Armchair Dragoons Forums
The Reference Desk => History and Tall Tales => Topic started by: besilarius on March 01, 2022, 10:57:13 AM
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https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohi_Day
Was trying to think of a similar situation to what is happening in Ukraine.
Oxi Day is the Greek national holiday. Mussolini was looking around for new glory. Greece was small and not very developed, so Italy delivered an ultimatum.
The Greek premier, Metaxis, refused.
Mussolini was the only person that wanted war. His generals and troops weren't excited or ready.
He attacked out of Albania, which is not blitzkrieg territory. It is rough, cut up, and undeveloped.
The Greek army repulsed the Italian offensive very easily. But Hitler decided to save his ally. This second attack, through the Macedonian region of northern Greece, was the decisive assault.
The four year occupation led to numerous atrocities, on both sides. (for example, think of The Guns of Navarone). One of the results of the fighting on the Albanian front was the Cretan division, the Fifth, was sent to the front. If they had been left to defend Crete, the German airborne assault would have been a disaster.
This long guerrilla war led to a great division among the partisans. When Churchill came to spend Christmas, 1944, with the British troops who had gone into Athens, the communist partisans planned an effort to massacre the British and kill Churchill.
The British general Scoble got wind of this and quietly cancelled holiday celebrations. The miffed soldiers took out their anger by soundly repulsing the communists. The troops called the delayed holiday Scobiemas.
The Greek civil war which followed was as bad as the German occupation with mutual atrocities. Ultimately, the communist faction was reduced to a criminal operation in the north. It only really ended when Tito broke with Stalin. Without a sanctuary in Yugoslavia, the faction crashed.
No one is looking ahead a few years to imagine Ukraine. The area was regularly devastated by the Otoomans, and by the Muscovites. This will end at some time, but it won't be a positive end.