'At 2:50 am on Sunday, 28 October 1940, General Ioannis Metaxas, Prime Minister of Greece, was awoken in his Athens home. At the door was the Italian Ambassador, Count Emmanuelle Grazzi, with a written ultimatum to the Greek government demanding that Italian forces be given free passage into Greece from Albania and that they be allowed to garrison certain unspecified "strategic points of Greek territory" [...]. If Greece refused to comply then resistance would be "broken by force of arms". A reply was demanded by 6.00 am, but Metaxas gave it at once — "Alors c'est la guerre" (well, this means War, in French). At 5.30 am Italian troops crossed the Greek–Albanian border and Greece was at war with Fascist Italy.' (Click here to see the source)
Greece eventually fell to urgently dispatched German forces during the Battle of Greece, but before that it managed to repel Italian forces into Albania, giving the Allies their first victory over Axis forces on land, and the peoples of Europe hope that a war cannot be lost before it is even fought. Historians believe that it was this complete Greek victory over the Italian invaders that caused Germans to postpone their attack against the USSR, as they had to deal with Greece first. This delay was fatal for Germany, as the winter in the Soviet Union proved to be too much for anyone to handle, even German troops, and this was the beginning of the end for the Nazis.
I love this song by Sophia Vembo, and wanted to share it with you. Today is a national holiday in Greece. Today, more than ever before, we need to feel proud and remember what other Greeks died for in the past. The Greek motto has always been 'Freedom or Death'. Happy 'OXI' ('Ohi') Day!
Greece eventually fell to urgently dispatched German forces during the Battle of Greece, but before that it managed to repel Italian forces into Albania, giving the Allies their first victory over Axis forces on land, and the peoples of Europe hope that a war cannot be lost before it is even fought. Historians believe that it was this complete Greek victory over the Italian invaders that caused Germans to postpone their attack against the USSR, as they had to deal with Greece first. This delay was fatal for Germany, as the winter in the Soviet Union proved to be too much for anyone to handle, even German troops, and this was the beginning of the end for the Nazis.
I love this song by Sophia Vembo, and wanted to share it with you. Today is a national holiday in Greece. Today, more than ever before, we need to feel proud and remember what other Greeks died for in the past. The Greek motto has always been 'Freedom or Death'. Happy 'OXI' ('Ohi') Day!
Thank you so much for posting. I am touched to see you honouring this day. The Greek people have always had courage to fight and defend their country and values. Whatever is happening today is due to the world that is changing. The courage is still there. Ζήτω το Έθνος.
ReplyDeleteI loved the bit of history, that video, Vempo and the way she sang that!!
ReplyDeleteWonderful post!