207-672: Kingdom of Greece victory [REDACTED] Kingdom of Greece [REDACTED] ΡΕΑΝ [REDACTED] RAN [REDACTED] Organization X Ex-members of the Security Battalions [REDACTED] EDES (in Epirus ) [REDACTED] United Kingdom [REDACTED] EAM War The Dekemvriana ( Greek : Δεκεμβριανά , "December events") refers to a series of clashes fought during World War II in Athens from 3 December 1944 to 11 January 1945. The conflict
414-549: 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
621-717: A 37-day period of full-scale fighting in Athens between EAM fighters and smaller parts of ELAS, and the forces of the British army and the government. At the beginning the government had only a few policemen and gendarmes, some militia units, the 3rd Greek Mountain Brigade —distinguished at the Gothic Line offensive in Italy , which, however, lacked heavy weapons — and the royalist group Organization X, also known as " Chítes ", which
828-522: A Bulgarian attack according to the 1934 Balkan Pact . Entry to this zone was forbidden to the Bulgarians, and the Germans maintained only a police and administrative staff there. The Germans also retained control of a patchwork of strategically important areas across the country. The region of Central Macedonia around Greece's second largest city, Thessaloniki , was kept under German control both as
1035-625: A ceasefire in exchange for the ELAS's withdrawal from its positions at Patras and Thessaloniki and its demobilization in the Peloponnese. The communist guerrillas, led by Siantos, evacuated the capital taking thousands of hostages. During their retreat to central Greece, many of them died from the cold or hardships. ELAS took hostages in order to dissuade the RAF from attacking it during its retreat. About 13,000 members of EAM-ELAS were also arrested by
1242-584: A collaborationist government: any such concession would have terminated the puppet government's legitimacy. Likewise, Italian suggestions for an outright military occupation without a Greek administration were rejected. Hitler and the German Foreign Minister, Joachim von Ribbentrop , even cautioned the Italians of the dangers of annexing territories inhabited by large Greek populations, which might become hotbeds of resistance. Nevertheless, in
1449-446: A counterweight to ELAS. Throughout the occupation period, Zervas did not attempt to change his doctrine and EDES remained clearly a guerrilla force. Its main theatre of operation was Epirus. Because it was a particularly poor district, most of the logistical support was provided by the British. When EDES was finally disbanded at the fall of 1944, it had about 12,000 fighters, in addition to 5,000 reserves. Another armed resistance group
1656-472: A declared Communist. EAM increased in size and its central committee sought a more experienced military figure to take command. Napoleon Zervas , the leader of a rival guerrilla group, was approached but could not be enticed to join ELAS. The post was filled by Stefanos Sarafis , a former Greek army officer and non-communist. Immediately upon assuming command of ELAS, Sarafis set about reforming its haphazardly organized and commanded bands. By September 1943,
1863-500: 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
2070-549: 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
2277-478: 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
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#17327650702982484-594: A million people homeless" (P. Voglis) in the course of their anti-partisan sweeps, mostly in the areas of Central Greece , Western Macedonia and the Bulgarian occupation zone. The most infamous examples in the German zone are those of the village of Kommeno on 16 August 1943, where 317 inhabitants were executed by the 1. Gebirgs-Division and the village torched; the " Holocaust of Viannos " on 14–16 September 1943, in which over 500 civilians from several villages in
2691-591: 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
2898-618: 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
3105-574: A pro-royalist background. Occupation authorities were reluctant to arm potential groups willing to fight the left-wing EAM resistance due to the absence of a fascist movement in Greece and the general dislike of the Germans by the Greek population. Fascist organizations supported by the Germans were the National Union of Greece ( Ethniki Enosis Ellados , EEE), the EKK ( Ethnikon Kyriarchon Kratos ),
3312-465: A proclamation calling for the dissolution of ELAS. Command of ELAS was the KKE's greatest source of strength, and the KKE leader Siantos decided that the demand for ELAS's dissolution must be resisted. Tito's influence may have played some role in ELAS's resistance to disarmament. Tito was outwardly loyal to Stalin but had come to power through his own means and believed that the communists in Greece should do
3519-753: 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
3726-460: A severe shortage of food in the major urban centres in the winter of 1941–42. Some of this shortage is attributable to the Allied blockade of Europe since Greece depended on wheat imports to cover about a third of its annual needs. These factors created the conditions for the "Great Famine" (Μεγάλος Λιμός) where in the greater Athens – Piraeus area alone, some 40,000 people died of starvation, and by
3933-462: A source of conflict within both EAM and ELAS. Following Stalin's instructions, the KKE leadership tried to avoid a confrontation with the Papandreou government. Most ELAS members saw the British as liberators despite some KKE leaders, such as Andreas Tzimas and Aris Velouchiotis . Tzimas was in touch with Yugoslav Communist leader Josip Broz Tito , and he disagreed with ELAS's cooperation with
4140-577: A special personality Nikolaos Plastiras for the government. It failed because the EAM-ELAS demands were considered excessive. Meanwhile, the Soviet Union remained passive about developments in Greece. True to the informal Percentages agreement struck between Stalin and Churchill that placed Greece in the British sphere of influence , the Soviet delegation in Greece did not encourage or discourage
4347-536: A strategic outlet into the Aegean as well as a trump card between the competing claims of both Bulgarians and Italians on it. Along with the eastern Aegean islands of Lemnos , Lesbos , Agios Efstratios , and Chios , became 'Salonica-Aegean Military Command' ( Befehlsbereich Saloniki-Ägäis ) under Curt von Krenzki . Further south, the 'South Greece Military Command' ( Befehlsbereich Südgriechenland ) under Hellmuth Felmy comprised isolated locations of Athens and
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#17327650702984554-487: The andartes were launching direct attacks on Italian guard posts and barracks, while on 16 April, an Italian report noted that "control throughout the north-east, centre and south-west of Greece remains very precarious, not to say nonexistent". On 27 September 1941, the National Liberation Front (EAM) was established. It was nominally a " popular front " organization composed of a coalition of
4761-429: The 12th Army , Felix Benzler, the formation of a puppet government wasn't an easy task "because it is very difficult to persuade qualified civilians to participate in any form". The most influential Greek personalities hardly wished to make their re-entry into public life at such a moment, while archbishop Chrysanthos of Athens refused to swear such an Axis puppet. Suspicious of the Greeks' capacity for causing problems,
4968-627: The Allies their first victory over Axis forces on land, although due to German intervention, it eventually resulted in a victory for the Axis. 15 of the 21 Greek divisions were deployed against the Italians, leaving only six divisions to defend against the attack from German troops in the Metaxas Line near the border between Greece and Yugoslavia/Bulgaria in the first days of April. They were supported by British Commonwealth troops sent from Libya on
