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Contribution of Greece to the Victory of the Allies During Ww Ii
CONTRIBUTION OF GREECE TO THE VICTORY OF THE ALLIES DURING WW II Lt Colonel of Engineering Panayiotis Spyropoulos Historian of the History Directorate of Hellenic Army General Staff The peninsula of Greece has, since antiquity, been a point of confrontation be- tween East and West, as it constitutes an area of utmost strategic value, situated on the flanks of the main axis of operations in East-West direction and vice-versa. Who- ever occupies Greece can effortlessly with his forces harass the flanks or even the rear of troops operating along the aforementioned axis, control the sea line of com- munication from Gibraltar to Suez, and block from the west the sea route from the Black Sea to Propontis (Marmara) Sea, the Hellespont (Straits), the Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. The geo-strategic value of Greece has been dramatically enhanced during the XXth century, due to the rapid technological development of war equipment (as per the quote of sir Halford Mackinder on the «Heartland»). During the 2nd World War, Italy launched the attack against Greece, without informing its ally, Germany. Berlin was enraged by the Italian action and considered it «totally incoherent» and mistimed, because it was initiated just before wintertime, a season unsuitable for mountain operations, as well as just before the elections in the (still neutral) USA, providing Roosevelt with even more convincing arguments for go- ing to war. Moreover, it criticised the Italians refraining from any seaborne operation, a fact that facilitated the British in debarking on Crete and other islands, significant for their strategic importance; while they left them the margin to deploy in Thessalo- nica. -
General Papagos and the Anglo-Greek Talks of February 1941 by JOHN S
General Papagos and the Anglo-Greek Talks of February 1941 by JOHN S. KOLIOPOULOS The Anglo-Greek talks of February 1941 are one of the most con- troversial issues in the historiography of World War II. The talks were held in Athens to discuss Britain's decision earlier in that month to help Greece against a possible German attack, and to agree on a line of defense which could be reasonably expected to check the enemy ad- vance. In addition to the strength of the forces required to hold the enemy and the allocation of these forces, the representatives of the two 'countries were obliged to take into account two important factors: (a) the attitude of Yugoslavia; and (b) the time factor. In accordance with the agreement reached late on February 22, the British would send to Greece, in addition to their air force units already operating in the country, five squadrons of aircraft and land forces equal to four divisions. The British troops would arrive in three installments, and would be deployed on a line to the west of Salonika, running from northwest to southeast along Mt. Vermion and Mt. Olympus, the "Aliakmon line," as it was called. The Greeks, on the other hand, would provide four additional divisions (thirty-five battalions) from Thrace and eastern Macedonia for the defense of the Aliakmon line, and one division in reserve at Larissa. By the same agreement, Anthony Eden, the British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, undertook to approach Yugoslavia in order to enlist its military cooperation with Britain and Greece. -
Haifa 12/12/02 FREEDOM OR DEATH: the Jews in the Greek Resistance Steven Bowman, University of Cincinnati Visiting Profe
Haifa 12/12/02 FREEDOM OR DEATH: The Jews in the Greek Resistance Steven Bowman, University of Cincinnati Visiting Professor, University of Haifa “Better one hour of freedom than 40 years of slavery and prison” Rigas Pheraios (1757-1798) Neither the Greek Government nor the Greek people accepted the surrender of their trapped and exhausted armies in April 1941. Nor did the people of Crete who fought alongside the remnants of the Greek army and the British Expeditionary Force accept the German invasion and subsequent occupation. Resistance continued from the victory over the Italians and was the Greek response to the Axis invasions. Resistance took many forms. Urban resistance emphasized gathering of information, refusal