❤️ This channel has expenses. These links help maintain my channel & keep it up & running. Please consider supporting. THANKS! ❤️ ➡️Buy Me a Coffee www.buymeacoffee.com/anotherarmyvet or ➡️ paypal.me/JustAnotherArmyVet
OXI! NO! thank YOU! for watching greek history and puting that out there for the world to see and learn that if the greek didn't say OXI! then the germans wouldnt have been delayed and would have maybe invaded Russia! And something usually forgoten was that Hitler was a Mussolini fanatic, and when he saw that not only he was defated, the greeks were marching and liberating every bit of land previously occupied in albania to the point some french made picket signs writting "HELLO GREEKS, THIS IS FRENCH TERITORY, YOU CAN TURN BACK NOW" to mock the Axis, Hitler and Musolini, so in mist of all that Hitler who didnt want the world to start having ideas, even though the "invissible" force was no more invissible but mocked at, and not wanting his idol to loose from such a small tiny country sent MASSIVE Nazi troops to conquer Greece, wich oc they did in only i think 3 days..
Your kind words are very welcome, friend. Just want to clarify on your words, we are a small country, at this moment of time, but not a small nation. Thank God for our great allies, the British, attacking from behind in every chance they ever got! (That one is for the reference to Winston ofc)
A german reporter went to the island of Crete in about 1980 to see the places were the battle of Crete took place and to visit the German graveyard... Inside the graveyard he saw an old woman with black clothes to take care the german graves. He ask her why she do that you are Greek he says and theese people came here and fought against you!!! She answers to the reporter: my son these kids have a mother that cant come here to take care their graves so I do for them...im also a mother ...
Greece was exhausted fighting wars non stop since 1897 (against Turkey) - 1904/1908 (against Burgarians/Turks) - 1912/1913 (1st Balkan war) - 1913 (2nd Balkan war) - 1914/1918 (WW1) and civil strife that led to Metaxa's dictatorship (1936). So, no money, no weapons, no medicine, not enough soldiers. Everyone fought, everyone. Wealthy, poor, famous poets, writers, actors, farmers. Women climbing the mountains (Pindos) on foot into the snow to bring food, blankets, amunition. Famous singers writing song about the victories to encourage and inspire the men. The fact that Greeks won the war against Italy was a miracle. My grandfather fought in that war. He never talked much about it.
My Grandfather fought in that war as well. He killed some enemies but he never talked a lot about it. He got frostbites all over his legs that left black marks. He died at the age of 90.
Even earlier than that. 1821 was the first time the war with Turkey started and 1930 was the first independent country of Greece while war was still raging
@@captainjim1010my grand grand father fought too. My grandma was 5 years old. Now suffers from Alscheimer and askes me : "when dad returnes from the mountain;". Before losing her memory told me about the day that german government took away hebrews from her neighboorhood and never came back. For good, soldiers said... she believed them then. Her mother no but was afraid to speak.
Battle of Crete was the last European territory to be conquered by the german war machine they all talked about on newspapers and radiobrocasts... ..and yet women children priests elders wait them the minute they set foot on the ground with their parachutes...can you imagine that ?
I wouldn't say successful because despite the victory in the battle against Italy we lost the war after Hitler decided to help his ally, and the occupation was devastating for Greece to say at least. But surely it was the first victory against axis.
Just a bit of additional info about that gentleman's last statement: The Greeks held back the German invasion of the USSR for about 2 months. 2 months which the Soviets needed for winter to settle which meant that, if the Greeks had not fought back and if they didn't last as long as they did, Hitler would have occupied Moscow and Russian factories, redirected his troops to France and potentially won the war in European soil against the UK...and all that changed thanks to the efforts of a small nation with, literally, 2 tanks in their arsenal and no airforce.
One story that stands out is of a sergeant Demetris Itsios that defended the line along with two others giving cover to his retreating comrades due to lack of ammunition. After decimating 231 Germans and a colonel he ran out of bullets. Captured they were approached by the German commander . Dialogue as witnessed by the two surviving soldiers: - Where is your superior? - There's none, I'm in charge here. - YOU? - Yes. - Congratulations. Your resistance gave rise to the spirit of your ancestors. - I did my duty. - And now I have to do mine. You cost me more than 200 soldiers. He was executed on the spot. Many courageous acts by men and women throughout the Continent. But some stand out as monumental.
This German officer put all German officers to shame with this war crime. Fortunately, another German Officer, at another fortress did the opposite: He praised the Greek Soldiers.
There were no more "allies" in October 1940. the UK was alone. France was defeated and occupied as well and Poland, the Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium, Luxembourg. The entire continent was under the Axis control and even London was under the bombs of the Luftwaffe. The USA were not in war and the USSR had agreed with the Nazis to invade Poland. Greece was fighting alone when Metaxas said NO.
I understood why Germany went to the jew-run Soviet Union. Do you know why? Because Germany wanted to stop jewish Bolsheviks that murdered more than 50 million white Christians. Google it drawings from the Gulag by Danzig Baldaev.
Please be reminded that Greece not only fought the Italian army in 1940, but also resisted Hitler's army, Bulgarians and Albanians as well. In other words we were up against 4 nation's armies at the same time.
Not all albanians, there was a lot of communist partizans that fought together with greeks against italians and fascist albanians, also albanians and greek minority in south albania (north epirus) helped the greek army with everything they had
@@connorconnor7536 that is a lie...Yes minority o f greece welcome the greek soldiers with their flags on they balkonies but never help them because they are afraid.Not even 1 albanian had helped greece,however, there is evidence such as photographs and documents that the Albanians took part in the war but against Greece
@@connorconnor7536 that is BULLSHIT! Albanians were the FIRST soldiers that attacked the Greeks. The Greeks anihilate them all. My grandfather told me exactly what happened and he hated albanians. Greeks hate albanians up to this day... hateful nation filled with criminals and false history books.
@@JustAnotherArmyVet Good afternoon from Greece... i send you the all video of OXI military parade in Thessaloniki.... i hope enjoy ... especially if you haven't see a greek military parade
Well, Greece is the Granddaddy of Europe after all, and when history calls this little spec of land will always shine right and bright.... we done it for 5000 years, we are good for several more....
