260-763: The German invasion of Greece , also known as the Battle of Greece or Operation Marita (German: Unternehmen Marita ), were the attacks on Greece by Italy and Germany during World War II . The Italian invasion in October 1940, which is usually known as the Greco-Italian War , was followed by the German invasion in April 1941. German landings on the island of Crete (May 1941) came after Allied forces had been defeated in mainland Greece. These battles were part of
520-549: A Roman Catholic while most Greek people were Orthodox Christian , and the fact that his marriage to Queen Amalia remained childless. Furthermore, the new kingdom tried to eliminate the traditional banditry , something that in many cases meant conflict with some old revolutionary fighters ( klephtes ) who continued to exercise this practice. The Bavarian Regents ruled until 1837, when at the insistence of Britain and France, they were recalled, and Otto after that appointed Greek ministers, although Bavarian officials still ran most of
780-561: A counter-offensive on the centre of the front on 9 March 1941, which failed, despite the Italians' superior forces. After one week and 12,000 casualties, Mussolini called off the counter-offensive and left Albania twelve days later. Modern analysts believe that the Italian campaign failed because Mussolini and his generals initially allocated insufficient resources to the campaign (an expeditionary force of 55,000 men), failed to reckon with
1040-747: A Balkan Front comprising Yugoslavia, Greece and Turkey , and instructed Anthony Eden and Sir John Dill to resume negotiations with the Greek government. A meeting attended by Eden and the Greek leadership, including King George II , Prime Minister Alexandros Koryzis —the successor of Metaxas, who had died on 29 January 1941—and Papagos took place in Athens on 22 February, where it was decided to send an expeditionary force of British and other Commonwealth forces. German troops had been massing in Romania and on 1 March, Wehrmacht forces began to move into Bulgaria. At
1300-472: A German thrust into the rear of the Vermion position was not expected. The German strategy was based on using so-called " blitzkrieg " methods that had proved successful during the invasions of Western Europe. Their effectiveness was confirmed during the invasion of Yugoslavia . The German command again coupled ground troops and armour with air support and rapidly drove into the territory. Once Thessaloniki
1560-544: A Muslim Albanian brigand who rose to become the provincial governor of Ioannina in 1788. At the height of his power, he controlled all of Epirus, and much of the Peloponnese , central Greece, and parts of western Macedonia Ali Pasha's campaign to subjugate the confederation of the settlements of Souli met with fierce resistance by the Souliot warriors of the mountainous area. After numerous failed attempts to defeat
1820-432: A Yugoslav counter-attack against the division's northern flank was repelled, and the following day, the division forced its way across the mountains and overran the thinly manned defensive line of the Greek 19th Mechanised Division south of Doiran Lake . Despite many delays along the mountain roads, an armoured advance guard dispatched toward Thessaloniki succeeded in entering the city by the morning of 9 April. Thessaloniki
2080-568: A battleground in the rebellions of the Ostrogoths after 479. In 517, a raid of the Getae or Antae reached Greece, including Epirus Vetus . The claim of Procopius of Caesarea in his Secret History , that under Justinian I (r. 527–565) the entirety of the Balkan provinces was raided by barbarians every year, is considered rhetorical hyperbole by modern scholars; only a single Slavic raid to
2340-528: A counteroffensive, that planned to completely destroy the Italian army in Albania in time to counter the German invasion and allow the bulk of the Greek army to take up new positions and protect the border with Yugoslavia and Bulgaria. On 7 April, the Yugoslav 3rd Army in the form of five infantry divisions (13th "Hercegovacka", 15th "Zetska", 25th "Vardarska", 31st "Kosovska" and 12th "Jadranska" Divisions, with
2600-584: A divine status in Epirus and in the local dialect he was called Aspetos" (meaning unspeakable , unspeakably great , in Homeric Greek ). Beginning in 370 BC, the Molossian Aeacidae dynasty built a centralized state in Epirus and began expanding their power at the expense of rival tribes. The Aeacids allied themselves with the increasingly powerful kingdom of Macedon , in part against
2860-526: A few days more and were not taken until heavy artillery was used against them. This gave time for some retreating troops to evacuate by sea. Although eventually broken, the defenders of the Metaxas Line succeeded in delaying the German advance. The XXX Infantry Corps on the left wing reached its designated objective on the evening of 8 April, when the 164th Infantry Division captured Xanthi . The 50th Infantry Division advanced far beyond Komotini towards
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#17327657606023120-500: A group of Bavarian Regents ruled in his name and made themselves very unpopular by trying to impose German ideas of rigid hierarchical government on the Greeks, while keeping most significant state offices away from them. Nevertheless, they laid the foundations of a Greek administration, army, justice system and education system. Otto was sincere in his desire to give Greece good government, but he suffered from two great handicaps, him being
3380-568: A haven for Greek refugees from the Latin Empire of Constantinople for the next half century. The Despotate of Epirus ruled over Epirus and western Greece as far south as Naupaktos and the Gulf of Corinth, much of Albania (including Dyrrhachium), Thessaly, and the western portion of Macedonia , extending its rule briefly over central Macedonia and most of Thrace following the aggressive expansionism of Theodore Komnenos Doukas , who established
3640-525: A lack of oil should the Ploești oil fields be destroyed were to a certain extent grounded in reality. However, the American historian Gerhard Weinberg noted: "...the enormous difficulties of air attacks on distant oil fields were not understood by either side at this time; it was assumed on both sides that even small air raids could bring about vast fire and destruction". Furthermore, the massive Italian defeats in
3900-523: A major center of the modern Greek Enlightenment . Numerous schools were founded, such as the Balaneios, Maroutsaia , Kaplaneios , and Zosimaia , teaching subjects such as literature, philosophy, mathematics and physical sciences. In the 18th century, as the power of the Ottoman Empire declined, Epirus became a de facto independent region under the despotic rule of Ali Pasha of Tepelena ,
4160-485: A major reform program, including a new and more liberal constitution and reforms in the spheres of public administration, education and economy. French and British military missions were invited for the army and navy respectively, and arms purchases were made. In the meantime, the Ottoman Empire's weaknesses were revealed by the ongoing Italo-Turkish War in Libya. Through spring 1912, a series of bilateral agreements among
4420-478: A military rebellion, forcing Otto to accept the inevitable and leave the country. The Greeks then asked Britain to send Queen Victoria 's son Prince Alfred as their new king, but this was vetoed by the other Powers. Instead, a young Danish prince became King George I . George was a very popular choice as a constitutional monarch, and he agreed that his sons would be raised in the Greek Orthodox faith. As
4680-591: A peasant dialect and were determined to restore the glories of Ancient Greek . Government documents and newspapers were consequently published in Katharevousa (purified) Greek, a form which few ordinary Greeks could read. Liberals favoured recognising Demotic as the national language, but conservatives and the Orthodox Church resisted all such efforts, to the extent that, when the New Testament
4940-566: A plan for the re-occupation of Tenedos, which the Greek destroyers used as a base, by an amphibious operation. The operation was scheduled for 4 January. On that day, weather conditions were ideal, and the fleet was ready, but the Yenihan regiment earmarked for the operation failed to arrive on time. The naval staff nevertheless ordered the fleet to sortie, and an engagement developed with the Greek fleet, without any significant results on either side. Similar sorties followed on 10 and 11 January, but
5200-620: A relatively small number of troops positioned in the high Pindus mountains, the northeastern part of the country was difficult to defend against an attack from the north. Following a March conference in Athens, the British believed that they would combine with Greek forces to occupy the Haliacmon Line—a short front facing north-eastwards along the Vermio Mountains and the lower Haliacmon river. Papagos awaited clarification from
5460-753: A reward to the Greeks for adopting a pro-British king, Britain ceded the United States of the Ionian Islands to Greece. Under Ottoman rule, the Greek Church was a part of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople . The Ottoman authorities, who were Muslim, did not interfere with the church. With the establishment of the Greek Kingdom, however, the government decided to take control of the church, breaking away from
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#17327657606025720-584: A second front in the Balkans that would tie down German forces and deprive Germany of the Romanian oil. The Australian prime minister, Robert Menzies , arrived in London on 20 February to discuss the deployment of Australian troops from Egypt to Greece, and reluctantly gave his approval on 25 February. Like many other Australians of his generation, Menzies was haunted by the memory of the Battle of Gallipoli , and
5980-592: A second time in 1374–1375. A truce was signed when Pjetër's son Gjin was betrothed to Thomas's daughter Irina, but she would soon die in the 1375 plague and hostilities would recommence. Preljubović attempted to pacify the Albanians of Epirus; however, under Gjin Bua Shpata , the Albanians defeated him. The reign of Esau de' Buondelmonti (1385–1411) in Ioannina followed, and with an army that consisted of
6240-513: A single central authority. Ioannina became a center of Greek resistance to the Albanian clans. The Greeks of Ioannina offered power to three foreign rulers during this time, beginning with Thomas II Preljubović (1367–1384), whose rule was marked by hostilities in the region, as Ioannina came under constant siege by the Mazaraki and Malakasi clans under Losha. These tribes would besiege Ioannina
6500-743: A strategically important port. The attack started on 6 April with one infantry unit and two divisions of the XVIII Mountain Corps. Due to strong resistance, the first day of the attack yielded little progress in breaking the line. A German report at the end of the first day described how the German 5th Mountain Division "was repulsed in the Rupel Pass despite strongest air support and sustained considerable casualties". Two German battalions managed to get within 600 ft (180 m) of Fort Rupel on 6 April, but were practically destroyed. Of
6760-504: A substantial armaments industry and its equipment and ammunition supplies increasingly relied on stocks captured by British forces from defeated Italian armies in North Africa. To man the Albanian battlefront, the Greek command was forced to withdraw forces from Eastern Macedonia and Western Thrace , because Greek forces could not protect Greece's entire border. The Greek command decided to support its success in Albania, regardless of
7020-599: Is Mediterranean along the coast and Alpine in the interior. Epirus is heavily forested, mainly by coniferous species. The fauna in Epirus is especially rich and features species such as bears , wolves , foxes , deer , and lynxes . In the Neolithic period Epirus was populated by seafarers along the coast and by shepherds and hunters from the southwestern Balkans who brought with them the Greek language. These people buried their leaders in large mounds containing shaft graves. Similar burial chambers were subsequently used by
7280-732: Is a geographical and historical region in southeastern Europe , now shared between Greece and Albania . It lies between the Pindus Mountains and the Ionian Sea , stretching from the Bay of Vlorë and the Acroceraunian Mountains in the north to the Ambracian Gulf and the ruined Roman city of Nicopolis in the south. It is currently divided between the region of Epirus in northwestern Greece and
7540-636: Is a predominantly rugged and mountainous region. It is largely made up of the Pindus Mountains , a series of parallel limestone ridges that are a continuation of the Dinaric Alps . The Pindus mountains form the spine of mainland Greece and separate Epirus from Macedonia and Thessaly to the east. The ridges of the Pindus are parallel to the sea and generally so steep that the valleys between them are mostly suitable for pasture rather than large-scale agriculture. Altitude increases as one moves east, away from
7800-699: Is a scenic upland plateau surrounded by mountain on all sides. The main river flowing through Epirus is the Vjosë , which flows in a northwesterly direction from the Pindus mountains in Greece to its mouth north of the Bay of Vlorë in Albania. Other important rivers include the Acheron river , famous for its religious significance in ancient Greece and site of the Necromanteion , the Arachthos river , crossed by
8060-561: Is alternatively given as the Vjosa river. Epirus's eastern boundary is defined by the Pindus Mountains , that form the spine of mainland Greece and separate Epirus from Macedonia and Thessaly . To the west, Epirus faces the Ionian Sea . The island of Corfu is situated off the Epirote coast but is not regarded as part of Epirus. The definition of Epirus has changed over time, such that modern administrative boundaries do not correspond to
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8320-517: Is evidenced from the fact that the territories that were under Bulgarian rule formed part of the autocephalous Archbishopric of Ohrid after the Byzantine conquest of Bulgaria by Emperor Basil II in 1018: thus in Epirus the sees of Chimara , Hadrianopolis, Bela, Buthrotum, Ioannina, Kozyle, and Rogoi passed under the jurisdiction of Ohrid, while the Metropolitan of Naupaktos retained only
