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The Greek army entered Albania in November 1912 and its advance was met with local resistance from irregulars. The Greek army in southern Albania engaged in harsh reprisals against civilians. [17] The Greek Army controlled territory that would be later incorporated into the Albanian state before the declaration of Albanian Independence in Vlorë.
Italy's invasion of Greece, launched with the divisions of the Royal Army based in Italian-controlled Albania, badly armed and poorly commanded, resulted in a setback: the Italian forces encountered unexpectedly tenacious resistance by the Hellenic Army and penetrated only a few kilometers into Greek territory and had to contend with the ...
Italian forces invaded Greece and made limited gains. But soon the Greeks counter-attacked and the Italians were driven back to the Albanian border. In this period the United Kingdom was supporting the Greeks with the Royal Air Force, but the arrival of British and Commonwealth ground troops in Greece was delayed due to operations in North ...
The military history of Greece during World War II began on 28 October 1940, when the Italian Army invaded Greece from Albania, beginning the Greco-Italian War. The Greek Army temporarily halted the invasion and pushed the Italians back into Albania. The Greek successes forced Nazi Germany to intervene.
At least 145 Albanian villages in southern Albania were looted and destroyed by Greek forces in Northern Epirus. Accompanying this was the destruction of 48 Bektashi teqes, or shrines, at the hands of the Greek forces. In total, 80% of the teqes in Albania were either extremely damaged or destroyed entirely from 1914 to 1915. [53]
After the Italian invasion of Albania in April 1939, the Greek General Staff was alerted to a potential Italian attack from Albanian territory. Faced with the strong likelihood of a concerted Italian-Bulgarian attack against both Epirus and Macedonia-Thrace, the main Greek contingency plan, codenamed "IB" (for "Italy-Bulgaria"), essentially prescribed a defensive stance in Epirus.
After the Italian invasion of Albania in 1939, the Greek General Staff became alerted to a potential Italian attack from Albanian territory, which eventually started on 28 October 1940. The Italian command deployed the Julia Division with the objective of capturing the strategic mountain passes of the Pindus Mountains as swiftly as possible. [ 5 ]
The Italian spring offensive, also known as Operazione Primavera (Operation Spring), was an offensive of the Greco-Italian War that lasted from 9 to 16 March 1941. The offensive was the last Italian attempt of the war to defeat the Greek forces, which had already advanced deep into Italian-controlled Albania. [3]