@@JustAnotherArmyVetbecause we say OXI all the time. Even between us! After the WWII war, a civil war started. Greece is probably the country with most civil wars!
@@Stamatis_Misirlis The fairy tale of the Greeks who are always divided and fight each other, only serves those who like the "divide and conquer", till nowadays. The Chinese also fought constantly with each other. The Japanese also, the Indians also etc. Until their countries became united.
A big 'thank you' ,from a Greek, for this wonderful video. We, Greeks, are born fighters. We are not afraid of death, when it comes to our freedom and we fight like lions.
There is a quote that Hitler told that time , and it says For the sake of historical truth I must verify that only the Greeks, of all the adversaries who confronted us, fought with bold courage and highest disregard of death.
The rumour has that he said more, like "the Greeks instead of running in order to hide from Ju-88 Stuka, they were taking aim at the aircrafts with their bloody rifles and sidearms, officers and soldiers alike". Inside one of the fortresses of Metaxas line, the officer in command, he must have been an Captain (or Major), wrote on a wall ΣΤΙΣ ΘΕΡΜΟΠΎΛΕΣ ΈΠΕΣΑΝ ΟΙ 300. ΕΔΏ ΘΑ ΠΈΣΟΥΝ ΟΙ 80. The HotGates saw the fall of 300. This place will see the fall of 80. Gebbels was a guest on a radio broadcast once a week. Now, the German civilian population was was expecting a rapid progress in Greece for the first 2 days. All of a sudden they do not receive news of this rapid progress...... The host of the radio broadcast asks Gebbels why the advance is that slow. Well a non scientist like Josef gave the most scientific answer any guy could give: what were you people expecting? We are facing Dorians down there!
This kind of videos bring tears to my eyes. I'm happy that people who barely know Greece, acknowledge and appreciate the sacrifices and the outcome of them. I would like to say something that we are taught during the conscript training: None of the ships of the Hellenic Navy has ever lowered their flag. They either won or sank.
Greece actually Delayed the Nazis, hence the Alliance and Russia was able to Defeat them..Greece get's overshadowed in that period by biggest countries unfortunately. Churchill was the man that multiple times praised the courage of the Greeks. Not to mention they humiliated the fascist Italy wen they decided to invade Greece. They pushed them out with 10x a smaller military.
ZetarOmicron. Churchill was a treacherous Toad. Whilst he praised Greece during the war, the bastard at wars end supported the Greek collaborators and instrumental in igniting the Greek Civil War. Check out the Greek famine in WW2 during which 3,00,00 Greeks died of starvation thanks to this Fat Lying Toad.
Most certainly the whole of Europe and who knows who else would be speaking Arabic today , if ancient Greeks had not seriously kicked some Persian ass , to the point of dismantling the Persian Empire . 👍👍👍👍👍👍
@@yiannisaivaliotis926 - But the Ancient Persians did not speak Arabic; if they had won, wouldn’t the “whole of Europe and who knows who else” be speaking Persian? (or even Aramaic - the official language of the Achaemenid Empire?).
My grand-ma lived in a small Greek village near the Albanian frontier. The Greek army was able to sustain the Italian assault because women like her carried the ammunition (mainly French mortars) to the summit of the mountains on their backs and brought back to the valley the wounded men. Again on their backs. She broke her leg, she received basic treatment in the field, healed but she limped all her life. She never complained. The Greek Army used their French mortars to their advantage, lobbing over the top of the mountains down to the positions of the Italians and changing position as often as possible when the Italian traditional artillery was unable to shoot at them over the top of the mountain and were not able to move their artillery cross country so they sustained huge casualties. As a result when their officers ordered to charge the Greek lines they often found out that their artillery had not done the expected damage to the Greeks who were able to shoot at them while they where slowly climbing the mountain, covering it with corpses. There are still plenty of human remains in the Pindus mountain that where never recovered and will not be. The lrvel of Klissoura pass was lowered by four entire meters due to heavy Italian fire. In my village when I was young the villagers used old Italian helmets as makeshift feeders for their chicken. That campaign was bloody and atrocious for both sides. Lord have mercy on their souls. Kyrie eleison.
@@JustAnotherArmyVet A hill where a battle was fought between a non-fully manned Greek battalion and an Italian brigade. The bombardment was so severe that the hill got stripped off the trees and bushes and there were so many corpses that the Italian Catholic priest who would perform a funeral for the dead threw up before reaching the summit
@@JustAnotherArmyVet The Battle of Hill (Height) 731 (Greek: Μάχη του υψώματος 731), was a fierce battle fought during World War II in southern Albania, part of the Greco-Italian War. It began in the early morning of 9 March 1941, when Fascist Italy launched an assault (Operation Primavera) against Greece, aimed at capturing the critical mountain pass leading into the Kalpaki valley. Hill 731, strategically located 20 km north of Klisura (Këlcyrë) at the feet of Mount Trebeshinë, stood at the heart of the Greek defensive line. Despite being repeatedly and heavily attacked by superior Italian forces for over two weeks, Hill 731 was not captured, contributing to the failure of the Primavera offensive and the repulsion of Italians.
@@JustAnotherArmyVet The Italian attack, observed by Italian dictator Benito Mussolini in person, was launched on 9 March with a heavy artillery barrage and air bombardment; on the main sector, held by the Greek 1st Division, over 100,000 shells were dropped on a 6 km front. Despite repeated assaults and heavy shelling that dug up the soil, the defenders of Hill 731 held during 9-15 March.[6] With the support of the Greek artillery, they managed to take advantage of the terrain and launch counterattacks. Greek riflemen charged at the oncoming Italians with fixed bayonets, under the cover of dense smoke. Dimitrios Kaslas, after the bombardment gave an order for every soldier to stand his ground no matter what, and promised to personally shoot and kill anyone trying to retreat.[7] A flanking manoeuvre by the Blackshirts of the 26th Legion on 11 March ended in Italian defeat. In the afternoon of the 12 March, the Greeks reinforced the defending units with the entire 19th Regiment of the 4th Division; Hill 731 was now defended by the III/19 Battalion under the command of Captain Panagiotis Koutridis.[8] On the night of 12 March, the Italians withdrew the exhausted Puglie Division and replaced it with the Bari Division. The Italian offensive halted between 16-18 March, allowing the Greeks to bring reserves forward and begin a gradual reshuffle of their line, relieving the 1st Division with the 17th. The Italian offensive resumed on 19 March with another attack of the Siena Division on Height 731 (the 18th thus far). Supported by four M13/40 tanks and an Arditi assault unit from the Siena Division, the Italians seized a portion of Hill 731 but were soon pushed back by a Greek counter-attack. Attacks, preceded by intense artillery bombardments, followed daily until 24 March, without achieving any result.[9] Mussolini was forced to admit that the result of the Italian offensive was zero,[10] and the Italian offensive was terminated on 24 March.
