1942: Greece

After victoriously repelling Italian aggression from October 1940 to April 1941 Greece fell a victim to German invasion in April 1941, and the following year lived through a period of greatest anxiety. Large parts of its territory, Macedonia and Thrace, with a population of about 2,000,000 were occupied and annexed by Bulgaria and the rebelliousness of the Greek population put down with greatest severity. The remaining territory of Greece was occupied by Italian troops with very few German elements added, and in Athens a puppet government under Gen. George Tsolakoglu had been set up. But the greatest problem of the country was the lack of food and of medical supplies. As a result, there was widespread starvation in Greece, aggravated by many cases of epidemics. The causes for this serious situation are twofold: Greece is not a fertile country, only one-fifth of its area can be cultivated; and the Germans carried off all the available food, even more than in other countries, because they wished to punish the Greeks for their spirited resistance. They also found little use for Greek labor, as the Greek population is not industrially proficient. Reliable reports from Greece put the number of daily deaths by starvation in Athens and Piracus at several hundred. Under these conditions prices for food reached astronomical figures. The Turkish government tried to furnish some medical supplies and foodstuffs, her efforts, however, were limited to quantities insufficient for the great need. Great sympathy for Greece was expressed in Great Britain and the United States, but though special food ships were sent, they hardly met the most urgent demands.

Greek Government-in-Exile.

Greece had been a dictatorship since 1936 when King George II appointed Gen. John Metaxas dictator. The democratic constitution was suspended and Fascist institutions were imitated. On Feb. 7, 1942, King George decided to end the dictatorship which had always been unpopular with the majority of the freedom-loving Greek people. King George's action was very well received by the Greeks living in the Near East and in the democracies. The repudiation of the Metaxas régime strengthened also the democratic elements in the Greek army which was being trained in the Near East. As a sign of the change Prof. Panayotis Kannelopoulos, the leader of the Greek resistance to Fascism, was appointed Vice Premier. In the spring of 1942 he had escaped from occupied Greece to Cairo. The Prime Minister Emmanuel Tsouderos became also Minister of War, Navy and Air in addition to being Minister for Foreign Affairs. He replaced an admiral who had been Minister of the Navy, and a general who had been Minister of Air. Thus the cabinet regained a civilian complexion. Great Britain signed an agreement with the Greek government-in-exile to supply war materials to the Greek armed forces in the Near East on a lease-lend basis. The high command of the Greek army was established in Cairo, Egypt.

On Jan. 15, 1942, the Greek and Yugoslav governments concluded an agreement providing for the closest future collaboration between the two countries. The chiefs of staff were to draw up common plans of defense and evolve common types of weapons, the foreign ministers were to decide on joint diplomatic action, and plans were laid for a customs union and a common development of transport and communications and the establishment of a Balkan monetary union.

1941: Greece

The Italian Débâcle.

Greece continued in 1941 its heroic and successful struggle against Italian aggression, but was finally overwhelmed by a superior German army in April 1941 and has since been under German and Italian occupation. The year 1941 opened with the Greek armies still triumphantly pushing the Italian invaders back deep into Albania, where for many weeks the battle raged around the mountain fastness of Tepeleni. In all probability the Greeks were right in expecting to be able to conquer Albania during 1941 and to restore the independence of that country which had been occupied by Italy on Good Friday in 1939. Although the Italians tried a powerful counter-offensive in March 1941, which was organized and supervised by Mussolini himself, in a vain effort to restore their military prestige, all their attacks were successfully repelled by the Greeks.

Preparation against German Aggression.

