Aggravation of the conflict in the Balkans
At the beginning of 1940, the struggle for control of the Balkans between the countries of the Anti-Hitler coalition and the Axis gradually intensified. This territory was of exceptional importance in the plans of the warring parties.
Britannia. The state government planned to create a cover for its territorial possessions on the Balkan Peninsula. This territory was also considered as a source of human and raw material resources. For a long time, Greece came under the influence of Britain.
The Third Reich planned to use the Balkan Peninsula as a springboard for the upcoming takeover of the USSR. The previously conquered territories of Denmark and Norway, as well as the signed alliance agreement with Finland, made it possible to block the Soviet Union in the northwestern direction. The government needed to occupy the Balkan Peninsula to create a southern flank and provide the entire army with food and necessary raw materials. The government planned to concentrate one of the largest army groups in this territory. The offensive was supposed to deal a serious blow to Ukraine and the Caucasus.
Yugoslavia and Türkiye maintained a position of neutrality.
Beginning of the Italo-Greek Wars
On October 15, 1940, a directive was developed in Italy, which spoke of an offensive in Greece. According to these data, Ioannina was supposed to receive a blow from Albanian troops, whose main goal was to break through the defenses of the Greek army. Italy planned to capture Epirus and attack Thessaloniki and Athens. The island of Corfu had to be captured using amphibious forces.
Invasion of Italian troops into Greek territory
On October 28, 1940, Italian armed forces landed in Greece. On the first day they received weak resistance from border guard units. However, Greek soldiers working undercover, reinforced by 5 infantry and a cavalry division, did not allow the interventionists to move. On November 1, army commander A. Papagos gave the order to launch a counterattack on the enemy’s unprotected left flank. After 2 days of prolonged fighting, the Italian army had to return to the Albanian Peninsula. The invasion was suppressed.
Actions of the Axis powers
In March 1941, a revolutionary coup took place in Yugoslavia. Due to the complications of the political situation, the German authorities were forced to look for opportunities to quickly implement plans in relation to the Balkans. It was decided to immediately change the methods of political pressure and pressure to an openly aggressive policy.
Invasion of the aggressor army into the territories of Greece and Yugoslavia
The hostilities taking place in Greece ended in the complete defeat of the British army. British, Australian and New Zealand troops were quickly evacuated. The number of military personnel removed was approximately 80% of all forces previously sent to Greece. This operation, the purpose of which was to conquer the Balkan Peninsula, was called “Marita”.
Results and consequences of the invasion
The aggressive policy of the German government towards Greece had dire consequences.
In May 1941, the entire territory of Greece came under Nazi occupation. The interventionists were given the opportunity to control the most significant regions of the state - Athens and Thessaloniki. The rest of the territory was received by Germany's satellites - Bulgaria and fascist Italy.
Large casualties among the civilian population. More than 30,000 civilians died of starvation in Athens and repression. The economic condition of Greece was undermined. Almost the entire army was evacuated to the lands of the Middle East. German soldiers carried out several demonstration executions, during which about 2,000 people died. Total Greek losses in World War II exceeded 200,000 inhabitants.
Formation of the Greek Resistance. This movement was one of the most effective in all of Europe. The resistance carried out guerrilla operations and worked to create a global spy network.
Genocide of the Jewish population
More than 12,000 Jews fought in the Greek army. Their most famous representative was Mordechai Frizis, who is credited with resisting the Italian interventionists. The consequences of the aggressive genocide of the Third Reich were the murder of 86% of Jews, despite the fact that the Greek Orthodox Church and the majority of Greeks tried to protect them.
In July 1942, Jews received an order to prepare for deportation to concentration camps in Germany. For the purpose of release, the community paid a contribution of 2.5 million drachmas. However, it was possible to postpone the deportation only until March. About 45,000 Jews were sent to Auschwitz. Those people who were able to return witnessed the dire consequences of the genocide - the destruction of Jewish schools and synagogues. This event was called the Holocaust and is one of the most brutal acts against humanity in history.
Economic situation
After the occupation, the state's economy remained completely destroyed. Agriculture was the most damaged, and foreign trade relations, two of the most important aspects of the Greek economic system, suffered. Numerous compensations, the payment of which the occupiers demanded, caused inflation in the market. In 1944, inflation processes in Greece reached their peak - the 100 billion drachma banknote became considered the most valuable. Barter exchange remained one of the most common methods of trade throughout the occupation period.
Resistance
In order to repel the intervention troops, a people's liberation army was created in Greece. This military system planned to accomplish the following objectives.
The fight against Bulgarian, Italian and German occupation in the country.
Resistance to Greek Nazism, as well as collaborator am.
The People's Liberation Army was able to not depend on anyone in its actions and carry out operations without the help of allies. In fact, it was thanks to this military force that the future liberation of Greece was realized. Notable leaders included individuals such as Yiannis Ritsos, Yiannis Xenakos and Al Demi. Underground organizations emerged en masse, most of which preached monarchical and pro-Western views.
Consequences
It is unknown how the history of World War II would have ended for Greece if it had not been for the development of military operations in other theaters. The offensive of the Soviet troops, the overthrow of the fascist regime in Italy - these events significantly undermined the military power of the Third Reich. Despite the imperfection of British warfare, Greece was liberated thanks to a global guerrilla movement.
Of course, the importance of Greece during the Second World War remains underestimated in our time. Considering the fact that Greece took the blow of the German army and repelled it for 2 months, we can safely say that this significantly undermined the military power of Germany and did not allow the Nazis to realize their plans for the USSR.
Iraq - Syria-Lebanon - Iran
Italy- Dodecanese
To ensure the advancement of ground forces, Italian aviation had to paralyze Greek communications with air strikes, cause panic among the population and thus disrupt the mobilization and concentration of the Greek army.
The directive stated that as a result of the offensive of Italian troops in Greece, this was causing a severe internal political crisis, which would contribute to achieving success with small forces and in the shortest possible time.
To capture Greece, the Italian command allocated two army corps, which included eight divisions (six infantry, one tank and one mountain rifle), a separate operational group (three regiments) - a total of 87 thousand soldiers, 163 tanks, 686 guns, 380 combat aircraft. To support the offensive from the sea, the landing of amphibious assault forces in Greece and the transportation of troops and cargo from Italy to Albania, 54 large surface ships (4 battleships, 8 cruisers, 42 destroyers and destroyers) and 34 submarines based in Taranto (Adriatic Sea) were involved ) and to the island of Leros.