My grandfather was there. He saw three soldiers killed in front of his eyes after a bombing attack, from stukas.. The only one who survived this attack was my grandfather. Thanks for the great dedication 🇬🇷
My grandfather was a Greek partisan who fought against Italians and Albanians. I am proud of my grandfather, he was a great warrior, like all the Greeks who defended their homeland from enemies. Eternal Glory and Honor to them!!! Ζήτω η Ελλάδα! ζήτω οι Έλληνες !
My grandpa was in the Albanian front. He talked about that battle. What he didn't talk about when I was a boy was the German invasion and how he was captured and beaten daily in a camp till the end of the war. A good analysis was done by Kings and Generals channel. What's unfortunate is the British had literally zero air force in Greece and underestimated this front at that time. Even in Crete which could of been a victory.
The famous battle of Crete ended in Nazi victory only because of English failed strategy. They had enough power to stop the paratroopers invasion , but never believed it would come from the air . Despite all that , Axis forces suffered huge casualties in men and material , because of brave fighting from Greek, English , Australian , and New Zealand troops who were garrisoning the 4 main cities of the island . The local population also caused the Germans great casualties, as many locals joined the troops and attacked the paratroopers with everything they had, rocks, spades, etc. , killing them as they landed and grabbing their weapons. I don't know if you have heard of this before , but after this battle , because of so high cost in life , Hitler never used paratroopers again as part of an invasion throughout the war.
Dear Maam, thank you for highlighting our history. The fact is not how many weeks our resistance lasted. The fact is that a tiny country with no means said NO! It is a matter of discipline! Just check out two battles. The Battle of hill 731, where Mussolini himself supervised the attack and where after the end of the battle the hill was 5meters lower...so today its 726. The second is the Battle of Crete. The elite of German troops attacked the island. Under which circumstances the Elite Forces is required to engage ? Well....even Cretan women slaughtered Germans soldiers with agricultural tools! As Gustav Le Bon stated, the power of a country is not dependent on the number of inhabitants but on the number of its civilians. I think you will enjoy it. Kindest Regards from Greece.
All above really well said, the Germans were so furious with the Cretan people resistance during the battle , that when they finally got control of the island , burned many important villages to the ground , as well as executed hundreds of locals . As for the Battle of hill 731 , it is very rightly mentioned , you should check it out. It is considered to be Greece's Hamburger hill. Thank you for your time !
There is a wonderful Greek documentary about Hill 731, about the famous Officer Kaslas and his men. Some of them are talking in the docu, which needs to be subtitled at all costs.
My great-grandfather "Akindynos" fought as Army Officer in afion kara hissar in WWI, My grandfather "Antwnis" Fought in Battle of Hill (Height) 731 in WWII as Cavalary Infantry Both of them survived until their old age and had many stories to tell, they did whatever they could to make us feel free, Thank you RIP
My great grandfather fought too in Afio Kara hissar. I have even seen a photo of him,you know the old black and white.Amazing what we have been through.
@@JustAnotherArmyVet No that is WW1,but he fought on WW2 too.Also i have another great-grandfather who fough,my grandmother's father,which she lost him,but I can't remember which frontier it was sadly.
Unique indeed. This shows us that Greeks are not afraid to fight for their country and for their believes. We celebrate the moment that we have decided that we might be dead at the end. Greeks are proud and respectful. Hospitality is our main characteristic but if someone make a real bad joke to us as a war with no thought and hesitation, we would do the same as our grandfathers.
@@JustAnotherArmyVet Ty so much for your nice words! Yes philotimo should be a lesson in school. And philotimo is what keep our nation strong. I feel that you like Greece i hope u could visit some day. Wish u health and great achievements. Stay safe.
@@allinaxxxx66 thanks for your support. Greece is on my bucket list. I would love to visit Greece one day. I actually have a short video on philotimo coming out in the next week or so 🙂. Have a great day 🤗
Thank you very much girl !!!!! Thanks for recognise this fight because people arent ejucated about this .... As a Greek i am very proud ! Thanks thanks thanks !
Hello from Greece . Really nice to see an American interested in my country's HUGE history , and it's contribution to a democratic world. I am really touched, thank you . I am also happy that you have taken the time to research and really grasp the effect that the Greek victory over Italy, and subsequently delay of the German forces for more than a month , had to the outcome of WW2. Not to mention the number of much needed divisions the Germans had to keep commited to Greece because of the never stopping resistance of the people. Proud to be Greek and proud friend of the U.S. We have been friends and allies for so long !
Awe thanks for your kind word and support. Greece has an amazing history and was a vital contributor to the allied win in WW2. Absolutely. Love and respect from South Carolina!
*@yiannisaivaliotis926* The Greeks delayed the Germans for 2 months and the Axis for ~7 months in total. Let alone the resistance that followed and lasted till the end of the war, forcing the Germans to preserve strong forces in Greece.
Greece and USA shares the same Values! Democracy...Freedom...Equality !!! Thanks for the video ! 28t October 1940 Greeks Fight and Died for Freedom and Democracy !!
@@PlanetIscandaryes but Mr. Metaxas was not an ordinary dictator. He was a benefactor he established the 8 hour job and made sure overtimes get paid. He made Sunday a public holiday. 1st of May made the same. He established mandatory 15 day job paid vacation. He established work clothes in many businesses so the people doesn't damage theirs. He forbidded child work and many many more things. He was a Ethnarch.
