Battle of Greece — WWII German invasion of Greece and Allied resistance, April 1941
Germany's April 1941 invasion of Greece defeated Allied forces on the Greek mainland and led directly to Axis occupation of the entire country.
Key Facts
- Operation codename
- Operation Marita (Unternehmen Marita)
- German invasion start date
- 6 April 1941
- Athens captured
- 27 April 1941
- Southern shore reached
- 30 April 1941
- Allied personnel captured
- 7000 personnel
- Crete captured
- May 1941, completing conquest
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Italy's invasion of Greece on 28 October 1940 failed to achieve a swift conquest; Greek forces repelled the Italians and launched a counter-attack. To rescue the stalled Italian campaign, Germany planned Operation Marita, invading from Bulgaria in April 1941 to open a second front while the bulk of the Greek Army remained deployed along the Albanian border facing Italian troops.
Beginning on 6 April 1941, German forces drove through Bulgaria and rapidly overran the Metaxas Line, which lacked sufficient reinforcements. They outflanked Greek armies on the Albanian front, forcing their surrender. British, Australian and New Zealand troops sent to aid Greece were overwhelmed and retreated to evacuation points; a rearguard action at Thermopylae bought time for ships to gather. Athens fell on 27 April and Greece's southern coast by 30 April.
The Axis achieved a decisive victory, capturing approximately 7,000 Allied personnel and occupying Greece under German, Italian and Bulgarian military administration. The campaign delayed Axis operations elsewhere; Hitler later claimed it disrupted his invasion of the Soviet Union, though historians disputed this. The failure to capture Malta during the period was also identified as a strategic cost to the Axis in the North African theatre.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
2 belligerents
Side B
4 belligerents