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The occupation of Greece by the Axis Powers (Greek: Η Κατοχή, romanized: I Katochi, lit. 'the occupation') began in April 1941 after Nazi Germany invaded the Kingdom of Greece in order to assist its ally, Italy, in their ongoing war that was initiated in October 1940, having encountered major strategical difficulties.
The German invasion of Greece, also known as the Battle of Greece or Operation Marita (German: Unternehmen Marita [13]), were the attacks on Greece by Italy and Germany during World War II. The Italian invasion in October 1940, which is usually known as the Greco-Italian War , was followed by the German invasion in April 1941.
Map of occupied Greece showing the German and Italian occupation zones on Crete The German Air Ministry was shocked by the number of transport aircraft lost in the battle, and Student, reflecting on the casualties suffered by the paratroopers, concluded after the war that Crete was the death of the airborne force.
Mainland Greece was liberated in October 1944 with the German withdrawal in the face of the advancing Red Army, while German garrisons held out in the Aegean Islands until after the war's end. The country was devastated by war and occupation, and its economy and infrastructure lay in ruins.
At the same time, the Greek GHQ did not agree with the British as to the deployment of its forces, being unwilling to abandon all of northern Greece in favour of the shorter Vermion Mountains–Haliacmon River line favoured by the British. Consequently, the Greek forces in Macedonia were divided in two major groupings, which fought separate ...
It demanded free passage for his troops to occupy unspecified strategic points inside Greek territory. Greece had been friendly towards Nazi Germany, profiting from mutual trade relations, but now Germany's ally, Italy, intended to invade Greece. Metaxas rejected the ultimatum with the words "Alors, c'est la guerre" (French for "then it is war").
This changed things for Germany, as Hitler saw these Greek victories over the Italians as a direct threat to his own southern border and interests, so a fateful decision was made, and in early ...
The Greek island of Crete was seized by the Axis after a fierce battle at the end of May 1941. The Germans occupied the western three prefectures of the island (the prefectures of Chania, Heraklion, and Rethymno) with their headquarters in Chania, whilst the Italians occupied the easternmost prefecture of Lasithi until the Italian capitulation in September 1943.