to volunteer for labor in Germany, occasional acts of sabotage, demonstrations and protests, sympathy with and assistance to British prisoners of war; even survival was an act of resistance. Rural resistance, in the main, consisted of hiding food and offering sanctuary and assistance to escaped British POWs and to resistance fighters. Eventually the rural population contributed its sons – and daughters – to the new vision of Greece imposed by EAM-ELAS. The mountains however have justly claimed the historical high ground for resistance. It was to the mountains, as traditionally among the klephtes of the Ottoman period, that men and women ran from the occupying authorities and planned their attacks. The mountains, as Leon Uris described them, were angry, indeed as angry as a swarm of bees whose pastoral life was disturbed by rabid wolves. The resistance in Greece began as a continuation of the war against the Axis forces that had invaded, conquered, and occupied Greece. -
Grossomanides Elected New AHEPA Leader Gentleman James Poll
o C V ΓΡΑΦΕΙ ΤΗΝ ΙΣΤΟΡΙΑ Bringing the news ΤΟΥ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΣΜΟΥ to generations of ΑΠΟ ΤΟ 1915 The National Herald Greek Americans c v A weekly Greek AmericAn PublicAtion www.thenationalherald.com VOL. 14, ISSUE 720 July 30 - August 5, 2011 $1.50 In Washington Trip, Grossomanides Elected New AHEPA Leader Venizelos Says Greece New Officers Will Follow Karacostas’ Coming Back Again Focus on Youth WASHINGTON – New Greek Fi - newspaper Kathimerini reported nance Minister Evangelos that he was buoyed by his meet - By Constantine S. Sirigos Venizelos, in an address at the ing with Geithner and IMF Man - TNH Staff Writer Peterson Institute for Interna - aging Director Chirstine La - tional Economics here, said garde, which he described as NEW YORK – Greek America’s debt-crushed Greece is deter - “positive,” and said: “All of us largest organization, AHEPA, mined to restore itself and that together - the IMF, the IIF (an put its continued dynamism on the government’s goal “is to re - international banking agency,) display at its 89th annual meet - turn to positive growth and cre - the American government, the ing, this one in Miami Beach’s ate primary surpluses by 2012,” European Union, the European Fontainebleau Hotel, naming an ambitious benchmark many Central Bank - need to send a Dr. John Grossomanides of analysts said is impossible to strong and clear message: We Westerly, R.I. to replace two- reach. Greece, suffering under have a program, we trust in its term leader Nicholas Karacostas $460 billion in debt and a deficit implementation and its as Supreme President, the high - of more than 10%, is relying on prospects, and we will collec - light of a week of work and the so-called Troika of the Eu - tively achieve our goals.” recreation and the celebration ropean Union-International Venizelos provided no details of Hellenic heritage during Monetary Fund-European Cen - about the meetings, but he ap - AHEPA’s 89th Annual Supreme tral Bank for rescue loans to stay peared satisfied and suggested Convention. -
Dodecanese Campaign from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia
Create account Log in Article Talk Read Edit View history Dodecanese Campaign From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The Dodecanese Campaign of World War II was an attempt by Allied forces, mostly Navigation Dodecanese Campaign British, to capture the Italian-held Dodecanese islands in the Aegean Sea following the Part of the Mediterranean and Middle East theatre of Main page surrender of Italy in September 1943, and use them as bases against the German- World War II Contents controlled Balkans. The Allied effort failed, with the whole of the Dodecanese falling to Featured content the Germans within two months, and the Allies suffering heavy losses in men and Current events ships.[3] The operations in the Dodecanese, lasting from 8 September to 22 November Random article 1943, resulted in one of the last major German victories in the war.