German invasion of Greece

Battle of Greece
Part of the Balkans Campaign during World War II
Germany's attack on Greece
Date 6 April 1941 – 1 June 1941 (1 month, 3 weeks and 5 days) Location Greece and southern Albania Result Axis victory Start of the Greek Resistance and The Holocaust in Greece Territorial changes Axis occupation of Greece
Belligerents
Axis:  Germany  Italy	Allies:  Greece  United Kingdom  Australia  New Zealand
Commanders and leaders
Wilhelm List Maximilian von Weichs Rudolf Veiel Sepp Dietrich Ugo Cavallero	Alexandros Papagos Henry Wilson Thomas Blamey Bernard Freyberg
Strength
Germany:[1][2] 680,000 men 1,200 tanks 700 aircraft 1Italy:[3] 565,000 men 463 aircraft[4] 163 tanks Total: 1,245,000 men	1Greece:[5] 450,000 men Britain, Australia & New Zealand:[6][7][8][9] 252,612 men 100 tanks 200–300 aircraft Total: 502,612 men
Casualties and losses
1Italy:[9] 19,755 dead 63,142 wounded 25,067 missing 3Germany:[10] 7,599 dead 10,752 wounded 385 missing	1Greece:[9][11] 13,408 dead 42,485 wounded 1,290 missing 270,000 captured British Commonwealth:[6] 903 dead 1,250 wounded 13,958 captured
1 Statistics about the strength and casualties of Italy and Greece refer to both the Greco-Italian War and the Battle of Greece (at least 300,000 Greek soldiers fought in Albania).[2] 2 Including Cypriots and Mandatory Palestinians. British, Australian and New Zealand troops were c. 58,000.[6] 3 Statistics about German casualties refer to the Balkans Campaign as a whole and are based on Hitler's statements to the Reichstag on 4 May 1941.[9][10][12]

The German invasion of Greece, also known as the Battle of Greece or Operation Marita (German: Unternehmen Marita^[13]), was the attacks on Greece by Italy and Germany during World War II. The Italian invasion in October 1940, which is usually known as the Greco-Italian War, was followed by the German invasion in April 1941. German landings on the island of Crete (May 1941) came after Allied forces had been defeated in mainland Greece. These battles were part of the greater Balkans Campaign of the Axis powers and their associates.

Following the Italian invasion on 28 October 1940, Greece, with British air and material support, repelled the initial Italian attack and a counter-attack in March 1941. When the German invasion, known as Operation Marita, began on 6 April, the bulk of the Greek Army was on the Greek border with Albania, then a vassal of Italy, from which the Italian troops had attacked. German troops invaded from Bulgaria, creating a second front. Greece received a small reinforcement from British, Australian and New Zealand forces in anticipation of the German attack. The Greek army found itself outnumbered in its effort to defend against both Italian and German troops. As a result, the Metaxas defensive line did not receive adequate troop reinforcements and was quickly overrun by the Germans, who then outflanked the Greek forces at the Albanian border, forcing their surrender. British, Australian and New Zealand forces were overwhelmed and forced to retreat, with the ultimate goal of evacuation. For several days, Allied troops played an important part in containing the German advance on the Thermopylae position, allowing ships to be prepared to evacuate the units defending Greece.^[14] The German Army reached the capital, Athens, on 27 April and Greece's southern shore on 30 April, capturing 7,000 British, Australian and New Zealand personnel and ending the battle with a decisive victory. The conquest of Greece was completed with the capture of Crete a month later. Following its fall, Greece was occupied by the military forces of Germany, Italy and Bulgaria.^[15]

Hitler later blamed the failure of his invasion of the Soviet Union on Mussolini's failed conquest of Greece.^[16] Andreas Hillgruber has accused Hitler of trying to deflect blame for his country's defeat from himself to his ally, Italy.^[17] It nevertheless had serious consequences for the Axis war effort in the North African theatre. Enno von Rintelen, who was the military attaché in Rome, emphasises, from the German point of view, the strategic mistake of not taking Malta.^[18]