The Balkans campaign of World War II began with the Italian invasion of Greece on 28 October 1940. In the early months of 1941, Italy's offensive had stalled and a Greek counter-offensive pushed into Albania. Germany sought to aid Italy by deploying troops to Romania and Bulgaria and attacking Greece from the east. Meanwhile, the British landed troops and aircraft to shore up Greek defences. A coup d'état in Yugoslavia on 27 March caused Adolf Hitler to order the conquest of that country.
The invasion of Yugoslavia by Germany and Italy began on 6 April 1941, simultaneously with the new Battle of Greece; on 11 April, Hungary joined the invasion. By 17 April the Yugoslavs had signed an armistice, and by 30 April all of mainland Greece was under German or Italian control. On 20 May Germany invaded Crete by air, and by 1 June all remaining Greek and British forces on the island had surrendered. Although it had not participated in the attacks in April, Bulgaria occupied parts of both Yugoslavia and Greece shortly thereafter for the remainder of the war in the Balkans.
After World War I, with the complete collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Albanians looked to the Kingdom of Italy for protection against its traditional enemies. In 1919, Albania's territorial integrity was confirmed at the Paris Peace Conference after United States President Woodrow Wilson opposed a plan by the European powers to divide Albania amongst its neighbors. However, after 1925, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini sought to dominate Albania. In 1928, Albania became a kingdom under Zog I, who was a clan chief and former Prime Minister. Zog failed to stave off Italian ascendancy in Albanian internal affairs. On 7 April 1939, Mussolini's troops occupied Albania, overthrew Zog, and annexed the country to the Italian Empire.
CampaignEdit
Balkan boundary changes 1938 to 1941Axis advances in the Balkans during early 1941Division of Yugoslavia after its invasion by the Axis powers.
The Italian invasion of Greece lasted from 28 October 1940 to 30 April 1941. Italian forces invaded Greece and made limited gains. But soon the Greeks counter-attacked and the Italians were driven back to the Albanian border. The Italians spent much of the winter stabilizing a line which left them in control of only about two-thirds of Albania. A much anticipated Italian offensive in March 1941 resulted in few territorial gains. Germany, led by Adolf Hitler, intervened in April and invaded Greece after the successful invasion of Yugoslavia.
Hitler began planning to invade Greece in November 1940, after the British occupied Crete and Lemnos. He ordered the invasion of Greece — code-named Unternehmen Marita (Operation Marita) — on 13 December 1940 for execution in March 1941. The stated aim of the operation was to prevent the British from getting air bases within striking range of the Romanian oilfields.[1] On 6 April 1941, the German Army invaded northern Greece, while other elements launched an attack against Yugoslavia. Breaking through the Yugoslav lines in southern Yugoslavia allowed Germany to send reinforcements to the battlefields of northern Greece. The German army out-flanked the Greek Metaxas Line fortifications and, despite the assistance provided by a British expeditionary corps, set out to capture the southern Greek cities. The Battle of Greece ended with the German entry into Athens and the capture of the Peloponnese, although about 40,000 Allied soldiers were evacuated to Crete, prompting one of the largest airborne attacks in the history of warfare: Operation Merkur, or the Battle of Crete.
On 20 May 1941, German paratroopers were dropped over the airfields of northern Crete to occupy the island. They were met by heavy resistance from Allied forces and the local Cretan population but eventually the defenders were overwhelmed by the German forces. The British Government ordered an evacuation on 27 May and the remaining forces surrendered on 1 June. However, the heavy losses incurred by the paratroopers convinced the Supreme Command of the Wehrmacht to abandon large-scale airborne operations for the remainder of the war.
ResultEdit
Situation in Europe by May/June 1941 at the conclusion of the Balkans campaign, immediately before Operation Barbarossa
By 1 June 1941, all of Albania, Yugoslavia and Greece were under Axis control. Greece was placed under triple occupation, and Yugoslavia was dissolved and occupied. Germany had gained a significant strategic advantage: direct access to the Mediterranean.
On 6 April 1941, despite having officially joined the Axis Powers, the Bulgarian government did not participate in the invasion of Yugoslavia and the Battle of Greece. On 20 April, the Bulgarian Army occupied most of Western Thrace and the Greek province of Eastern Macedonia, which had been already conquered by Germany, with the goal of restoring its pre-World War I outlet to the Aegean Sea. Bulgarian troops also occupied much of eastern Serbia, where Vardar Banovina was divided between Bulgaria and the Italians.
Throughout the remainder of the war, active Yugoslav, Greek, and Albanian resistance movements forced Germany and its allies to garrison hundreds of thousands of soldiers permanently in the three countries, denying them to the other fronts. Especially in Yugoslavia after 1943, the threat of an Allied invasion and the activities of the partisans necessitated large-scale counter-insurgency operations, involving several divisions.