The offensive was supposed to be carried out in a coastal strip 80 km wide by the forces of one Italian corps, consisting of three infantry and one tank divisions, and a mobile task force. The main blow was delivered in the direction of Ioannina, Metsovon. Another Italian corps, consisting of four divisions, was deployed to conduct active defense on the left wing of the Italo-Greek front. An infantry division stationed in Italy was allocated for the landing of troops on the island of Corfu and its occupation. Before the start of the aggression, the Greek armed forces in Epirus and Macedonia numbered 120 thousand people. In total, the mobilization plan of the Greek General Staff was supposed to deploy to full strength 15 infantry and 1 cavalry divisions, 4 infantry brigades and the reserve of the main command.
The Greek covering troops, permanently stationed on the Greek-Albanian border, included 2 infantry divisions, 2 infantry brigades, 13 separate infantry battalions and 6 mountain batteries. Their total number was 27 thousand people. There was very little military equipment in this area - only 20 tanks, 36 combat aircraft, 220 guns.
2. Italo-Greek War 1940
2.1. Invasion
On October 28, 1940, Italian troops launched an invasion of Greek territory. In the first days they were opposed only by weak barriers in the form of border units. However, the Greek covering troops, reinforced by five infantry and one cavalry divisions, put up decisive resistance. On November 1, by order of the commander-in-chief of the Greek army, A. Papagos, a counterattack was launched against the enemy’s exposed left flank. Over the next two days of fighting, Italian troops in the Korçe area were pushed back into Albanian territory. In Epirus, in the valleys of the rivers Vjosa and Kalamas, resistance to the invasion intensified so much that already on November 6, Ciano was forced to write in his diary: "The fact that on the eighth day of the operation the initiative passed to the Greeks is a reality."
On November 6, the Italian General Staff, as part of the urgent replenishment and reorganization of troops in Albania, issued an order to form a new army group "Albania" consisting of the 9th and 11th armies, led by Deputy Chief of the General Staff V. Soddi. On November 7, Italian troops stopped conducting active operations, and preparations began for a new offensive. There was a temporary period of calm on the Italo-Greek front.
With the attack by Italy, Great Britain was forced to fulfill its obligations under the guarantees given to Greece in April. Despite the fact that the creation of a bridgehead in the Balkans was one of the priorities of the British ruling circles, the request of the Greek government to send naval and air units to protect the islands of Corfu and Athens was initially rejected, since, in the opinion of the British command, their troops were outnumbered. needed for the Middle East than in Greece. However, 4 squadrons of aircraft were still sent to Greece, and on November 1, British units landed on the island of Crete, which had important strategic importance in the Mediterranean Sea J. Butler. Big strategy. September 1939 - June 1941, p. 553; M. Cervi. Storia della guerra di Grecia, p. 193.
2.2. Greek counter-offensive
On November 14, Greek troops launched a counteroffensive in Western Macedonia, in which troops from the entire front soon took part. On November 21, General Soddi gave the order to the Italian troops to begin a general withdrawal. The situation of individual formations was so difficult that the commander of the Italian Army Group asked the German government for “mediation.” However, the Italian ruling circles still sought to maintain independence in actions in the Balkans. At negotiations with Hitler and Ribbentrop on November 20 in Salzburg, Italian Foreign Minister Ciano pointed out the undesirability of German military intervention in the conflict. The same was mentioned in Mussolini’s letter to Hitler dated November 22. At the same time, the Italian government readily accepted material assistance from Germany.
Having rejected direct German intervention in the Italo-Greek War, Mussolini made an attempt to save the prestige of his army in Albania. He gave the order to create a fortified line of defense at the line of Rponi, Librazhdi, north of Shkumbi in Beijing and along the Shkumbini River to the sea and at any cost to prevent the enemy from breaking through it.
But neither the engineering equipment of the positions nor the increase in the number of troops on the Albanian front could improve the position of the Italian armies. General V. Cavalieri, appointed chief of the general staff in early December instead of Marshal P. Badoglio, was soon forced to conclude: "... the troops are demoralized and tired. Since October 28, they have been continuously participating in battles and during this time they were forced to retreat about 60 km. There is not enough uniform, especially shoes. The morale of the troops is low" V. Cavalieri. Notes about the war. Diary of the Chief of the Italian General Staff. M., 1968, p. 37.
2.3. Second invasion attempt
But Mussolini only needed victory. He demanded that Cavalieri urgently prepare an offensive on the Italo-Greek front. The Duce wanted to warn Nazi Germany that, contrary to his wishes, it was preparing an invasion of German troops in Greece. "... The Fuhrer intends to strike Greece in March with large forces from Bulgarian territory,- Mussolini wrote to his chief of staff. - I hope that your efforts will make direct assistance to us from Germany on the Albanian front unnecessary."
The offensive, planned by the Italian General Staff for mid-January 1941, began, but did not develop: the forces were still insufficient. Greek troops continued to attack the enemy along the entire front. Only at the beginning of March, when the Italian troops achieved some superiority in strength (they numbered 26 divisions against 15 Greek), the command was able to begin preparing a “general” offensive. The main blow was delivered to Klisury by 12 divisions. The offensive began on March 9, but bloody battles that lasted for several days did not bring success to the aggressor army. On March 16, the offensive stopped.
3. Political situation in 1940-1941.
3.1. Allied actions
As soon as the Italo-Greek War began, England made attempts to attract Greece, Turkey and Yugoslavia before joining the anti-Hitler coalition. However, the implementation of this plan encountered great difficulties. The Turkish region was considered not only in connection with the entry into the anti-Hitler bloc, but also in view of the suppression of the crops" due to the Anglo-Franco-Turkish Treaty of October 19th. Anglo-Turkish staff negotiations took place in Ankara - 25th September 1941 appeared as a desperate attempt by England to gain Turechina before the real date help Greece.The ruling stake of Yugoslavia, although they wanted to accede to the Tripartite Pact, did not actively oppose it.
England also hoped that it would be able to gain a foothold in the Balkans, taking advantage of the clash of Soviet and German interests in this area. The British government made plans for the fact that this clash could escalate into an armed conflict between the USSR and the Third Reich and thereby divert the attention of the Nazi leadership from the Balkan Peninsula.