[4] Donate to Wikipedia Contents 1 Background Interaction 2 Initial Allied and German moves — The Fall of Rhodes Help 3 Battle of Kos About Wikipedia 4 Battle of Leros Community portal 5 Naval operations Recent changes 6 Aftermath Map of the Dodecanese Islands (in dark blue) Contact Wikipedia 7 In popular culture Date September 8 – November 22, 1943 8 References Location Dodecanese Islands, Aegean Sea Toolbox 9 Sources 10 External links Result German victory What links here Territorial German occupation of the Dodecanese Related changes changes Background [edit] Upload file Belligerents Special pages Further information: Military history of Greece during World War United Kingdom Germany Permanent link II and Mediterranean and Middle East theatre of World War II Kingdom of Italy Republican State of Page information South Africa Italy The Dodecanese island group lies in the south-eastern Aegean Sea, and had been Data item Greece under Italian occupation since the Italo-Turkish War. -
The War Hitler Won: the Battle for Europe, 1939-1941
Journal of Military and Strategic VOLUME 14, ISSUE 1, FALL 2011 Studies The War Hitler Won: The Battle for Europe, 1939-1941 Robert Citino "A Distinctive Language": The German Operational Pattern In the fall of 1939, the German army (Wehrmacht) began a run of decisive victories that was quite unlike anything in living military memory. With their fearsome tank (Panzer) formations operating as an apparently irresistible spearhead, and with a powerful air force (Luftwaffe) circling overhead, the Wehrmacht ran through or around every defensive position thrown in its path. The opening campaign in Poland (Case White) smashed the Polish army in 18 days, although a bit more fighting was necessary to reduce the capital, Warsaw.1 Equally 1 For Case White, begin with the belated "official history" commissioned by the Militärgeschichtliches Forschungsamt, Das Deutsche Reich und Der Zweite Weltkrieg, volume 2, Die Errichtung der hegemonie auf dem Europäischen Kontinent (Stuttgart: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, 1979), especially "Hitler's Erster 'Blitzkrieg' und seine Auswirkungen auf Nordosteuropa," pp. 79-156. Labeling this "official history" is misleading--it is far more a meticulously researched critical history by a team of crack scholars. Robert M. Kennedy, The German Campaign in Poland, 1939, Department of the Army Pamphlet no. 20-255 (Washington, DC: Department of the Army, 1956) continues to dominate the field, and Matthew Cooper, The German Army, 1933-1945 (Chelsea, MI: Scarborough House, 1978), pp. 169-176, is still useful. Both Pat McTaggart, "Poland '39," Command 17 (July-August 1992), p. 57, and David T. Zabecki, "Invasion of Poland: Campaign that Launched a War," World War II 14, no. -
When Lady Liberty Turns a Blind Eye: United States Foreign Policy During the Invasion of Greece, 1940-1941 Athena Stephanopoulos
When Lady Liberty turns a Blind Eye: United States Foreign Policy during the Invasion of Greece, 1940-1941 Athena Stephanopoulos "I remember hiding in an oven when I was ten," she lamented. "The Germans had broken down our door and were demanding to take all the children away from our parents, probably to kill us first. \~'hen they peeked in oven ;vindow, I held my breath and prayed that the pots and pans were piled over my head because if not, I would be burned alive. That's when I first knew of fear."1 The months that followed Thomai Stephan's first encounter with German "hunters" as she deemed them, were no less frightening or menacing than the day she hid in the oven. Soon after the hunters left her village in northern Greece, Thomai and her family labored through a series of barriers to escape her now occupied community. "Oh it was petrifying. They stole all of our animals so that we'd starve; we ran into the caves and hid for days so they wouldn't find us; and when more came in from Macedonia, everyone dug a secret trench with a wooden cover piled under dirt and waited tor their footsteps to soften-that day I almost suffocated to death."" Her memories are shocking though this is only a small portion of what the little girl experienced when the Axis powers came to Greece during the Second World War. By the time Germans ravaged her village of Hiliothendro, the war had been ingrained in the lives of Greek peasants tor seven months. -
The Greek Quagmire
