Charles de Gaulle 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 Salamis, Greece had not achieved the greatness and the glory which today holds.[44]
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.