England's policy in the Balkans met with increasing support from the United States. In the second half of January, Roosevelt’s personal representative, one of the leaders of American intelligence, Colonel V. Donov (en: William Joseph Donovan), went to the Balkans on a special mission. He visited Athens, Istanbul, Sofia and Belgrade, urging the governments of the Balkan states to pursue policies beneficial to the United States and England. The Bulgarian people in the struggle against fascism (on the eve and in the initial period of the Second World War). In February and March, American diplomacy did not ease pressure on the Balkan countries, especially Turkey and Yugoslavia, trying to achieve its main goal - to prevent the strengthening of the positions of Germany and its allies. Notes, memorandums, personal messages from the president, etc. were sent to the governments of the Balkan states. All these actions were coordinated with the British government.
In February 1941, British Foreign Minister E. Eden and Chief of the Imperial General Staff D. Dill (en: John Dill) left on a special mission to the Middle East and Greece. After consultations with the British command in the Eastern Mediterranean region, they arrived in Athens, where on February 22 they agreed with the Greek government on the upcoming landing of a British expeditionary force there. This agreement was in accordance with the plans of the British Defense Committee, according to which the Balkans were acquiring decisive importance at that time. September 1939 - June 1941, pp. 408-410. However, attempts by British diplomacy to win Yugoslavia over to their side were still unsuccessful.
3.2. Axis actions
Italian aggression against Greece, and then its unsuccessful outcome for Italy, created a new situation in the Balkans. It served as a reason for Germany to intensify its policy in this area. In addition, Hitler hastened to take advantage of the emerging situation in order, under the guise of helping a defeated ally, to quickly gain a foothold in the Balkan bridgehead.
On November 12, 1940, Hitler signed Directive No. 18 on the preparation “if necessary, of an operation against Northern Greece from the territory of Bulgaria. According to the directive, it was envisaged that a group of German troops consisting of at least 10 divisions would be created in the Balkans (in particular, in Romania). The plan of the operation was clarified during November and December, contacted the "Barbarossa" option and before the end of the year was outlined in a plan codenamed "Marita" (lat. marita- Wife). According to Directive No. 20 of December 13, 1940, the forces involved in this operation increased sharply, to 24 divisions. The directive set the task of occupying Greece and demanded the timely release of these forces to carry out “new plans,” that is, participation in an attack on the USSR.
Thus, plans for the conquest of Greece were developed by Germany at the end of 1940, but Germany was in no hurry to implement them.
Notes
- "Military Historical Journal", 1971, No. 4, pp. 101-103.
- M. Cervi. Storia della guerra di Grecia. Milano, 1965, p. 133-134; G. Santoro. L "Aeronautica Italiana nella II a guerra mondiale. Pt. 1. Roma, 1950, p. 169-171.
- S. Roskilde. Fleet and War, vol. 1, pp. 529-531.
- M. Cervi. Storia dylla guerra di Grecia, p. 131, 133-134, 162, 432, 437.
- S. Baudino. Una guerra assurda. Milano, 1965, p. 136.
- Drugi svetski rat (Preregled ratnih operacija). Knj. I. Beograd, 1957, s. 73.
- Ibid., S. 74.
- Ibid., S. 73.
- A. Papagos. La Grecia in guerra 1940-1941. Milano, 1950, p. 21.
- V. Sekistov. War and politics. M., 1970, p. 166.
Greece entered into World War II October 28, 1940, when the Italian army launched an invasion from Albania. The Greek army won the first major victory among the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition, defeating the aggressor and forcing Italian troops to retreat to Albania.
The war was preceded by the sinking of the cruiser Ellie on August 15, 1940 by an “unknown” submarine, during the Orthodox celebration of the Day of the Virgin Mary, in the roadstead of the island of Tinos, and other provocations of fascist Italy, after which Greece carried out a partial mobilization. The Italian ultimatum was presented to the Greek Prime Minister, General Metaxas, on October 28, 1940, at 3 am. The ultimatum was rejected. The Italian invasion began at 5:30.
The Italian offensive took place in the coastal zone of Epirus and Western Macedonia. In front of the 3rd Italian Mountaineering Division " Julia(11,000 soldiers) were tasked with advancing south along the Pindus Ridge to cut off Greek forces in Epirus from the Greek region of Western Macedonia. The brigade of Colonel K. Davakis (2,000 soldiers) stood in its way. Holding back the onslaught " Julia"and having received reinforcements, Davakis launched a counter-offensive, after which the Greek army launched a counter-offensive on both the Epirus and Macedonian fronts and transferred military operations to the territory of Albania. In January 1941, the Greek army occupied the strategic mountain pass of Klisura (Occupation of the Klisura Gorge).
The victories of the Greek army in this war became the first victories of the armies of the anti-fascist coalition over the Axis countries. The famous Greek archaeologist and participant in that war, M. Andronikos writes that “ When Italy decided to invade Greece, the Axis forces dominated Europe, having previously defeated the French and British and concluded a non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union. Only insular England still resisted. Neither Mussolini nor any “reasonable” person expected Greek resistance under these conditions. Therefore, when the world learned that the Greeks were not going to surrender, the first reaction was surprise, which gave way to admiration when news began to arrive that the Greeks had not only accepted the battle, but were winning" In March 1941, having received reinforcements and under the direct supervision of Mussolini, the Italian army attempted to launch a counteroffensive (Italian Spring Offensive). The Greek army repelled the attack and was already 10 km from the strategic Albanian port of Vlora.
April 6, 1941 , saving the Italians, Nazi Germany was forced to intervene in the conflict, after which the conflict was called the Greek operation.
November 12, 1940 Hitler signed Directive No. 18 on the preparation of " if necessary» operations against Northern Greece from Bulgarian territory. According to the directive, it was envisaged that a group of German troops consisting of at least 10 divisions would be created in the Balkans (in particular, in Romania). The concept of the operation was refined during November and December and linked to the option “ Barbarossa" and by the end of the year was outlined in a plan code-named " Marita"(Latin marita - wife). According to Directive No. 20 of December 13, 1940, the forces involved in this operation increased sharply, to 24 divisions. The directive set the task of occupying Greece and required the timely release of these forces to carry out “ new plans", that is, participation in the attack on the USSR.
Thus, plans for the conquest of Greece were developed by Germany at the end of 1940, but Germany was in no hurry to implement them. The Hitlerite leadership sought to use the failures of the Italian troops in Greece to further subjugate Italy to German dictatorship. The still undecided position of Yugoslavia, which Berlin, as well as London, hoped to win over to its side, also forced us to wait.
