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World War II

557 bytes added, 10:32, November 17, 2005
At the time of the German attack ([[6 April]] [[1941]]) the bulk of the Greek forces were facing the Italians in Albania. Some of the remaining Greek forces were deployed in the [[Metaxas Line]] and most of the rest were with the British intervention forces deploying north of [[Larissa]]. The British wanted the Greeks to abandon the Metaxas Line and deploy north of Larissa; the Greeks vacillated, as this would mean abandoning half the country, along with Greece's second largest city, [[Thessaloniki]], without a shot fired. The Germans invaded Yugoslavia at the same time as Greece and so were able to outflank the Metaxas line by moving through southern Yugoslavia after the rapid decomposition of the Yugoslav resistance. This necessitated a Greco-British retreat further to the narrow pass at [[Thermopylae]], where the Germans broke through again, all the way down until German forces were at the [[Acropolis]]. After some brief actions on the [[Peloponnese]], the Greeks and British Commonwealth forces retreated to Crete.
===The [[Battle of Crete]]===
The [[Battle of Crete]] began on the morning of [[May 20]] [[1941]], when Germany launched an airborne invasion under the code-name '''Unternehmen Merkur''' (Operation Mercury). The Germans succeeded in taking the island from the Greek and Allied forces holding it, but the victory was so costly that the Germans never again launched a major airborne mission.
 
 
===The [[Greek Resistance]]===
The war did not end for Greece with the capitulation of its regular forces. Armed resistance groups appeared, of different political ideologies, that bogged down German forces that could have been used elsewhere. They supported the Allied effort with acts of sabotage and attacks on German troops.
 
In addition, many Greeks left for Egypt where they built an army of 30,000 men attached to the British army. They were used in the battles of El Alamein and Tobruk in North Africa and subsequently in the invasion of Italy.
==Stages of campaign==

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