At that moment Greece found herself still in high spirits, in spite of the fact that the man who had successfully planned Greece's military defense, General John Metaxas, died unexpectedly on Jan. 29, after an illness of only a few days. He had received his military training in Germany, and was known as 'the little Moltke,' for his small size and unusually keen grasp of military matters. In 1915 he became chief of the Greek general staff. In the civil struggles in Greece after the First World War he showed monarchist tendencies and was named prime minister after the return of King George II. The premier showed great interest in the totalitarian doctrines of Spartan discipline and on Aug. 4, 1936, introduced a semi-Fascist, authoritarian régime in Greece. After Metaxas' death the King appointed Alexander Korizis, a former governor of the National Bank of Greece, as prime minister. The Greek government entered into negotiations with the British about possible support in the case that Greece should find herself attacked by Germany. Anthony Eden, the British foreign secretary, visited Athens at the beginning of March. In the same month British and Imperial troops, mostly Australian and New Zealanders withdrawn from the British front in Libya, landed in Greece to support the Greeks. Their numbers probably never exceeded 60,000, and they were weak in air support. In spite of this discrepancy of power the Greeks resolved not to give in but to accept the German challenge should it come. This spirit was best expressed in an address of the prime minister to the Greek youth movement on March 24. He said that the same beam of light that had guided the struggle for independence in 1821 was the beacon of Greece today, and that, though the struggle with Italy had begun on an unequal basis, the 'common man had been turned into a hero by the devout spirit burning within him. Greece is giving an example in leading the way toward freedom for the rest of Europe.'

German Invasion.

This Greek spirit held good even in the days of desperate struggle when the small Greek army found itself confronted not only with the power of Italy, so many times her superior in numbers and equipment, but also by the whole military might of the German war machine. The Germans, attacking Yugoslavia on Sunday, April 6, after having occupied Bulgaria, destroyed the communications between the Greek armies of Thrace and Epirus, and penetrated far into Greece. The heroic Greek and British defenders had to fall back until by April 23, the armies at Epirus and Macedonia under General Tsolakoglou had to surrender, while the British were still defending the famous historic Pass of Thermopylae protecting the approaches to Attica. On the same day King George II and his government evacuated Athens for Crete. Five days previously, Prime Minister Alexander Korizis had committed suicide after a nervous breakdown. The new prime minister, Emmanuel Tsouderos, in a proclamation on the day when he left for Crete, said to the Greek people: 'We are defending ourselves against an unfair aggression, but also against the unprecedented infamy on the part of an Empire of one hundred millions that struck us from the back in order to save its cowardly colleague and partner whom we had defeated. From the endurances of this hard struggle against our race, which is disapproved by all those who are morally superior and by the free peoples of the world who have expressed their disgust, we shall come out victorious, glorious and great. The moral power of our country has never reached such a height before.' The British army was then evacuated from Greece, not without serious losses. But even the position in Crete became soon subject to violent German attacks by air-borne troops. In view of their immense superiority in the air the Germans were able to defeat the British and Greek troops in Crete within eleven days, in May 1941, and to force the evacuation of the last Greek island. The Greek king and cabinet escaped to Egypt.

Meanwhile the German authorities set up in Athens a Greek administration under General Tsolakoglou who had signed the surrender of his Greek armies on April 23, without the previous knowledge or agreement of the Greek government. General Tsolakoglou was supported by a very small number of Greeks with Fascist or Nazi sympathies. Almost unanimously the Greek people continued to offer stubborn resistance to the invaders. They found themselves threatened by a growing scarcity of food; practically all the food supplies of the country had been carried off to Germany, and in many towns there was actual starvation in the latter part of 1941. Under these circumstances the Germans transferred the main burden of controlling the Greeks from their own shoulders to those of their Italian allies. While a number of German officers and administrators remained in the country to provide the necessary backbone for the maintenance of the 'New Order,' Italian troops took over the task of suppressing the rising discontent among the Greeks.