On March 27, 1941, a coup d'état was carried out in Yugoslavia. The pro-fascist government of Dragisa Cvetkovic fell, and Dusan Simovic became the head of the new government. In connection with this event, the German government decided to generally accelerate the implementation of its plans in the Balkans and move from methods of political pressure to open aggression.
On March 27, immediately after the coup in Yugoslavia, in the Imperial Chancellery in Berlin, Hitler held a meeting with the commanders-in-chief of the ground and air forces and their chiefs of staff. It announced the decision " make all preparations to destroy Yugoslavia militarily and as a national entity" On the same day, Directive No. 25 on the attack on Yugoslavia was signed.
The German command decided to launch an attack on Greece simultaneously with the attack on Yugoslavia. Plan " Marita"was subjected to radical revision. Military operations against both Balkan states were considered as a single operation. After the attack plan was finalized, Hitler sent a letter to Mussolini, saying that he expected help from Italy.
The invasion was supposed to be carried out by delivering simultaneous attacks from the territory of Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Austria in converging directions to Skopje, Belgrade and Zagreb with the aim of dismembering the Yugoslav army and destroying it piece by piece. The task was to capture first of all the southern part of Yugoslavia in order to prevent the establishment of interaction between the armies of Yugoslavia and Greece, to unite with Italian troops in Albania and to use the southern regions of Yugoslavia as a springboard for the subsequent German-Italian offensive on Greece.
Against Greece, it was planned to deliver the main blow in the direction of Thessaloniki with a subsequent advance to the Olympus region.
The 2nd, 12th armies and 1st tank group were involved in the operation. The 12th Army was concentrated in the territory of Bulgaria and Romania. It was significantly strengthened: its composition was increased to 19 divisions (including 5 tank divisions). The 2nd Army, consisting of 9 divisions (including 2 tank divisions), was concentrated in southeastern Austria and western Hungary. 4 divisions were allocated to the reserve (including 3 tank divisions). For air support, the 4th Air Fleet and the 8th Aviation Corps were involved, which together numbered about 1,200 combat and transport aircraft. Overall command of the group of German troops aimed at Yugoslavia and Greece was entrusted to Field Marshal W. List.
On March 30, 1941, the High Command of the Wehrmacht ground forces assigned tasks to the troops. The 12th Army was supposed to attack Strumica (Yugoslavia) and Thessaloniki with the forces of two corps, strike in the direction of Skopje, Veles (Yugoslavia) with one corps, and attack with the right flank in the Belgrade direction. The 2nd Army was tasked with capturing Zagreb and developing an offensive in the direction of Belgrade. Combat operations against Yugoslavia and Greece were planned to begin on April 6, 1941 with a massive air raid on Belgrade and an offensive by the troops of the left wing and center of the 12th Army.
The Greek army found itself in a difficult situation. Prolonged military operations have depleted the country's strategic reserves. The bulk of the Greek troops (15 infantry divisions, united in two armies - “ Epirus" And " Western Macedonia") was stationed on the Italo-Greek front in Albania. The entry of German troops into Bulgaria and their exit to the Greek border in March 1941 confronted the Greek command with the difficult task of organizing defense in a new direction, where no more than 6 divisions could be transferred.
The arrival of the expeditionary force, which began on March 5, 1941, from Egypt, which included two infantry divisions (the New Zealand 2nd Division, the Australian 6th Division), the British 1st Armored Brigade and nine aviation squadrons, could not significantly change the situation. The 7th Australian Division and the Polish Brigade, intended for landing in Greece, were abandoned by the British command in Egypt due to German actions in Libya.
To repel aggression, the Greek command hastily created two new armies: "Eastern Macedonia" (three infantry divisions and one infantry brigade), which relied on the fortifications of the Metaxas Line along the border with Bulgaria
“I am very sorry that due to my old age I do not have long to live to thank the Greeks, whose resistance played a decisive role in the Second World War.”.
Today's events in Greece have a very long history. They write a lot about the Soviet troops brought into Prague in 1968. But very little is remembered and written about the fact in history about the intervention of Great Britain and the United States in the internal affairs of Greece, about 36 years of repression, the shooting of a peaceful demonstration in Greece, or rather nothing at all, as if it never happened. History always has a double bottom. Especially if the party to the conflict acts contrary to the proclaimed values.
The British expedition against the sovereignty of the Greek people in December 1944 was twice the size of the British corps in Greece in 1941 against the Wehrmacht forces and relied on collaborator units.
“It should be noted that Mr. Churchill and his friends are strikingly reminiscent in this respect of Hitler and his friends. Hitler began the work of starting a war by proclaiming a racial theory, declaring that only people who speak the German language represent a full-fledged nation. Mr. Churchill begins the work of starting a war also with a racial theory, arguing that only nations that speak English are full-fledged nations called upon to decide the destinies of the whole world.
German racial theory led Hitler and his friends to the conclusion that the Germans, as the only complete nation, should dominate other nations. The English racial theory leads Mr. Churchill and his friends to the conclusion that the nations speaking the English language, as the only full-fledged ones, should dominate the rest of the nations of the world.”
After the retreat of the German army, British troops and Greek pro-monarchy military formations landed in Greece. According to official history, it was they, not the partisans, who liberated Athens. The partisans and their leaders at that time had no information about the agreements signed in the Kremlin between Churchill and Stalin, according to which Greece became a zone of British influence. The treaties actually handed over the fate of the partisans ELAS into the hands of Great Britain.
On October 12, 1944, the Germans left Athens and the port of Piraeus, the 1st ELAS Corps took control of the capital, and fought to save its facilities, including power plants, from destruction by the departing Germans. At 9 am, ELAS city troops entered the city center and removed the remaining Nazi symbols from the Acropolis of Athens. Today, the liberation of the city is celebrated on October 12, when it was liberated by ELAS units.
On October 14, the first English paratroopers arrived at the airfield in Tatoi, near Athens (the Palace of King George II is located in Tatoi). They were met by ELAS partisans who occupied the airfield on October 12. This displeased Churchill, who was preparing for a clash with ELAS and the anti-monarchist government in exile of Georgios Papandreou. The BBC “error” was corrected by the English commander-in-chief Wilson Henry Maitland, who reported to Churchill that Athens was liberated from October 13 to 14 by British units and the Sacred Band.
