Greece celebrates October 28 as a national holiday commemorating the entry of Greece into World War II (WW2). The Greco-Italian war of 1940 was a military conflict between Greece and Italy lasting from October 28, 1940 until April 23, 1941 that became the Axis powers’ first defeat.
Digging Deeper
This war was the result of the expansionist policy of the fascist regime that Benito Mussolini had established in Italy. In 1940, Mussolini, fascinated and jealous of the conquests and accomplishments of Adolf Hitler and his Nazi control of most parts of Europe, wanted to prove to his idol Adolf Hitler that the Axis allies could play a significant role in furthering Germany’s plans. He was determined to demonstrate that fascist Italy (which was a military superpower at the time) could have successes in the battlefield similar to Germany’s. Italy had already easily conquered Albania in the spring of 1939 and had conquered several British bases in Africa by the summer of 1940, but none of these military victories were similar in scale to those of Nazi Germany.
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