My Grandpa fought this war in Greece and captured by the Germans. After 3 years, he managed to escape and returned home. He lived until his 90s. Thank you.
Worth to mention, that after the defeat by the Wehrmacht, a large part of the Greek military first fled to Crete and from there to Syria , where they formed the ''Greek Armed Forces in the Middle East'' and fought alongside the Allied Forces against Rommel in the N. Africa Campaign. Greek soldiers fought in the Battle of Alamein and various other operations in the N. Africa Campaign. Also, Greek commandos, the ''Holy Squadron'', were part of the original 1st SAS Regiment and fought under Major Stirling ( the famous ''Phantom Major'') and Lt. Colonel Paddy Mane, conducting operations behind enemy lines. They would later return together with the British SBS under the command of Brigadier Jellicoe, liberate the Aegean Islands from the Axis Forces and later the capital Athens. Because of this tradition, even the modern day elite Greek 1st Paratrooper/Mountain Raiders Regiment LOK, share the SAS' motto ''wo dares wins'' ( "o tolmón niká" ) & have a similar badge with the sword & wings.
IM FROM GREECE, THANK YOU FOR THE VIDEO. GREETINGS FROM GREECE, I HOPE ALL WORLD UNDERSTAND THE MEANING OF OXI. WE BELIEVE IN FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY!!! BRAVE GREEKS, HELLENES... IF NEEDED WE ARE HERE AGAIN, FOR FREEDOM AGAINST TYRANNY AND SLAVERY... WITH RESPECT TO ALL HUMANITY FROM THE YEARS OF ANCIENT GREECE UNTIL NOW!!! AND I TELL YOU FOR REAL NOTHING IS MORE IMPORTANT FROM OUR OWN HOMELAND. I FEEL PROUD OF YOU PEOPLE 😊🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂....
I have been to the US and I have mostly met good and honourable people who respect democracy and human rights, and we do remember that America came and fought on our side on 2 world wars when the world needed you ! Our friendship is deep !
Awesome video. Precise. My grandfather was in the Ipiros front fighting Mousolini's troops. The Greek soldiers were able to beat the Italian troops. Just when My grandfather and the rest of the resistance thought they've won, the nazi's made their way into Greece. Hitler and his army thought they can take Greece in a few weeks. It took them more than 7 months. Giving the rest of Greece's allies time to regroup. One thing that's not mentioned, in many videos I watched is the fact that the Greeks, including my Grandfather, were protecting the Jewish Greeks. My grandfather and the local town in northern Greece were hiding the Jewish families from the nazies. My grandpa and the local policeman were brutally beaten. The price you pay for freedom and love.
Greeks we need to thank the AUSTRALIAN people for fighting for the Greeks the Maori Battalion fought like they were fighting for their families 20.000 came less than 8.000 left thousand of greeks was accepted in Australia after a letter made from the Men of Maori Battalion to their government to help ruined Greece nobody says anything about them they got no credit!!!! Heroes all of them!
This is not true in the battle of crete the creta celebrate every year the Australians and the new Zealanders and the come until now all the way from those far away countries and is really emotional to see the few left from the battle of crete parade proudly in an old age In the books they are also testimonials that cretans prefer to fight sight by sight with Maori warriors than with the English soldiers The Maori worries even practice haka their dance before the war similar dance that also have cretans with pentosali one warrior recognise the other warrior
Even Hitler admitted in a speech (audio speech is on you tube )he made in Reihstag that out of all the countries they have fought the Greek soldiers they were the most brave.
Greeks and USA soldiers, always at the same side of the front line for freedom & always at the right side of history. GR USA 👍👍 My grandfather fought this war as a soldier of the artillery of 8th division of Epirus. He lost his eye from an Italian mortar projectile , and he lived his life until 2018 that he died 102 years old. He was extremely proud for his service, and of course so did we, his family. Thank you for this video, i wish he was alive to explain and translate it to him, he would be really happy to hear the recognition of his fight.
usa soldiers always at the right side of history? are you an allien? usa has a massacred millions of innocent souls. iraq, vietnam, kosovo, somalia and how many more !! not to mention the coups backed against governments they didn't like.!! fuck the usa !!
@@Freamon_L Maybe you would like the world to be like Nicaragua, Cambodia and Soviet Union, without other political parties, religious freedom, and equality for the citizens . We wont make you the favour. Dispear, and understand that we stand for democracy. And take some time to make some criticism for the regimes that you comrades created across the world, which history has fortunately left behind, cause what is left is mafia and prostitutes.
Respect to our heroes that fought and died for the freedom of the Fatherland 🇬🇷🇬🇷🇬🇷 The burnt men of Hill 731 will never be forgotten 🔥🔥🔥 The Greek lands of Northern Epirus will be liberated again!!! 🇬🇷🇬🇷🇬🇷
Thank you for honoring us and our ancestors. It is really nice to see others, especially an american to view this event. Also big respect for answering to most of the comments if not all.
No comment, all said in your beautiful work and the comments of the viewers. Only a very big thank you for uploading this masterpiece, on behalf of my family from my father's side that before ww2 had 10 members and after 6, my mother's family that before the war had 9 members and after 6 and mind you we are very lucky to have so many survivors.
Thank you for acknowledging and honouring Greece's contribution to the victory against Axis forces in WWII. My grandfather fought in the NW western front in North Epirus against the Italians. Contrary to common perceptions this was a gruesome, brutal war in the middle of one of the coldest winters. Not just Italians suffering it, the Greek army suffered it more with more, in percentage, losses due to gangrene caused by frozen feet and hands, due to lack of proper material. Things were only getting better when pushing back Italians, advancing and capturing Italian military stocks. Imagine how tragic it was for Greek troops to see their victory being in vain when Germans attacked from the other side alongside Bulgarians ending up in a quadruple occupation by Germans, Italians and their Bulgarian and Albanian henchmen who had a vested hatred against Greeks and each of the four competing in crimes against the Greek civilians. But the sacrifice overall was not in vain as it put a strain in the Axis delaying the attack on USSR with all repercussions that even Stalin himself acknowledged. Those 8 months delay and the deflection of a sizeable number of forces and resources were indeed crucial. And that is why we all need to remember the sacrifice of the Greek people in the struggle against Axis.