The important Greek provinces of Thrace and Macedonia were occupied by Bulgarian troops and incorporated into Bulgaria. Here open revolt broke out against the persecutions and atrocities committed by the Bulgarian authorities against the Greeks. According to all the reports which have come out of Greece in spite of the complete censorship and blackout of the German occupation, it is clear that the spirit of the Greek nation has remained unbroken and that they are looking forward to the day of their liberation. The many Greeks living abroad, especially in Egypt, are carrying on the struggle, and the legitimate Greek government under King George II continues to function as one of the Allied governments in the struggle conducted by all the free peoples in the world. The Greek government-in-exile is headed by Emmanuel Tsouderos, who resides in London, while vice-premier Admiral Alexander Sakellariou represents the government in the Middle East. A large part of the important Greek merchant fleet is still at the disposal of the Allies. Thus Greece has shared in 1941 the fate of the other valiant Balkan nation, Yugoslavia. The Greek government-in-exile entered into negotiations with the Yugoslav, Czechoslovak and Polish governments looking towards closer cooperation between these four countries after the war, envisaging common defense, harmonious foreign affairs and closest economic cooperation. Greece and Yugoslavia may be regarded as the cornerstones of the future Balkan entente of free peoples after this war. See also CRETE; WORLD WAR II; YUGOSLAVIA.

1940: Greece

Greece, a kingdom in the Balkans, found herself involved in the late fall of 1940 in a defensive war against Italian aggression. Until then Greece had shared the general situation of all Balkan countries, trying hard to avoid involvement in the European war by remaining neutral. The Greek government of General John Metaxas had in preceding years definitely shown its strong sympathy for the fascist governments; its economic policies and its general outlook had been deeply influenced and to a large extent molded by National Socialist Germany. But the exposed maritime situation of the country and the fear of Italy's often-shown expansionist ambitions in the Eastern Mediterranean forced Greece to remain neutral and to accept the British and French pledges of assistance in maintaining her independence and integrity. The Greek people, however, were pro-British at heart. Finding herself in a situation similar to that of Turkey and having lived since 1930 in agreement and friendship with Turkey, Greece tried to a certain extent to coordinate her policy with that of her former enemy. This similarity of interests made itself felt at the Balkan conference in Belgrade at the beginning of February 1940, when Greece, represented there by General John Metaxas, who is Foreign Minister as well as Premier, consulted above all with Turkey as to a possible common stand. Metaxas, who is sixty-nine years old and the strong man of Greece, had assumed also the functions of Minister of War, of the Navy, of the Air, and of Education. During the four years of his dictatorship, he succeeded in building up a stronger Greek army and in fortifying the Greek frontier against Albania, after the occupation of the latter by the Italians on Good Friday, 1939. The Italians on their part had created strong strategic centers in Albania, and had pushed energetically the building of roads from the coast through Albania to the Greek frontier.

Italian Press Attacks Launched Against Greeks.

In August 1940, the Italian press began to attack the Greek government in a way reminiscent of the press campaigns preceding the German invasion of Czechoslovakia and Poland. The Greeks were accused of 'intolerable persecution' of the Albanian minority in Northwestern Greece, and it was suggested that the Albanians might be forced to 'liberate' their fellow men in the Greek Epirus around Yanina. This move by Italy came quite suddenly in view of the fact that the Italian press only a short time before had stressed the friendly attitude of General Metaxas towards Italy and the good relations between the two countries. On the other hand, it was remembered that Premier Mussolini had started his foreign policy in 1923 by making use of an alleged incident on the Albanian-Greek frontier in order to press hard demands upon Greece and to bombard and occupy the strategically important Greek island of Corfu. It was also believed that in view of Germany's failure to invade Great Britain, the Axis powers might try to occupy Greece and the Greek islands, so as to outflank the British position in the Mediterranean and in Egypt from the East. It was especially the important port of Salonica which was regarded as the chief aim of Axis strategy.

In spite of Italy's repeated warnings to Greece to heed the fate of Poland, Norway and Holland, and yield to Italian demands, the Greeks began to prepare for resistance and to put part of their army and very small navy on a preparedness basis. With the German occupation of Rumania in the first half of October, the danger of an Axis march towards the Aegean Sea seemed to increase; so the Greek army proceeded with its mobilization. The Axis powers seemed to rely upon the belief of Greek internal dissension and 'fifth column' activities to break the will to resistance of the small nation. They hoped for the formation of an outright pro-Berlin government under Constantine Cotzias, the governor of Athens, when the Axis demands were presented to Greece.

Italian Invasion.