Wards, Ian (2000). "The Balkan Dilemma". In Crawford, John (ed.). Kia Kaha: New Zealand in the Second World War. Auckland, NZ: Oxford. pp. 20–35. ISBN0-19-558438-4.
^Walther Hubatsch, Hitlers Weisungen fuer die Kriegfuehrung 1939-1945, Weisung Nr. 20, 2nd Edition, Bernard & Graefe Verlag, 1983
External linksEdit
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Balkans Campaign (World War II).
The Fate of the Jews in South-Eastern Europe During the First Years of the War 2012-01-11 at the Wayback Machine on the Yad Vashem website
Summaries WORLD WAR II in the BALKANS
Timeline of the Balkans Campaign
World War II in the Balkans
October 21, 2023
balkans, campaign, world, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, balkans, campaign, world, news, newspapers. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Balkans campaign World War II news newspapers books scholar JSTOR February 2017 Learn how and when to remove this template message Balkans campaignPart of Mediterranean and Middle East Theatre of the Second World WarGerman paratroopers on Crete in 1941Date28 October 1940 1 June 1941 7 months and 4 days LocationAlbania Yugoslavia Greek mainland and the Greek islandsResultAxis victory Guerilla war in Yugoslavia Guerilla war in GreeceTerritorialchangesYugoslavia and Greece come under Axis controlBelligerentsAxis Italy Albania Germany from April 1941 Hungary from April 1941 Allies Greece Yugoslavia from April 1941 United Kingdom Australia New ZealandCommanders and leadersPietro Badoglio Ubaldo Soddu Ugo Cavallero Vittorio Ambrosio Shefqet Verlaci Akif Permeti Wilhelm ListMaximilian von Weichs Kurt StudentElemer Gorondy NovakIoannis Metaxas Alexandros Papagos Dusan Simovic Milorad Petrovic Henry Wilson Bernard FreybergStrength565 000 680 000 80 000 Total 1 325 000430 000 850 000 62 612Total 1 342 612 The Balkans campaign of World War II began with the Italian invasion of Greece on 28 October 1940 In the early months of 1941 Italy s offensive had stalled and a Greek counter offensive pushed into Albania Germany sought to aid Italy by deploying troops to Romania and Bulgaria and attacking Greece from the east Meanwhile the British landed troops and aircraft to shore up Greek defences A coup d etat in Yugoslavia on 27 March caused Adolf Hitler to order the conquest of that country The invasion of Yugoslavia by Germany and Italy began on 6 April 1941 simultaneously with the new Battle of Greece on 11 April Hungary joined the invasion By 17 April the Yugoslavs had signed an armistice and by 30 April all of mainland Greece was under German or Italian control On 20 May Germany invaded Crete by air and by 1 June all remaining Greek and British forces on the island had surrendered Although it had not participated in the attacks in April Bulgaria occupied parts of both Yugoslavia and Greece shortly thereafter for the remainder of the war in the Balkans Contents 1 Background 2 Campaign 2 1 Greco Italian War 2 2 Invasion of Yugoslavia 2 3 Battle of Greece 2 4 Battle of Crete 3 Result 3 1 Bulgarian occupation 3 2 Resistance movements 4 See also 5 References 6 External linksBackground EditMain article Italian invasion of Albania After World War I with the complete collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the Austro Hungarian Empire the Albanians looked to the Kingdom of Italy for protection against its traditional enemies In 1919 Albania s territorial integrity was confirmed at the Paris Peace Conference after United States President Woodrow Wilson opposed a plan by the European powers to divide Albania amongst its neighbors However after 1925 Italian dictator Benito Mussolini sought to dominate Albania In 1928 Albania became a kingdom under Zog I who was a clan chief and former Prime Minister Zog failed to stave off Italian ascendancy in Albanian internal affairs On 7 April 1939 Mussolini s troops occupied Albania overthrew Zog and annexed the country to the Italian Empire Campaign Edit nbsp Balkan boundary changes 1938 to 1941 nbsp Axis advances in the Balkans during early 1941 nbsp Division of Yugoslavia after its invasion by the Axis powers Areas assigned to Italy the area constituting the province of Ljubljana the area merged with the province of Fiume and the areas making up the Governorate of Dalmatia Independent State of Croatia Area occupied by Nazi Germany Areas occupied by Kingdom of HungaryGreco Italian War Edit Main article Greco Italian War The Italian invasion of Greece lasted from 28 October 1940 to 30 April 1941 Italian forces invaded Greece and made limited gains But soon the Greeks counter attacked and the Italians were driven back to the Albanian border The Italians spent much of the winter stabilizing a line which left them in control of only about two thirds of Albania A much anticipated Italian offensive in March 1941 resulted in few territorial gains Germany led by Adolf Hitler intervened in April and invaded Greece after the successful invasion of Yugoslavia Invasion of Yugoslavia Edit Main article