The ancient Greeks said "come and get them" to the Persians. The medieval Greeks said "freedom or death" to the Turks. The modern Greeks said "no" to the Axis. Despite Italians and Greeks considering each other brothers, you just cannot surrender to invaders. Hitler was very angry at Mussolini's incompetence and the fact that many Italians would refuse to attack the Greeks, that he ordered the German Reich and Bulgaria to attack from all fronts. When they finally took control of Greece after a very long time and losses, Hitler gave a speech in Germany, saying (paraphrasing) that the Greeks were the only country (in his opinion) that fought with such ferocity and altruism that they still have his outmost respect.
@@JustAnotherArmyVet We Greeks share strong bonds with the Italians. There is an Italian phrase ''una faccia una razza'' , literally translating to ”One face, one race,” and with its Greek variation being ”Mia fatsa, mia ratsa,” (μια φάτσα μια ράτσα) this beautiful Italian phrase incorporates the reality of centuries of history and cultural ties that Greek and Italian people share together. The phrase focuses on the fact that many Italians and Greeks look so much alike, that it is a self-evident proof that these two people belong to the same ethnic group. Although somewhat exaggerated, this is not completely wrong. Modern DNA research has shown that many people living now in southern Italy share almost identical genetic information with a majority of the people who currently live in metropolitan Greece. And how could that not be true, since wave upon wave of Greek people throughout history has traveled, lived and prospered in the areas of southern Italy, and Sicily in particular.
Hello again...! Thank you for highlighting the history of Greece. I sent you some videos. In some you have to activate the subtitles...! Good night to you!
First and foremost I would like to thank you for your service 🎖️i am a army brat, my father was in the US army for 22 years, and served in the gulf war. I'm a proud Greek American living in greece. My grandfather from my mother's side fought in WW2 against the Italian. I'm beyond proud to be both Greek and American. Thank you so much for this video, it means so much for the Greek people. Allot of countries around the world seems to fail to realize how precious and special Greece is, and if it weren't for the Greeks in general who knows what civilization would of been without the Greek knowledge.
Υou americans are murdering Greeks untill now .. People you saw in the vid above, you burned them with napalm bombs in 1949.So just read greek history From 1971 and Cyprus island , you agree for turkey's war attack and occupy the first Nato member after the ww2.It's not Ukraine..It was Greece and Cyprus island 1996 in Imia islands, then you forced for "grey" zones in aegean sea which is greek territory 2001-until now you are bombing and occupy middle east so millions Immigrants from your war. are coming to Greece and Europe 2018 You forced and take greek name and history giving them to North Macedonia an albaniaslavian area so 2 years later become one more NATO member In GeoPolitic (greek words) ( ge / γη = territory and politic/ politiki =policy) there is a term for US killing domination. an fucking army and us bases all over the word.Thats not defence..Thats clearly ATTACK or Imperealism The term "RIMLAND" just search... US and nato make the first war action against russia after 1991 and the agreement from 1997 in Paris. 14 countries former ussr countries became nATOS members and US military bases against Serbia and Russia.And that was the first war action..Not fucking Ukraine the 15th member Learn one more thing about Greeks. Greece was the first battle US-USSR on cold war Greeks you saw in the vid and say about heroes etc. The 80% men and women on the mountains you saw were organised on ΕΛΑΣ (ELAS). A communist organization which fight Italians,Germans and Bulgarians . Greek communists had the majority and the armament for their battles after ww2. But in 1945 in Yalta, Stalin and Churchil they split in half Europe.. One more time against greek people .Napalm bombs used in European area in Greek civil war from American airplane on the mountains, and British tanks in Athens.
Im not surprised. Greeks are tough man they have it in their blood they didn't need more man power. The mentality of defending their mighty land was strong
You are a vary valuable lady and person... Equipped with honor hunger of knowledge and appreciation for all things right in life... Keep up the good work... I know if ever the time comes or situations demand it you wil do the ultimate sacrifice in order to save others... My regards and deepest respects to you!!!!
@@JustAnotherArmyVet This is the Video of the parade i the city of Thessaloniki, as was shown by the Greek public TV: th-cam.com/video/8pGuOjBx1uM/w-d-xo.html The parade as always starts with disabled veterans, followed by the Greek Red Cross and representatives of various cultural groups from Greece and abroad (frankly I thought this part was too long). At about the middle of the video (1:15:00) the military units paraded, initially with the mechanized forces, followed (1:41:00) by the regimental battle flags, Army military academy cadets from the officer and NCO academies, followed by infantry, air mobile and commando forces. The Army units are followed by Cadets of the Navy's Officer and NCO academies, followed by a group of OYK (SEALS). Then, cadets from the Air Force officer and NCO academies follow during this time fighters pass overhead. After the military forces, Police, Coast Guard, CG SOFs and the Fire Brigade close the parade. The three Evzone markers withdraw. These three Evzones stand in front of the president's stand and when the parading sections pass in front of the first evzone, the sections leader raises his arm as a get ready sign. As every line of the parading section passes the second evzone they turn their heads to the right facing the dignitary, in this case the President of Greece, and as they pass the third evzone they turn their head facing forward again. After the ground parade a brief single aircraft acrobatic demonstration follows. After the President Mrs. Sakelaropoulou makes a statement and leaves, the politicians, starting with the Greek defense minister also make some short statements for the press. What was new, were the statements made by the new US Ambassador in Greece (2:32:48), who is Greek American and started his speech in Greek.
