Greece during World War II

Greece during World War II
Name	Greece during World War II
Period	1940–1944
Major theaters	Balkan Campaign, Mediterranean Theatre, Aegean Sea operations
Combatants	Kingdom of Greece; Allies of World War II; Axis powers (Italy, Nazi Germany, Bulgaria)
Commanders	Ioannis Metaxas; Alexander Papagos; Giorgios Tsolakoglou; Generalfeldmarschall Wilhelm List; Friedrich Paulus
Casualties	Military and civilian casualties; Holocaust in Greece

Greece during World War II saw rapid transformation from neutrality to invasion, occupation, and resistance, culminating in liberation and the onset of a postwar political struggle. The period encompassed the Greco-Italian War, the Battle of Greece, widespread occupation, significant partisan warfare, severe famine, and the beginnings of the Greek Civil War.

Background and Prelude to War

In the late 1930s the Metaxas Regime under Ioannis Metaxas presided over a polity shaped by the aftermath of the Asia Minor Catastrophe, tensions with Bulgaria over Macedonia, and Mediterranean rivalries involving the Regia Marina, the Royal Navy, and the French Third Republic. The outbreak of World War II and the Axis powers' expansion after the Invasion of Poland and the Fall of France increased pressure on the Kingdom of Greece to choose alignment, while the Greco-Turkish relations and access to the Aegean Sea influenced strategic calculations. Diplomatic contacts with United Kingdom and concern about Italian Empire ambitions in the Dodecanese shaped Greek military planning.

Axis Invasion and Occupation (1940–1944)

The Greco-Italian War began with the Italian invasion from Albania on 28 October 1940, prompting the celebrated Greek counteroffensive and the rise of figures like Alexander Papagos and battles at Pindus and the Battle of Elaia–Kalamas. The subsequent Battle of Greece in April 1941 brought the entry of Nazi Germany with operations including Operation Marita and the Battle of Crete, where airborne forces clashed with defenders from the Hellenic Army, British Expeditionary Force, and units from the Royal Air Force. Occupation followed partition: Italian zones, German zones, and Bulgarian annexations of eastern Macedonia and Thrace. Collaborationist administrations emerged, including the Hellenic State under figures such as Georgios Tsolakoglou and Ioannis Rallis, while Axis reprisals and counterinsurgency operations targeted civilian populations in places like Kastoria, Laconia, and Viannos.

Greek Resistance Movements

Resistance networks proliferated, with the communist-led EAM and its military wing ELAS becoming preeminent, while monarchist and right-wing formations such as EDES under Napoleon Zervas and National and Social Liberation (EKKA) operated alongside smaller groups like Organization X and royalist militias. Urban and rural sabotage, clandestine press operations, and intelligence cooperation with the Special Operations Executive and Office of Strategic Services supported Allied operations in the Mediterranean Sea and aided Allied campaigns, including operations connected to Operation Husky and the Sicily campaign. Inter-resistance rivalries culminated in episodes such as the Lebanon Conference negotiations and violent clashes at Dekemvriana in Athens.

Collaboration, Repression, and the Holocaust in Greece

Collaborationist police and administrative bodies operated with Wehrmacht and Einsatzkommando support, facilitating deportations from Thessaloniki and the Salonika to Auschwitz concentration camp and other Nazi concentration camps. The Holocaust in Greece decimated vibrant Jewish communities in Thessaloniki, Ioannina, Kavala, and Volos, while Nazi anti-partisan sweeps produced massacres at Kallikratis, Distomo, Kalavryta, and Kroussos. Bulgarian occupation policies led to forced migrations and persecution in areas of Pirin and eastern Macedonia, causing international controversy involving the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration and postwar diplomacy.

Economic and Social Impact of the War

Occupation policies, requisitions by the Wehrmacht and Regia Marina, and Allied blockades disrupted agriculture and industry, triggering the Great Famine of 1941–1942 that devastated urban centers like Athens and Thessaloniki. The National Bank of Greece suffered currency collapse and hyperinflation; infrastructure destruction affected ports such as Piraeus and railways connecting to Salonika. Population displacement, refugee flows from Asia Minor, and wartime casualties altered demographics, while cultural institutions including the Academy of Athens and museums faced looting and protection efforts orchestrated by curators and scholars. International relief efforts involved the International Committee of the Red Cross, Allied Mediterranean commands, and negotiations at the Moscow Conference (1943) context.

Liberation, Civil War Emergence, and Aftermath

German withdrawal in 1944 and Allied advances precipitated political crises: the return of the Greek government-in-exile led by figures associated with the Kingdom of Greece and the contentious return of King George II of Greece intersected with EAM's claims to authority, culminating in the Dekemvriana and the Varkiza Agreement (1945). British influence, through commanders such as General Ronald Scobie and diplomats like Reginald Leeper, shaped postwar arrangements alongside Soviet diplomatic maneuvers at the Yalta Conference and the Potsdam Conference. The unresolved tensions led to the outbreak of the Greek Civil War (1946–1949), involving Communist Party of Greece cadres, royalist forces, and international actors including United States support under the Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan aid. Postwar trials, reparations claims against Bulgaria, cultural restitution debates over artifacts looted by the Nazis, and the reintegration of displaced populations marked the long aftermath.

Category:History of Greece Category:World War II by country