8580-615: Is first mentioned in the late 11th century, while Jewish communities are attested throughout the medieval period in Arta and Ioannina. When Constantinople fell to the Fourth Crusade in 1204, the partitio Romaniae assigned Epirus to Venice , but the Venetians were largely unable to effectively establish their authority, except over Dyrrhachium (the " Duchy of Durazzo "). The Greek noble Michael Komnenos Doukas , who had married
8840-442: Is from a Venetian document dating to 1210, which states that "the continent facing the island of Corfu is inhabited by Albanians". Kosta Giakoumis believes that the use of hypothetical immigrations to explain the accounts of Albanian presence in Epirote territory prior to the 13th-14th century is somewhat arbitrary. In 1337, Epirus was once again brought under the rule of the restored Byzantine Empire . In 1348, taking advantage of
9100-421: Is now Preveza ) in 1463, and finally Vonitsa in 1479. With the exception of several coastal Venetian possessions, this was also the end of Latin rule in mainland Greece. The Ottomans ruled Epirus for almost 500 years. Their rule in Epirus proved particularly damaging; the region was subjected to deforestation and excessive cultivation, which damaged the soil and drove many Epirotes to emigrate so as to escape
9360-576: Is unclear how much the area was affected by the second wave of Slavic migration, which began in the middle of the 8th century due to Bulgar pressure in the northern Balkans. Slavic toponyms are nearly lacking in the mountains of Labëria (on the Kurvelesh plateau ), in the Ionian coast where today Lab Albanian villages neighbour with the Greek-speaking ones, therefore it can be assumed that
9620-576: The Adriatic Sea . The modern Egnatia Odos , the A2 motorway , which links Ioannina to the Greek province of Macedonia and terminating at Igoumenitsa , is the only highway through the Pindus mountains and has served to greatly reduce the region's isolation from the east, while the Ionia Odos highway , connecting Epirus with Western Greece , helped reducing the region's isolation from the south. Also,
9880-636: The Asia Minor Campaign . A military coup d'état restored the monarchy in 1935 and Greece became a kingdom again until 1973. The kingdom was finally dissolved in the aftermath of a seven-year military dictatorship (1967–1974) and the Third Hellenic Republic was established following a referendum held in 1974. The Greek-speaking Eastern Roman Empire , also known as the Byzantine Empire, which ruled most of
10140-781: The Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus in February 1914. After fierce guerrilla fighting, they managed to gain full autonomy under the terms of the Protocol of Corfu , signed by Albanian and Northern Epirote representatives and approved by the Great Powers. The signing of the Protocol ensured that the region would have its own administration, recognized the rights of the local Greeks and provided self-government under nominal Albanian sovereignty. The Republic, however,
10400-571: The Avars and their Slavic allies. This is placed by the Chronicle of Monemvasia in the year 587, and is further corroborated by evidence that several sees were abandoned by their bishops by 591. Thus in c. 590 the bishop, clergy and people of Euroea fled their city, carrying with them the relics of their patron saint, St. Donatus , to Cassiope in Corfu. Of the various Slavic tribes, only
10660-624: The Baiounitai , first attested c. 615 , are known by name, giving their name to their region of settlement: " Vagenetia ". Based on the density of the Slavic toponyms in Epirus, the Slavs must have settled in the region, although the extent of this settlement is unclear. Slavic toponyms occur mainly in the mountainous areas of the interior and the coasts of the Gulf of Corinth , indicative of
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10920-521: The Balkan Wars and World War I , southern Epirus became part of Greece, while northern Epirus became part of Albania. The name Epirus is derived from the Greek : Ἤπειρος , romanized : Ḗpeiros ( Doric Greek : Ἄπειρος , romanized: Ápeiros ), meaning "mainland" or terra firma . It is thought to come from an Indo-European root *apero- 'coast', and was applied to
11180-545: The Balkan Wars , but the Treaty of Bucharest , which concluded the Second Balkan War , assigned Northern Epirus to Albania. This outcome was unpopular among local Greeks, as a substantial Greek population existed on the Albanian side of the border. Among Greeks, northern Epirus was henceforth regarded as terra irredenta . Local Greeks in northern Epirus revolted, declared their independence and proclaimed
11440-403: The Corinth Canal overtaxed the weak Greek economy, forcing the declaration of public insolvency in 1893 and to accept the imposition of an International Financial Commission to pay off the country's debtors. Another political issue in 19th-century Greece was uniquely Greek: the language question. The Greek people spoke a form of Greek called Demotic . Many of the educated elite saw this as
11700-405: The Crimean War the British occupied Piraeus to prevent Greece declaring war on the Ottomans as a Russian ally. A new generation of Greek politicians was growing increasingly intolerant of King Otto's continuing interference in government. In 1862, the King dismissed his prime minister, the former admiral Konstantinos Kanaris , the most prominent politician of the period. This dismissal provoked
11960-403: The Dardanelles campaign , offering Cyprus in exchange, their diverging views became apparent: Constantine had been educated in Germany , was married to Sophia of Prussia , sister of Kaiser Wilhelm , and was convinced of the Central Powers ' victory. Venizelos, on the other hand, was an ardent anglophile , and believed in an Allied victory. Since Greece, a maritime country, could not oppose
12220-455: The Dodecanese , which had been occupied by Italy in 1911. These gains nearly doubled Greece's area and population. In March 1913, an anarchist, Alexandros Schinas , assassinated King George in Thessaloniki, and his son came to the throne as Constantine I. Constantine was the first Greek king born in Greece and the first to be Greek Orthodox. His very name had been chosen in the spirit of romantic Greek nationalism (the Megali Idea ), evoking
12480-411: The Eastern Mediterranean . The Great Powers supported Greece to regain its independence and following a decisive battle in the Navarino Bay , a ceasefire was agreed in London (see Treaty of London (1827) ). The autonomy of Greece was ultimately recognised by the London Protocol of 1828 and its full independence from the Ottoman Empire by the Protocol of London of 1830 . In 1831, the assassination of
12740-427: The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople managed to shut down the few Albanian schools, considering teaching in Albanian a factor that would diminish its influence and lead to the creation of separate Albanian church, while publications in Albanian were banned by the Ottoman Empire. In the late 19th century, the Kingdom of Italy opened various schools in the regions of Ioannina and Preveza in order to influence
13000-402: The Elatia area south-west of the gorge and were ordered to hold the western exit possibly for three or four days. On 16 April, Wilson met Papagos at Lamia and informed him of his decision to withdraw to Thermopylae. Lieutenant-General Thomas Blamey divided responsibility between generals Mackay and Freyberg during the leapfrogging move to Thermopylae. Mackay's force was assigned the flanks of
13260-415: The Empire of Thessalonica in 1224. During this time, the definition of Epirus came to encompass the entire coastal region from the Ambracian Gulf to Dyrrhachium, and the hinterland to the west up to the highest peaks of the Pindus mountain range. Some of the most important cities in Epirus, such as Gjirokastër (Argyrokastron), were founded during this period. The oldest reference to Albanians in Epirus
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#173276576060213520-429: The Epirus Army Section of the Greek army operating in Albania was reluctant to retreat. By the middle of March, especially after the Tepelene offensive, the Greek army had suffered, according to British estimates, 5,000 casualties, and it was fast approaching the end of its logistical tether. General Wilson described this unwillingness to retreat as "the fetishistic doctrine that not a yard of ground should be yielded to
13780-451: The High Commissioner being Prince George of Greece . Nationalist sentiment among Greeks in the Ottoman Empire continued to grow, and by the 1890s there were constant disturbances in Macedonia . Here the Greeks were in competition not only with the Ottomans but also with the Bulgarians, engaged in an armed propaganda struggle for the hearts and minds of the ethnically mixed local population, the so-called " Macedonian Struggle ". In July 1908,
14040-420: The Metsovon pass and from there to Ioannina. On 13 April, attack aircraft from 21, 23 and 33 Squadrons from the Hellenic Air Force (RHAF), attacked Italian positions in Albania. That same day, heavy fighting took place at Kleisoura pass , where the Greek 20th Division covering the Greek withdrawal, fought in a determined manner, delaying Stumme's advance practically a whole day. The withdrawal extended across
14300-413: The Treaty of Berlin (1878) awarded large parts of Epirus to Greece, opposition by the Ottomans and the League of Prizren resulted in only the region of Arta being ceded to Greece in 1881. It was only following the First Balkan War of 1912–1913 and the Treaty of London that the rest of southern Epirus, including Ioannina , was incorporated into Greece. Greece had also seized northern Epirus during
14560-577: The Western Roman generalissimo Stilicho in order to wrest the Eastern Illyricum from the Eastern Empire. The Synecdemus of Hierocles , composed in ca. 527/8 AD but probably reflecting the situation in the first half of the 5th century, reports 11 cities for Old Epirus ( Ancient Greek : Παλαιὰ Ἤπειρος , Latin : Epirus Vetus ): the capital Nicopolis, Dodona , Euroea , Hadrianopolis , Appon , Phoenice , Anchiasmos , Buthrotum , Photike , Corfu Island, and Ithaca Island. New Epirus, with capital at Dyrrhachium , comprised 9 cities. From 467 on,
14820-402: The Young Turk Revolution broke out in the Ottoman Empire. Taking advantage of the Ottoman internal turmoil, Austria–Hungary annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina , and Bulgaria declared its independence from the Ottoman Empire. On Crete, the local population, led by a young politician named Eleftherios Venizelos , declared Enosis , union with Greece, provoking another crisis. The fact that
15080-402: The civil war between the Byzantine emperors John V Palaiologos and John VI Kantakouzenos , the Serbian king Stefan Uroš IV Dušan conquered Epirus, with a number of Albanian mercenaries assisting him. The Byzantine authorities in Constantinople soon re-established a measure of control by making the Despotate of Epirus a vassal state , but Albanian clans proceeded to invade and seize most of
15340-476: The "Jadranska" acting as the reserve), after a false start due to the planting of a bogus order, launched a counteroffensive in northern Albania, advancing from Debar , Prisren and Podgorica towards Elbasan . On 8 April, the Yugoslav vanguard, the "Komski" Cavalry Regiment crossed the treacherous Accursed Mountains and captured the village of Koljegcava in the Valbonë River Valley, and the 31st "Kosovska" Division, supported by Savoia-Marchetti S.79K bombers from
15600-412: The 24 forts that made up the Metaxas Line, only two had fallen and only after they had been destroyed. In the following days, the Germans pummelled the forts with artillery and dive bombers and reinforced the 125th Infantry Regiment. Finally, a 7,000 ft (2,100 m) high snow-covered mountainous passage considered inaccessible by the Greeks was crossed by the 6th Mountain Division , which reached
15860-509: The 7th Bomber Regiment of the Royal Yugoslav Air Force (VVKJ), broke through the Italian positions in the Drin River Valley. The "Vardarska" Division, due to the fall of Skopje was forced to halt its operations in Albania. In the meantime, the Western Macedonia Army Section under General Tsolakoglou, comprising the 9th and 13th Greek Divisions, advanced in support of the Royal Yugoslav Army, capturing some 250 Italians on 8 April. The Greeks were tasked with advancing towards Durrës . On 9 April,
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#173276576060216120-528: The Aegean. By mid-November Greek naval detachments had seized the islands of Imbros , Thasos , Agios Efstratios , Samothrace , Psara and Ikaria , while landings were undertaken on the larger islands of Lesbos and Chios only on 21 and 27 November respectively. Substantial Ottoman garrisons were present on the latter, and their resistance was fierce. They withdrew into the mountainous interior and were not subdued until 22 December and 3 January respectively. Samos , officially an autonomous principality ,
16380-413: The Aegean. It was hoped that the Averof , the only major Greek unit fast enough to catch the Hamidiye , would be drawn in pursuit and leave the remainder of the Greek fleet weakened. In the event, Hamidiye slipped through the Greek patrols on the night of 14–15 January and bombarded the harbor of the Greek island of Syros , sinking the Greek auxiliary cruiser Makedonia which lay in anchor there (it
16640-455: The Albanian leaders of the Despotate of Arta . The Shpata were originally defeated by Carlo's brother Leonardo II Tocco at Mazoma near ancient Nicopolis , but Carlo's son Torno was in turn defeated by the Albanians. After the Tocchi succeeded in capturing Rhiniasa, Leonardo tried to take Rogoi and Carlo attempted to take Arta, but Jakob and Muriq succeeded in defending their capital for the time being. Carlo withdrew to Ioannina, but soon after