@@JustAnotherArmyVet Since our guys don't have subtitles in their videos, someone needs to explain what is going on to people that do not know Greek. More or less, we know our history, but non-Greeks do not, so someone needs to take the time to explain the basics to people that are interested. One some TH-cam Greek videos that have subtitles, the auto translation is terrible, and the translated subtitles don't make any sense. There are many historical channels, but they are fairly superficial, or they try to present things taking information from all the sides involved, presenting some propaganda or history revisionist views, thinking they are impartial this way. I try to find videos in English or at least with English subtitles to support what I present or say and if I can't, I translate the basics to make a video useful to non-Greeks. Even the guys from the OXI Day Foundation made some errors in their video. The guy that says about a 10 to one Italian superiority, probably gets that from Mussolini who bolstered that he had an army with 8 000 000 Bayonets, however the numerical superiority the Italians had when they invaded Greece was about 3 to 1 in ground forces. They did have a huge advantage in the naval and air forces though. The invasion scenes were in fact from the North African campaign. The Greek with the funny moustache, the old man with the rounds across his shoulders and the soldiers standing in line holding their weapons pointing up, were resistance fighters during the triple occupation of Greece by Germany, Italy and Bulgaria. The crowds shown were from a communist demonstration in Syntagma square in Athens, during December 4th, 1944. And the crowds kissing the soldiers parading, involved Greek and British troops returning to Athens, after the Germans left on October 12, 1944 (this is why the uniforms are British. Greek troops that escaped to Egypt, in order to continue the war in exile, adopted the British uniforms there). I guess, the people in the OXI day foundation did not have actual footage from October 28 to show and they used what they had, in a commendable effort to show what happened in 1940. Your video with the addition of the women in the mountains and the Germans freezing in Russia was much more complete with real footage than the OXI Day Foundation's video. These are colorized videos with good English subtitles from the actual events of the Greek Italian war, with some reenactments and fake sounds, but they are way too long and occasionally repetitive, jumping back and forth: th-cam.com/video/g7Mx77J9kVo/w-d-xo.html th-cam.com/video/3ViGHVdcQi8/w-d-xo.html th-cam.com/video/LGs8xXodZyM/w-d-xo.html th-cam.com/video/7EsHvKRdzCg/w-d-xo.html th-cam.com/video/bEec5Ar2rlo/w-d-xo.html This is a video with newspaper joke toons and theatrical plays of the time about the war (the songs are satirical songs of the same period): th-cam.com/video/JcBEU1ZHPoM1/w-d-xo.html
It is worth noting that while the story today rightfully focuses on the great effort of everyone, in truth, the military command in Athens had actually given the order to fall back on the third line of defence, below the mountains (which would have been a disaster). Instead it was the local army commander Katsimitros who disobeyed that order and gave the order to stand on the first line on defence, on top of the mountains, thus giving the outnumbered and badly equipped Greek army a fighting chance. And the rest is history. Sun Tzu had said, thousands of years ago, that the general that is in the frontlines sometimes has to disobey the ruler that is in the capital, because the general knows the ground and the situation, while the ruler has only second hand information of it.
@@JustAnotherArmyVet It is recorded in history, of course, but I learned that during the Greek Army's mandatory service. It is not a generally known fact since it is thought that it diminishes the whole achievement, which is not true. What it diminishes is the narrative that everyone down in Athens knew what they were doing, but I think that credit should go where credit is due. :)
The first battles were fought to my father's village and the great grandmothers back there were carrying throught the snow and mud all those heavy supplies to our troops... I feel proud for the great courage and heart of all those good people to sacrifice so that together we can be a free country
@@JustAnotherArmyVet During the 10 says of the battle of Crete there were: 426 Greeks KIA, with an unspecified number of wounded and prisoners. The British forces had 1742 KIA, 1737 WIA and 11 835 prisoners. In addition, there were 2000+ Navy personnel lost, and 3 cruisers and 6 destroyers sunk. The Germans had at least 1990? KIA (however, the sign on the German cemetery in Maleme says that here lie 4465 German soldiers most of them paratroopers), 1995? MIA (a German mountain infantry force transported by boats to Crete was destroyed by the British fleet and the boats were all sunk) and 4000++ WIA. It is estimated that from the 14000 paratroopers over 50% were casualties. Almost all German commanders were KIA during the first hours of the invasion. ln addition to personnel, the Germans lost 220 airplanes with another 150 seriously damaged. The forces involved in the battle of Crete were: UK 15 000 (including Navy), Greeks 11 451, Australians 7100 and New Zealanders 6 700. Germans 22 750. There were also 1370 Aircraft (1300+ German) and 70 ships involved. During WW2 there were about 15 000 German soldiers killed in Greece. This is an official US video on the Battle of Crete (May 20 - June 1, 1941): th-cam.com/video/4cZGqApwycw/w-d-xo.html Hitler was so appalled by the loses that told general Student that the days of the paratroopers were over. The German paratroopers were never used again in large airborne operations but only as elite infantry forces. By Hitlers order any German military man, regardless of rank, should stand on attention and salute anyone having the insignia of the battle of Crete on his sleeve (a band writing Kreta). There was a German march made in honor of the paratroopers that fought in Crete: th-cam.com/video/0SGvQ9ME9-Y/w-d-xo.html An interesting story of the time was that of the 1st year cadets of the Greek Officer Academy. The duration of studies at the time was three years and when the war started, the 2nd and 3rd year cadets were hastily named WOs and 2LTs and were set to the front. The 1st year cadets though, continued their studies until the Germans approached Athens in April 1941. At this time, the Academy's CO told them they were all dismissed in order to go home. What they did instead, was to lock the CO in his office, brake into the Academy's armory and after taking the weapons, they commandeered any vehicle they could find, in order to go to the evacuation harbors. From there they were transported to Crete, taking part in the Battle as a cadet company and then were evacuated to Egypt to serve in the reformed Greek army in exile.
Its amazing how a small country like Greece fought cowards like Germany Italy Bulgaria Albania at once ...The iconic British statesman Winston Churchill, who led the United Kingdom during World War II, reportedly praised the Greek people in a BBC speech during the first days of the Greco-Italian War, stating: “Until now we used to say that the Greeks fight like heroes. Now we shall say: Heroes fight like Greeks.”