At the same time, speaking in parliament on December 8, 1944, Churchill was forced to admit: “British troops carried out an invasion of Greece, which was not due to military necessity, since the position of the Germans in Greece had long since become hopeless.”.
On October 18, the government of Georgios Papandreou arrived in Athens and was greeted by a guard of honor from ELAS forces. In 1935, Georgios founded the Democratic Party, later renamed the Democratic Socialist Party. He took part in World War II and was captured by the Italians in 1942. In 1944 he fled to the Middle East, where he organized a government in exile.
On November 3, 1944, the entire territory of Greece was completely liberated from occupation. The occupiers faced the threat of being cut off by the Red Army that had entered the Balkans. An emergency message from ELAS High Command stated: “The enemy... under pressure from our troops and relentlessly pursued by them, left Greek territory. ...The long-term and bloody struggle of ELAS culminated in the complete liberation of our homeland".
Meanwhile, the landing British troops practically did not have to conduct military operations against the departing units of the Wehrmacht. The number of ELAS at this time was 119 thousand officers and soldiers, partisans and reserve partisans and 6 thousand national police.
“We must hold Athens and ensure our dominance there. It would be good if you could achieve this, if possible, without bloodshed, but if necessary, with bloodshed.”.(c.) W. Churchill to General Scobie.
The military clash between the EAM-ELAS-KKE forces and the British armed forces, supported by their domestic Greek allies, ranging from the socialist Prime Minister Georgios Papandreou to the "security battalions" formerly collaborating with the SS, was later called Δ ;ε ;κ ;ε ;μ ;β ;` 1 ;ι ;α ;ν ;ά ;, or December events. Greek historians rightly consider them to be the only events of their kind in Europe at the end of World War II. Having virtually expelled the fascists from their country on their own, the Greeks were faced with British-American fascism.
Henry Maitland Wilson. In November-December 1944 he led military operations to defeat the people's liberation
movements in Greece. In December of the same year he was appointed head of the British military mission to the Joint Chiefs.
headquarters in Washington. Participated in the Yalta and Potsdam conferences in 1945.
As a result of the shooting of the rally, 33 demonstrators were killed and 148 wounded. The fighting lasted 33 days and ended on January 5–6, 1945. This clash became the prelude to the Greek Civil War.
Let us analyze the chronicle of the events of December 1944.
The British Army, still at war with Germany, issued Nazi collaborators with weapons to shoot at civilians supporting the guerrillas with whom Britain had been allied for three years.
The crowd carried Greek, American, British and Soviet flags and chanted: "Long live Churchill, Viva Roosevelt, Viva Stalin" in approval of the anti-Hitler alliance. Twenty-eight civilians, mostly young boys and girls, were killed and hundreds were injured.
Britain's logic was cruel and insidious: Prime Minister Winston Churchill believed that the influence of the Communist Party within the resistance movement he had supported throughout the war - the National Liberation Front, EAM - had grown more than he had expected.
Moreover, he considered this influence sufficient to jeopardize the plan to return the King of Greece to power. Thus, Churchill treacherously supported Hitler's supporters against his former allies.
As a consequence of this betrayal, Greece plunged into the abyss of civil war. Every Greek citizen knows about this event, but in different ways, depending on which side his ancestors were on.
Before the war, Greece was ruled by a monarchical dictatorship. The dictator, General Ioannis Metaxas, received his military education in Imperial Germany, while the Greek King George II - uncle of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh - was of British training.
Both the dictator and the king were anti-communists, and Metaxas banned the Communist Party, the KKE. After the outbreak of war, Metaxas refused to accept Mussolini's ultimatum to surrender and declared his loyalty to the Anglo-Greek alliance.
The Greeks fought bravely and defeated the Italians, but were unable to resist the Wehrmacht. By the end of April 1941, the country was occupied. The Greeks, first spontaneously and later as part of organized groups, fought in resistance. The rightists and monarchists were more indecisive than their political opponents. England's natural allies were therefore the EAM - an alliance of the left wing and the Agrarian parties of which the KKE was dominant.
The occupation was terrible. Purging and torturing women was a common means of extracting “confessions.” Mass executions took place, and gallows were erected for intimidation purposes, guarded by security officials to prevent their destruction. In response, ELAS (Greek People's Liberation Army) launched daily counterattacks against the Germans.
The partisan movement was born in Athens, but was based in villages, so that Greece was gradually liberated from the countryside. The British carried out joint operations with the partisans.
By the fall of 1944, Greece was devastated by occupation and famine. Half a million people died - 7% of the population. ELAS liberated dozens of villages and created temporary authorities. After the withdrawal of German troops, ELAS retained 50,000 armed partisans outside the capital, and in May 1944 agreed to the entry of British troops, under the command of Lieutenant General Ronald Scobie.
December 3, Sunday. On the morning of Sunday, December 3, several columns of Greek republicans, anti-monarchists, socialists and communists walked towards Syntagma Square. Despite the government ban, hundreds of thousands of Athenians, as usual, peacefully filled Syntagma Square. Most of the demonstrators chanted slogans: “No new occupation!”, “Collaborators to justice!” However, some of them greeted the British: “Long live the Allies, the Russians, the Americans, the British!” Police cordons blocked their path, but several thousand broke through. As they approached the square, a man in military uniform shouted: Shoot, bastards!
Suddenly, the police started shooting civilians. After the first victims, the demonstrators did not disperse, but continued to chant: “Murderer Papandreou!”, “English fascism will not pass!” The news of the shooting mobilized people from the working-class neighborhoods of Athens and Piraeus. Another 200 thousand people approached the city center. The shooting was stopped. 33 people were killed and more than 140 wounded.
December 4 a general strike (previously scheduled for December 2) and a funeral for the victims of the previous day's rally were held. The funeral service took place in the cathedral church of Athens, after which the funeral procession headed to Syntagma Square. At the head of the procession stood a banner held by three young women dressed in black. The banner read: “When a people is threatened by tyranny, they choose either chains or weapons.”.
The funeral procession was also shot. In reprisals against civilians, the British used mainly ultra-right units Χ ; and former employees of the occupiers who lived in hotels in Omonia Square. About 100 people were killed and wounded. The angry crowd, now accompanied by lightly armed ELAS groups, laid siege to the Metropolis Hotel in Omonia Square, intending to burn it down.
