Greco-Italian War

Greco-Italian War
Part of the Balkans campaign of World War II
Clockwise: Italian bombers over Greek territory, Italian soldiers during winter in Albania, Greek soldiers in Gjirokaster, Greek soldiers during the Italian Spring Offensive
Date 28 October 1940[a] – 23 April 1941 or 1 June 1941[b] (7 months and 4 days) Location Greece and Southern Albania Result See Aftermath section Territorial changes Occupation of Greece by Italy, Germany, and Bulgaria
Belligerents
Axis:  Italy  Albania  Germany (from 6 April 1941)	Allies:  Greece United Kingdom (air and material support)
Commanders and leaders
Benito Mussolini Pietro Badoglio Ugo Cavallero Sebastiano Prasca Ubaldo Soddu Carlo Geloso Alessandro Pirzio Biroli Shefqet Vërlaci Aqif Përmeti Wilhelm List	George II Ioannis Metaxas # Alexandros Koryzis † Emmanouil Tsouderos Alexandros Papagos Georgios Tsolakoglou  Ioannis Pitsikas (POW) John D'Albiac
Strength
October:[1] 6 divisions of 12 regiments 87,000 troops 463 aircraft 163 light tanks 686 artillery pieces November: 10 divisions of 20 regiments December: 17 divisions of 34 regiments January: 25 divisions of 50 regiments 272,463 troops 7,563 vehicles 32,871 animals April:[2] 29 divisions of 58 regiments 400,000 troops 9,000 vehicles 50,000 animals[c]	October:[1][3][4][5] 4 divisions of 12 regiments 50,000 troops 300 aircraft of which 160 operational (fighters) 940 artillery pieces 270 anti-aircraft 459,650 rifles 17,032 machine guns 315 mortar artillery 600 military vehicles November: 7 divisions of 21 regiments December: 13 divisions of 39 regiments January: 13 divisions of 39 regiments[c]
Casualties and losses
13,755 killed 50,874 wounded 3,914 missing 21,153 POW Total combat losses: 89,696 12,368 frostbite cases 52,108 sick 64 aircraft (another 24 claimed) 1 submarine 30,000 long tons of shipping General total: 102,064	13,325 killed 42,485 wounded 1,237 missing 1,531 POW Total combat losses: 58,578 ? sick c. 25,000 frostbite cases 52–77 aircraft 1 submarine General total: 83,578+

The Greco-Italian War (Greek: Ελληνοϊταλικός Πόλεμος, romanized: Ellinoïtalikós Pólemos), also called the Italo-Greek War, Italian campaign in Greece, Italian invasion of Greece, and War of '40 in Greece, took place between Italy and Greece from 28 October 1940 to 23 April 1941. This conflict began the Balkans campaign of World War II between the Axis powers and the Allies, and eventually turned into the Battle of Greece with British and German involvement. On 10 June 1940, Italy declared war on France and the United Kingdom. By September 1940, the Italians had invaded France, British Somaliland and Egypt. This was followed by a hostile press campaign in Italy against Greece, accused of being a British ally. A number of provocations culminated in the sinking of the Greek light cruiser Elli by the Italians on 15 August. On 28 October, Mussolini issued an ultimatum to Greece demanding the cession of Greek territory, which the Prime Minister of Greece, Ioannis Metaxas, rejected.

Italy's invasion of Greece, launched with the divisions of the Royal Army based in Italian-controlled Albania, badly armed and poorly commanded, resulted in a setback: the Italian forces encountered unexpectedly tenacious resistance by the Hellenic Army and penetrated only a few kilometers into Greek territory and had to contend with the mountainous and muddy terrain on the Albanian–Greek border. With British air and material support, the Greeks stopped the Italian invasion just inside Greek territory by mid-November and subsequently counter-attacked with the bulk of their mobilized army to push the Italians back into Albania – an advance which culminated in the Capture of Klisura Pass in January 1941, a few dozen kilometers inside the Albanian border. The defeat of the Italian invasion and the Greek counter-offensive of 1940 have been called the "first Axis setback of the entire war" by Mark Mazower, the Greeks "surprising everyone with the tenacity of their resistance".

The front stabilized in February 1941, by which time the Italians had reinforced the Albanian front to 28 divisions against the Greeks' 14 divisions (though Greek divisions were larger). In March, the Italians conducted the unsuccessful spring offensive. At this point, losses were mutually costly, but the Greeks had far less ability than the Italians to replenish their losses in both men and materiel, and they were dangerously low on ammunition and other supplies. They also lacked the ability to rotate out their men and equipment, unlike the Italians.^[6] On the other side the Italian equipment proved to be of poor quality and of little use, while Italian morale remained low throughout the campaign.^[7]

Adolf Hitler decided that the increased British intervention in the conflict represented a threat to Germany's rear,^[d] while German build-up in the Balkans accelerated after Bulgaria joined the Axis on 1 March 1941. British ground forces began arriving in Greece the next day. This caused Hitler to come to the aid of his Axis ally. On 6 April, the Germans invaded northern Greece ("Operation Marita"). The Greeks had deployed the vast majority of their men into a mutually costly stalemate with the Italians on the Albanian front, leaving the fortified Metaxas Line with only a third of its authorized strength.^[8] Greek and British forces in northern Greece were overwhelmed and the Germans advanced rapidly west and south. In Albania, the Greek army made a belated withdrawal to avoid being cut off by the Germans but was followed up by the Italians. Greece surrendered to German troops on 20 April 1941 and to the Italians on 23 April.^[e] Greece was subsequently occupied by Bulgarian, German and Italian troops. The Italian army suffered 102,064 combat casualties (with 13,755 dead and 3,900 missing) and fifty thousand wounded; the Greeks suffered over 83,500 combat casualties (including 13,325 killed and 1,200 missing) and forty two thousand wounded.^[9]

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