16900-535: The Albanian tribes of the Mazaraki and Malakasi, he marched against the Principality of Gjirokastër . He was defeated and captured by Albanian nobleman Gjon Zenebishi , and ransomed for 10,000 gold pieces on the intervention of the Venetian governor of Corfu . At the time the Zenebishi clan controlled the area around Gjirokastër (1386–1411), while only the city of Ioannina remained under Greek control. Carlo I Tocco (1411–1429) then assumed control of Ioannina, commencing heavy conflicts with Jakob and Muriq Shpata,
17160-469: The Allies. Due to the extensive activity of the anti-Nazi Greek resistance (mainly under EDES ), the Germans carried out large scaled anti-partisan sweeps, making wide use of Nazi-collaborationist bands of Cham Albanians , who committed numerous atrocities against the civilian population. They fought fiercely against the Greek partisans of the EDES, the latter being ordered by the Allied command to push them out of Greece into Albania. The violent clashes and
17420-424: The Allies. In November 1916 the French occupied Piraeus , bombarded Athens and forced the Greek fleet to surrender. The royalist troops fired at them, leading to a battle between French and Greek royalist forces. There were also riots against supporters of Venizelos in Athens (the Noemvriana ). Following the February Revolution in Russia, however, the Tsar's support for his cousin was removed, and Constantine
17680-511: The Axios valley leading to Thessaloniki became essential for such an outflanking maneuver. The Yugoslav coup d'état led to a sudden change in the plan of attack and confronted the Twelfth Army with a number of difficult problems. According to the 28 March Directive No. 25, the Twelfth Army was to create a mobile task force to attack via Niš toward Belgrade . With only nine days left before their final deployment, every hour became valuable and each fresh assembly of troops took time to mobilise. By
17940-451: The Balkan states (Greece, Bulgaria , Montenegro and Serbia ) formed the Balkan League , which in October 1912 declared war on the Ottoman Empire. Ottoman intelligence had disastrously misread Greek military intentions. In retrospect, it would appear that the Ottoman staff believed that the Greek attack would be shared equally between the two primary avenues of approach, Macedonia and Epirus. The 2nd Army staff had therefore evenly balanced
18200-404: The Balkans, the Horn of Africa and North Africa had pushed the Fascist regime in Italy to the brink of collapse by late 1940 with Mussolini becoming extremely unpopular with the Italian people. Hitler was convinced that if he did not rescue Mussolini, Fascist Italy would be knocked out of the war in 1941. Weinberg wrote the continuing Italian defeats "....could easily lead to the complete collapse of
18460-492: The Balkans. Once this was gone, the defeat of the Ottoman Army became inevitable. To be sure, the Bulgarians and the Serbs played a significant role in the defeat of the main Ottoman armies. Their great victories at Kirk Kilise , Lule Burgas , Kumanovo , and Monastir shattered the Eastern and Vardar armies. However, these victories were not decisive in the sense that they ended the war. The Ottoman field armies survived, and in Thrace, they actually grew stronger day by day. In
18720-542: The British of Mediterranean bases. On 12 November, the German Armed Forces High Command issued Directive No. 18, in which they scheduled simultaneous operations against Gibraltar and Greece for the following January. On 17 November 1940, Metaxas proposed a joint offensive in the Balkans to the British government, with Greek strongholds in southern Albania as the operational base. The British were reluctant to discuss Metaxas' proposal, because
18980-663: The Byzantine emperors of that name. Besides, as the Commander-in-chief of the Greek Army during the Balkan Wars , his popularity was enormous, rivalled only by that of Venizelos, his Prime Minister. When World War I broke out in 1914, despite Greece's treaty of alliance with Serbia, both leaders preferred to maintain a neutral stance. However, when, in early 1915, the Allied Powers asked for Greek help in
19240-701: The Dardanelles and their forts. The Ottomans suffered 41 killed and 101 wounded. It was the last attempt of the Ottoman Navy to leave the Dardanelles, thereby leaving the Greeks dominant in the Aegean. On 5 February [ O.S. 24 January] 1913, a Greek Farman MF.7 , piloted by Lt. Moutousis and with Ensign Moraitinis as an observer, carried out an aerial reconnaissance of the Ottoman fleet in its anchorage at Nagara , and launched four bombs on
19500-649: The Dardanelles to Suez was instituted, which disrupted the Ottomans' flow of supplies (only the Black Sea routes to Romania remained open) and left some 250,000 Ottoman troops immobilized in Asia. In the Ionian Sea , the Greek fleet operated without opposition, ferrying supplies for the army units in the Epirus front. Furthermore, the Greeks bombarded and then blockaded the port of Vlorë in Albania on 3 December, and Durrës on 27 February. A naval blockade extending from
19760-611: The Drin and Buene rivers and Durrës, Tirana and Zara . Between 11 and 13 April 1941, with German and Italian troops advancing on its rear areas, the Zetska Division was forced to retreat back to the Pronisat River by the Italian 131st Armored Division "Centauro" , where it remained until the end of the campaign on 16 April. The Italian armoured division along with the 18th Infantry Division "Messina" then advanced upon
20020-608: The Eastern Mediterranean region for over 1100 years, had been fatally weakened since the sacking of Constantinople by the Latin Crusaders in 1204. The Ottomans captured Constantinople in 1453 and advanced southwards into the Balkan peninsula capturing Athens in 1458. The Greeks held out in the Peloponnese until 1460, and the Venetians and Genoese clung to some of the islands, but by 1500 most of
20280-782: The French colonies in Africa as bases for the war against the United Kingdom, the potential loss of Vichy control over its African empire was seen as a problem by him. Furthermore, after Italy entered the war in June 1940, the danger of Axis air and naval attacks had largely closed the central Mediterranean to British shipping except for convoys to Malta, in effect closing the Suez canal as the British were forced to supply their forces in Egypt via
20540-681: The German XL Panzer Corps descending through the Monastir Gap. On 13 April, he withdrew all British forces to the Haliacmon river and then to the narrow pass at Thermopylae . On 14 April, the 9th Panzer Division established a bridgehead across the Haliacmon river, but an attempt to advance beyond this point was stopped by intense Allied fire. This defence had three main components: the Platamon tunnel area between Olympus and
20800-606: The German army had to cross the Rhodope Mountains , which offered few river valleys or mountain passes capable of accommodating the movement of large military units. Two invasion courses were located west of Kyustendil ; another was along the Yugoslav-Bulgarian border, via the Struma river valley to the south. Greek border fortifications had been adapted for the terrain and a formidable defence system covered
21060-728: The Greek Central Macedonia Army Section —comprising the 12th and 20th Infantry Divisions—were put under the command of General Wilson, who established his headquarters to the north-west of Larissa . The New Zealand division took position north of Mount Olympus , while the Australian division blocked the Haliacmon valley up to the Vermion range. The RAF continued to operate from airfields in Central and Southern Greece, but few planes could be diverted to
21320-645: The Greek and British commands agreed to fight a delaying action in the north-east. The British did not move their troops, because General Wilson regarded them as too weak to protect such a broad front. Instead, he took a position some 65 kilometres (40 miles) west of the Axios, across the Haliacmon Line. The two main objectives in establishing this position were to maintain contact with the Hellenic army in Albania and to deny German access to Central Greece. This had
21580-499: The Greek army to continue its advance into northern Epirus , the southern part of modern Albania, which it occupied. There its advance stopped, although the Serbian line of control was very close to the north. On the outbreak of hostilities on 18 October, the Greek fleet , placed under the newly promoted Rear Admiral Pavlos Kountouriotis , sailed for the island of Lemnos , occupying it three days later (although fighting continued on
21840-554: The Greek build-up behind the Axios river. On the basis of this estimate, List requested the transfer of the 5th Panzer Division from First Panzer Group to the XL Panzer Corps. He reasoned that its presence would give additional punch to the German thrust through the Monastir Gap. For the continuation of the campaign, he formed an eastern group under the command of XVIII Mountain Corps and a western group led by XL Panzer Corps. By
22100-573: The Greek campaign under the code designation Operation Marita. The plan was to occupy the northern coast of the Aegean Sea by March 1941 and to seize the entire Greek mainland, if necessary. To attack Greece would require going through Yugoslavia and/or Bulgaria. The Regent of Yugoslavia for the boy king Peter II, Prince Paul was married to a Greek princess and refused the German request for transit rights to invade Greece. King Boris III of Bulgaria had long-standing territorial disputes with Greece, and
22360-520: The Greek fleet's unpreparedness resulting from the premature outbreak of the war, such an early Ottoman attack might well have been able to achieve a crucial victory. Instead, the Ottoman Navy spent the first two months of the war in operations against the Bulgarians in the Black Sea, giving the Greeks valuable time to complete their preparations and allowing them to consolidate their control of
22620-403: The Greek government under Theodoros Diligiannis , bowing to popular pressure, declared war on the Ottomans. In the ensuing Greco-Turkish War of 1897 the badly trained and equipped Greek army was defeated by the Ottomans. Through the intervention of the Great Powers, however, Greece lost only a little territory along the border to Turkey, while Crete was established as an autonomous state with
22880-420: The Greek government, led by Dimitrios Rallis , proved unable likewise to take advantage of the situation and bring Crete into the fold, rankled with many Greeks, especially with young officers. These formed a secret society, the " Military League ", with the purpose of emulating their Ottoman colleagues and seeking reforms. The resulting Goudi coup on 15 August 1909 marked a watershed in modern Greek history: as
23140-730: The Greek region and the first of them was launched on 6 March 1821, in the Danubian principalities . It was put down by the Ottomans, but the torch had been lit and by the end of the same month, the Peloponnese was in open revolt. In 1821, the Greek-speaking populations of Peloponnesus revolted against the Ottoman Empire . Following a region-wide struggle that lasted several months, the Greek War of Independence led to
23400-462: The Greek revolutionaries), Nikolaos Skoufas and Athanasios Tsakalov, came from the Arta area and the city of Ioannina , respectively. Greece's first constitutional prime minister (1844–1847), Ioannis Kolettis , was a native of the village of Syrrako in Epirus and was a former personal physician to Ali Pasha. Ali Pasha tried to use the war as an opportunity to make himself a fully independent ruler, but
23660-412: The Greek throne; however, he turned down the offer. Otto von Wittelsbach, Prince of Bavaria was chosen as its first king . Otto arrived at the provisional capital, Nafplion , in 1833 aboard a British warship . Otto's reign would prove troubled, but managed to last for 30 years before he and his wife, Queen Amalia , left the way they came, aboard a British warship. During the early years of his reign,
23920-514: The Greek torpedo boat No. 14 under Lt. Periklis Argyropoulos off Ayvalık . The main Ottoman fleet remained inside the Dardanelles for the early part of the war, while the Greek destroyers continuously patrolled the Straits' exit to report on a possible sortie. Kountouriotis suggested mining the straits, but was not taken up for fear of international reactions. On 7 December, the head of
24180-568: The Greek, is Epiri . Similarly, the Aromanian name for Epirus, which is also Greek-derived, is Epiru . Historically, the geographical area of Epirus proper is defined within the lines drawn from Cape Gjuhëz of the Ceraunian Mountains in the north-west, to Mount Qelqëz in the north-east, to Mount Gavrovo in the south-east, to the mouth of the Ambracian Gulf in the south-west. The northern boundary of ancient Epirus
24440-507: The Hellenic Army of manpower for the defence of their Yugoslavian and Bulgarian borders. By driving armoured wedges through the weakest links of the defence chain, penetrating Allied territory would not require substantial armour behind an infantry advance. Once Southern Yugoslavia was overrun by German armour, the Metaxas Line could be outflanked by highly mobile forces thrusting southward from Yugoslavia. Thus, possession of Monastir and
24700-523: The Hellenization campaign also suggests a continuity of the original Greek population, and that the Slavs had settled among many Greeks, in contrast to areas further north, in what is now Bulgaria and the former Yugoslavia, as those areas could not be Hellenized when they were recovered by the Byzantines in the early 11th century. Following the great naval victory of admiral Nasar in 880, and
24960-714: The Iliad. In the Middle Bronze Age, Epirus was inhabited by the same nomadic Hellenic tribes that went on to settle in the rest of Greece. Aristotle considered the region around Dodona to have been part of Hellas and the region where the Hellenes originated. According to Bulgarian linguist Vladimir I. Georgiev , Epirus was part of the Proto-Greek linguistic area during the Late Neolithic period. By
25220-534: The Ionian Islands and the coasts of Epirus became subject to raids by the Vandals , who had taken over the North African provinces and established their own kingdom centred on Carthage . The Vandals notably seized Nicopolis in 474 as a bargaining chip in their negotiations with Emperor Zeno , and plundered Zakynthos, killing many of its inhabitants and ferrying off others into slavery. Epirus Nova became