The Greek quagmire. Prologue. October, 26 th 1940, Saturday. In the hall of the Italian Embassy in Athens, the Italians and their Greek guests are commenting the performance of Puccini's Madame Butterfly finished recently. Suddenly, in the offices, the teletypes begin to tap. The officials are coming and going. They are trying to remain calm, but more than one of them, pale-faced, troubled and tense, is widening the collar of his shirt. The Italian Plenipotentiary Minister, Emanuele Grazzi, sees all that movement and breaks into a cold sweat. He knows what that movement means, or at least he understands this intuitively: from Rome the ultimatum to Greece is coming. He hopes in some hitch, in some difficulty of deciphering: he does not want to deliver to General Metaxas, Greek Prime Minister, a declaration of war right in the middle of an official reception. It would be extremely embarrassing, anyway. He is lucky, at least about this. It is late, the text is long: time is requested in order to decipher it . The Greek guests leave the Italian Legation; Metaxas is at his residence in Kefissià. He is not yet an enemy. "You are the strongest" He turns into an enemy at three a.m. of Monday, October 28th. The communication has been deciphered and translated. Grazzi accompanied by military attaché Colonel Luigi Mondini and by the interpreter De Salvo, gets into car and heads to the residence of Metaxas. The guard at the door confuses the colours of the flag on the fender of the diplomatic car , he mistakes the green for blue and announces to the Greek Prime Minister the visit of the French ambassador. -
British Aid to Greece, 1940-1941
University of Kentucky UKnowledge Military History History 1986 Diary of a Disaster: British Aid to Greece, 1940-1941 Robin Higham Kansas State University Click here to let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Thanks to the University of Kentucky Libraries and the University Press of Kentucky, this book is freely available to current faculty, students, and staff at the University of Kentucky. Find other University of Kentucky Books at uknowledge.uky.edu/upk. For more information, please contact UKnowledge at [email protected]. Recommended Citation Higham, Robin, "Diary of a Disaster: British Aid to Greece, 1940-1941" (1986). Military History. 9. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/upk_military_history/9 Diary of a Disaster o Moscow ° Berlino ATLANTIC OCEAN °Ankara Malta ~Athe~ns ALGERIA MEDITERRANEAN SEAc/ Benghazi . Cairo i I I I I I I SUDAN I I Khartoum )J ...\~ .Jl~N£Q!!E~ENT ROUTE ,/ ~- ""'------- ~--_/ ~ / / / / EAST AFRICA I I 1000 MILE RADIUS FROM LONDON AND CAIRO Diary of a Disaster British Aid to Greece 1940-1941 ROBIN HIGHAM THE UNIVERSITY PRESS OF KENTUCKY For Barbara for thirty-six years of love and friendship Copyright © 1986 by Robin Higham Published by the University Press of Kentucky Paperback edition 2009 The University Press of Kentucky Scholarly publisher for the Commonwealth, serving Bellarmine University, Berea College, Centre College of Kentucky, Eastern Kentucky University, The Filson Historical Society, Georgetown College, Kentucky Historical Society, Kentucky State University, Morehead State University, Murray State University, Northern Kentucky University, Transylvania University, University of Kentucky, University of Louisville, and Western Kentucky University. All rights reserved. -
On the Run in Greece
ARTHUR ERNEST SCOONES (1917 – 2000) 20th NZ Battalion, 2nd Division ON THE RUN IN GREECE An account of the escape, evasion and eventual capture and incarceration of my father Arthur Ernest Scoones and his fellow soldiers Norman Joffre McTaggart and Patrick William (Paddy) Toohill in April 1941 during the Greek Campaign against the Axis forces of Italy and Germany. The original article was written and published by B C Borthwick on 7 August 1975 under the Title “Capture on the Island of Zante”. While the facts as described by Mr Borthwick remain unaltered, some grammar and place names have been corrected to assist readers. Also included in this account is an interview with Arthur by his Grand Daughter Anna Kirkwood as part of a 7th Form Project when she attended Riccarton High School. Document includes extract about the Battle of Greece taken from Wikipedia. Grant Scoones Marton, Rangitikei District April 2015 1 | P a g e ESCAPE, EVASION AND EVENTUAL CAPTURE ON THE ISLAND OF ZAKYNTHOS (ZANTE) The Three Musketeers