On October 28, 1940, the Italian Minister in Athens gave an ultimatum to the Prime Minister of Greece, demanding the unconditional surrender of Greece. His answer was ‘Oxi,’ which means ‘no’ in Greek.

Military success for the Italians would have sealed off the Balkans from the south and helped Hitler’s plan to invade Russia. In fact, the Italian army was fully equipped, well supplied, and backed by superior air and naval power. They were expected to overrun Greece within a short time.

Fortunately, the Greek Army proved to be well trained and resourceful despite their lack of military equipment. In less than a week after the Italians first attacked, it was clear that their forces had suffered a serious setback in spite of having control of the air and fielding armored vehicles.

On November 14th, the Greek Army launched a counteroffensive and quickly drove Italian forces far back into Albania. On December 6th, the Greeks captured Porto Edda and continued their advance along the seacoast toward Valona. By February 1, 1941, the Italians had launched strong counterattacks, but the determination of the Greek Army coupled with the severity of the winter weather, nullified the Italians’ efforts.

The Italians launched another offensive on March 12, 1941, but after six days of fighting, the Italians made only small gains and it became clear that German intervention was necessary if the Italians were going to win.

On March 26th, Hitler declared that he would make a clean sweep of the Balkans. It took him five weeks, until the end of April, to subdue Greece. It turned out to be an important five weeks. These five weeks delayed Hitler’s invasion of Russia and contributed to the Germans’ failure in Russia.

The victory of the Greek Army against the Italians astonished the world. The heroic stance by the Greeks against insurmountable odds, was the first glimmer of hope for the Allies, and today we can take great pride in those who risked their lives to defend their country.

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