25480-571: The Ionian and Adriatic seas, combating Saracen piracy, and securing communications with the remaining Byzantine possessions in Italy, rather than any systematic effort at subduing the Epirote mainland. Nevertheless, following the onset of the Muslim conquest of Sicily in 827, the Ionian became particularly exposed to Arab raids. The 9th century saw great progress in the restoration of Imperial control in
25740-478: The Italian troops had attacked. German troops invaded from Bulgaria , creating a second front. Greece received a small reinforcement from British , Australian and New Zealand forces in anticipation of the German attack. The Greek army found itself outnumbered in its effort to defend against both Italian and German troops. As a result, the Metaxas defensive line did not receive adequate troop reinforcements and
26000-515: The Italians at the Albanian border. The 2nd Panzer Division (XVIII Mountain Corps) entered Yugoslavia from the east on the morning of 6 April and advanced westward through the Strumica Valley. It encountered little resistance, but was delayed by road clearance demolitions, mines and mud. Nevertheless, the division was able to reach the day's objective, the town of Strumica . On 7 April,
26260-480: The Italians." Churchill also criticized the Greek Army commanders for ignoring British advice to abandon Albania and avoid encirclement. Lieutenant-General Georg Stumme 's XL Corps captured the Florina-Vevi Pass on 11 April, but unseasonal snowy weather then halted his advance. On 12 April, he resumed the advance, but spent the whole day fighting Brigadier Charrington's 1st Armoured Brigade at Proastion. It
26520-637: The Klidi Pass just south of town. During the next day, the SS regiment reconnoitered the Allied positions and at dusk launched a frontal attack against the pass. Following heavy fighting, the Germans broke through the defence. By the morning of 14 April, the spearheads of the 9th Panzer Division reached Kozani. Wilson faced the prospect of being pinned by Germans operating from Thessaloniki, while being flanked by
26780-653: The Mycenaean civilization, suggesting that the founders of Mycenae may have come from Epirus and central Albania . Epirus itself remained culturally backward during this time, but Mycenaean remains have been found at two religious shrines of great antiquity in the region: the Oracle of the Dead on the Acheron River, familiar to the heroes of Homer’s Odyssey , and the Oracle of Zeus at Dodona, to whom Achilles prayed in
27040-471: The Nestos river. Both divisions arrived the next day. On 9 April, the Greek forces defending the Metaxas Line capitulated unconditionally following the collapse of Greek resistance east of the Axios river. In a 9 April estimate of the situation, Field Marshal List commented that as a result of the swift advance of the mobile units, his 12th Army was now in a favourable position to access central Greece by breaking
27300-526: The New Zealand Division as far south as an east–west line through Larissa and to oversee the withdrawal through Domokos to Thermopylae of the Savige and Zarkos Forces and finally of Lee Force; Brigadier Harold Charrington's 1st Armoured Brigade was to cover the withdrawal of Savige Force to Larissa and thereafter the withdrawal of the 6th Division under whose command it would come; overseeing
27560-464: The New Zealand battalion, which was subsequently dispersed. On 19 April, the first XVIII Mountain Corps troops entered Larissa and took possession of the airfield, where the British had left their supply dump intact. The seizure of ten truckloads of rations and fuel enabled the spearhead units to continue without ceasing. The port of Volos , at which the British had re-embarked numerous units during
27820-512: The Ottoman commander Hasan Tahsin Pasha surrendered Thessaloniki and its garrison of 26,000 men to the Greeks on 9 November [ O.S. 27 October] 1912. Two Corps HQs ( Ustruma and VIII), two Nizamiye divisions (14th and 22nd) and four Redif divisions (Salonika, Drama, Naslic and Serez) were thus lost to the Ottoman order of battle. Additionally, the Ottoman forces lost 70 artillery pieces, 30 machine guns and 70,000 rifles (Thessaloniki
28080-440: The Ottoman fleet Tahir Bey was replaced by Ramiz Naman Bey, the leader of the hawkish faction among the officer corps. A new strategy was agreed, whereby the Ottomans were to take advantage of any absence of the Greek flagship Averof to attack the other Greek ships. The Ottoman staff formulated a plan to lure a number of the Greek destroyers on patrol into a trap. A first such effort on 12 December failed due to boiler trouble, but
28340-519: The Ottoman fleet again sallied from the straits towards Lemnos, it was defeated for a second time in the Naval Battle of Lemnos . This time, the Ottoman warships concentrated their fire on the Averof , which again made use of its superior speed and tried to " cross the T " of the Ottoman fleet. Barbaros Hayreddin was again heavily damaged, and the Ottoman fleet was forced to return to the shelter of
28600-499: The Ottoman fleet suffered heavy damage to the Barbaros Hayreddin and 18 dead and 41 wounded (most during their disorderly retreat) and the Greeks one dead and seven wounded. In the aftermath of Elli, on 20 December the energetic Lt. Commander Rauf Bey was placed in effective command of the Ottoman fleet. Two days later he led his forces out, hoping again to trap the patrolling Greek destroyers between two divisions of
28860-519: The Ottoman fleet, one heading for Imbros and the other waiting at the entrance of the straits. The plan failed as the Greek ships quickly broke contact, while at the same time the Mecidiye came under attack by the Greek submarine Delfin , which launched a torpedo against it but missed; the first such attack in history. During this time, the Ottoman Army continued to press upon a reluctant Navy
29120-466: The Ottomans in 1877 , popular Greek sentiment rallied to Russia's side, but Greece was too poor and too concerned about British intervention to officially enter the war. Nevertheless, in 1881, Thessaly and small parts of Epirus were ceded to Greece in the context of the Treaty of Berlin , while frustrating Greek hopes of receiving Crete . Greeks in Crete continued to stage regular revolts, and in 1897,
29380-742: The Peloponnesian War , as does Strabo in his Geography , although the latter clearly distinguishes them from the neighboring Illyrians . Other writers, such as Herodotus , Dionysius of Halicarnassus , Pausanias , and Eutropius , describe them as Greeks. Similarly, Epirote tribes/states are included in the Argive and Epidaurian lists of the Greek Thearodokoi (hosts of sacred envoys). Plutarch mentions an interesting element of Epirote folklore regarding Achilles: In his biography of King Pyrrhus , he claims that Achilles "had
29640-461: The Russian pilot N. de Sackoff, flying for the Greeks, became the first pilot ever shot down in combat, when his biplane was hit by ground fire following a bomb run on the walls of Fort Bizani . He came down near small town of Preveza , on the coast north of the Ionian island of Lefkas , secured local Greek assistance, repaired his plane and resumed flight back to base. The fall of Ioannina allowed
29900-624: The Serbs. The Greek division, surprised by the presence of the Ottoman Corps, isolated from the rest of Greek army and outnumbered by the now counterattacking Ottomans centred on Bitola , was forced to retreat. As a result, the Serbs beat the Greeks to Bitola. In the Epirus front the Greek army was initially heavily outnumbered, but due to the passive attitude of the Ottomans succeeded in conquering Preveza (21 October 1912) and pushing north to
30160-528: The Souliotes, his troops succeeded in conquering the area in 1803. On the other hand, Ali, who used Greek as official language, witnessed an increase of Greek cultural activity with the establishment of several educational institutions. When the Greek War of Independence broke out, the inhabitants of Epirus contributed greatly. Two of the founding members of the Filiki Eteria (the secret society of
30420-478: The Theme of Nicopolis was raided by the Bulgarians, who even occupied some parts until driven out or subjugated by the Byzantines years later. Only the extreme north of Epirus seems to have remained consistently under Bulgarian rule in the period, but under Tsar Samuel , who moved the centre of Bulgarian power south and west to Ohrid , probably all of Epirus down to the Ambracian Gulf came under Bulgarian rule. This
30680-401: The Tripartite Pact on 25 March 1941, but with a proviso that Yugoslavia would not grant transit rights to the Wehrmacht to attack Greece. As the Metaxas Line protected the Greek–Bulgarian border, the Wehrmacht generals much preferred the idea of attacking Greece via Yugoslavia instead of Bulgaria. During a hasty meeting of Hitler's staff after the unexpected 27 March Yugoslav coup d'état against
30940-472: The Wehrmacht to assault the Metaxas Line without the option of outflanking the Metaxas Line by going through Yugoslavia. On 6 April, both Greece and Yugoslavia were to be attacked. We did not then know that he [Hitler] was already deeply set upon his gigantic invasion of Russia. If we had we should have felt more confidence in the success of our policy. We should have seen that he risked falling between two stools and might easily impair his supreme undertaking for
31200-405: The Western Macedonia Army to defend the Albanian town of Korça that fell unopposed to the Italian 9th Army on 15 April, forcing the British to abandon the Mount Olympus position and resulting in the capture of 20,000 Greek troops. The New Zealand battalion withdrew, crossing the Pineios river; by dusk, they had reached the western exit of the Pineios Gorge, suffering only light casualties. Macky
31460-415: The Yugoslav fleet base of Kotor in Montenegro, also occupying Cettinje and Podgorica. The Yugoslavs lost 30,000 men captured in the Italian counterattacks. The Metaxas Line was defended by the Eastern Macedonia Army Section , led by Lieutenant General Konstantinos Bakopoulos ) and comprising the 7th , 14th and 18th Infantry divisions. The line ran for about 170 km (110 miles) along the river Nestos to
31720-426: The Yugoslav government and later proposed to hold the Metaxas Line —by then a symbol of national security to the Greek populace—and not withdraw divisions from Albania. He argued that to do so would be seen as a concession to the Italians. The strategically important port of Thessaloniki lay practically undefended and transportation of British troops to the city remained dangerous. Papagos proposed to take advantage of
31980-453: The Yugoslav government, orders for the campaign in Yugoslavia were drafted, as well as changes to the plans for Greece. The coup d'état in Belgrade greatly assisted German planning as it allowed the Wehrmacht to plan an invasion of Greece via Yugoslavia. The American historians Allan Millett and Williamson Murray wrote from the Greek perspective, it would have had been better if the Yugoslav coup d'état had not taken place as it would have forced
32240-422: The Yugoslavs—left their north-western border largely undefended. Despite their awareness that the line was likely to collapse in the event of a German thrust from the Struma and Axios rivers, the British eventually acceded to the Greek command. On 4 March, Dill accepted the plans for the Metaxas line and on 7 March agreement was ratified by the British Cabinet . The overall command was to be retained by Papagos and
32500-445: The Zetska Division advanced towards Shkodër and the Yugoslav cavalry regiment reached the Drin River, but the Kosovska Division had to halt its advance due to the appearance of German units near Prizren. The Yugoslav-Greek offensive was supported by S.79K bombers from the 66th and 81st Bomber Groups of the VVKJ, that attacked airfields and camps around Shkodër , as well as the port of Durrës, and Italian troop concentrations and bridges on
32760-405: The administration and the army. But Greece still had no legislature and no constitution. Greek discontent grew until a revolt broke out in Athens in September 1843. Otto agreed to grant a constitution, and convened a National Assembly which met in November. The new constitution created a bicameral parliament , consisting of an Assembly ( Vouli ) and a Senate ( Gerousia ). Power then passed into
33020-404: The advantage of requiring a smaller force than other options, while allowing more preparation time, but it meant abandoning nearly the whole of Northern Greece, which was unacceptable to the Greeks for political and psychological reasons. The line's left flank was susceptible to flanking from Germans operating through the Monastir Gap in Yugoslavia. The rapid disintegration of the Yugoslav Army and
33280-422: The allies". The Treaty of London ended the war, but no one was left satisfied, and soon, the four allies fell out over the partition of Macedonia . In June 1913, Bulgaria attacked Greece and Serbia, beginning the Second Balkan War , but was beaten back. The Treaty of Bucharest , which concluded the war, left Greece with southern Epirus, the southern-half of Macedonia, Crete and the Aegean islands, except for
33540-404: The anchored ships. Although it scored no hits, this operation is regarded as the first naval-air operation in military history. General Nikola Ivanov , commander of the 2nd Bulgarian Army , acknowledged the role of the Greek fleet in the overall Balkan League victory by stating that "the activity of the entire Greek fleet and above all the Averof was the chief factor in the general success of
33800-481: The area had been subject to increasing Hellenization and settlement by Epirote tribes from the south. The two Epirote provinces became part of the Diocese of Moesia , until it was divided in ca. 369 into the dioceses of Macedonia and Dacia , when they became part of the former. In the 4th century, Epirus was still a stronghold of paganism , and was aided by Emperor Julian (r. 361–363) and his praetorian prefect Claudius Mamertinus through reduction in taxes and
34060-424: The area was again ceded to Albania. In 1939, Italy occupied Albania , and in 1940 invaded Greece . The Italians were driven back into Albania, however, and Greek forces again took control of northern Epirus. The conflict marked the first tactical victory of the Allies in World War II . Benito Mussolini himself supervised the spring counter-offensive of his divisions in spring 1941, only to be repulsed again by