The story concerns three NZ Infantry Soldiers fighting in Greece as part of the NZ Expeditionary Force, in the early stages of WW2. Sgt Norm McTaggart worked for Woolworths in Dunedin, Private Arthur Scoones, also from Dunedin was a butcher by trade and Private Paddy Toohill was a truck driver for a Christchurch brewery. All three had volunteered to serv ice their country, and were part of a small rear-guard echelon of British troops retreating from the advancing Nazi force in the Servia Pass area of Northern Greece. The retreat from Servia Pass was extremely dangerous, and the British troops scattered and took cover wherever they could, and for the next two weeks, Arthur, Norm and Paddy walked southwards avoiding main roads and the ever present German forces until they reached Astakos on the western coast of the Greek Peninsula. -
Roll of Honour: Those Who Ripped the Yellow Stars
SYNAGONISTIS GREEK JEWS IN THE NATIONAL RESISTANCE ΑΝ ΕΧΗΙΒΙΤΙΟΝ OF THE JEWISH MUSEUM OF GREECE FROM APRIL 16th 2013 TO APRIL 25th 2014 IN THE JEWISH MUSEUM OF GREECE DAILY: 09.00 – 14.30, SATURDAY: CLOSED, SUNDAΥ: 10.00 – 14.00 39 NIKIS STR., 105 57 ATHENS-GREECE, ΤEL.: +30 210 32.25.582, FAx: +30 210 32.31.577, E – MAIL:[email protected], WWW.JEWISHMUSEUM.GR ROLL OF HONOUR: THOSE WHO RIPPED THE YELLOW STARS bY JASON CHANDRINOS, HISTORIAN Thessaloniki, Saturday, 20 March 1943, at 11am: A group of five young Jewish men leaves the ghetto, hurriedly board a tram and alight at the 17th stop, Pyli Vardariou, located at the junction of Egnatia and Lagkada streets. With quick steps, they move towards the western exit of the city. Looking around carefully, they rip the yellow stars from their chests and go towards the first German blockade and from there into the unknown. They avoid looking back at their hometown, a city where the most unspeakable tragedy has already been put on the rails. That same night, they sleep in a ditch outside the city, but with their ears to the ground in order to hear the German patrols and hark the call of salvation... The next day with the help of resistance liaisons they reach the hospitable villages of Mt Vermio. Soon others will follow ... Young men and women will be reborn in a tough and holy struggle. They will become partisans In the greek language andartes. And they will take up arms and fight the Germans, for almost two years in the free Greek mountains, where their tears will become the bullets of revenge. -
OPERATION MARITA: the INVASION of GREECE Belligerents
OPERATION MARITA: THE INVASION OF GREECE DATE: OCTOBER 28 1940 – JUNE 01 1941 Belligerents Axis: Allies: Germany Greece Italy United Kingdom Supported by: Australia Bulgaria New Zealand The Battle of Greece (also known as Operation Marita) is the common name for the invasion of Allied Greece by Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany in April 1941. The Italian invasion in October 1940, known as the Greco-Italian War, was followed by the German invasion in April 1941. German landings on the island of Crete in May 1941 came after Allied forces had been defeated in mainland Greece. These battles were part of the greater Balkan Campaign by German forces. Following the Italian invasion on October 28 1940, the Greeks repulsed the initial Italian attack and a counter-attack in March 1941. When the German invasion began on April 6, the bulk of the Greek army was on the Greek border with Albania, then a protectorate of Italy, from which the Italian troops had attacked. German troops invaded from Bulgaria, creating a second front. Greece received a small reinforcement of British, Australian and New Zealand forces in anticipation of a German attack. The Greek army found itself outnumbered in its effort to defend against both Italian and German troops. As a result, the Metaxas defensive line did not receive adequate troop reinforcements and was quickly overrun by the Germans, who then outflanked the Greek forces at the Albanian border, forcing their surrender. British, Australian and New Zealand forces were overwhelmed and forced to retreat, with the ultimate goal of evacuation. For several days, Allied troops played an important part in containing the German advance on the Thermopylae position, allowing ships to be prepared to evacuate the units defending Greece.