5175-636: 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
5382-525: The Attica region, such as the Kalamaki Airfield , parts of the port of Piraeus , and the offshore islands of Salamis , Aegina , and Fleves ; the island of Milos as a mid-way stronghold to Crete; and most of Crete, except for the eastern Lasithi Prefecture , which was handed over to the Italians. Crete, quickly named " Fortress Crete ", came to be regarded as a de facto separate command; upon
5589-624: The Axis Powers ( Greek : Η Κατοχή , romanized : I Katochi , lit. 'the occupation') began in April 1941 after Nazi Germany invaded the Kingdom of Greece in order to assist its ally, Italy , in their ongoing war that was initiated in October 1940, having encountered major strategical difficulties. Following the conquest of Crete , the entirety of Greece
5796-596: The Communist Party of Greece (KKE) and five other left-wing parties. EAM was virtually controlled by the KKE, although initially, the secretive and generally unpopular Communist party was successful in concealing this fact. The military wing of EAM was the Greek People's Liberation Army (ELAS). Its first guerrilla band had been formed in Central Greece, under the leadership of Aris Velouchiotis ,
6003-588: The Communist Party of Greece . This uprising was suppressed by the Bulgarian Army, followed by massive reprisals against Greek civilians. By late 1942, more than 100,000 Greeks were expelled from the Bulgarian occupation zone. Bulgarian colonists were encouraged to settle in East Macedonia and Thrace with credits and incentives from the central Bulgarian government, including confiscated land and houses. The Bulgarian government's attempts to win
6210-465: 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
6417-571: 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
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6624-579: 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
6831-632: 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
7038-716: 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
7245-652: The Greek National Socialist Party ( Elliniko Ethnikososialistiko Komma , EEK) led by George S. Mercouris , and other minor pro-Nazi, fascist or anti-Semitic organizations such as the Hellenic Socialist Patriotic Organization (ESPO) or the "Iron Peace" ( Sidira Eirini ). Cooperation of civil servants with the resistance, in particular the EAM, occurred even before a widescale resistance movement unfolded. For
7452-665: The Hellenic Army into neighbouring Albania , which at the time was an Italian protectorate . Nazi Germany intervened on its ally's behalf in southern Europe. While most of the Hellenic Army was located on the Albanian front lines to defend against Italian counter-attacks, a rapid German Blitzkrieg campaign took place from April to June 1941, resulting in Greece being defeated and occupied. The Greek government went into exile , and an Axis collaborationist government
7659-465: The Hellenic Army successfully exploited the mountainous terrain of Epirus . The Hellenic forces counterattacked and forced the Italians to retreat. By mid-December, the Greeks had occupied nearly one-quarter of Albania, before Italian reinforcements and the harsh winter stemmed the Greek advance. In March 1941, a major Italian counterattack failed. The initial Greek defeat of the Italian invasion gave
7866-574: 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,
8073-548: The House of Commons . To prove his peacemaking intentions to the public, Churchill went to Athens with Field Marshal Harold Alexander , Anthony Eden and Harold Macmillan on Christmas Day (25 December), to preside over a conference to bring about a settlement, in which Soviet representatives (Popov) also participated. The conference was to take place in the Hotel Grande Bretagne. Later, it became known that there
8280-541: The Ionian Sea , where another 3,000 were lost. The Cephalonia massacre serves as the background for the novel Captain Corelli's Mandolin . The Third Reich had no long-term plans for Greece and Hitler had already decided that a domestic puppet regime would be the least expensive drain on German efforts and resources as the invasion of the Soviet Union was imminent. According to a report by Foreign Office delegate of
8487-616: The Peloponnese . The northeastern parts of the country, eastern Macedonia and most of Western Thrace , were handed over to Bulgaria, and were de facto annexed into the Bulgarian state. However, a band of territory along the Evros River , on Greece's border with Turkey, remained under control of the collaborationist Greek government to give the Turkish government a pretext for disregarding her obligations to assist Greece in case of
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8694-491: The Strymon River and a line of demarcation running through Alexandroupoli and Svilengrad west of the Evros River . The Greek capital Athens fell on 27 April, and by 1 June, after the capture of Crete , all of Greece was under Axis occupation. After the invasion, King George II fled, first to Crete and then to Cairo. A Greek right-wing government ruled from Athens as a puppet of the occupying forces. Although
8901-734: The Vlach ( Aromanian ) population in the Pindus mountains and Western Macedonia also collaborated with the Axis powers. Italian occupation forces were welcomed in some Aromanian villages as liberators, and Aromanians offered their services as guides or interpreters in exchange for favors. Under Alcibiades Diamandi , the pro-Italian Principality of the Pindus was declared, and 2000 locals joined his Roman Legion , while another band of Aromanian followers under Nicolaos Matussis carried out raids in service of Italy. While most local Aromanians remained loyal to
9108-529: 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
9315-473: The interwar years , the ethnic composition of the region's population had dramatically shifted, as Greek refugees from Anatolia settled in Macedonia and Thrace following the population exchange between Greece and Turkey . This left only a minority of local Slavic language speakers as the target of the Bulgarian government's recruitment and collaboration efforts. Because of these occupation policies, there
9522-528: 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 ,
9729-520: 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
9936-759: 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
10143-442: The Axis , some Chams joined a mixed EAM battalion at the end of the war, but never ended up making a significant contribution to the resistance against Germany. (For local developments in 1944–1945: see Expulsion of Cham Albanians ). After the war, a Special Court on Collaborators in Ioannina condemned 2,109 Cham collaborators to death in absentia . However, by the time of conviction, they had already relocated abroad. Some of
10350-527: The Axis decided to withhold international recognition from the new regime, which remained without a Foreign Minister for its entire lifetime. General Georgios Tsolakoglou – who had signed the armistice treaty with the Wehrmacht – was appointed as prime minister of the Nazi puppet regime in Athens. Neither Tsolakoglou nor his cabinet of equally inexperienced generals had any previous political experience. The civilian ministers were also an unimpressive group without political background. The government itself
10557-451: 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
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#173276507029810764-492: 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
