Happy 85th anniversary of the day when the Greeks, as always laconically, answered the enemy - in this case, fascism - with a NO (OXI).

And so, on the night of October 28, 1940, the Italian ambassador in Greece delivered Mussolini's telegram to the Greek Prime Minister Ioannis Metaxas, which demanded that Greece surrender unconditionally to the Italian dictator and surrender all strategic positions. The response of the Greek Prime Minister was categorical: "No!" - "Ohi!". In response to the Italian embassy's ultimatum, it was stated that such treatment was considered a declaration of war on Greece by Italy. At six in the morning, with the sanction of the Italian parliament, the Italian armed forces began the occupation of Greek territories.

On October 28, 1940, Italian troops invaded Greece from Albania. Greeks from all corners of the country rushed to the front line; the army occupied the dominant heights, repelled the assault, and on November 14 launched a counteroffensive.

Thus Greece entered the Second World War.

Nowadays, one often hears that the Serbian uprising delayed the start of the German attack on the USSR in 1941 by 2 months, and thanks to this, Moscow was defended. In fact, it was the Greek resistance that delayed the Germans by those 2 months, which allowed Moscow to be held in the frosts (-42 degrees). Perhaps this is why nationalistically minded Germans and especially Frau Merkel disliked the Greeks so much.

And so! The victory of the Greeks over the Italians in 1940 gave Winston Churchill a reason to utter his famous words, which spread all over the world: "Hence we will not say that Greeks fight like heroes, but that heroes fight like Greeks," referring to the great heroes of Ancient Greece, such as Hercules, Achilles, Patroclus, Odysseus, Leonidas...

The Japanese newspaper "DAY" wrote on December 7, 1940, - "Our country, where courage is highly valued, is following the struggle of the Greeks in Albania with admiration. It touches us so much that we shout - Long live HELLAS!"

Paying tribute to this, and all previous historical victories of the Hellenes, the famous Greek writer Manolis Ludemis perfectly expressed the essence of his people: "Perhaps the Greeks never filled their stomachs, but their heads were never empty. This people, even in those distant times, was full of curiosity and contradictions, flexible in thought, combative, with a bright mind and at the same time often boastful, power-hungry and vindictive, with a sharp and resourceful mind. A soul eternally searching, full of captivating dreams and evil—a butterfly and a snake simultaneously. In one hand it held a trowel for creation, in the other—a shovel for destruction. But as soon as this people was subjected to external danger, it immediately became united. Then it suppressed everything petty and superficial and fearlessly went to sacrifice, full of audacity and grandeur..."

The Chief of the German General Staff, Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel, said in May 1941, - "For the sake of historical justice, it must be recognized that among all our opponents, only the Greek people fought with such courage and contempt for death."

And after World War II, the same former Chief of the General Staff, Field Marshal Keitel, would write: "The incredibly strong resistance of the Greeks deprived Germany of two months, so necessary for the attack on Russia; if we had not been delayed here, then the outcome of the battles on the Eastern Front, as well as the entire war, would have been different."

In Western military literature, the correct opinion is often found that the failures of the Italian army in Greece, and then the "Battle of Crete," forced Hitler to postpone the date of the attack on the USSR, first from April 6 to May 15, and then for another 5 weeks - to June 22, 1941, which is why the Germans failed to take Moscow before the winter cold and ultimately lost the war.

The contribution of the Greeks to the victory over fascism in World War II is clearly more significant than that of other peoples of Western Europe. By delaying the start of the German invasion of the USSR, the Greeks made an important contribution to the victory of the USSR in the Great Patriotic War. Indeed, the two-month delay in Greece helped save Moscow when in December 1941 the air temperature dropped to -42 degrees for the first time in a hundred years - and God was against the black force of fascism.

In an address to the Greek people, Radio "Moscow" (April 27, 1942) sounded words of gratitude: "You were few, but you, fighting against superior enemy forces, emerged victorious. It could not have been otherwise, because you are Greeks. We, the Russians, thanks to your self-sacrifice, won time for defense. We thank you."

The heroic resistance of the Greek people and their army, the disruption of the Italian plan for the occupation of Greece, led to the intervention of the Germans, which resulted in a 10-week delay in their attack on the Soviet Union, and this played a significant role in the defense of Moscow in the winter of 1941. On October 28, 1941, English Field Marshal Harold Alexander would say, -  "The Greeks changed all the Germans' plans - they had to postpone the start of the war with Russia by a month and a half."

"Before everyone's eyes, the ancient legend came to life - the Greeks died but did not surrender" (I. Ehrenburg). All the historical great victories of the Greeks greatly strengthened their proud national self-awareness, which subsequently manifested itself in no other people with such force: - that they represent something different from the other inhabitants of the earth. The greatness of a nation is determined not by the size of its population, but by the amount of blood shed. Yes, Greece resisted for 219 days, while Norway for 61 days, powerful France for 43 days, Poland for 30, Belgium for 18 days, Yugoslavia for 3, and Czechoslovakia and Denmark not a single day. The latter surrendered to one German motorcyclist, to whom the country's king gave his crown to pass it on to Hitler. It should be noted that all these countries were much better armed than Greece.