But at that moment, when the resistance of the collaborators was broken and they were ready to surrender, British tanks appeared and took them to the Thisio area.
The bodies of unarmed protesters were shot by the police and British army in Athens on December 3, 1944.
Pro-government historian, Englishman Chris Woodhouse, argued that there was uncertainty about who opened fire first: the police, the British or the demonstrators.
However, 14 years after the massacre, Athens police chief Evert Angelos admitted in an interview with the Akropolis newspaper that he personally ordered the violent dispersal of the demonstrators, in accordance with orders received from above.
Nikos Farmakis, a member of the far-right organization “Χ”, who took part in the shooting of the demonstration, confirmed that the signal to start the shooting was given by the chief of the Athens police, Evert, waving a handkerchief from the window of the police headquarters.
5th of December Churchill sent a telegram to General Scobie: “You are responsible for maintaining order in Athens and for eliminating all EAM-ELAS groups. ...You can make any rules you want to establish strict control on the streets or to capture any rioters, no matter how many there are. In cases where shooting may begin, ELAS will, of course, try to place women and children in front as cover.
Here you must show dexterity and avoid mistakes. But do not hesitate to open fire on any armed man in Athens who will not obey the English authorities or the Greek authorities with whom we cooperate. It would, of course, be nice if your orders were backed up by the authority of some Greek authorities...
However, do not hesitate to act as if you were in a defeated city, engulfed in a local uprising... As for the ELAS groups approaching the city, you and your armored units should undoubtedly be able to teach some of them a lesson that will discourage others. You can count on the support of all appropriate and reasonable actions taken on this basis. We must hold Athens and ensure our dominance there. It would be good if you could achieve this, if possible, without bloodshed, but if necessary, with bloodshed.”
Immediately after receiving this directive, Scobie ordered an attack on ELAS. British planes began shelling her positions in Thebes. At the same time, tank and infantry formations were sent against ELAS in Athens.
On December 5, Lieutenant General Scobie declared martial law and the next day ordered an aerial bombardment of a working-class neighborhood.
At the end of Dekemvriana (Dekemvriana, civil war), thousands were killed; 12,000 leftists are captured and sent to camps in the Middle East. The truce was signed on February 12. A chapter in Greek history known as the "White Terror" began, where every suspect who had helped Elas during the Dekemvriana or even the Nazi occupation was sent to camps set up for their internment.
December 6 Churchill's open armed intervention began with the support of Roosevelt against the national liberation movement of the Greek people. The 4th Division (10th, 12th, 23rd Infantry Brigades), 2nd Paratrooper Brigade, 23rd Armored Brigade, 139th Infantry Brigade, and 5th Indian Brigade took part in the battles of the first days. The 23rd Armored Brigade was equipped with 35 Sherman tanks. The number of two infantry battalions transported by air was 5 thousand people.
In addition, the British had auxiliary units of up to 10 thousand people. The main force of British reinforcements of the first wave: three infantry divisions - the 4th Indian, 4th and 46th British - arrived in mid-December. The British expedition against the sovereignty of the Greek people was twice the size of the British Corps in Greece in 1941 against Wehrmacht forces.
The British interventionists relied on illegitimate government forces, which included the 3rd Mountain Division (2 thousand 800 people), units of the gendarmerie and city police, members of the ultra-right organization X, numbering from 2 thousand 500 to 3 thousand armed people, members of other small organizations.
However, the largest number, about 12 thousand people, were from the “security battalions” that had previously collaborated with the Nazi occupiers. British troops were transported to Greece on American planes. American officers stationed in Greece remained neutral, not hiding their sympathy for ELAS.
December 8 Churchill telegraphed to General Scobie: “Our clear objective goal is the defeat of EAM”. New reinforcements and Marshal Alexander were sent to Athens.
December 11th Marshal Alexander and Macmillan Harold arrived in Athens. Assessing Papandreou’s situation as extremely difficult, Alexander demanded the urgent transfer of another division from the Italian front and decided to openly use the “security battalions” of the collaborators along with British troops.
December 17–18 British aircraft bombed working-class neighborhoods and ELAS positions in the capital and suburbs, causing numerous civilian casualties. On the night of December 17-18, ELAS forces carried out a successful operation, occupying the Cecil, Apergi and Pentelikon hotels in the northern region of Kifissia, which housed RAF (Royal Air Force) personnel. A total of 50 RAF officers and 500 enlisted men were captured.
20th of December The EAM Central Committee presented a protest to the Chairman of the International Red Cross, I. de Regnier, against the British bombing of the civilian population, which had already killed more than 2,500 people.
Alexander informed Churchill that in order to maintain the situation in Athens and begin political negotiations, it was necessary to send additional forces. At the same time, there were already 40 thousand British soldiers in Athens and the region. General Scobey was removed from command of operations. Gerozisis commented on this: “The man knew how to fight against barefoot Indian tribal leaders, but not against the national guerrilla army.”.
21 December Marshal Alexander wrote to Churchill that in Greece there was no military solution to the issue, but only a political one. The Marshal emphasizes that ELAS could not defeat Hitler, and it is unlikely that it can be defeated by military means.
On the night of December 24-25 ELAS saboteurs mined the Grande Bretagne Hotel, where the Greek government and British headquarters were located. 1 ton of explosives was placed in a sewer canal that led to the foundations of the hotel.
December 25 Churchill arrived in Athens, accompanied by Anthony Eden, Foreign Secretary.
Churchill leaves the destroyer HMS Ajax and goes ashore,
going to negotiations in Athens to participate in the conference.
Prior to this, the British established a provisional government under the leadership of Georgios Papandreou on October 18 and were ready to restore the monarchy. The people and the resistance greeted them as allies. There was nothing but respect and friendship for the British. We had no idea that we had already lost our country and our rights. EAM left the provisional government due to demands for demobilization of the partisans. Negotiations ended on December 2.
During November, the British began building a new National Guard, which they entrusted to the Greek police and the disarmament of the military militia. In fact, disarmament only applied to ELAS, not to those who collaborated with the Nazis.
Any notion that the Communists were ready for revolution is incorrect in the context of the Agreement between Churchill and Stalin in Moscow on October 9, 1944. The south-east of Europe was divided into “spheres of influence”, as a result of which Stalin “took” Romania and Bulgaria, and England, in order to maintain balance in the Mediterranean, took Greece.