10971-528: The British and handed over to the Greek authorities. The new government of Plastiras and the Communist Party signed in February 1945 the Treaty of Varkiza in an effort of accord. On 25 January 1945, a mass grave of about 200 people was found in Athens. Examiners estimated the bodies to be a month to six weeks old, which aligns with the period of the ELAS occupation of the area. None of the 200 were executed via gunshot, instead having been executed with hatchets, blunt instruments, or by stoning. Participants with
11178-407: The British commander Woodhouse insisted that it was uncertain whether the first shots were fired by the police or the demonstrators. LIFE photographer Dmitri Kessel, who witnessed the shooting, reported that the "police fired without provocation". More than 28 demonstrators were killed, and 148 were injured. This signalled the beginning of the Dekemvriana ( Greek : Δεκεμβριανά , "December event s "),
11385-485: The British forces. The issue of disarming the resistance organizations was a cause of friction between the Papandreou government and its EAM members. Advised by British ambassador Reginald Leeper , Papandreou demanded the disarmament of all armed forces apart from the Sacred Band and the III Mountain Brigade , which were formed following the suppression of the April 1944 Egypt mutiny , and two equal numbered corps of ELAS and EDES that would take part in operations against
11592-408: The Bulgarian annexations ran high, in early autumn 1941. The Germans responded swiftly, torching several villages and executing 488 civilians. The brutality of these reprisals led to a collapse of the early guerrilla movement. It was revived in 1942 at a much greater scale. The first event that signaled the beginning of organized, armed opposition to the occupation forces occurred in September 1942 when
11799-416: 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
12006-419: The Caserta Agreement, all Greek forces were under the Allied command of Scobie. On 1 December 1944, the Greek government of "National Unity" under Georgios Papandreou and Lt. General Scobie (British head of the Allied forces in Greece at that time) announced an ultimatum for the general disarmament of all guerrilla forces by 10 December, excluding those allied to the government (the 3rd Greek Mountain Brigade and
12213-439: The Communist Party and the EAM-ELAS forces occurred at 28 July 1943. The National Republican Greek League (EDES) was led by Napoleon Zervas, a former army officer and republican. EDES was formed on 9 September 1941 and was at the beginning thoroughly republican and anti-monarchist, but also attracted a few monarchists and other right-wing supporters. The British were instrumental in the development of EDES, hoping it would become
12420-540: The Communist defeat. The Greek Resistance killed 21,087 Axis soldiers (17,536 Germans, 2,739 Italians, 1,532 Bulgarians) and captured 6,463 (2,102 Germans, 2,109 Italians, 2,252 Bulgarians), compared to the death of 20,650 Greek partisans and an unknown number captured. BBC News estimated Greece suffered at least 250,000 dead during the Axis occupation. In the early morning hours of 28 October 1940, Italian ambassador Emanuele Grazzi woke Greek premier Ioannis Metaxas and presented him an ultimatum . Metaxas rejected
12627-472: 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
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#173276507029812834-485: 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
13041-404: The EAM's ambitions. The delegation's chief gained the nickname "sphinx" among local Communist officers for not giving any clues about Soviet intentions. Pravda did not mention the clashes at all. By early January, EAM forces had lost the battle. Despite Churchill's intervention, Papandreou resigned and was replaced by Lieutenant General Nikolaos Plastiras . On 15 January 1945, Scobie agreed to
13248-609: The EAM-ELAS side included among others Kostas Axelos , Iannis Xenakis , Manolis Glezos , Apostolos Santas , Mikis Theodorakis , Memos Makris Aimilios Veakis , Dimitris Partsalidis , Helene Ahrweiler and Nikos Koundouros . Participants with the government/British side included Anastasios Peponis , Stylianos Pattakos , Konstantinos Ventiris and Panagiotis Spiliotopoulos . 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] )
13455-415: 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
13662-535: The German army was instrumental in the conquest of Greece, this was an accident born of Italy's ill-fated invasion and the subsequent presence of British troops on Greek soil. Greece had not figured in Adolf Hitler 's pre-war plans as a target for German annexation: the country was poor, not adjacent to Germany, and did not host any German minorities. The Greeks themselves were seen by Nazi racial theory as neither valuable enough to be Germanized and assimilated, nor as sub-humans to be exterminated. Indeed, Hitler opposed
13869-420: The German sweeps "[turned] producing areas into burned fields and pillaged villages, and the wealthy provincial towns into refugee settlements". After the German invasion, the Italian government put forward vague demands for annexations in northwestern Greece, as well as the Ionian Islands , but these were turned down by the Germans, as they would have been a hindrance to concluding an armistice and establishing
14076-475: The German- and Italian-occupied parts of Greece. A licensing system banned the practice of trades and professions without permission, along with confiscation of estates of Greek landowners, which were given to Bulgarian peasants settlers from within the pre-war boundaries of Bulgaria. As a reaction to these policies, there was a spontaneous and poorly organized attempt to expel the Bulgarians with an uprising around Drama in late September 1941 primarily guided by
14283-415: The Germans (still occupying Crete), such as the constitution of a National Guard under government control. EAM, believing that it would leave the guerrillas of ELAS defenseless against anticommunist militias, submitted an alternative plan of total and simultaneous disarmament. Papandreou rejected this plan, causing EAM's ministers to resign from the government on 2 December. On 1 December, Scobie had issued
14490-440: The Greek Fascist Party (EEE) Club in downtown Athens was blown up by the Panhellenic Union of Fighting Youths (PEAN), a right-wing Greek resistance organization. Attacks on Axis personnel became more frequent from that month. On 25 November, the resistance together with the British mission destroyed the Gorgopotamos viaduct in Central Greece, disrupting the flow of Axis supplies to the North African front . By March–April,
14697-444: 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
14904-486: The Greek army, led by then-Lieutenant General Thrasyvoulos Tsakalotos . By then, the Germans were in full retreat, and most of Greece's territory had already been liberated by Greek partisans. On 13 October, British troops entered Athens and Papandreou and his ministers followed six days later. King George II stayed in Cairo because Papandreou had promised that the future of the monarchy would be decided by referendum. There
15111-532: The Greek civilian population. Much of Greece's economic capacity was destroyed, including 80% of industry, 28% of infrastructure (ports, roads and railways), 90% of its bridges, and 25% of its forests and other natural resources. Along with the loss of economic capacity, an estimated 7-11% of Greece's civilian population died as a result of the occupation. In Athens, 40,000 civilians died from starvation and tens of thousands more died from reprisals by Nazis and their collaborators. The Jewish population of Greece