But the Axis hopes of a disunited Greek nation, of Greek trepidation before the numerically superior Italian forces and of a quick collapse after an initial show of resistance, proved vain. On October 28 in the early morning hour of 3:00 A.M., the Italian Minister to Greece submitted an ultimatum to General Metaxas, demanding before the expiration of three hours agreement of Greece to an occupation by Italian forces of strategic points in Greece. The timing, the manner of presentation and the contents of the ultimatum were planned to frighten the Greeks into immediate submission. This attempt failed, and in the morning Italian troops, held long in readiness and thoroughly trained for the enterprise, crossed the frontier from Albania into Greece.

Italian dispatches during the first days reported steady advances of Italian troops, which were much superior in numbers and equipment to the defenders. In the northern part, from their base at Koritza, the Italians pushed toward Florina, while in the south, from their base at Argyrokastron, the Italians were trying to push towards the important Greek base of Yanina. Italians reported at the beginning of November that they had been able to pierce the Greek line of fortification, called the Metaxas Line. But it soon became apparent that the Italian successes were purely transitory. For the Italians, in spite of violent air bombing of Greek civilians in the important Greek cities and ports of Patras, Piracus and others, found their land attack stalled by fierce Greek resistance, and the fall of Yanina, which had been predicted in Rome as only a matter of hours, did not materialize. The British fleet and the British air force had also come immediately to the help of Greece, in accordance to their promise, and British troops landed on the island of Crete and established strong air bases from which they bombed not only Italy, but the Italian debarkation ports in Albania, in closest cooperation and support of their allies.

Greek Victories.

The torrential rains and the mountainous terrain were also in favor of the Greeks. Two Italian divisions were trapped in the defiles of the Pindus Mountains, and were destroyed or taken prisoner by the Greek forces. By Nov. 10 the Italian lines in the Epirus sector were broken and the Fascist troops were in full retreat at the southern end of the front. Soon it became apparent that the invasion of Greece had turned into a complete debacle of the Italian army. The situation at the northern end and in the central part of the 100-mile front had also changed to the advantage of the Greeks, who now pushed into Albania, where the Greek Evzones, or mountain troops, soon dominated Koritza, the important Italian base in the north.

The following weeks brought a widening of Greek victory and carried Greek troops deeper into Albania. Large quantities of Italian field guns and other munitions of war and motor trucks fell into the hands of the advancing Greeks, and thousands of prisoners were taken. On Nov. 22 Koritza fell into Greek hands after a protracted siege, and on Nov. 30 the important Italian base of Pogradec, near Lake Ochrida, dominating the road to Italian headquarters at Elbasan and to the Albanian capital, Tirana. There were similar successes on the south front, where the Greek army occupied Premedi (Dec. 4), the southern Albanian debarkation port of Porto Edda (Dec. 6), and the great fortress and base of Argyokastron (Dec. 8). Sweeping up closer toward the large port of Valona, the army took the Albanian port Palermo (Dec. 14) and the important coastal town of Khimara (Dec. 23). Fighting now in bitter cold and deep snow, the Greeks continued their advances on all sectors to the end of the year and fresh Italian reinforcements could not hold them back. See also ALBANIA; ITALY, and EUROPEAN WAR.

1939: Greece

Internal Affairs.

There was little to report on the internal life of Greece in 1939. The dictatorship of General John Metaxas, which had been established on Aug. 4, 1936, continued unchanged. The General, in addition to being Prime Minister, was also Minister of Foreign Affairs, War, Navy, Air, and Education. His dictatorship tried to redirect national education in what was called the 'Spartan' way as opposed to Athenian democracy, to organize the youth of the country into a strictly disciplinarian and militarist movement after Fascist models, to improve the conditions of the working class, and above all to enlarge the army, modernize its equipment and prepare it for any eventualities.

Foreign Relations.