34320-443: The area's terrain and prepare fortifications, while also protecting Thessaloniki. General Dill described Papagos' attitude as "unaccommodating and defeatist" and argued that his plan ignored the fact that Greek troops and artillery were capable of only token resistance. The British believed that the Greek rivalry with Bulgaria—the Metaxas Line was designed specifically for war with Bulgaria—as well as their traditionally good terms with
34580-481: The autumn weather, attacked without the advantage of surprise and without Bulgarian support. Elementary precautions such as issuing winter clothing had not been taken. Mussolini had not considered the warnings of the Italian Commission of War Production, that Italy would not be able to sustain a full year of continuous warfare until 1949. During the six-month fight against Italy, the Hellenic army made territorial gains by eliminating Italian salients . Greece did not have
34840-404: The battalion, but the New Zealanders held. After being reinforced during the night of the 15th–16th, the Germans assembled a tank battalion, an infantry battalion and a motorcycle battalion. The infantry attacked the New Zealanders' left company at dawn, while the tanks attacked along the coast several hours later. The New Zealanders soon found themselves enveloped on both sides, after the failure of
35100-447: The battleship squadron moved on north under cover of the forts at Kumkale and engaged the Greek fleet, coming from Imbros, at 9:40. Leaving the older battleships behind, Kountouriotis led the Averof into independent action: utilizing its superior speed, it cut across the Ottoman fleet's bow. Under fire from two sides, the Ottomans were quickly forced to withdraw to the Dardanelles. The whole engagement lasted less than an hour, in which
35360-450: The beginning of the Byzantine offensive against the Arabs in southern Italy in the 880s, the security situation improved and the Theme of Nicopolis was established, most likely after 886. As the ancient capital of Epirus had been laid waste by the Slavs, the capital of the new theme became Naupaktos further south. The extent of the new province is unclear, but probably matched the extent of the Metropolis of Naupaktos , established at about
35620-401: The bishop of Dyrrhachium participated in the Ecumenical Councils of 680/1 and 692 , a century later the bishops of Dyrrhachium, Nicopolis, Corfu, Cephallonia, and Zakynthos are attested in the Second Council of Nicaea in 787. In about the middle of the 8th century, the Theme of Cephallenia was established, but at least initially it was more oriented towards restoring Byzantine control over
35880-500: The border between Greece and Albania, and the Ceraunian Mountains (2,000 m) near Himara in Albania. Most of Epirus lies on the windward side of the Pindus, and the prevailing winds from the Ionian Sea make the region the rainiest in mainland Greece. Significant lowlands are to be found only near the coast, in the southwest near Arta and Preveza , in the Acheron plain between Paramythia and Fanari , between Igoumenitsa and Sagiada , and also near Saranda . The Zagori area
36140-401: The boundaries of ancient Epirus. The region of Epirus in Greece only comprises a fraction of classical Epirus and does not include its easternmost portions, which lie in Thessaly. In Albania, where the concept of Epirus is never used in an official context, the counties of Gjirokastër, Vlorë , and Berat extend well beyond the northern and northeastern boundaries of classical Epirus. Epirus
36400-471: The cause of Olympias against Cassander , but was dethroned in 313 BC. His son Pyrrhus came to throne in 295 BC, and for six years fought against the Romans and Carthaginians in southern Italy and Sicily . The high cost of his victories against the Romans gave Epirus a new, but brief, importance, as well as a lasting contribution to the Greek language with the concept of a " Pyrrhic victory ". Pyrrhus nonetheless brought great prosperity to Epirus, building
36660-420: The city of Ioannina, and therefore had to wait for reinforcements from the Macedonian front. After the campaign in Macedonia was over, a large part of the Army was redeployed to Epirus, where Crown Prince Constantine himself assumed command. In the Battle of Bizani the Ottoman positions were breached and Ioannina taken on 6 March [ O.S. 22 February] 1913. During the siege, on 8 February 1913,
36920-477: The coast, reaching a maximum of 2,637 m at Mount Smolikas , the highest point in Epirus. Other important ranges include Tymfi (2,496 m at Mount Gamila), Lygkos (2,249 m), to the west and east of Smolikas respectively, Gramos (2,523 m) in the northeast, Tzoumerka (2,356 m) in the southeast, Tomaros (1,976 m) in the southwest, Mitsikeli near Ioannina (1,810 m), Mourgana (1,806 m), and Nemercke/Aeoropos (2,485 m) on
37180-426: The combat strength of the seven Ottoman divisions between the Yanya Corps and VIII Corps , in Epirus and Macedonia respectively. The Greek Army also fielded seven divisions, but, having the initiative, concentrated all seven against VIII Corps, leaving only a number of independent battalions of scarcely divisional strength in the Epirus front. This had fatal consequences for the Western Group of Armies, since it led to
37440-511: The common threat of Illyrian raids, and in 359 BC the Molossian princess Olympias , niece of Arybbas of Epirus , married King Philip II of Macedon . She was to become the mother of Alexander the Great . On the death of Arybbas, Alexander of Epirus succeeded to the throne and the title King of Epirus in 334 BC. He invaded Italy, but was killed in battle by a Lucanian in the Battle of Pandosia against several Italic tribes 331 BC. Aeacides of Epirus , who succeeded Alexander, espoused
37700-430: The constitution for a secret organization in Freemasonic fashion. Its purpose was to unite all Greeks in an armed organization to overthrow Turkish rule. The three founders were Nikolaos Skoufas from the Arta province, Emmanuil Xanthos from Patmos , and Athanasios Tsakalov from Ioannina . Soon after they initiated a fourth member, Panagiotis Anagnostopoulos from Andritsaina . Many revolts were planned across
37960-422: The continuation of the state of war until 1987 was that during the entire period of Communist rule in Albania, the Greek population of Northern Epirus experienced forced Albanisation . Although a Greek minority was recognized by the Hoxha regime, this recognition only applied to an "official minority zone" consisting of 99 villages, leaving out important areas of Greek settlement, such as Himara . People outside
38220-403: The counties of Gjirokastër and Vlorë in southern Albania. The largest city in Epirus is Ioannina , seat of the Greek region of Epirus, with Gjirokastër the largest city in the Albanian part of Epirus. A rugged and mountainous region, Epirus was the north-west area of ancient Greece . It was inhabited by the Greek tribes of the Chaonians , Molossians , and Thesprotians . It was home to
38480-404: The country lacked international recognition and had no robust alliances in the Western world. Following the recapture of the Greek territories by the Ottoman Empire, the great powers of that time (the United Kingdom , the Russian Empire , and the Kingdom of France ) saw the Greek counter-offensive as an opportunity to weaken the Ottoman Empire further and in essence increase their influence in
38740-418: The creation of infrastructure and an indigenous industry, raising protective tariffs and progressive social legislation, while the more populist Deligiannis depended on the promotion of Greek nationalism and the Megali idea . Greece remained a quite impoverished country throughout the 19th century. The country lacked raw materials, infrastructure and capital. Agriculture was mostly at the subsistence level, and
39000-426: The daughter of a local magnate, took advantage of this, and within a few years consolidated his control over most of Epirus, first as a Venetian vassal and eventually as an independent ruler. By the time of his death in 1214/5, Michael had established a strong state, the Despotate of Epirus , with the former theme of Nicopolis at its core and Arta as its capital. Epirus, and the city of Ioannina in particular, became
39260-429: The direction of Ioannina . On 5 November, Major Spyros Spyromilios led a revolt in the coastal area of Himarë and expelled the Ottoman garrison without facing significant resistance, while on 20 November Greek troops from western Macedonia entered Korçë . However, Greek forces in the Epirote front had not the numbers to initiate an offensive against the German-designed defensive positions of Bizani that protected
39520-606: The early 1st millennium BC, all fourteen Epirote tribes including the Chaonians in northwestern Epirus, the Molossians in the centre and the Thesprotians in the south, were speakers of a strong west Greek dialect. Geographically on the edge of the Greek world, Epirus remained for the most part outside the limelight of Greek history until relatively late, much like the neighbouring Greek regions of Macedonia, Aetolia, and Acarnania, with which Epirus had political, cultural, linguistic and economic connections. Unlike most other Greeks of this time, who lived in or around city-states ,
39780-415: The early hours of 28 October, Italian Ambassador Emanuele Grazzi presented Metaxas with a three-hour ultimatum, demanding free passage for troops to occupy unspecified "strategic sites" within Greek territory. Metaxas rejected the ultimatum (the refusal is commemorated as Greek national holiday Ohi Day ) but even before it expired, Italian troops had invaded Greece through Albania. The principal Italian thrust
40040-403: The early loss of the strategic centre of all three Macedonian fronts, the city of Thessaloniki , a fact that sealed their fate. In an unexpectedly brilliant and rapid campaign, the Army of Thessaly seized the city. In the absence of secure sea lines of communications, the retention of the Thessaloniki-Constantinople corridor was essential to the overall strategic posture of the Ottoman Empire in
40300-469: The east and then further east, following the Bulgarian border as far as Mount Beles near the Yugoslav border. The fortifications were designed to garrison over 200,000 troops but there were only about 70,000 and the infantry garrison was thinly spread. Some 950 men under the command of Major Georgios Douratsos of the 14th Division defended Fort Roupel. The Germans had to break the Metaxas line, in order to capture Thessaloniki, Greece's second-largest city and
40560-402: The employment of a parachute and an airborne division. Letter by Adolf Hitler addressed to Mussolini on 20 November 1940 The United Kingdom was obliged to assist Greece by the Declaration of 13 April 1939, which stated that in the event of a threat to Greek or Romanian independence, "His Majesty's Government would feel themselves bound at once to lend the Greek or Romanian Government... all
40820-526: The entire Albanian front, with the Italians in hesitant pursuit. On 15 April, Regia Aeronautica fighters attacked the (RHAF) base at Paramythia, 50 kilometres (30 mi) south of Greece's border with Albania, destroying or putting out of action 17 VVKJ aircraft that had recently arrived from Yugoslavia. Kingdom of Greece Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy (1844–1924; 1935–1941; 1944–1973) The Kingdom of Greece ( Greek : Βασίλειον τῆς Ἑλλάδος [vaˈsili.on tis eˈlaðos] )
41080-471: The entry of German forces into Bulgaria, the majority of Greek troops were evacuated from Western Thrace . By this time, Greek forces defending the Bulgarian border totalled roughly 70,000 men (sometimes labelled the "Greek Second Army" in English and German sources, although no such formation existed). The remainder of the Greek forces—14 divisions (often erroneously referred to as the "Greek First Army" by foreign sources)—was committed in Albania. On 28 March,
41340-471: The environs of Dyrrhachium, in 548/9, has been documented. Procopius further reports that in 551, in an attempt to interdict the Byzantines' lines of communication with Italy during the Gothic War , the Ostrogoth king Totila sent his fleet to raid the shores of Epirus. In response to these raids, and to repair the damage done by two destructive earthquakes in 522, Justinian initiated a wide-ranging programme of reconstruction and re-fortification: Hadrianopolis
41600-424: The establishment of the first autonomous Greek state since the mid-15th century. In January 1822, the First National Assembly of Epidaurus passed the Greek Declaration of Independence (part of the country's First Constitution ), which affirmed the sovereignty of Greece. However, the new Greek state was politically unstable and lacked the resources to preserve its territoriality in the long term. Most importantly,
41860-545: The evening of 5 April, the forces intended to enter southern Yugoslavia and Greece had been assembled. At dawn on 6 April, the German armies invaded Greece, while the Luftwaffe began an intensive bombardment of Belgrade . The XL Panzer Corps began their assault at 05:30. They pushed across the Bulgarian frontier into Yugoslavia at two separate points. By the evening of 8 April, the 73rd Infantry Division captured Prilep , severing an important rail line between Belgrade and Thessaloniki and isolating Yugoslavia from its allies. On
42120-404: The evening of 9 April, Stumme deployed his forces north of Monastir, in preparation for attack toward Florina . This position threatened to encircle the Greeks in Albania and W Force in the area of Florina, Edessa and Katerini . While weak security detachments covered his rear against a surprise attack from central Yugoslavia, elements of the 9th Panzer Division drove westward to link up with
42380-442: The expansion of the Slavs had not reach this region. As in eastern Greece, the restoration of Byzantine rule seems to have proceeded from the islands, chiefly Cephallonia, which was certainly under firm Imperial control in c. 702 , when Philippicus Bardanes was banished there. The gradual restoration of Imperial rule is evidenced further from the participation of local bishops in councils in Constantinople : whereas only