15318-594: The Greek flag. The Greek soldier obeyed, but when he was done, he wrapped himself in the flag and threw himself off the plateau where he died. Some days later, when the Reichskriegsflagge was waving on the Acropolis' uppermost spot, two Athenian youngsters, Manolis Glezos and Apostolos Santas , climbed by night on the Acropolis and tore down the flag. The first signs of armed resistance activity manifested themselves in northern Greece, where resentment at
15525-518: 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
15732-464: 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
15939-420: 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
16146-486: The Greek language was banned, and the names of towns and places were changed to traditional Bulgarian forms. Gravestones bearing Greek inscriptions were defaced as a part of the effort. The Bulgarian government tried to alter the ethnic composition of the region by aggressively expropriating land and houses from Greek people in favor of settlers from Bulgaria, and enacted forced labor and economic restrictions on Greek businesses, in an effort to influence them to migrate to
16353-402: The Greek nation, some collaborated with the Axis powers because of latent pro-Romanian feelings or anger toward the Greek government and its military. Diamandi's Legion collapsed in 1942 when Italian positions were taken over by Germany, and most of its leaders fled to Romania or Greek cities. Most active members were convicted as war criminals in absentia, but many convictions were forgotten over
16560-446: The Greek puppet government with his German counterpart, Ambassador Günther Altenburg , while the fragmented occupation regimes meant that different military commanders were responsible for different parts of the country. As the historian Mark Mazower comments, "The stage was set for bureaucratic infighting of Byzantine complexity: Italians pitted against Germans, diplomats against generals, the Greeks trying to play one master off against
16767-670: 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
16974-412: 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,
17181-455: 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
17388-470: The Ionian Islands the Greek civil authorities were replaced by Italians, presumptively in preparation for annexation after the war. Claiming the inheritance of the Republic of Venice , which had ruled the islands for centuries, the senior Fascist Party official Pietro Parini took steps to uncouple the islands from the rest of Greece: his decrees had the force of law, a new currency, the " Ionian Drachma ",
17595-599: The Italian surrender to reenter the Aegean Sea with the Dodecanese Campaign . From 1942 onwards, the German occupation zone was ruled by the duumvirate of the plenipotentiary for South-Eastern Europe, Hermann Neubacher , and Field Marshal Alexander Löhr . In September–October 1943, Jürgen Stroop , the newly appointed Higher SS Police Leader, tried to challenge the Neubacher-Löhr duumvirate and
17802-407: The Italians to plunder the country, and also with each other. The primary purpose of the German requisitions, however, was finding as much food as possible to sustain the German army. The occupying powers' requisitions, disruption in agricultural production, hoarding by farmers and breakdown of the country's distribution networks from both infrastructure damage and change in government structure led to
18009-530: The Italians were more interested in making love than in making war, and that the Italians lacked the "hardness" to wage a campaign against the Greek guerrillas because many Italian soldiers had Greek girlfriends. After the Italian capitulation in September 1943, the Italian zone was taken over by the Germans, often by attacking the Italian garrisons. There was a failed attempt by the British to take advantage of
18216-727: The Jews. They protect the Italian Jews both in Tunis and in occupied France and will not permit their being drafted for work or compelled to wear the Star of David. This shows once again that Fascism does not really dare to get down to fundamentals but is very superficial regarding problems of vital importance." Mass reprisals did sometimes occur, such as the Domenikon massacre in which 150 Greek civilians were killed. As they controlled most of
18423-588: The Nazis: most chose either the path of passive acceptance or active resistance. Active Greek resistance started immediately as many Greeks fled to the hills, where a partisan movement was born. One of the most touching episodes of the early resistance is said to have taken place just after the Wehrmacht reached the Acropolis on 27 April. The Germans ordered the flag guard, Evzone Konstandinos Koukidis , to retire
18630-512: 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
18837-440: 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
19044-467: 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
19251-499: 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
19458-519: 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
19665-518: 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,
19872-514: 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
20079-583: The Sacred Band) and also a part of EDES and ELAS that would be used in Allied operations in Crete and the Dodecanese (still under German occupation), if it was necessary. As a result, on 2 December, six ministers of the EAM, most of whom were KKE members, resigned from their positions in the "National Unity" government. The EAM called for a general strike and a demonstration in front of the Greek parliament for
20286-572: 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
20493-675: The Slavic-speaking population in these regions, aiming to recruit collaborators and gather intelligence on what was happening in the German- and Italian-occupied zones. In 1942, the Bulgarian club asked assistance from the High Command in organizing armed units among those populations, but the Germans were initially very suspicious. Taking advantages of Italian incompetence and the German need for releasing troops on other fronts, since 1943 Sofia had been seeking to extend its control over
20700-461: 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
20907-489: 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
21114-404: 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
21321-686: The anticipated Bulgarian withdrawal. There were a few instances of collaboration by the Muslim minority in Western Thrace , who mainly resided in the Komotini and Xanthi prefectures. The Bulgarian government also attempted to extend its influence to central and west Macedonia. The German High Command approved the foundation of a Bulgarian military club in Thessaloniki , and Bulgarian officers organized supplying of food and provisions for
21528-467: The area. As a result, armed collaborationist militias composed of pro-Bulgarian Slavic-speakers, known as Ohrana , were formed in 1943 in the districts of Pella , Florina and Kastoria . The ELAS units joined EAM in 1944 before the end of the occupation. The Soviet Union declared war on the Kingdom of Bulgaria in early September 1944. Bulgaria withdrew from the central parts of Greek Macedonia after
21735-400: The area. Meanwhile, around 90,000 Bulgarians left the area, nearly half of them settlers and the rest locals. The administrative power was handed over by the already ruling Bulgarian communist partisans to local subdivisions of ELAS. In 1945 the former Bulgarian authorities, including those in Greece, were put on trial before " People's Courts " in post-war Bulgaria for their actions during
21942-586: The authorities to "buy" the aid from them and then sell it on at inflated prices. The perception of suffering and pressure from the Kingdom of Greece's government in exile eventually led to the British partially lifting the blockade, and from the summer of 1942 Canadian wheat began to be distributed by the International Red Cross . Of the country's 7.3 million inhabitants in 1941, it is estimated that 2.5 million received this aid, of whom half lived in Athens, meaning that almost all people in
