The Greco–Italian War, also called the Italo–Greek War, Italian Campaign in Greece, and the War of '40 in Greece, took place between the kingdoms of Italy and Greece from 28 October 1940 to 23 April 1941. This local war began the Balkans campaign of World War II between the Axis powers and the Allies and eventually turned into the Battle of Greece with British and German involvement. On 10 June 1940, Italy declared war on France and the United Kingdom. By September 1940, the Italians had invaded France, British Somaliland and Egypt. This was followed by a hostile press campaign in Italy against Greece, accused of being a British ally. A number of provocations culminated in the sinking of the Greek light cruiser Elli by the Italians on 15 August. On 28 October, Mussolini issued an ultimatum to Greece demanding the cession of Greek territory, which the Prime Minister of Greece, Ioannis Metaxas, rejected.
Clockwise: Italian bombers over Greek territory, Italian soldiers during winter in Albania, Greek soldiers in Gjirokaster, Greek soldiers during the Italian Spring Offensive
Eleftherios Venizelos, Prime Minister of Greece (various terms 1910–1933)
Benito Mussolini, Prime Minister of Italy
Greek cruiser Elli that was sunk on 15 August 1940 while she sat at anchor.
Balkans campaign (World War II)
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.
German paratroopers on Crete in 1941
Balkan boundary changes 1938 to 1941