42640-413: The fact that this was the avenue used by most of the Slavs who crossed the Gulf into the Peloponnese . With the exception of some few toponyms on Corfu, the Ionian Islands seem to not have been affected by Slavic settlement. The linguistic analysis of the toponyms reveals that they date mostly to the early wave of Slavic settlement at the turn of the 6th/7th centuries. Due to scarcity of textual evidence, it
42900-415: The failure of his invasion of the Soviet Union on Mussolini 's failed conquest of Greece. Andreas Hillgruber has accused Hitler of trying to deflect blame for his country's defeat from himself to his ally, Italy. It nevertheless had serious consequences for the Axis war effort in the North African theatre . Enno von Rintelen, who was the military attaché in Rome, emphasises, from the German point of view,
43160-440: The few available roads. The Struma and Nestos rivers cut across the mountain range along the Greek-Bulgarian frontier and both of their valleys were protected by strong fortifications, as part of the larger Metaxas Line . This system of concrete pillboxes and field fortifications, constructed along the Bulgarian border in the late 1930s, was built on principles similar to those of the Maginot Line . Its strength resided mainly in
43420-403: The first Governor of Greece, Count Ioannis Kapodistrias , created political and social instability that endangered the country's relationship with its allies. To avoid escalation and in order to strengthen Greece's ties with the great powers, Greece agreed to become a kingdom in 1832 (see London Conference of 1832 ). Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha was initially the first candidate for
43680-459: The first two Macedonian Wars but split in the Third Macedonian War (171–168 BC), with the Molossians siding with the Macedonians and the Chaonians and Thesprotians siding with Rome. The outcome was disastrous for Epirus; Molossia fell to Rome in 167 BC and 150,000 of its inhabitants were enslaved. The region of Epirus was placed under the senatorial province of Achaea in 27 BC, with the exception of its northernmost part, which remained part of
43940-478: The great theater of Dodona and a new suburb at Ambracia (now modern Arta ), which he made his capital. The Aeacid dynasty ended in 232 BC, but Epirus remained a substantial power, unified under the auspices of the Epirote League as a federal state with its own parliament, or synedrion . However, it was faced with the growing threat of the expansionist Roman Republic , which fought a series of wars against Macedon . The League steered an uneasy neutral course in
44200-420: The greater Balkans Campaign of the Axis powers and their associates. Following the Italian invasion on 28 October 1940, Greece, with British air and material support, repelled the initial Italian attack and a counter-attack in March 1941. When the German invasion, known as Operation Marita, began on 6 April, the bulk of the Greek Army was on the Greek border with Albania , then a vassal of Italy, from which
44460-536: The hands of a group of politicians, most of whom had been commanders in the War of Independence against the Ottomans. Greek politics in the 19th century was dominated by the national question. Greeks dreamed of liberating all the Greek lands and reconstituting a state embracing them all, with Constantinople as its capital. This was called the Great Idea ( Megali Idea ), and it was sustained by almost continuous rebellions against Ottoman rule in Greek-speaking territories, notably Crete , Thessaly and Macedonia . During
44720-471: The historic Bridge of Arta , the Louros , the Thyamis or Kalamas, and the Voidomatis, a tributary of the Vjosë flowing through the Vikos Gorge . The Vikos Gorge, one of the deepest in the world, forms the centerpiece of the Vikos–Aoös National Park , known for its scenic beauty. The only significant lake in Epirus is Lake Pamvotis , on whose shores lies the city of Ioannina , the region's largest and traditionally most important city. The climate of Epirus
44980-616: The importance of a joint Greco-Yugoslavian offensive against the Italians, as soon as the Germans launched their offensive. By 24 April more than 62,000 Empire troops (British, Australians, New Zealanders, Palestine Pioneer Corps , Cypriots etc.), had arrived in Greece, comprising the 6th Australian Division , the New Zealand 2nd Division and the British 1st Armoured Brigade . The three formations later became known as 'W' Force , after their commander, Lieutenant-General Sir Henry Maitland Wilson . Air Commodore Sir John D'Albiac commanded British air forces in Greece. To enter Northern Greece,
45240-423: The inaccessibility of the intermediate terrain leading up to the defence positions. Greece's mountainous terrain favored a defensive strategy, while the high ranges of the Rhodope, Epirus , Pindus and Olympus mountains offered many defensive opportunities. Air power was required to protect defending ground forces from entrapment in the many defiles . Although an invading force from Albania could be stopped by
45500-450: The individual leaders, often bearing their names, two broad political tendencies existed: the liberals, led first by Charilaos Trikoupis and later by Eleftherios Venizelos , and the conservatives, led initially by Theodoros Deligiannis and later by Thrasivoulos Zaimis . Trikoupis and Deligiannis dominated Greek politics in the later 19th century, alternating in office. Trikoupis favoured cooperation with Great Britain in foreign affairs,
45760-441: The inhabitants of Epirus lived in small villages and their way of life was foreign to that of the poleis of southern Greece. Their region lay on the periphery of the Greek world and was far from peaceful; for many centuries, it remained a frontier area contested with the Illyrian peoples to the north. However, Epirus had a far greater religious significance than might have been expected given its geographical remoteness, due to
46020-412: The island until 27 October) and establishing an anchorage at Moudros Bay . This move was of major strategic importance, as it provided the Greeks with a forward base in close distance to the Dardanelles, the Ottoman fleet's main anchorage and refuge. In view of the Ottoman fleet's superiority in speed and broadside weight, the Greek planners expected it to sortie from the straits early in the war. Given
46280-446: The islands and was eased only by large-scale emigration to the United States. There was little education in the countryside. Nevertheless, there was progress in building communications and infrastructure, and elegant public buildings were erected in Athens. Despite the bad financial situation, Athens staged the revival of the Olympic Games in 1896, which proved a great success. The parliamentary process developed greatly in Greece during
46540-532: The issue of a special " Tomos " decree which brought it back to a normal status. As a result, it retains certain special links with the " Mother Church ". There were only four bishops, and they had political roles. In 1833 Parliament dissolved 400 small monasteries having fewer than five monks or nuns. Priests were not salaried; in rural areas he was a peasant farmer himself dependent for his livelihood on his farm work and from fees and offerings by his parishioners. His ecclesiastical duties were limited to administering
46800-399: The lack of coordination between the Greek and Serbian HQs cost the Greeks a setback in the Battle of Vevi on 15 November [ O.S. 2 November] 1912, when the Greek 5th Infantry Division crossed its way with the VI Ottoman Corps (a part of the Vardar Army consisting of the 16th, 17th and 18th Nizamiye divisions), retreating to Albania following the Battle of Prilep against
47060-420: The limited availability of shipping and Greek port capacity. The German Twelfth Army —under the command of Field Marshal Wilhelm List —was charged with the execution of Operation Marita. His army was composed of six units: The German plan of attack was influenced by their army's experiences during the Battle of France . Their strategy was to create a diversion through the campaign in Albania, thus stripping
47320-431: The local population. These schools began to attract students from the Greek language schools, but were ultimately closed after intervention and harassment by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. Throughout, the late period of Ottoman rule (from the 18th century) Greek and Aromanian population of the region suffered from Albanians raiders, that sporadically continued after Ali Pasha's death, until 1912–1913. While
47580-441: The long Cape route around Africa. The British had made liberating Italian East Africa a priority to end the possibility of Italian naval and air attacks on British shipping in the Red Sea, which assumed greater importance because of the dangers posed to British shipping in the central Mediterranean. In turn, the decision by Field Marshal Archibald Wavell to deploy significant forces to the Horn of Africa while defending Egypt lessened
47840-434: The mainland of Greece as he feared it would lead to a German invasion of his country and during the winter of 1940–41 secretly asked Hitler if he was willing to mediate an end to the Italo-Greek war. The British prime minister, Winston Churchill , strongly supported by the chief of the Imperial General Staff, Sir John Dill , and the Foreign Secretary, Anthony Eden , had hopes of reviving the Salonika front strategy and opening
48100-403: The mainland of north-west Greece opposite Corfu and the Ionian islands . The local name was struck on the coinage of the unified Epirote commonwealth : "ΑΠΕΙΡΩΤΑΝ" ( Ancient Greek : Ἀπειρωτᾶν , romanized : Āpeirōtân , Attic Greek : Ἠπειρωτῶν , romanized: Ēpeirōtôn , i.e. "of the Epirotes", see adjacent image). The Albanian name for the region, which derives from
48360-440: The mainland, as evidenced by the participation of the bishops of Ioannina, Naupaktos , Hadrianopolis, and Vagenetia (evidently by now organized as a Sklavinia under imperial rule) in the Ecumenical Councils of 869/70 and 879/80 . The Byzantine recovery resulted in an influx of Greeks from southern Italy and Asia Minor into the Greek interior, while remaining Slavs were Christianized and Hellenized . The eventual success of
48620-432: The mighty British navy , and citing the need for a respite after two wars, King Constantine favoured continued neutrality, while Venizelos actively sought Greek entry in the war on the Allied side. Venizelos resigned, but won the next elections , and again formed the government. When Bulgaria entered the war as a German ally in October 1915, Venizelos invited Entente forces into Greece (the Salonika front ), for which he
48880-441: The military conspirators were inexperienced in politics, they asked Venizelos, who had impeccable liberal credentials, to come to Greece as their political adviser. Venizelos quickly established himself as an influential political figure, and his allies won the August 1910 elections . Venizelos became Prime Minister in October 1910, ushering a period of 25 years where his personality would dominate Greek politics. Venizelos initiated
49140-462: The moral basis of our cause". The weather in the winter of 1940–41 seriously delayed the build-up of German forces in Romania and it was only in February 1941 that the Wehrmacht's Twelfth Army commanded by Field Marshal Wilhelm List joined by the Luftwaffe's Fliegerkorps VIII crossed the Danube river into Bulgaria. The lack of bridges on the Danube capable of carrying heavy supplies on the Romanian-Bulgarian frontier forced Wehrmacht engineers to build
49400-442: The morning of 10 April, the XL Panzer Corps had finished its preparations for the continuation of the offensive and advanced in the direction of Kozani . The 5th Panzer Division, advancing from Skopje encountered a Greek division tasked with defending Monastir Gap, rapidly defeating the defenders. First contact with Allied troops was made north of Vevi at 11:00 on 10 April. German SS troops seized Vevi on 11 April, but were stopped at
49660-489: The mountains of Epirus also became the scene of some of the fiercest fighting of the second and bloodier round of the Greek Civil War. The final episode of the war took place on Mount Grammos in 1949, ending with the defeat of the Communists. Peace returned to the region in 1949, although because of official Albanian active involvement in the civil war on the side of the communists, the formal state of war between Greece and Albania remained in effect until 1987. Another reason for
49920-481: The necessary bridges in wintertime, imposing major delays. By 9 March 1941, the 5th and 11th Panzer Divisions were concentrated on the Bulgarian–Turkish border to deter Turkey, Greece's Balkan Pact ally from intervening. The Yugoslav coup came suddenly out of the blue. When the news was brought to me on the morning of the 27th, I thought it was a joke. Hitler speaking to his Commanders-in-Chief Under heavy German diplomatic pressure, Prince Paul had Yugoslavia join
50180-416: The next year, this increased the importance of Romanian oil as once Germany was at war with the Soviet Union, Romania would be the Reich' s only source of oil, at least until the Wehrmacht presumably captured the Soviet oil fields in the Caucasus. As the British were indeed contemplating using the Greek air fields to bomb the Romanian oil fields, Hitler's fears that his entire war machine might be paralyzed for
50440-467: The number of Commonwealth forces available to go to Greece. Although the performance of the Italian armed forces had been less than impressive, from the German perspective denying the British access to the central Mediterranean by stationing Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine forces in Italy made it crucial to keep Italy in the war. Hitler ordered his Army General Staff to attack Northern Greece from bases in Romania and Bulgaria in support of his master plan to deprive
50700-410: The official minority zone received no education in the Greek language, which was prohibited in public. The Hoxha regime also diluted the ethnic demographics of the region by relocating Greeks living there and settling in their stead Albanians from other parts of the country. Relations began to improve in the 1980s with Greece's abandonment of any territorial claims over Northern Epirus and the lifting of