22149-399: The balance as a loan without interest that was to be repaid once the war was over. By the end of the war, this forced loan amounted to 476 million Reichsmarks (equivalent to 2 billion 2021 euros). Hitler's policy toward the economy of occupied Greece was termed Vergeltungsmassnahme , or, roughly, "retaliation measures", the "retaliation" being for Greece having chosen the wrong side. Germany
22356-507: 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
22563-455: The capital city received this aid. Although the food aid reduced the risk of starvation in the cities, little of it reached the countryside, which experienced its own period of famine in 1943–44. The rise of the armed Resistance resulted in major anti-partisan campaigns across the countryside by the Axis, which led to wholesale burning of villages, destruction of fields, and mass executions in retaliation for guerrilla attacks. As P. Voglis writes,
22770-483: The centre of Athens, in an area that was ironically called Scobia (Scobie's country) by the guerrillas. The British, alarmed by the initial successes of EAM-ELAS and outnumbered, flew in the 4th Indian Infantry Division from Italy as emergency reinforcements. They also transferred John Hawkesworth from Italy to Athens, as assistant to Scobie, who soon took the general command. Although the British were openly fighting against EAM in Athens, there were no such battles in
22977-582: 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,
23184-503: The collaborationist government paid the costs of the occupation, which resulted in greater inflation. Because the outflows of raw materials and products from Greece towards Germany weren't offset by German payments, substantial imbalances accrued in the settlement accounts at the National Bank of Greece . In October 1942 the trading company DEGRIGES was founded; two months later, the Greek collaborationaist government agreed to treat
23391-601: 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
23598-408: The command of a British officer, Lieutenant General Ronald Scobie . According to historian Donny Gluckstein , Scobie sought to delay the German withdrawal in order to prevent ELAS from establishing control of the country. He cites German plenipotentiary Hermann Neubacher for this claim. The British arrived in Greece in October ( Operation Manna ) with the exiled Greek government and some units of
23805-532: The communist organisations EAM and ELAS had difficulties in Florina and Kastoria. The majority of the Slav-speakers in Macedonia after mid-1943 joined EAM and were allowed to retain their organization. In October 1944 they deserted and departed to Yugoslavia. In November 1945, after the end of the war, some of then tried to capture Florina but were repulsed by the ELAS. Increasing attacks by partisans in
24012-470: The communists, the British represented their major opponent. By the summer of 1944, the Soviet forces advancing into Romania and towards Yugoslavia meant that the Germans still in the Balkans were at risk of being cut off. In September, Marshal Fyodor Tolbukhin 's armies advanced into Bulgaria , forcing the resignation of the country's pro-Nazi government and the establishment of a pro-Communist regime, and
24219-539: 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
24426-585: 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
24633-492: The countryside, Italy was the first to face the rising resistance movement in 1942–43. By mid-1943, the resistance had managed to expel a few Italian garrisons from some mountainous areas, including several towns, creating liberated zones ("Free Greece"). After the Italian armistice in September 1943, the Italian zone was taken over by the Germans. As a result, German anti-partisan and anti-Semitic policies were extended to it. The Bulgarian Army entered Greece on 20 April 1941 on
24840-482: The course of the Greek Civil War , in which many convicted Legion members actively fought for the government. Compared to the other two occupation zones, the Italian regime was relatively safe for its Greek residents, with a relatively low number of executions and atrocities compared to the German and Bulgarian zones. Unlike the Germans, the Italian military mostly protected Jews in their zone, and rejected
25047-413: The course of the concerted anti-guerrilla campaign, hundreds of villages were systematically torched and almost 1,000,000 Greeks left homeless. Two other notable acts of brutality were the massacres of Italian troops at the islands of Cephalonia and Kos in September 1943, during the German takeover of the Italian occupation areas. In Cephalonia, the 12,000-strong Italian 33rd Infantry Division "Acqui"
25254-470: 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
25461-549: 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
25668-470: The diversion of efforts towards western and southern Europe, and focused on the conquest and assimilation of Eastern Europe as the future German " Lebensraum ". Coupled with admiration for the Greek resistance to the Italian invasion, the result was that Hitler favoured postponing a final territorial settlement of Italy's claims on Greece to after the war. In the meantime, a local puppet government headed by Lt. General Georgios Tsolakoglou would be installed as
25875-534: 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
26082-444: The end of the occupation "it was estimated that the total population of Greece [...] was 300,000 less than it should have been because of famine or malnutrition". Greece received some foreign aid to make up some of the shortfall, coming at first from neutral countries like Sweden and Turkey (see SS Kurtuluş ), but most of the food ended up in the hands of government officials and black market traders, who used their connection to
26289-431: The end of the war. Similarly to the Ionian Islands, a local administration ( Këshilla ) was installed, and armed groups were formed by the local Cham Albanian community. For at least the beginning of the occupation, Muslim communities chose different political alignments according to the circumstances, alternating between collaboration, neutrality and, less frequently, resistance. Albanian and Greek communities allied with
26496-566: 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,
26703-459: The evening, a peaceful demonstration and funeral procession took place by EAM members. Government forces took no action but the procession was attacked by Chites led by Colonel Grivas, with over 100 dead. Also on 4 December, Papandreou gave his resignation to the British commander, Lt. General Scobie, who rejected it. By 12 December, ΕΑΜ was in control of most of Athens, Piraeus and the suburbs. The government and British forces were confined only in
26910-604: The exception of Epirus where Aris Velouchiotis attacked the forces of Napoleon Zervas . The Dekemvriana ended with the defeat of EAM-ELAS, leading to its disarmament in the Varkiza Agreement which marked the end of ELAS. This first defeat broke the power of EAM. This together with the EAM-instigated "Red Terror", was followed by a period of " White Terror " against the Greek Left, which contributed to
27117-403: 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
27324-443: The formation of the new Greek Army , under the command of the British. Yet, on 1 December, the British commander Ronald Scobie ordered the unilateral disarmament of EAM-ELAS. The EAM ministers resigned on the 2nd of December and EAM called for a rally in central Athens on the 3rd, requesting the immediate punishment of the collaborationist Security Battalions and the withdrawal of the "Scobie Order". The rally of some 200,000 people
