Axis occupation of Greece

The occupation of Greece by the Axis Powers (I Katochi) began in April 1941 after Nazi Germany invaded the Kingdom of Greece to assist its ally, Italy, in their ongoing war that had started in October 1940. Following the conquest of Crete, the entirety of Greece was occupied starting in June 1941. The occupation of the mainland lasted until Germany and its ally Bulgaria withdrew under Allied pressure in early October 1944, with Crete and some other Aegean islands being surrendered to the Allies by German garrisons in May and June 1945, after the end of World War II in Europe. Fascist Italy had initially declared war and invaded Greece in October 1940, but had been pushed back by the Hellenic Army into neighboring Albania, which at the time was an Italian protectorate. Nazi Germany intervened on its ally's behalf in southern Europe. While most of the Hellenic Army was located on the Albanian front lines to defend against Italian counter-attacks, a rapid German Blitzkrieg campaign took place from April to June 1941, resulting in Greece being defeated and occupied. The Greek government went into exile, and an Axis collaborationist government was established in its place. Greece's territory was divided into occupation zones run by the Axis powers, with the Germans administering the most important regions of the country themselves, including Athens, Thessaloniki and strategic Aegean Islands. Other regions of the country were run by Germany's partners, Italy and Bulgaria. The occupation reduced the Greek economy and brought hardships to the Greek civilian population. Much of Greece's economic capacity was destroyed, including 80% of industry, 28% of infrastructure (ports, roads and railways), 90% of its bridges, and 25% of its forests and other natural resources. Along with the loss of economic capacity, an estimated 7-11% of Greece's civilian population died as a result of the occupation. In Athens, 40,000 civilians died from starvation and tens of thousands more died from reprisals by Nazis and their collaborators.

About this result

This page is automatically generated and may contain information that is not correct, complete, up-to-date, or relevant to your search query. The same applies to every other page on this website. Please make sure to verify the information with EPFL's official sources.

Related concepts (9)

Greek resistance

The Greek resistance (Ethnikí Antístasi, "National Resistance"), involved armed and unarmed groups from across the political spectrum that resisted the Axis occupation of Greece in the period 1941–1944, during World War II. The largest group was the Communist-dominated EAM-ELAS. The Greek Resistance is considered one of the strongest resistance movements in Nazi-occupied Europe, with partisans, known as andartes, controlling much of the countryside prior to the German withdrawal from Greece in late 1944.

Këshilla

Këshilla (literally meaning "Council" in Albanian; Ξίλια) was an Albanian administration in Thesprotia, Greece, during the Axis occupation of Greece (1941-1944). It was set up during the Fascist Italian occupation with the aim of annexing the Greek region into a greater Albanian state and continued its operations under Nazi German occupation until the defeat of Axis Powers and the end of World War II. This initiative was undertaken by the Cham Albanian leaders of the Dino family, in particular the brothers Nuri and Mazar Dino, who "trapped" the majority of the Cham community into supporting the council.

Cham Albanians

Cham Albanians or Chams (Çamë; Τσάμηδες, Tsámidhes), are a sub-group of Albanians who originally resided in the western part of the region of Epirus in southwestern Albania and northwestern Greece, an area known among Albanians as Chameria. The Chams have their own particular cultural identity within Albanian sub-groups. A number of Chams contributed to the Albanian national identity and played an important role in starting the renaissance of the Albanian culture in the 19th century.