50960-414: The official state of war between the two countries. A rugged topography, poor soils, and fragmented landholdings have kept agricultural production low and have resulted in a low population density. Animal husbandry is the main industry and corn the chief crop. Oranges and olives are grown in the western lowlands, while tobacco is grown around Ioannina. Epirus has few natural resources and industries, and
51220-414: The only important export commodities were currants , raisins and tobacco. Some Greeks grew rich as merchants and shipowners, and Piraeus became a major port, but little of this wealth found its way to the Greek peasantry. Greece remained hopelessly in debt to London finance houses. By the 1890s Greece was virtually bankrupt, and public insolvency was declared in 1893. Poverty was rife in the rural areas and
51480-406: The outcome of the battle of Yenidje, the Bulgarian high command urgently dispatched their 7th Rila Division from the north in the direction of the city. The division arrived there a week later, the day after its surrender to the Greeks. Until 10 November, the Greek-occupied zone had been expanded to the line from Lake Dojran to the Pangaion hills west to Kavalla . In southern Yugoslavia however,
51740-402: The patriarch in Constantinople. The government declared the church to be autocephalous (independent) in 1833 in a political decision of the Bavarian regents acting for King Otto , who was a minor. The decision roiled Greek politics for decades as royal authorities took increasing control. The new status was finally recognised as such by the Patriarchate in 1850, under compromise conditions with
52000-430: The plains and islands of Greece were in Ottoman hands; while in contrast, the mountains and highlands of Greece were largely untouched, and were a refuge for Greeks to flee foreign rule and engage in guerrilla warfare. In the context of an ardent desire for independence from Turkish rule, and with the explicit influence of similar secret societies elsewhere in Europe, three Greeks came together in 1814 in Odesa to decide
52260-408: The poorly equipped, but determined, Greeks. Nazi Germany then intervened in April 1941 to avert an Italian defeat. The German military performed rapid military maneuvers through Yugoslavia and forced the encircled Greek forces of the Epirus front to surrender. The whole of Epirus was then placed under Italian occupation until 1943, when the Germans took over following the Italian surrender to
52520-400: The population has been depleted by migration. The population is centered around Ioannina, which has the largest number of industrial establishments. Epirus has historically been a remote and isolated region due to its location between the Pindus mountains and the sea. In antiquity, the Roman Via Egnatia passed through Epirus Nova , which linked Byzantium and Thessalonica to Dyrrachium on
52780-404: The position of the Italian army. On 13 February, General Papagos, the Commander-in-Chief of the Greek army, opened a new offensive, aiming to take Tepelenë and the port of Vlorë with British air support but the Greek divisions encountered stiff resistance, stalling the offensive that practically destroyed the Cretan 5th Division. After weeks of inconclusive winter warfare, the Italians launched
53040-443: The pre-war Greek border to Vlorë was also instituted on 3 December, isolating the newly established Provisional Government of Albania based there from any outside support. Lieutenant Nikolaos Votsis scored a major success for Greek morale on 31 October: he sailed his torpedo boat No. 11, under the cover of night, into the harbor of Thessaloniki , sank the old Ottoman ironclad battleship Feth-i Bülend and escaped unharmed. On
53300-481: The presence of the shrine and oracle at Dodona – regarded as second only to the more famous oracle at Delphi . The Epirotes, speakers of a Northwest Greek dialect, different from the Dorian of the Greek colonies on the Ionian islands, and bearers of mostly Greek names, as evidenced by epigraphy, seem to have been regarded with some disdain by some classical writers. The 5th-century BC Athenian historian Thucydides describes them as " barbarians " in his History of
53560-411: The prior few days, fell on 21 April; there, the Germans captured large quantities of valuable diesel and crude oil. It is impossible for me to understand why the Greek Western Army does not make sure of its retreat into Greece. The Chief of the Imperial Staff states that these points have been put vainly time after time. Winston Churchill As the invading Germans advanced deep into Greek territory,
53820-444: The province of Macedonia . Under Emperor Trajan , sometime between 103 and 114 AD, Epirus became a separate province, under a procurator Augusti . The new province extended from the Gulf of Aulon ( Vlorë ) and the Acroceraunian Mountains in the north to the lower course of the Acheloos River in the south, and included the northern Ionian Islands of Corfu , Lefkada , Ithaca , Cephallonia , and Zakynthos . Probably during
54080-426: The provincial reorganization by Diocletian (r. 284–305), the western portion of the province of Macedonia along the Adriatic coast was split off into the province of New Epirus ( Latin : Epirus Nova ). Although this territory was not traditionally part of Epirus proper as defined by the ancient geographers, and was historically inhabited by Illyrian tribes and Greeks, the name reflects the fact that under Roman rule,
54340-421: The rail line to Thessaloniki on the evening of 7 April. The 5th Mountain Division, together with the reinforced 125th Infantry Regiment, crossed the Struma river under great hardship, attacking along both banks and clearing bunkers until they reached their objective on 7 April. Heavy casualties caused them to temporarily withdraw. The 72nd Infantry Division advanced from Nevrokop across the mountains. Its advance
54600-592: The rationalistic and materialistic ideas that had seeped in from secular Western Europe. It promoted catechism schools, and circles for the study of the Bible. At the urging of Britain and King George, Greece adopted a much more democratic constitution in 1864. The powers of the king were reduced and the Senate was abolished, and the franchise was extended to all adult males. Nevertheless, Greek politics remained heavily dynastic, as it had always been. Family names such as Zaimis, Rallis and Trikoupis repeatedly occurred as prime ministers. Although parties were centered around
54860-419: The rebuilding of the provincial capital, Nicopolis . According to Jordanes , in 380 the Visigoths raided the area. With the division of the Empire on the death of Theodosius I in 395, Epirus became part of the Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire . In 395–397, the Visigoths under Alaric plundered Greece. They remained in Epirus for a few years, until 401, and again in 406–407, during Alaric's alliance with
55120-401: The region around Dyrrhachium existed as the homonymous theme possibly as early as the 9th century. During the early 10th century, the themes of Cephallenia and Nicopolis appear mostly as bases for expeditions against southern Italy and Sicily, while Mardaites from both themes are listed in the large but unsuccessful expedition of 949 against the Emirate of Crete . In c. 930 ,
55380-425: The region's pervasive poverty. Nonetheless, the Ottomans did not enjoy total control of Epirus. The Himara and Zagori regions managed to successfully resist Ottoman rule and maintained a degree of independence throughout this period. The Ottomans expelled the Venetians from almost the whole area in the late 15th century. Between the 16th and 19th centuries, the city of Ioannina attained great prosperity and became
55640-449: The region. Under Pjetër Losha , the Albanian Malakasi and Mazaraki tribes defeated Nikephoros II Orsini at the Battle of Achelous in 1359, which won Pjetër Losha the rule of Arta ; Losha then founded the Despotate of Arta (1358-1416) with the help of the Mazaraki and Malakasi clans. Although Albanian clans gained control of most of the region by 1366/7, their continued division into rival clans meant that they could not establish
55900-492: The reign of George I. Initially, the royal prerogative in choosing his prime minister remained and contributed to governmental instability, until the introduction of the dedilomeni principle of parliamentary confidence in 1875 by the reformist Charilaos Trikoupis . Clientelism and frequent electoral upheavals, however, remained the norm in Greek politics and frustrated the country's development. Corruption and Trikoupis' increased spending to create necessary infrastructure like
56160-461: The reprisals that followed by the Greek guerillas resulted in the expulsion to Albania of almost the entire Cham population. With the liberation of Greece and the start of the first round of the Greek Civil War at the end of 1944, the highlands of Epirus became a major theater of guerrilla warfare between the leftist Greek People's Liberation Army (ELAS) and the right-wing National Republican Greek League (EDES). In subsequent years (1945–1949),
56420-452: The results of these "cat and mouse" operations were always the same: "the Greek destroyers always managed to remain outside the Ottoman warships' range, and each time the cruisers fired a few rounds before breaking off the chase." In preparation for the next attempt to break the Greek blockade, the Ottoman Admiralty decided to create a diversion by sending the light cruiser Hamidiye , captained by Rauf Bey, to raid Greek merchant shipping in
56680-410: The ridge across which the coastal pass led to Platamon. During the night of 15 April, a German motorcycle battalion supported by a tank battalion attacked the ridge, but the Germans were repulsed by the New Zealand 21st Battalion under Lieutenant Colonel Neil Macky , which suffered heavy losses in the process. Later that day, a German armoured regiment arrived and struck the coastal and inland flanks of
56940-405: The risk of a German attack from the Bulgarian border. I wanted, above all, to ask you to postpone the operation until a more favourable season, in any case until after the presidential election in America. In any event I wanted to ask you not to undertake this action without previously carrying out a blitzkrieg operation on Crete. For this purpose I intended to make practical suggestions regarding
57200-468: The sacraments, supervising funerals, the blessings of crops, and exorcism. Few attended seminaries. By the 1840s, there was a nationwide revival, run by travelling preachers. The government arrested several and tried to shut down the revival, but it proved too powerful when the revivalists denounced three bishops for purchasing their office. By the 1880s the "Anaplasis" ("Regeneration") Movement led to renewed spiritual energy and enlightenment. It fought against
57460-440: The sake of a Balkan preliminary. This is what actually happened, but we could not know that at the time. Some may think we builded rightly; at least we builded better than we knew at the time. It was our aim to animate and combine Yugoslavia, Greece and Turkey. Our duty so far as possible was to aid the Greeks. Winston Churchill Little more than a month later, the British reconsidered. Winston Churchill aspired to reestablish
57720-404: The same day, Greek troops of the Epirus Army seized the Ottoman naval base of Preveza . The Ottomans scuttled the four ships present there, but the Greeks were able to salvage the Italian-built torpedo-boats Antalya and Tokat , which were commissioned into the Greek Navy as Nikopolis and Tatoi respectively. On 9 November, the wooden Ottoman armed steamer Trabzon was intercepted and sunk by
57980-432: The same time, encompassing the sees of Vonditsa, Aetos, Acheloos, Rogoi , Ioannina, Hadrianopolis, Photike, and Buthrotum. Vagenetia notably no longer appears as a bishopric. As the authors of the Tabula Imperii Byzantini comment, it appears that "the Byzantine administration had brought the strongly Slavic-settled areas in the mainland somewhat under its control, and a certain Re-Hellenization had set in". Further north,
58240-466: The same time, the Bulgarian Army mobilised and took up positions along the Greek frontier. On 2 March, Operation Lustre —the transportation of troops and equipment to Greece—began and 26 troopships arrived at the port of Piraeus . On 3 April, during a meeting of British, Yugoslav and Greek military representatives, the Yugoslavs promised to block the Struma valley in case of a German attack across their territory. During this meeting, Papagos stressed
58500-402: The sanctuary of Dodona , the oldest oracle in ancient Greece, and the second most prestigious after Delphi . Unified into a single state in 370 BC by the Aeacidae dynasty, Epirus achieved fame during the reign of Pyrrhus of Epirus who fought the Roman Republic in a series of campaigns . Epirus subsequently became part of the Roman Republic along with the rest of Greece in 146 BC, which
58760-477: The sea, the Olympus pass itself and the Servia pass to the south-east. By channelling the attack through these three defiles , the new line offered far greater defensive strength. The defences of the Olympus and Servia passes consisted of the 4th New Zealand Brigade, 5th New Zealand Brigade and the 16th Australian Brigade. For the next three days, the advance of the 9th Panzer Division was stalled in front of these resolutely held positions. A ruined castle dominated
59020-447: The second try two days later resulted in an indecisive engagement between the Greek destroyers and the cruiser Mecidiye . The war's first major fleet action, the Naval Battle of Elli , was fought two days later, on 16 December [ O.S. 3 December] 1912. The Ottoman fleet, with four battleships, nine destroyers and six torpedo boats, sailed to the entrance of the straits. The lighter Ottoman vessels remained behind, but
59280-449: The sees of Bonditza, Aetos, and Acheloos. Basil II also established new, smaller themes in the region: Koloneia , and Dryinopolis (Hadrianopolis). The region joined the uprising of Petar Delyan in 1040, and suffered in the First Norman invasion of the Balkans : Dyrrhachium was occupied by the Normans in 1081–1084, Arta was unsuccessfully besieged, and Ioannina was captured by Robert Guiscard . An Aromanian presence in Epirus