27531-644: 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
27738-642: The heels of the Wehrmacht without having fired a shot. The Bulgarian occupation zone included the northeastern corner of the Greek mainland and the islands of Thasos and Samothrace , which corresponds to the present-day region of East Macedonia and Thrace , except for the Evros prefecture at the Greek-Turkish border, which was retained by the Germans over Bulgarian protests because of its strategic value. Unlike Germany and Italy, Bulgaria officially annexed
27945-450: 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,
28152-576: The insistence of the Kriegsmarine , it was regarded as a target for eventual annexation after the war. The islands of Euboea and Skyros , originally allotted to the German zone, were handed over to Italian control in October 1941; southern Attica was likewise transferred to the Italians in September 1942. From the outset, the so-called preponderanza , 'preponderance') granted to Italy by Hitler proved an illusion. The Italian plenipotentiary in Greece, Count Pellegrino Ghigi , shared control over
28359-412: The introduction of measures such as those established in the German occupation zone in Thessaloniki. The Germans were purportedly perturbed as the Italians not only protected Jews on their territory, but in parts of occupied France, Greece, the Balkans, and elsewhere. On 13 December 1942, Joseph Goebbels , Hitler's propaganda minister, wrote in his diary, "The Italians are extremely lax in the treatment of
28566-412: 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
28773-572: 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
28980-532: 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
29187-525: 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
29394-410: The latter years of the occupation resulted in a number of executions and wholesale slaughter of civilians in reprisal. In total, the Germans executed some 21,000 Greeks, the Bulgarians executed some 40,000 and the Italians executed some 9,000. By June 1944, between them the Axis powers had "raided 1,339 towns, boroughs and villages, of which 879, or two-thirds, were completely wiped out, leaving more than
29601-585: The loyalty of the local Slavic language-speaking populations and recruit collaborators among them had some success, with the Bulgarian armed forces being greeted as liberators in some areas. However, the ethnic composition of the region meant that the most of its inhabitants actively resisted the occupying forces. East Macedonia and Thrace had an ethnically mixed population until the early 20th century, including Greeks, Turks, Slavic-speaking Christians (some of whom self-identified as Greeks, others as Bulgarians), Jews, and Pomaks (a Muslim Slavic group). However, during
29808-487: 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
30015-493: 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
30222-604: The most efficient way to run the country. Eager to pull German troops out of the country in view of the imminent invasion of the Soviet Union , and to shore up his relations with his most important Axis partner, Hitler agreed to leave most of the country to be occupied by the Italians. This was undertaken by the Eleventh Army under Carlo Geloso , with three army corps: XXVI Army Corps in Epirus and western Greece, III Army Corps in Thessaly , and VIII Army Corps in
30429-659: The next day, 3 December. The demonstration involved at least 200,000 people marching on Panepistimiou Street towards the Syntagma Square . British tanks along with Greek police units had been scattered around the area, blocking the way of the demonstrators. The shootings began when the marchers had arrived at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier , in front of the Royal palace , above Syntagma Square. They originated from
30636-563: The occupied territories on 14 May 1941, which had long been a target of Bulgarian foreign policy. East Macedonia and Thrace had been part of the Ottoman Empire until 1913, when it became part of Bulgaria following the First Balkan War until being annexed by Greece in two stages. Later in 1913, Greece annexed parts of Western Thrace after the Second Balkan War , and then in 1920 at the San Remo conference , Greece formally received
30843-591: The occupying powers, fought against collaborationist Security Battalions , and set up espionage networks. By late 1943 the different resistance groups began to fight amongst themselves. At the end of occupation of the Greek mainland in October 1944, Greece was in a state of political polarization, which soon led to the outbreak of civil war . The civil war gave opportunity to those who had prominently collaborated with Nazi Germany or other occupiers to reach positions of power and avoid sanctions because of anti-communism , even eventually coming to power in post-war Greece after
31050-414: 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
31257-511: The orders of Winston Churchill . On 6 April 1941, Germany came to the aid of Italy and invaded Greece through Bulgaria and Yugoslavia , overwhelming Greek and British troops. On 20 April, after cessation of Greek resistance in the north, the Bulgarian Army entered Greek Thrace without firing a shot, with the goal of regaining its Aegean Sea outlet in Western Thrace and Eastern Macedonia. The Bulgarians occupied territory between
31464-427: The other". Relations between the Germans and Italians were not good and there were brawls between German and Italian soldiers; the Germans regarded the Italians as incompetent and frivolous, while the Italians considered the behaviour of their ostensible allies as barbarous. By contrast, the Italians had no such inhibitions, which created problems among Wehrmacht and SS officers. German officers often complained that
31671-411: The outbreak of the Greek Civil War in 1946. The clashes of Dekemvriana were among the bloodiest battles in modern Greek history, with a high rate of civilian deaths. By 1944, the two major resistance movements in occupied Greece , EDES and EAM-ELAS , each saw the other as the main adversary. They both recognized the fact that it was only a matter of time before the Germans evacuated the country. For
31878-525: 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,
32085-402: 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
32292-430: 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
32499-417: The police Angelos Evert giving the order to open fire on the crowd, by means of a handkerchief waved from the window. The sharpshooters had been given a standing order, according to Farmakis, "Don't fire as they are marching, at least up to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. When they march to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, open fire!" Although there are no accounts hinting that the crowd indeed possessed guns,
32706-422: The post-war borders of Bulgaria and thereby to secure a strategic outlet to the Aegean Sea. But the United Kingdom, whose troops advanced towards Greece at the same time, stated that the withdrawal of Bulgarian troops from all occupied territories was a precondition for a ceasefire agreement with Bulgaria. As result on 10 October, the Bulgarian army and administration began evacuating and after two weeks withdrew from
32913-443: 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
33120-416: The pro-Soviet coup in the country on 9 September 1944 . At that time it declared war on Germany, but the Bulgarian army remained in Eastern Macedonia and Thrace , where there were several limited attacks from withdrawing German troops in the middle of September. Bulgaria hoped to keep these territories after the war. The Soviet Union initially also believed it was possible to include at least Western Thrace in