I was born in Kastoria, Greek Macedonia. My father never talked about the war, period. Through a friend of his and the Encyclopedia, I learned he was the tank commander who disobeyed orders to drive the Italian forces into the Adriatic sea in Albania. He was an unacknowleged hero. After the war, he had to choose between fascism and communism, no middle road. Dad rose to become a communist commissar who the fascists put before a firing squad TWICE. His best friend, the mayor saved him at the eleventh hour, and for he being a sympathyser, was hanged, his body left hanging for 3 days as a warning to others. Dad was sent to a concentration island camp and on his release, was forced to walk from Athens to Greek Macedonia. The mayor's son married my sister. As a boy, I witnessed daily firing squads from the mountains taking place in the early morning schoolyard. I suffer from post traumatic stress to this day.
Thank you for sharing experience and your story. I really appreciate your insight. That must have been hard seeing that as kid. I’m sorry about that. I do appreciate your sharing and thanks to your father for his service 🙏❤️
*@angelosliotscos5861* I have the impression that you didn't describe this event precisely. Was your father under the command of the Italian forces? Also, i had no idea there was any other Macedonia than the Greek.
unfortunately the WW2 aftermath wasn't what the brave Greeks deserved, quite the opposite in fact...for all their troubles, they weren't even given the territory that they had occupied when advancing against the Axis forces (northern Epirus), instead it was given to Albania, after the insinstence of Italy! (who was among the defeated/axis forces mind you!) because they wanted to prevent Greece from gaining too much power in the region post-war, by controlling the Straits of Otranto (connection between the adriatic & Ionian seas)...This was one of those unique cases in world history where a country has gained sth by force of arms & loses it afterwards via diplomacy/politics...
Greeks celebrate the beginning of the war that should tell you everything you need to know about a race of people that throughout the centuries have fought against any type of enemies and even when they lose in the end they come out victorious
War is a bad situation, but many times it is the washing machine of mistakes...! In Rupel Fort (towards the end of the battles with the Germans) the conditions were indescribable. I had read that a soldier would hold his belly with his left hand, (as his bowels had come out and put them back in with his hand) and fire the gan with his right hand...! On hill 731, where many discoveries were made, there was an incredible story with a hoplite. During the battle, he couldn't stand it (and while he was in an airplane bomb hole, with other soldiers), he pulled down his pants to relieve himself. At that time, he raised his head and saw an Italian ready to kill him. He raised the gun and caught up and impaled him with the lance. He turned and told his friend indignantly. No one can even shit with the Italians. Tragic comic stories. The elevation was recorded and after the war they found it 3 meters lower. Imagine the bombs dropped on it. I couldn't find a video with English subtitles for hill 731 to send you. Grandpa fought the Italians and told me a lot. More people and many children died from starvation (during the German occupation than from the war). The bad thing was that after 1945 to 1949, there was a civil war and my grandfather had to fight against the communists inside Greece...! Good evening again!
@@JustAnotherArmyVet I understand that from your perspective, femine was something common in WW2, but if you search about it (check World War II casualties @ wikipedia for example), you will see that it wasnt so common in Europe! It was in the Soviet Union and in Asia (because of Japan) but not in Europe! You can order the chart per casualties from famine/diseases and you will be surprised to see that in Europe, the famine occurred only in Greece on such a scale and the reason is that during the first 2-3 years (at least until late 1942), Germans, Italians and Bulgarians (Greece was divided to those 3) were sending ALL the Greek supplies to Rommel in North Africa due to the location of Greece. It is believed that Greece lost around 10% of its population (almost 800k out of 7,5m population) and only 35k of them were soldiers (fought the Italians well without many casualties). Out of those 800k, 200k were executed, hunged etc and 600k died out of femine and diseases. As you see they are pointing this out to you because still today when we use the word "katohi" (occupation) it is synonym with the great femine of ww2. We even use it in our everyday talk.. for example even today young people when they see a friend eating much and quick they say "Have you not eaten since the occupation?". This is rooted deep inside our collective unconscious. There was no family that hadnt lost a member because of femine,disease or execution. People in the big cities who had no way to cultivate were eating their pets or rats to survive. All the food production (oil, grains etc) was confiscated by the axis to be sent to Rommel and our fathers/grandfathers survived with recipies still remembered today like some corn flour boiled in water with some sweet grape must extract etc. Just imagine.. 7-8% of the population of a country dying out of femine. That is why when we hear about femine in African countries or Asian countries it is a very sensitive subject to us Greeks. When I imagine what has happened in the soviet union or in some Asian countries (way worse things than here in Greece) my heart tightens.
❤️ This channel has expenses. These links help maintain my channel & keep it up & running. Please consider supporting. THANKS! ❤️ ➡️Buy Me a Coffee www.buymeacoffee.com/anotherarmyvet or ➡️ paypal.me/JustAnotherArmyVet
OXI! NO! thank YOU! for watching greek history and puting that out there for the world to see and learn that if the greek didn't say OXI! then the germans wouldnt have been delayed and would have maybe invaded Russia! And something usually forgoten was that Hitler was a Mussolini fanatic, and when he saw that not only he was defated, the greeks were marching and liberating every bit of land previously occupied in albania to the point some french made picket signs writting "HELLO GREEKS, THIS IS FRENCH TERITORY, YOU CAN TURN BACK NOW" to mock the Axis, Hitler and Musolini, so in mist of all that Hitler who didnt want the world to start having ideas, even though the "invissible" force was no more invissible but mocked at, and not wanting his idol to loose from such a small tiny country sent MASSIVE Nazi troops to conquer Greece, wich oc they did in only i think 3 days..
I want to thank you about your all video's for the Greek army and the Greek history like this video.
I never heard that story before! Thanks for sharing and thanks for your support!
Greece was the only country in WW2 that fought at the same time with four enemies, Germany, Italy and Bulgaria and Albania .
Wow
And Turkey..they were payed by Germans
Germany fought more than 50 countries.
@@samuelsamenstrang6069oh the jealousy is deep
@@samuelsamenstrang6069 really now? You compare Greece in 40s with Germany at this time?
Small country big guts.
Thanks Greece💪🏻🇬🇷
Respect!
Πέντε χιλιάδες χρόνια πόλεμαμε οι Έλληνες δεν φοβαμασται
Τίποτα.
Your kind words are very welcome, friend. Just want to clarify on your words, we are a small country, at this moment of time, but not a small nation. Thank God for our great allies, the British, attacking from behind in every chance they ever got! (That one is for the reference to Winston ofc)
@@ΣπύροςΑυγέρης-β1λ καλά τώρα τρώγε φάπες από Κούλη και μη μιλάς.
