To make matters worse, virtually half the Italian fleet at Taranto had been crippled by a British carrier-based attack. border-color: #000000; border-color: #000000; width: 100%; He hoped to match German military success by taking Greece, which he reg… The Italian invasion of Greece lasted from 28 October 1940 to 30 April 1941 and was part of World War II. In some of the territory of the former Kingdom of Serbia and the Banat, the German-occupied Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia, the Germans appointed a puppet government, the Government of National Salvation led by Milan Nedić. Though unrelated Yugoslavia was a member of the Axis alliance with Germany. Hitler furious over Italy’s debacle in Greece, https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/hitler-furious-over-italys-debacle-in-greece. [1] On 6 April 1941, the German Army invaded northern Greece, while other elements launched an attack against Yugoslavia. .table_d2e226 { border: 1px solid; On November 18, 1940, Adolf Hitler meets with Italian Foreign Minister Galeazzo Ciano over Mussolini’s disastrous invasion of Greece. On 20 May Germany invaded Crete by air, and by 1 June all remaining Greek and British forces on the island had surrendered. border-color: #000000; When did organ music become associated with baseball? What is the time signature of the song Atin Cu Pung Singsing? What is the hink-pink for blue green moray? © 2020 A&E Television Networks, LLC. realizing their ultimate object, world peace. border: 1px solid; -->. border-color: ; British forces, sent to aid Greece, were forced to withdraw to the island of Crete. 20, 2nd Edition, Bernard & Graefe Verlag, 1983, Learn how and when to remove this template message, Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia, Military history of Bulgaria during World War II, The Fate of the Jews in South-Eastern Europe During the First Years of the War, World War Two Online Newspaper Archives — The Invasion of the Balkans: Yugoslavia, Greece and Crete, 1940-1941, Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany, Rape during the Soviet occupation of Poland, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Balkans_campaign_(World_War_II)&oldid=981699361, World War II campaigns of the Mediterranean Theatre, Campaigns, operations and battles of World War II involving the United Kingdom, Military history of Greece during World War II, Military history of Yugoslavia during World War II, Articles needing additional references from February 2017, All articles needing additional references, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Yugoslavia and Greece come under Axis control, This page was last edited on 3 October 2020, at 22:30. They had to invade Greece. wherein it is their prime purpose to establish and maintain a new order of things, calculated to promote the mutual prosperity However, in late March 1941, the Yugoslav government was toppled by an anti-German military coup. .table_d2e168 td { Available in webpage format, pdf, and now in hard copy too, The Truth NEVER Taught About World } The Axis power spent the next three months fighting for its life in a defensive battle. In the early months of 1941, Italy's offensive had stalled and a Greek counter-offensive pushed into Albania.Germany sought to aid Italy by deploying troops to Romania and Bulgaria and attacking Greece from the east. "use strict";(function(){var insertion=document.getElementById("citation-access-date");var date=new Date().toLocaleDateString(undefined,{month:"long",day:"numeric",year:"numeric"});insertion.parentElement.replaceChild(document.createTextNode(date),insertion)})(); FACT CHECK: We strive for accuracy and fairness. invasion of the Soviet Union, Hitler orders the invasion of Greece and Yugoslavia. reclaimed from Poland). border-color: #000000; At the outbreak of World War II, Ioannis Metaxas—the fascist-style dictator of Greece and former general—sought to maintain a position of neutrality. border-color: #000000; Europe’s “soft underbelly”. Germany, Italy, and Bulgaria occupied parts of Greece, and the fate of the Jews often depended on the policies of the occupying force. Even Mussolini’s own chief of army staff found out about the invasion only after the fact! } border-color: #000000; , Read the FREE excerpts and you'll be hooked. Churchill's grand plan, by his own later admission, is Germany sought to aid Italy by deploying troops to Romania and Bulgaria and attacking Greece from the east. register of the crimes, follies and misfortunes of mankind. Does Jerry Seinfeld have Parkinson's disease? and welfare of the peoples concerned. width: 100%; He was just 30 years old, and he was retiring after a great season–he’d led the Dodgers to a National League pennant and won his third Cy Young award.