33327-464: The purposes of civil administration before the invasion, Greece was divided into 37 prefectures . Following the occupation, the prefectures of Drama, Kavalla, Rhodope and Serres were annexed by Bulgaria and no longer under the control of the Greek government. The remaining 33 prefectures had a concurrent military administration by Italian or German troops. In 1943, Attica and Boeotia was split into separate prefectures. Few Greeks actively cooperated with
33534-592: 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
33741-472: The regime as of April 1943 and was responsible for the creation of the Greek collaborationist Security Battalions . As in other European countries, there were Greeks willing to collaborate with the occupying force. However, few of the members of the Security battalions shared a pro-German ideology. The majority convinced themselves that the British approved anti-communist activity; others enlisted because of opportunistic advancement, while most of them came from
33948-439: The region of Viannos and Ierapetra in Crete were executed by the 22. Luftlande Infanterie-Division ; the " Massacre of Kalavryta " on 13 December 1943, in which Wehrmacht troops of the 117th Jäger Division carried out the extermination of the entire male population and the subsequent total destruction of the town; the " Distomo massacre " on 10 June 1944, where units of the Waffen-SS Polizei Division looted and burned
34155-492: 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
34362-444: The remainder of present-day Western Thrace province after its victory in WWI . Throughout the Bulgarian occupation zone, Bulgaria had a policy of extermination, expulsion and ethnic cleansing , aiming to forcibly Bulgarize , expel or kill ethnic Greeks. This Bulgarization campaign deported all Greek mayors, landowners, industrialists, school teachers, judges, lawyers, priests and Hellenic Gendarmerie officers. The usage of
34569-459: The reorganization of ELAS bands along conventional lines had been completed, and ELAS strength was about 15,000 fighters with additionally 20,000 reserves. Eventually, the EAM incorporated 90% of the Greek resistance movement, boasted a total membership of over 1,500,000, including 50,000 armed guerrillas, and controlled much of rural mainland Greece and attracted large numbers of non-Communists. The first contact between Soviet officers and members of
34776-464: The rest of Macedonia. After the Italian collapse in 1943, the Germans allowed the Bulgarians to intervene in Greek Central Macedonia, over the area between the Strymon and Axios rivers. The situation also forced the Germans to take control of Western Macedonia with the occasional interventions of Bulgarian troops. At that time the Greek guerrilla forces, especially the left-wing Greek People's Liberation Army (ELAS) were gaining more and more strength in
34983-407: The rest of the big cities. In certain cases, such as Volos, some RAF units even surrendered equipment to ELAS fighters. It seems that ELAS preferred to avoid an armed confrontation with the British forces initially and later tried to reduce the conflict as much as possible, although poor communication between its many independent units around the country might also have played a role. This might explain
35190-452: 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
35397-468: 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
35604-404: 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
35811-419: The same. His influence, however, had not prevented the EAM leadership from putting its forces under Scobie's command a couple of months earlier, in accordance with the Caserta Agreement. Meanwhile, following Georgios Grivas 's instructions, Organization X members had set up outposts in central Athens and resisted EAM for several days until British troops arrived, as their leader had been promised. According to
36018-447: 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
36225-449: The simultaneous skirmishes with the British, the large-scale ELAS operations against Trotskyists , anarchists and other political dissidents in Athens, and the many contradictory decisions of EAM leaders. Videlicet, the KKE leadership, was supporting a doctrine of "national unity" while eminent members, such as Leonidas Stringos , Theodoros Makridis , and even Georgios Siantos , were creating revolutionary plans. Even more curiously, Tito
36432-476: 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,
36639-408: The streets, from the building of the General Police Headquarters, from the Parliament ( Vouli ), from the Hotel Grande Bretagne (where international observers had settled), from other governmental buildings and from policemen on the street. Among many testimonies, N. Farmakis, then a fifteen-year-old member of the anti-EAM Organization X participating in the shootings, described that he saw the head of
36846-418: The strongest available patron and shifted their allegiances when a better one appeared. Many events were part of a cycle of revenge between local communities over land ownership, state policies, sectarian hostilities and personal vendettas. This cycle of revenge became nationalized during the war with different communities choosing different sides. Although the majority of Cham Albanian elites collaborated with
37053-524: The tensions between the left and the right, in May 1944 it had been roughly agreed in the Lebanon Conference that all non-collaborationist factions would participate in a Government of National Unity ; eventually 6 out of 24 ministers were appointed by EAM. Additionally, a few weeks before the withdrawal of the German troops in October 1944, it had been reaffirmed in the Caserta Agreement that all collaborationist forces would be tried and punished accordingly; and that all resistance forces would participate in
37260-482: The ultimatum and Italian forces invaded Greek territory from Italian-occupied Albania less than three hours later. (The anniversary of Greece's refusal is now a public holiday in Greece.) Italian Prime Minister Benito Mussolini launched the invasion partly to prove that Italians could match the military successes of the German Army and partly because Mussolini regarded southeastern Europe as lying within Italy's sphere of influence. Against Mussolini's expectations,
37467-414: The village of Distomo in Boeotia resulting in the deaths of 218 civilians; the 3 October 1943 " Lingiades massacre " where the German army murdered in reprisal nearly 100 people in the village of Lingiades, 13 kilometres outside Ioannina ; and the " Holocaust of Kedros " on 22 August 1944 in Crete, where 164 civilians were executed and nine villages were dynamited after being looted. At the same time, in
37674-407: The war, spelling the demise of Greek rule in the region and its annexation by Bulgaria. The first non-communist resistance organization that emerged in the area had as main opponents members of the Aromanian- and Slav-speaking minorities, as well as the communists, rather than the Germans themselves. Because of the strong presence of German troops and the general distrust of Slavophones by the Greeks,
37881-404: The war. In general thousands of people were sentenced to prison, while ca. 2,000 received death sentences. Many Slavophones of Macedonia , in particular of Kastoria and Florina provinces, collaborated with Axis forces and came out openly for Bulgaria. These Slavophones considered themselves Bulgarian. In the first two years of occupation, a group of this community believed that the Axis would win