The British and the Greek government in exile decided from the very beginning that ELAS personnel would not be allowed into the new army. Churchill wanted a showdown with the KKE in order to be able to restore the king. The Greek communists decided not to try to take power in the country; the KKE wanted to insist on a center-left government. If they wanted revolution, they would not have left 50,000 armed men outside the capital after liberation.
The ELAS reserve units, unanimously supported by the population of the capital, responded with a successful counter-offensive and, during fierce fighting, surrounded the British troops and their Greek accomplices in the central region, which was jokingly called “Scobia”. The position of the British government was complicated by the fact that world public opinion opposed its intervention in the internal affairs of Greece.
The famous English writer Herbert Wells wrote in those days in the London newspaper Tribune: “Churchill's intervention in Greece disgraced our nation. If we don't end Churchill, he will end us. World events are developing with lightning speed, but Churchill’s ideas, which he brought from the Indian barracks and... his aristocratic home, constitute a kind of complex of outdated incoherent nonsense...
Let Churchill go and take all the kings of the Earth with him, the better it will be for humanity.”
December 27 – January 5, 1945– heavy fighting, even hand-to-hand combat. On January 4, a column of about 100 British tanks broke through the defense line and moved along Lenormand Street. The ELAS Central Committee decided to retreat to the foot of Mount Parnitha. With the prospect of the war continuing, the ELAS Central Committee moved to the village of Mavreli. The Central Committee was full of optimism, since every time the British tried to advance north, they ran into regular ELAS units and were defeated with heavy losses.
This confirmed Marshal Alexander’s statement that it would not be possible to defeat ELAS by military means: ELAS detachments would regroup and again become insurmountable. ELAS controlled at that time 80% of the country's territory, having huge human reserves and the support of the people.
December 28th Churchill left Greece, “that damned country,” as he described it. He managed to convince Papandreou of this “prime minister of blood” to resign.
At the same time, it was Churchill who proposed maintaining Papandreou in power throughout the crisis. Now the British Prime Minister has shifted all the blame for the December bloodshed onto the Greeks themselves.
He also managed to convince the king, who was outside the country, to agree to the regency of Archbishop Damascus, whom Churchill himself called a “quisling”, a “communist” and accused him of behaving like de Gaulle. For the post of Prime Minister, Churchill proposed the nominal leader of the pro-fascist EDES League, Plastiras Nikolaos.
Churchill reported the Greek events to both Roosevelt and Stalin, characterizing the Greek rebels as rebels who could interfere with the common struggle against fascism.
Churchill was in a hurry to complete the intervention in Greece before the meeting of the “Big Three” in Crimea, scheduled for February 4–11, 1945. He understood that at the peace conference it would be difficult for him to explain not only to the allies, but also to his own people, why they were occupying part of Greek territory and fighting against the Greek Resistance, instead of fighting Hitler on the Eastern Front.
January 8 EAM accepted the British offer of a truce. The British needed a break. To advance north, where ELAS was strengthened, they needed new forces. Churchill knew that the EDES forces, "X", "security battalions" without British support would be swept away in a few days. In addition, some of the Greek aviation officers were suspected of sympathizing with EAM, as well as the Greek Navy, many of whose ships were ready to go over to the side of ELAS.
January 11 a truce was signed. The protocol was signed by General Scobie, as a representative of the British army, Dzimas from the political leadership of EAM and Major Atinelis, as a representative of the ELAS General Staff. The truce was to take effect on January 14.
The official forces of popular resistance were the 1st urban corps of ELAS, numbering (according to documents) about 20 thousand women and men, of which only 6 thousand people had weapons, with a minimal supply of ammunition. The British estimated the ELAS forces in the city at 6 thousand 300 poorly armed soldiers. The only mechanized detachment used fire service vehicles. However, ELAS enjoyed the support of the people and had a constantly renewed reserve.
Thus, the regiment of the eastern quarters of the city, numbering 1300 fighters, having lost 800 people, on the last day of the December events numbered 1800 fighters. During the fighting, units from the Peloponnese, Central Greece and Thessaly, a cavalry brigade and the 54th regiment, numbering up to 7 thousand armed people, arrived in Athens.
British tanks and infantry rush into the Athens EAM headquarters, along Korai Street, in the city center.
According to a number of researchers, in December 1944, parts of ELAS actually carried out military operations against the intervention of the British army, which sought to restore a conservative pro-British monarchical regime in the country. The fighting continued until January 5–6, 1945, over 5 thousand Greeks died. The fighting ended with the military defeat of ELAS forces in Athens.
At the beginning of 1945, the number of British soldiers in Athens reached 100 thousand. Without exaggeration, British intervention in Greece began.
February 8, 1945 A conference of the heads of the three powers, Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt, opened in Yalta on the end of the Second World War and the post-war structure of the world.
12th of February, despite the fact that the ELAS command, ordinary EAM supporters and members of the KKE were against peace with the British, the EAM leadership signed the Varkiza Agreement. The leadership of EAM and KKE believed that the Agreement had been signed; in reality, it was a capitulation. ELAS was subject to disarmament until March 15, 1945.
Ilias Tsirimokos, Yorgis Siantos, Dimitrios Partsalidis signing the Varkiza Agreement, February 12, 1945.
The agreement meant that Greece was transferred to the control and arbitrariness of the British, collaborators and monarchists, without any guarantees for democrats and members of the Resistance. Indeed, the British arrested a large number of EAM and KKE supporters, according to rough estimates, about 10 thousand people in Athens alone. They were sent to concentration camps in North Africa, where there were already 15 thousand Greek soldiers, EAM supporters, from the Greek army units in the Middle East disbanded in 1943.
Together with prisoners in the Athens region, the total number of prisoners of EAM supporters reached 40 thousand people.
In the most acceptable "casualty table" of the warring sides in the battles of Athens, British forces lost 210 killed, 55 missing and 1,100 captured. The “government forces” lost 3,480 killed (889 gendarmes and police and 2,540 army) and a large number of prisoners. ELAS losses are estimated at 2-3 thousand killed and 7-8 thousand prisoners, not including the last citizens of left-wing convictions and EAM supporters arrested by the British.
Interpretation of Soviet silence
Researcher Vasilis Kontis writes that while there was a danger of a separate peace between the USA, Britain and defeated Germany, the Soviet troops that reached the Bulgarian-Greek border in the summer of 1944 did not intend to cross it.