The international situation demanded the full attention of the Greek Government. Like all the other Balkan countries, Greece found herself between the Rome-Berlin axis on the one hand and the Franco-British entente on the other. Whereas the sympathies of the dictatorship were definitely on the Fascist and National Socialist side, the people in their sympathies were overwhelmingly on the side of the western democracies. The Government was also afraid of the expansionist aspirations of Italy and Germany, against which it was obliged to seek protection with Great Britain and France. Largely a maritime power, Greece was especially interested in the maintenance of peace in the Mediterranean and was ready to rely upon the cooperation of the British fleet. Italy and Greece found themselves at swords points on account of the Dodecanese Islands, a group of twelve islands of which the largest is Rhodes, all of them inhabited largely by Greeks, but occupied by Italy and subjected to a stern régime of Italianization. The Dodecanese serve as an important naval and air base for Italy in the eastern Aegean Sea from which position they represent a permanent threat to Greece and Turkey.

The Italian occupation of Albania in April 1939 alarmed Greece even more. Italian aspirations to Greek Epirus and to the Ionian Islands were well known. Italy placed large contingents of troops at the Greco-Albanian frontier and pushed actively the building of strategic roads across Albania. Under these conditions Great Britain and France guaranteed the independence and territorial integrity of Greece as they had done with Turkey. The relations between Turkey and Greece which had been cordial for a number of years were further strengthened by the common danger in which the two countries found themselves. Greece was also an active member of the Balkan Entente, to which Turkey, Rumania and Yugoslavia belonged. (See ITALY: Conquest of Albania.)

The Balkan Entente had been formed primarily to oppose the revisionist claims of Bulgaria, which were partly directed against Greece. The Peace Treaty of Neuilly in 1919 had forced Bulgaria to renounce western Thrace between Enos and Xanthi, which were taken over by Greece. Thus Bulgaria lost her exit to the Aegean Sea which she regards as of the greatest economic importance. The territorial claims of Bulgaria, which were never given up, made the inclusion of Bulgaria in the Balkan Entente impossible and deprived the latter of the possibility of developing into an alliance strong enough to resist all aggression in the Balkans. The outbreak of the European War in September 1939 found Italy yet unprepared for active participation and thus removed the immediate danger of war from the Mediterranean and from Greece. On the other hand, German and Soviet demands upon Rumania and Turkey seemed to threaten the involvement of these two countries in the war; and thus to put before Greece the question of her own participation in defense of the other two Balkan countries. See also ARCHAEOLOGY.

Société Commerciale de Belgique.

See PERMANENT COURT OF INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE.

1938: Greece

Internal and external conditions combined to increase the hold on the country of the dictatorship of General John Metaxas, who came into power on Aug. 4, 1936. A liberal revolutionary uprising in Crete was quickly suppressed. Life in Greece is being more and more regimented. General Metaxas, who regards as his mission the establishment of 'The Third Hellenic Civilization,' has formed an official national youth organization which has invented also a new Fascist salute, called in Greece, characteristically, 'the Spartan salute.' On March 25 the first radio broadcasting station in Greece was inaugurated. Its broadcasts encourage the new Hellenic race consciousness. At the same time the Government protects the prestige of the official state religion — attendance at Sunday services has become obligatory for children, all missionary work except for the Orthodox Church has been prohibited, literature containing opinions contrary to those held by the Holy Synod is for bidden. All opposition within the country has been completely silenced.

In the economic field the Government of General Metaxas has carried through important large-scale public works and has extended the system of social insurance. Greece has been entirely opened to German economic penetration and frequent visits of leading German statesmen have deepened the German influence. On the other hand, Greece remains distrustful of Italian plans for hegemony in the Eastern Mediterranean, and does not forget that the Dodecanese, the group of twelve islands with their Greek population in the southeastern Aegean, are under Italian domination in spite of the frequent protects of the inhabitants. This led to a strengthening of cooperation with Turkey, which at the same time was directed against any increase of Bulgarian revisionist tendencies in Eastern Macedonia and Western Thrace. The Government of General Metaxas devoted much attention to the strengthening of the Greek army and navy and to the establishment of a Greek air fleet, but these efforts have necessarily been kept within narrow lines. See also ITALY: Dodecanese.