In October 1940, while the biggest part of Europe was participating in World War II, Greece was still maintaining neutrality. Italy, which was officially supporting Germany since June of the same year, had clarified its plans for expansion in the Mediterranean, and, consequently, its hostile intent against Greece, the peak of which was the sinking of the Protected Cruiser “Elli” on 15 August 1940. The Italian strike was then a matter of time.
On 28 October 1940, at 0300 o’clock, the Italian ambassador in Athens, Emanuele Grazzi, gave the Greek Prime Minister, Ioannis Metaxas, an ultimatum by the Italian government, requesting the freedom of passage for Italian troops and the military occupation of strategic points of the Hellenic territory.
The rejection of the Italian request came from the Greek Prime Minister himself with the following words: “Alors, c’est la guerre!” (“So, we are at war!”) Immediately afterwards, a general mobilisation began with the orders to “resist until the end”.
At 0530 o’clock, half an hour before the expiration of the Italian ultimatum, the Italian troops launched a surprise attack against Hellenic sections of the Greco-Albanian border defence units, thus marking the official declaration of the Greco-Italian war. The Hellenic Army was about to write one of the brightest pages of the glorious History of the Nation, by courageously facing the -until then – undefeated forces of the Axis.
#ΕλληνικόςΣτρατός, #HellenicArmy
