Balkans Campaign

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Balkan Campaign Part of Middle Eastern and Mediterranean theatres of World War II German paratroopers on Crete in 1941 Date 28 October 1940 – 1 June 1941 Location Albania, Yugoslavia, Greek mainland and the Greek islands Result Axis victory Territorial changes Albania, Yugoslavia and Greece under Axis control Belligerents Axis Powers: Italy Albania  Germany Hungary Bulgaria Allied Powers: Greece  United Kingdom  Australia  New Zealand  Yugoslavia Commanders Ugo Cavallero Giovanni Messe Wilhelm List Maximilian von Weichs Kurt Student Alexander Papagos Henry Maitland Wilson Milorad Petrović

v • d • e Mediterranean, Middle East and African theatres of World War II North Africa Campaign – East African Campaign – Balkans Campaign – Siege of Malta – Battle of the Mediterranean – West African Campaign – Middle East campaign – Battle of Madagascar – Dodecanese Campaign – Italian Campaign – Operation Dragoon – Greek Civil War

v • d • e Balkans Campaign Greco-Italian War - Invasion of Yugoslavia - Greece - Crete - Yugoslav Front

v • d • e Campaigns of World War II Europe Poland – Phoney War – Finland  – Denmark & Norway France & Benelux – Britain – Eastern Front – North West Europe (1944–45) The Mediterranean, Africa and The Middle East Mediterranean Sea – East Africa – North Africa – West Africa  Balkans (1939–41) – Middle East – Yugoslavia – Madagascar – Italy Asia & The Pacific China – Pacific Ocean – South-East Asia  South West Pacific – Japan – Manchuria Other Campaigns Atlantic – Strategic Bombing – North America Contemporaneous Wars Chinese Civil – Soviet-Japanese Border – French-Thai - Anglo-Iraqi  Invasion of Iran – Sino-Japanese – Ecuadorian-Peruvian

The Balkans Campaign was the Axis Powers' invasion of Greece and Yugoslavia during World War II. It began with Italy's invasion of Greece on 28 October 1940 and ended with the capture of Crete by German and Italian forces on 1 June 1941.

Contents 1 Prelude — Italian invasion of Albania 2 Greco-Italian War 3 Invasion of Yugoslavia 4 Invasion of Greece 5 Bulgarian intervention 6 Operation Merkur 7 Aftermath 7.1 The Resistance 7.2 The Dodecanese campaign 8 External links

[edit] Prelude — Italian invasion of Albania

Main 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 her enemies.

In 1919, Albania's territorial integrity was confirmed at the Paris Peace Conference after United States President Woodrow Wilson dismissed a plan by the European powers to divide Albania amongst its neighbours.

However, after 1925, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini sought to dominate Albania.

In 1928 Albania became a kingdom under Zog I. Zog 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.

[edit] Greco-Italian War

Main article: Greco-Italian War

The Greco-Italian War lasted from 28 October 1940 to 30 April 1941 and was part of World War II. Italian forces invaded Greece and made limited gains. But soon the Greeks counter-attacked and the Italians were repulsed and driven back into Albania. 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 failed to make sufficient progress. Germany intervened in April and invaded Greece after a successful invasion of Yugoslavia.

[edit] Invasion of Yugoslavia

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 (Germany, Italy, Hungary, and Bulgaria) occupied and deismembered the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. By cobbling together Bosnia and Herzegovina, some parts of Croatia, and Syrmia, the "Independent State of Croatia" (Nezavisna Država Hrvatska, NDH) was created by Germany and Italy. In Serbia and the Banat, the puppet state "Nedić's Serbia" was created by Germany. In Montenegro, a puppet "Independent State of Montenegro" was created as an Italian protectorate. However, the "protectorate" was nominally a kingdom even though Prince Michael of Montenegro never accepted the crown....

[edit] Invasion of Greece

Main article: Battle of Greece

The German Invasion of Greece — code-named Unternehmen Marita (Operation Marita) by Germany — was the direct result and continuation of the Greco-Italian War. On April 6, 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.

[edit] Bulgarian intervention

Main article: Military history of Bulgaria during World War II

On April 6, 1941, despite having officially joined the Axis Powers, the Bulgarian government maintained a course of military passivity during the initial stages of the invasion of Yugoslavia and the Battle of Greece. As German, Italian, and Hungarian troops crushed Yugoslavia and Greece, the Bulgarians remained on the side-lines. The Yugoslav government surrendered on April 17. The Greek government was to hold out until April 30. On April 20, the period of Bulgarian passivity ended. The Bulgarian Army entered the Aegean region. The goal was to gain an Aegean Sea outlet in Thrace and Eastern Macedonia and much of eastern Serbia. The so called Vardar Banovina was divided between Bulgaria and Italians which occupied West Macedonia.

[edit] Operation Merkur

Main article: Battle of Crete

On May 20, 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 tactically superior German forces. However, the loss of so many paratroopers forced the Supreme Command of the German Armed Forces (Oberkommando der Wehrmacht or OKW) to reconsider its airborne warfare doctrine.

[edit] Aftermath

By June 1, 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. The Allied High Command feared that Crete and Greece would be used as "springboard" for an invasion of British Egypt or Cyprus. However, any plans for a large-scale invasion of Egypt and Palestine were abandoned when Operation Barbarossa commenced on June 22.

[edit] The Resistance

Main articles: Greek Resistance and Yugoslav Front of World War II

Throughout the remainder of the war, active Greek and Yugoslav resistance movements forced Germany and her allies to garrison hundreds of thousands of soldiers permanently in the two countries, denying them to the other fronts. Especially after 1943, the threat of an Allied invasion and the activities of the partisans necessitated large-scale counter-insurgency operations, involving several divisions, including elite Panzer and Gebirgsjäger units.

[edit] The Dodecanese campaign

Main article: Dodecanese Campaign

A brief flare-up occurred after the Italian surrender in 1943, when a race developed between the British and the Germans to secure the Italian-occupied and strategically important Dodecanese Islands. The Germans quickly succeeded in disarming the Italian garrison of Rhodes, but the British were successful in occupying the islands of Samos, Leros and Kos. However, the Germans were quickly able to launch aerial and naval attacks, and, using special forces, to occupy the islands.

[edit] External links

• Summaries [1]
• Timeline of the Balkans Campaign
• World War Two Online Newspaper Archives — The Invasion of the Balkans: Yugoslavia, Greece and Crete, 1940-1941
• U.S. Army — The German campaigns in the Balkans
• World War II in the Balkans