According to other Greek historians, in the run-up to the Yalta Conference, the Soviet government did not want to upset the British and jeopardize its interests in other regions.
They write that after these events Stalin maintained a strange silence and avoided condemning the British, but on the other hand did not create obstacles to the actions of ELAS. Regarding this behavior of Stalin, Churchill noted that while the United States condemned British intervention in Greece, Stalin remained strictly and conscientiously faithful to our October agreement and during the many weeks of struggle against the Communists in the streets of Athens not a single word of condemnation was noted on the pages of " Pravda" and "Izvestia".
Other historians, commenting on information that has come to light in recent years, believe that, before the armistice, the USSR warned the leadership of the KKE, through the former General Secretary of the Communist International Georgiy Dimitrov, that he (the leadership of the KKE) should not expect any help. Bulgarian historian I. Baev writes that the Bulgarian Communist Party motivated its response by the danger of international complications and a shortage of weapons.
Historians about the December events
For most modern historians, the December events are pure imperialist interference in the affairs of a union state, since in wartime, when Hitler’s Germany had not yet been defeated, Britain sent almost 100,000 soldiers to Greece to protect its geostrategic interests.
Another part of historians considers the events as the second phase of the civil war (considering the inter-Greek clashes during the years of occupation to be the first phase), which later led to the third phase, the large-scale Civil War of 1946-1949.
Proponents of the first concept focus on the fact that British forces were 6 times larger than the number of motley units of the Papandreou government and with the participation of British aviation and navy in the battles, we are actually talking about foreign intervention. They believe that in conditions of ELAS dominance in the country, without British intervention, a military confrontation between right-wing forces and ELAS had no chance of success and was practically excluded.
Greek Prime Minister Papandreou lays a wreath at the monument to the unknown
to a soldier in Syntagma Square, after the liberation of Athens, October 1944.
There is a third concept, whose supporters, such as P. Rodakis, agree that the December events were imposed by the British, but on the other hand, they believe that the KKE and EAM got involved in this clash, although they could have avoided it, since all the communist parties did it Western Europe.
The outcome of the December events marked the beginning of political instability in the country and bloody terror against members of the Resistance, which continued before and after the outbreak of the Civil War in 1946.
The struggle between the Axis countries and the Anti-Hitler coalition for the Balkans has reached a new, more acute level. Rival states attached exceptional importance to establishing their superiority in this military theater.
The ruling circles of Britain viewed the Balkan Peninsula as a cover for British possessions in the Near and Middle East, as well as a valuable source of human resources and a springboard for opening one of the fronts of the war with Germany.
“Hitler always confronts me with a fait accompli. But this time I will repay him in kind: he will learn from the newspapers that I occupied Greece."
State of the Greek Army
The small arms of the Greeks were mainly of British, French and American production: Lee-Enfield, Lebel, Mannlicher rifles, Thompson and EPK (Greek version of Thomson) submachine guns, Hotchkiss, Schwarzlose, Shosha machine guns. The artillery consisted of a small number of French and British-made guns.
The Greek Air Force consisted of about 160 combat-ready aircraft, many of which were obsolete types: Polish PZL P.24 and French Bloch MB.150 fighters, British Bristol Blenheim and Fairey Battle bombers, French Potez 630, three dozen French Breguet Br.19 biplanes , a dozen and a half German Henschel Hs 126 and others. The Greek fleet was represented by several British-made Hound-class destroyers, two cruisers, and six submarines.
The Greeks were assisted from the air by 30 squadrons of the British Air Force, sent to the country six days before the Italian invasion.
Italo-Greek War 1940
Invasion
On October 28, 1940, Italian troops launched an invasion of Greece. In the first days they were opposed only by weak barriers in the form of border units. However, the Greek covering troops, reinforced by five infantry and one cavalry divisions, put up decisive resistance. On November 1, according to the order of the commander-in-chief of the Greek army A. Papagos, a counterattack was launched against the enemy’s open left flank. Over the next two days of fighting, Italian troops in the Korca area were pushed back into Albanian territory. In Epirus, in the valleys of the rivers Vjosa, Kalamas, resistance to the invasion intensified so much that already on November 6, Ciano was forced to write in his diary: “The fact that on the eighth day of the operation the initiative passed to the Greeks is a reality.”
Axis actions
Results of the invasion
At the same time, the Greek Resistance was formed, one of the most effective resistance movements in occupied Europe. Resistance groups launched guerrilla attacks against the occupying forces, fought against collaborationist "security battalions" and created a large intelligence network, and at the end of 1943 they began to fight among themselves. In September 1943 and September 1944, Italy and Bulgaria signed an armistice with the anti-Hitler coalition and declared war on Germany; after 1943 and 1944, Italian and Bulgarian troops fought alongside Greek partisans against the Germans.
When the country was liberated in October 1944 (largely due to the efforts of the local Resistance rather than the British troops landing during Operation Manna in September 1944), Greece was in a state of extreme political polarization, which soon led to the outbreak of civil war .
Terror and hunger
Jewish genocide
12,898 Greek Jews fought alongside the Greek army. One of the most famous representatives of the Jewish community was Lieutenant Colonel Mordechai Frizis (Μαρδοχαίος Φριζής), who successfully resisted the Italian invasion. 86% of Jews, especially in areas occupied by Germany and Bulgaria, were killed, despite the efforts of the Greek Orthodox Church and many Greeks to hide them. Even though a large number of Jews in the occupied territory were deported, many found shelter with their neighbors.
Resistance
Economy
As a result of the occupation in 1941-1944. The Greek economy was in ruins, and significant damage was caused to the country's foreign trade relations and agriculture - two of the most important components of the Greek economic system. German demands to pay significant "costs of occupation" caused hyperinflation. The average inflation rate during the years of occupation was 8.55⋅10 9%/month (prices doubling every 28 hours). The highest inflation rate in Greek history was reached in 1944. If in 1943 the banknote of 25,000 drachmas had the highest price value, then already in 1944 it was 100 billion drachmas. One of the consequences of hyperinflation was a general famine that began in the winter of 1942 and lasted until 1944. The stratification of monetary savings caused by hyperinflation and black markets significantly hampered post-war economic development.
According to the model proposed in October 1944 by the governor of the central bank of Greece, K. Zolotas (Ξενοφών Ζολώτας), when the Greek economy reaches a fifth of the pre-war level, the accumulated