59540-704: The strategic mistake of not taking Malta . At the outbreak of World War II, Ioannis Metaxas —the fascist-style dictator of Greece and former general —sought to maintain a position of neutrality . Greece was subject to increasing pressure from Italy, culminating in the Italian submarine Delfino sinking the cruiser Elli on 15 August 1940. Italian leader Benito Mussolini was irritated that Nazi leader Adolf Hitler had not consulted him on his war policy and wished to establish his independence. He hoped to match German military success by taking Greece, which he regarded as an easy opponent. On 15 October 1940, Mussolini and his closest advisers finalised their decision. In
59800-476: The strategic point of view these victories were enabled partially by the weakened condition of the Ottoman armies brought about by the active presence of the Greek army and fleet. With the declaration of war, the Greek Army of Thessaly under Crown Prince Constantine advanced to the north, successfully overcoming Ottoman opposition in the fortified Straits of Sarantaporo. After another victory at Giannitsa on 2 November [ O.S. 20 October] 1912,
60060-507: The support in their power." The first British effort was the deployment of Royal Air Force (RAF) squadrons commanded by Air Commodore John D'Albiac that arrived in November 1940. With Greek government consent, British forces were dispatched to Crete on 31 October to guard Souda Bay , enabling the Greek government to redeploy the 5th Cretan Division to the mainland. Hitler decided to intervene on 4 November 1940, four days after British troops arrived at Crete and Lemnos . Although Greece
60320-463: The theatre. The British forces were near to fully motorised, but their equipment was more suited to desert warfare than to Greece's steep mountain roads. They were short of tanks and anti-aircraft guns and the lines of communication across the Mediterranean were vulnerable, because each convoy had to pass close to Axis-held islands in the Aegean; despite the British Royal Navy's domination of the Aegean Sea . These logistical problems were aggravated by
60580-440: The troops necessary for implementing the Greek plan would seriously endanger operations in North Africa. In December 1940, German ambitions in the Mediterranean underwent considerable revision when Spain's General Francisco Franco rejected the Gibraltar attack. Consequently, Germany's offensive in southern Europe was restricted to the Greek campaign. The Armed Forces High Command issued Directive No. 20 on 13 December 1940, outlining
60840-435: The units defending Greece. The German Army reached the capital, Athens , on 27 April and Greece's southern shore on 30 April, capturing 7,000 British, Australian and New Zealand personnel and ending the battle with a decisive victory. The conquest of Greece was completed with the capture of Crete a month later. Following its fall, Greece was occupied by the military forces of Germany, Italy and Bulgaria. Hitler later blamed
61100-428: The whole system Mussolini had established, and this was recognized at the time; it is not hindsight from 1943". If Italy was knocked out of the war, then the British would be able to use the central Mediterranean again, and the governors of the French colonies in Africa loyal to the Vichy regime might switch their loyalties to the French National Committee headed by Charles de Gaulle. As Hitler had plans to ultimately use
61360-412: The withdrawal of Allen Force which was to move along the same route as the New Zealand Division. The British, Australian and New Zealand forces remained under attack throughout the withdrawal. On the morning of 18 April, the Battle of Tempe Gorge , the struggle for the Pineios Gorge, was over when German armoured infantry crossed the river on floats and 6th Mountain Division troops worked their way around
61620-411: Was able to lure Jakob to an ambush near Vobliana: Jakob was captured and immediately executed (1 October 1416). Carlo had effectively ended the rule of the Albanian clans in southernmost Epirus. Nevertheless, internal dissension eased the Ottoman conquest, which began with the capture of Ioannina in 1430 and continued with Arta in 1449, Angelokastro in 1460, Riniasa Castle and its environs (in what
61880-435: Was again dismissed by Constantine. In August 1916, after several incidents where both combatants encroached upon the still theoretically neutral Greek territory, Venizelist officers rose up in Allied-controlled Thessaloniki, and Venizelos established a separate government there. Constantine was now ruling only in what was Greece before the Balkan Wars ("Old Greece"), and his government was subject to repeated humiliations from
62140-416: Was assassinated by Ottoman agents in 1822. When Greece became independent in 1830, however, Epirus remained under Ottoman rule. In 1854, during the Crimean War , a major local rebellion broke out . Although the newly found Greek state tried tacitly to support it, the rebellion was suppressed by Ottoman forces after a few months. Another failed rebellion by local Greeks broke out in 1878 . During this period,
62400-495: Was captured, Athens and the port of Piraeus became principal targets. Piraeus, was virtually destroyed by bombing on the night of the 6/7 April. The loss of Piraeus and the Isthmus of Corinth would fatally compromise withdrawal and evacuation of British and Greek forces. The Fifth Yugoslav Army took responsibility for the south-eastern border between Kriva Palanka and the Greek border. The Yugoslav troops were not fully mobilised and lacked adequate equipment and weapons. Following
62660-456: Was delayed by a shortage of pack animals, medium artillery and mountain equipment. Only on the evening of 9 April did it reach the area north-east of Serres . Most fortresses—like Fort Roupel , Echinos , Arpalouki, Paliouriones, Perithori, Karadag, Lisse and Istibey—held until the Germans occupied Thessaloniki on 9 April, at which point they surrendered under General Bakopoulos' orders. Nevertheless, minor isolated fortresses continued to fight for
62920-437: Was directed toward Epirus . Hostilities with the Greek army began at the Battle of Elaia–Kalamas , where they failed to break the defensive line and were forced to halt. Within three weeks, the Greek army launched a counter-offensive, during which it marched into Albanian territory, capturing significant cities such as Korça and Sarandë . Neither a change in Italian command nor the arrival of substantial reinforcements improved
63180-399: Was established in 1832 and was the successor state to the First Hellenic Republic . It was internationally recognised by the Treaty of Constantinople , where Greece also secured its full independence from the Ottoman Empire after nearly four centuries. The Kingdom of Greece was dissolved in 1924 and the Second Hellenic Republic was established following Greece's defeat by Turkey in
63440-403: Was followed by the Roman Empire and Eastern Roman Empire . Following the sack of Constantinople by the Fourth Crusade (1204), Epirus became the center of the Despotate of Epirus , one of the successor states to the Byzantine Empire . In the 14th century, Epirus was brought under the rule of the restored Byzantine Empire , before being briefly conquered by the Serbian Empire . The region
63700-501: Was forced to leave the country, without actually abdicating in June 1917. His second son Alexander became king, while the remaining royal family and the most prominent royalists followed into exile. Venizelos now led a superficially united Greece into the war on the Allied side, but underneath the surface, the division of Greek society into Venizelists and anti-Venizelists, the so-called National Schism , became more entrenched. Epirus Epirus ( / ɪ ˈ p aɪ r ə s / )
63960-415: Was highly suspicious of another of Churchill's plans for victory in the Mediterranean. On 9 March, New Zealand's prime minister, Peter Fraser , likewise gave his approval to redeploy the New Zealand division from Egypt to Greece, despite his fears of another Gallipoli. As he put it in a telegram to Churchill, he "could not contemplate the possibility of abandoning the Greeks to their fate" which "would destroy
64220-433: Was informed that it was "essential to deny the gorge to the enemy until 19 April even if it meant extinction". He sank a crossing barge at the western end of the gorge once all his men were across and set up defences. The 21st Battalion was reinforced by the Australian 2/2nd Battalion and later by the 2/3rd . This force became known as "Allen force" after Brigadier "Tubby" Allen . The 2/5th and 2/11th battalions moved to
64480-437: Was later raised and repaired). The Hamidiye then left the Aegean for the Eastern Mediterranean, making stops at Beirut and Port Said before entering the Red Sea . Although providing a major morale boost for the Ottomans, the operation failed to achieve its primary objective, as Kountouriotis refused to leave his post and pursue the Hamidiye . Four days later, on 18 January [ O.S. 5 January] 1913, when
64740-515: Was more open to granting transit rights to the Wehrmacht in exchange for a promise to have the parts of Greece that he coveted. In January 1941, Bulgaria granted the transit rights to the Wehrmacht. During a meeting of British and Greek military and political leaders in Athens on 13 January 1941, General Alexandros Papagos , Commander-in-Chief of the Hellenic Army , asked the United Kingdom for nine fully equipped divisions and corresponding air support. The British responded that all they could offer
65000-404: Was neutral until the Italian invasion, the British troops that were sent as defensive aid created the possibility of a frontier to the German southern flank. Hitler's principal fear was that British aircraft based in Greece would bomb the Romanian oil fields, which was one of Germany's most important sources of oil. As Hitler was already seriously considering launching an invasion of the Soviet Union
65260-406: Was not attacked until 13 March 1913, out of a desire not to upset the Italians in the nearby Dodecanese . The clashes there were short-lived as the Ottoman forces withdrew to the Anatolian mainland so that the island was securely in Greek hands by 16 March. At the same time, with the aid of numerous merchant ships converted to auxiliary cruisers , a loose naval blockade on the Ottoman coasts from
65520-438: Was not until 13 April that the first Greek elements began to withdraw toward the Pindus mountains. The Allies' retreat to Thermopylae uncovered a route across the Pindus mountains by which the Germans might flank the Hellenic army in a rearguard action. An elite SS formation—the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler brigade—was assigned the mission of cutting off the Greek Epirus Army's line of retreat from Albania by driving westward to
65780-405: Was quickly overrun by the Germans, who then outflanked the Greek forces at the Albanian border, forcing their surrender. British, Australian and New Zealand forces were overwhelmed and forced to retreat, with the ultimate goal of evacuation. For several days, Allied troops played an important part in containing the German advance on the Thermopylae position, allowing ships to be prepared to evacuate
66040-405: Was rebuilt, albeit in reduced extent, and renamed Justinianopolis, while Euroea was moved further inland (traditionally identified with the founding of Ioannina ), while Procopius claims that no less than 36 smaller fortresses in Epirus Vetus—most of them not identifiable today—were either rebuilt or built anew. In the late 6th century, much of Greece, including Epirus, fell under the control of
66300-427: Was short-lived, as when World War I broke out, Albania collapsed, and northern Epirus was alternately controlled by Greece, Italy and France at various intervals. Although the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 awarded Northern Epirus to Greece, developments such as the Greek defeat in the Greco-Turkish War and, crucially, Italian lobbying in favor of Albania meant that Greece would not keep Northern Epirus. In 1924,
66560-436: Was taken after a long battle with three Greek divisions under the command of General Bakopoulos, and was followed by the surrender of the Greek Eastern Macedonia Army Section , taking effect at 13:00 on 10 April. In the three days it took the Germans to reach Thessaloniki and breach the Metaxas Line, some 60,000 Greek soldiers were taken prisoner. In early April 1941, Greek, Yugoslav and British commanders met to set in motion
66820-518: Was the central arms depot for the Western Armies). The Ottoman forces estimated that 15,000 officers and men had been killed during the campaign in Macedonia, bringing total losses up to 41,000 soldiers. Another direct consequence was that the destruction of the Macedonian Army sealed the fate of the Ottoman Vardar Army, which was fighting the Serbs to the north. The fall of Thessaloniki left it strategically isolated, without logistical supply and depth to manoeuvre, ensuring its destruction. Upon learning of
67080-428: Was the immediate dispatch of a token force of less than divisional strength. This offer was rejected by the Greeks, who feared that the arrival of such a contingent would precipitate a German attack without giving them meaningful assistance. British help would be requested if and when German troops crossed the Danube from Romania into Bulgaria. The Greek leader, General Metaxas, did not particularly want British forces on
67340-454: Was then divided amongst a number of despotates and political entities, including the Despotate of Epirus, the Despotate of Arta , the Zenebishi family , and the Republic of Venice , before being conquered by the Ottoman Empire in the 15th century. Epirus became part of the semi-independent Pashalik governed by the Ottoman Albanian ruler Ali Pasha in the early 19th century, but the Sublime Porte re-asserted its control in 1821. Following
67600-427: Was translated into Demotic in 1901, riots erupted in Athens and the government fell (the Evangeliaka ). This issue would continue to plague Greek politics until the 1970s. All Greeks were united, however, in their determination to liberate the Greek-speaking provinces of the Ottoman Empire. Especially in Crete , a prolonged revolt in 1866–1869 had raised nationalist fervour. When war broke out between Russia and
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