38088-406: The withdrawal of Bulgarian troops from Greek Macedonia . The Axis withdrawal, before the exiled government could return to the country, created a power vacuum . The government-in-exile, now led by the prominent liberal George Papandreou , moved to Italy, in preparation for its return to Greece. Under the Caserta Agreement of September 1944, all resistance forces in Greece were to be placed under
38295-419: Was a plan by the EAM to blow up the building, aiming to kill the participants, which was finally cancelled. Instead the conference took place in Phaliro, on the cruiser Ajax . From the Greek side Siantos, Partsalidis, Mantakas and Sofianopoulos took part for EAM and Regent Damaskinos, Papandreou, Panagiotis Kanellopoulos , Sofoulis, Kafantaris, Dimitris Maximos, Stefanos Stefanopoulos, Gonatas, Tsaldaris and as
38502-414: Was accused by EAM of collaborating with the Nazis. Consequently, the British intervened in support of the Greek government, deploying artillery and aircraft to reinforce their position as the battle approached its last stages. In the early morning hours of 4 December, ELAS reservists began operations in the Athens–Piraeus area, attacking Grivas' Organization X forces and many police stations with success. In
38709-426: Was additionally motivated by a desire to "pluck out the best fruit" to plunder before the Italians could get it. Groups of economic advisers, businessmen, engineers and factory managers came from Germany with the task of seizing anything they deemed of economic value, with involvement from both Germany's Economic Ministry and its Foreign Office involved in the operation. These groups saw themselves as in competition with
38916-435: 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
39123-418: Was armed resistance in the Bulgarian zone was that enjoyed widespread support from the civilians in the region; Greek guerrillas engaged the Bulgarian military in many battles, even entering pre-war Bulgarian territory, raided villages and captured booty. In 1943, previously united Greek factions began armed conflict between communist and right-wing groups with the aim of securing control of the region following
39330-410: Was attacked on 13 September by elements of the 1. Gebirgs-Division with support from Stukas , and forced to surrender on 21 September after suffering some 1,300 casualties. The next day, the Germans began executing their prisoners and did not stop until more than 4,500 Italians had been shot. The 4,000 or so survivors were put aboard ships for the mainland, but some of them sank after hitting mines in
39537-403: Was both the KKE's key sponsor and a key British ally, owing his physical and political survival in 1944 to British assistance. This outbreak of fighting between Allied forces and an anti-German European resistance movement while the war in Europe was still being fought was a serious political problem for Churchill's coalition government in Britain and caused much protest in the British press and
39744-399: 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
39951-407: Was established in its place. Greece's territory was divided into occupation zones run by the Axis powers, with the Germans administering the most important regions of the country themselves, including Athens , Thessaloniki and strategic Aegean Islands . Other regions of the country were run by Germany's partners, Italy and Bulgaria. The occupation reduced the Greek economy and brought hardships to
40158-494: 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. Occupied Greece The occupation of Greece by
40365-403: Was introduced in early 1942, and a policy of Italianization initiated in public education and the press. Similar steps were undertaken in the eastern Aegean island of Samos . However, due to German insistence, no official annexation took place during the occupation. Italian policy promised that the region of Chameria ( Thesprotia ) in northwestern Greece would be awarded to Albania after
40572-437: 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
40779-492: Was little to prevent ELAS from taking full control of the country. With the German withdrawal, ELAS units had taken control of the countryside and most of the cities. However, they did not take full control because the KKE leadership was instructed by the Soviet Union not to precipitate a crisis that could jeopardize Allied unity and put Stalin's larger postwar objectives at risk. Unlike their leaders, ELAS's fighters and rank-and-file were not aware of these instructions, and it became
40986-545: Was nearly eradicated. Of its pre-war population of 75–77,000, around 11–12,000 survived, often by joining the resistance or being hidden. Most of those who died were deported to Auschwitz , while those under Bulgarian occupation in Thrace were sent to Treblinka . The Italians did not deport Jews living in territory they controlled, but when the Germans took it over from them, Jews living there were also deported. Greek Resistance groups were formed during this occupation. These resistance groups launched guerrilla attacks against
41193-472: Was no clear distinction between the civil and military administration, while even the military administration was divided among various sectors (Italian 11th army, German 12th army, " fortress Crete " etc.) . In December 1942, Tsolakologlou was succeeded by Konstantinos Logothetopoulos , a professor of medicine whose main qualification for Prime Minister seemed to be his marriage to the niece of German Field Marshal Wilhelm List . Ioannis Rallis became head of
41400-406: 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
41607-436: Was occupied starting in June 1941. The occupation of the mainland lasted until Germany and its ally Bulgaria withdrew under Allied pressure in early October 1944, with Crete and some other Aegean islands being surrendered to the Allies by German garrisons in May and June 1945, after the end of World War II in Europe . Fascist Italy had initially declared war and invaded Greece in October 1940, but had been pushed back by
41814-435: Was shot at by the Greek Police and Gendarmerie, leaving 28 protesters dead and 148 wounded. These killings ushered a full-blown armed confrontation between EAM and the Government forces at first (which included the Security Battalions), and during the second half of December, between EAM and the British military forces. The clashes were limited to Athens, while elsewhere in Greece the situation remained tense but peaceful, with
42021-445: Was swiftly fired after less than a month on the job. Walter Schimana replaced Stroop as the Higher SS Police Leader in Greece and established a better working relationship with the Neubacher-Löhr duumvirate. Residents of Greece suffered greatly during the occupation. With the country's economy having been reduced from six months of war, and economic exploitation by the occupying forces, raw materials and food were requisitioned, and
42228-518: 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
42435-414: Was the culmination of months of tension between the left-wing EAM , some parts of its military arm, the ELAS , stationed in Athens, the KKE and the OPLA from one side and from the other side, the Greek Government [ el ] , some parts of the Hellenic Royal Army , the Hellenic Gendarmerie , the Cities Police , the Organization X , among others and also the British Army . Regardless of
42642-427: 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
42849-471: Was wracked by internal disputes and held in low esteem by the Greek public, especially after the Italians replaced the Germans throughout much of the country in June 1941. The puppet government was kept under strict Axis control. Two Axis plenipotentiaries, Gunther Altenburg and Pellegrino Ghigi , had the power to recommend the appointment and dismissal of Greek officials and were the key civilian figures in shaping Axis policy towards Greece. In addition, there
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