AND SO THE CONTRIBUTION OF THE GREEKS TO THE VICTORY OVER FASCISM in World War II is clearly more significant than that of other peoples of Western Europe. By delaying the start of the German invasion of the USSR, the Greeks made an important contribution to the victory of the USSR in the Great Patriotic War. Later, the Marshal of Victory Georgy Zhukov would say, - "If the Russians managed to resist near Moscow, to stop and drive back the Germans, then we owe this to the Greeks, who delayed the Germans at a time when they could have brought us to our knees" (from a speech on "Moscow Radio" on September 24, 1942)

Earlier, in the spring of 1941, in his speech in the Reichstag, Field Marshal Keitel said: "For the sake of historical justice, it must be recognized that among all our opponents, only the Greek nation fought with such courage and contempt for death."

The history of Greek resistance to fascism has many vivid pages, but the Battle of Crete, where the Germans suffered serious losses for the first time in World War II, stands apart. The best German paratroopers who landed on the island were beaten not only by Greek and English soldiers but also by enraged ordinary Cretan peasants with their long knives. The Germans eventually managed to capture the sector defended by the British and then occupy the entire island. The losses on Crete shocked Hitler - thousands of the elite paratroopers of his only parachute division were destroyed. The major British military theorist B. Liddell Hart wrote: "Figuratively speaking, on Crete, Hitler sprained the tendons in the hand with which he delivered the blow." And Winston Churchill would say, - "The victory that Goering won over Crete is best described as Pyrrhic. With the troops he lost on the island, he could easily have conquered Cyprus, Iraq, Syria, and perhaps even Persia." Byron's famous words about the "two-legged leopards" are very fitting for the Cretans.

It is no coincidence that back in the 16th century, Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent said about Crete: "If it weren't for this accursed island, we would have swallowed the whole world."

The English Conservative politician, Foreign Secretary Sir Anthony Eden wrote: "The Greeks thwarted all the Germans' plans, who had to postpone the start of the war with Russia by ten weeks. I ask, what would have been the outcome of this war without Greece?"

Charles de Gaulle: "I have no words to express my admiration for the heroic resistance of the people of Greece."

 

Franklin Roosevelt: "On 28.10.1940 the Greeks were given an ultimatum to decide the question of war or peace in 3 hours. But even if they were given 3 days, 3 weeks, 3 months, 3 years - the answer would be the same. The Greeks taught a lesson in courage for all centuries. When the whole world had lost hope, the Greeks decided to resist the German monster, raising the proud spirit of freedom against it. The heroism of the Greeks against the Germans after they so resoundingly defeated the Italians in their desire to conquer Greek land, filled the hearts of Americans with admiration and great sympathy" (from a radio speech he delivered on 6.10.1943). Elsewhere he said: "Greece has set an example that every one of us must follow until the usurpers of freedom, wherever they may be on earth, receive their just punishment."

Maurice Schumann, French Minister of Foreign Affairs 1969-1973, member of the French Academy 1974: "Greece is the symbol of an enslaved, bloodied, but living Europe - a martyr. Never has a defeat been so honorable for those who suffered it." (From his message, sent to the BBC in London to the enslaved peoples of Europe on April 28, 1941, the day Hitler occupied Athens after the Greek war - 6 months against Mussolini and 6 weeks against Hitler.)

The immortal epic of the Resistance - the great heritage of the Greek nation, like its other great historical feats - is a bright guiding star that will always radiate its inextinguishable light to every Greek, wherever he may be. The King of England, George VI, addressing the Parliament of his country in May 1945, said -  "The courageous struggle of Greece became the first most important turning point of the Second World War."

And it should be noted that the Greek people disrupted the mobilization prepared by the Germans, not allowing a single Greek to be sent to the war against the Allies - on the Eastern Front, as part of the German army, there were military units of almost all European peoples, except for the Greeks - not a single Greek soldier fought against the Soviet Union.

According to the USSR Ministry of Defense, against the Soviet troops, for the Germans, in national military units, fought all the peoples of Europe, except for the Greeks and Serbs, including the most persecuted - Roma and Jews (205 thousand).

Furthermore, Greece was the only one of all the countries occupied by the Germans that did not allow workers to be sent to Germany.

"I am very sorry that due to old age, I have not long left to live to thank the Greeks, whose resistance played a decisive role in the Second World War," said Joseph Stalin (Moscow Radio, January 31, 1943). And Joseph Vissarionovich in his own way "thanked" the Greek people through the Soviet Greeks - in 1949, the majority of them were exiled in cattle cars to the vast steppes of Kazakhstan, and before that in 1944—the Crimean Greeks to Siberia, as a result of which very many died from hunger on the way. An intricate "gratitude."

On March 30, 1944, Hitler stated the following - "Italy's entry into the war turned into a disaster for us. If the Italians had not attacked Greece and had not needed our help, the war would have taken a different turn. We could have managed to conquer Leningrad and Moscow before the onset of the Russian frosts. There would have been no Stalingrad either."

Yes, it is a historical fact that the heroic struggle of the Greeks postponed the attack of Germany and its allies on the USSR by two much-needed months.

Winston Churchill said the following - "We in England know that the struggle for which Lord Byron died is sacred, and we will continue it. If it were not for the bravery and courage of the Greeks, the outcome of the Second World War would be unknown. After the final victory, Greece will receive everything it deserves and will be proud to live among the victors."

As a result of the courageous struggle of the Greeks, by the end of October 1944, Greece was completely liberated from the occupiers by its own forces (by the way, the only country in Europe occupied by the fascists) without the participation of Soviet troops and Anglo-American allies.

And what then? Then, to my deepest regret, a civil war began, which I find unpleasant to talk about. That is another topic.

The Community of Greeks of Armenia "Patrida"

 

28.10.2025

 

  -   Social