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Balkan Campaign (World War II)

Balkans Campaign
Part of Eastern Front Theatre and Mediterranean and Middle East Theatre of the Second World War
Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-166-0508-31, Kreta, Vormarsch deutscher Fallschirmjäger.jpg
German paratroopers on Crete in 1941
Date 28 October 1940 – 1 June 1941
(7 months and 4 days)
Location Albania, Yugoslavia, Greek mainland and the Greek islands
Result Axis victory; guerilla war in Yugoslavia
Territorial
changes
Yugoslavia and Greece under Axis control
Belligerents

Axis:
 Germany
 Italy

 Hungary
 Bulgaria
Allies:
 Yugoslavia
 Greece
 United Kingdom
 Australia
 New Zealand
Commanders and leaders
Nazi Germany Wilhelm List
Nazi Germany Maximilian von Weichs
Nazi Germany Kurt Student
Kingdom of Italy Ugo Cavallero
Kingdom of Italy Giovanni Messe
Hungary Elemér Gorondy-Novák
Kingdom of Yugoslavia Dušan Simović
Kingdom of Yugoslavia Milorad Petrović
Kingdom of Greece Alexander Papagos
United Kingdom Henry Maitland Wilson
New Zealand Bernard Freyberg
Strength
Nazi Germany 680,000
Kingdom of Italy 565,000
Kingdom of Yugoslavia 850,000
Kingdom of Greece 430,000
United Kingdom 62,612

Axis:
 Germany
 Italy

The Balkan 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, by deploying troops to Romania and Bulgaria, to aid Italy by attacking Greece from the east; while the British landed troops and aircraft to shore up Greek defences. A coup d'état in Yugoslavia on 27 March caused Hitler to order the conquest of that country.

The invasion of Yugoslavia by Germany and Italy began on 6 April, 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.


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