Invasion of Yugoslavia The invasion of Yugoslavia also known as Operation 25 began on 6 April 1941 and ended with the unconditional surrender of the Royal Yugoslav Army on 17 April The invading Axis powers Nazi Germany Fascist Italy and Hungary occupied and dismembered the Kingdom of Yugoslavia By cobbling together Bosnia and Herzegovina some parts of Croatia and Syrmia the Independent State of Croatia Nezavisna Drzava Hrvatska NDH was created by Germany and Italy In some of the territory of the former Kingdom of Serbia and the Banat the German occupied Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia the Germans appointed a puppet government the Government of National Salvation led by Milan Nedic Montenegro remained under Italian occupation and Bulgaria was permitted to annex eastern areas of Yugoslavia including most of modern day North Macedonia Battle of Greece Edit Main article Battle of Greece Hitler began planning to invade Greece in November 1940 after the British occupied Crete and Lemnos He ordered the invasion of Greece code named Unternehmen Marita Operation Marita on 13 December 1940 for execution in March 1941 The stated aim of the operation was to prevent the British from getting air bases within striking range of the Romanian oilfields 1 On 6 April 1941 the German Army invaded northern Greece while other elements launched an attack against Yugoslavia Breaking through the Yugoslav lines in southern Yugoslavia allowed Germany to send reinforcements to the battlefields of northern Greece The German army out flanked the Greek Metaxas Line fortifications and despite the assistance provided by a British expeditionary corps set out to capture the southern Greek cities The Battle of Greece ended with the German entry into Athens and the capture of the Peloponnese although about 40 000 Allied soldiers were evacuated to Crete prompting one of the largest airborne attacks in the history of warfare Operation Merkur or the Battle of Crete Battle of Crete Edit Main article Battle of Crete On 20 May 1941 German paratroopers were dropped over the airfields of northern Crete to occupy the island They were met by heavy resistance from Allied forces and the local Cretan population but eventually the defenders were overwhelmed by the German forces The British Government ordered an evacuation on 27 May and the remaining forces surrendered on 1 June However the heavy losses incurred by the paratroopers convinced the Supreme Command of the Wehrmacht to abandon large scale airborne operations for the remainder of the war Result Edit nbsp Situation in Europe by May June 1941 at the conclusion of the Balkans campaign immediately before Operation BarbarossaBy 1 June 1941 all of Albania Yugoslavia and Greece were under Axis control Greece was placed under triple occupation and Yugoslavia was dissolved and occupied Germany had gained a significant strategic advantage direct access to the Mediterranean Bulgarian occupation Edit Main article Military history of Bulgaria during World War II On 6 April 1941 despite having officially joined the Axis Powers the Bulgarian government did not participate in the invasion of Yugoslavia and the Battle of Greece On 20 April the Bulgarian Army occupied most of Western Thrace and the Greek province of Eastern Macedonia which had been already conquered by Germany with the goal of restoring its pre World War I outlet to the Aegean Sea Bulgarian troops also occupied much of eastern Serbia where Vardar Banovina was divided between Bulgaria and the Italians Resistance movements Edit Main articles Resistance in Yugoslavia Greek Resistance and Albanian Resistance of World War II Throughout the remainder of the war active Yugoslav Greek and Albanian resistance movements forced Germany and its allies to garrison hundreds of thousands of soldiers permanently in the three countries denying them to the other fronts Especially in Yugoslavia after 1943 the threat of an Allied invasion and the activities of the partisans necessitated large scale counter insurgency operations involving several divisions See also EditAdriatic campaign of World War IIReferences EditWards Ian 2000 The Balkan Dilemma In Crawford John ed Kia Kaha New Zealand in the Second World War Auckland NZ Oxford pp 20 35 ISBN 0 19 558438 4 Walther Hubatsch Hitlers Weisungen fuer die Kriegfuehrung 1939 1945 Weisung Nr 20 2nd Edition Bernard amp Graefe Verlag 1983External links Edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Balkans Campaign World War II The Fate of the Jews in South Eastern Europe During the First Years of the War Archived 2012 01 11 at the Wayback Machine on the Yad Vashem website Summaries WORLD WAR II in the BALKANS Timeline of the Balkans Campaign World War Two Online Newspaper Archives The Invasion of the Balkans Yugoslavia Greece and Crete 1940 1941 World War II in the Balkans Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Balkans campaign World War II amp oldid 1180924059, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