@@ΣπύροςΑυγέρης-β1λ 5000 χρονια μας πολεμάνε κι εμείς τους δίναμε γνώσεις για να μας πολεμάνε ακομα καλύτερα.
A german reporter went to the island of Crete in about 1980 to see the places were the battle of Crete took place and to visit the German graveyard...
Inside the graveyard he saw an old woman with black clothes to take care the german graves.
He ask her why she do that you are Greek he says and theese people came here and fought against you!!!
She answers to the reporter: my son these kids have a mother that cant come here to take care their graves so I do for them...im also a mother ...
Awe. Thar is such a touching story ❤️❤️❤️
Shit, that crushed me. This is something i would expected too to hear from a greek.
@@MefilioDeAggelo ❤️❤️
Greeks kill their enemies. They do so with great relish.Then they mourn them.
@@MefilioDeAggelo We Greeks are orthodox Christians. How could a Christian not love his enemy and still call himself a Christian?
Greece was exhausted fighting wars non stop since 1897 (against Turkey) - 1904/1908 (against Burgarians/Turks) - 1912/1913 (1st Balkan war) - 1913 (2nd Balkan war) - 1914/1918 (WW1) and civil strife that led to Metaxa's dictatorship (1936). So, no money, no weapons, no medicine, not enough soldiers. Everyone fought, everyone. Wealthy, poor, famous poets, writers, actors, farmers. Women climbing the mountains (Pindos) on foot into the snow to bring food, blankets, amunition. Famous singers writing song about the victories to encourage and inspire the men. The fact that Greeks won the war against Italy was a miracle. My grandfather fought in that war. He never talked much about it.
That is a miracle- wow. Thank your grandfather for his service. I know that was a tough time
My Grandfather fought in that war as well. He killed some enemies but he never talked a lot about it. He got frostbites all over his legs that left black marks. He died at the age of 90.
Even earlier than that. 1821 was the first time the war with Turkey started and 1930 was the first independent country of Greece while war was still raging
@@captainjim1010my grand grand father fought too. My grandma was 5 years old. Now suffers from Alscheimer and askes me : "when dad returnes from the mountain;". Before losing her memory told me about the day that german government took away hebrews from her neighboorhood and never came back. For good, soldiers said... she believed them then. Her mother no but was afraid to speak.
Where is Minor Asia campaign 1919-1922?
My history teacher said Greece was the most successful country in WWII they had the first victory against the axis
it also gave hope to the allies
Yes. They definitely gave hope to the allies- they proved that they could be defeated
@@JustAnotherArmyVet exactly
Battle of Crete was the last European territory to be conquered by the german war machine they all talked about on newspapers and radiobrocasts...
..and yet women children priests elders wait them the minute they set foot on the ground with their parachutes...can you imagine that ?
@@divedeep04 No lol, germany invaded ussr right after and took a shitload of European territory.
I wouldn't say successful because despite the victory in the battle against Italy we lost the war after Hitler decided to help his ally, and the occupation was devastating for Greece to say at least. But surely it was the first victory against axis.
For the Flag 🇬🇷 and the cross✝️ till the last drop of my blood.
If I remember correctly, “‘till the last drop of my blood” is from the Greek military oath 🙂🇬🇷
@@JustAnotherArmyVetyes you are correct
@@repairerofthebreach777 🙂👍
Just a bit of additional info about that gentleman's last statement: The Greeks held back the German invasion of the USSR for about 2 months. 2 months which the Soviets needed for winter to settle which meant that, if the Greeks had not fought back and if they didn't last as long as they did, Hitler would have occupied Moscow and Russian factories, redirected his troops to France and potentially won the war in European soil against the UK...and all that changed thanks to the efforts of a small nation with, literally, 2 tanks in their arsenal and no airforce.
Yes, 100%!!! 👍
We had a few airplanes but not enough to be called an air force
@@kosmashionidis
We had in that time 126 airplanes.
τα ειχες μετρησει πρακτορισκο?
@@Pavlos-sx6zp
One story that stands out is of a sergeant Demetris Itsios that defended the line along with two others giving cover to his retreating comrades due to lack of ammunition. After decimating 231 Germans and a colonel he ran out of bullets. Captured they were approached by the German commander . Dialogue as witnessed by the two surviving soldiers:
- Where is your superior?
- There's none, I'm in charge here.
- YOU?
- Yes.
- Congratulations. Your resistance gave rise to the spirit of your ancestors.
- I did my duty.
- And now I have to do mine. You cost me more than 200 soldiers.
He was executed on the spot.
Many courageous acts by men and women throughout the Continent. But some stand out as monumental.
Wow. A very memorable story. One of many.
This German officer put all German officers to shame with this war crime. Fortunately, another German Officer, at another fortress did the opposite: He praised the Greek Soldiers.
Thank you for that video, honoring our ancestors and our country, Greece.
My pleasure and honor. Thanks for your support!
You don't mess with this.kind of people
There were no more "allies" in October 1940. the UK was alone. France was defeated and occupied as well and Poland, the Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium, Luxembourg. The entire continent was under the Axis control and even London was under the bombs of the Luftwaffe. The USA were not in war and the USSR had agreed with the Nazis to invade Poland.
Greece was fighting alone when Metaxas said NO.
🇬🇷
I understood why Germany went to the jew-run Soviet Union. Do you know why? Because Germany wanted to stop jewish Bolsheviks that murdered more than 50 million white Christians.
Google it drawings from the Gulag by Danzig Baldaev.
Please be reminded that Greece not only fought the Italian army in 1940, but also resisted Hitler's army, Bulgarians and Albanians as well. In other words we were up against 4 nation's armies at the same time.
Impressive!
Not all albanians, there was a lot of communist partizans that fought together with greeks against italians and fascist albanians, also albanians and greek minority in south albania (north epirus) helped the greek army with everything they had
@@connorconnor7536 that is a lie...Yes minority o f greece welcome the greek soldiers with their flags on they balkonies but never help them because they are afraid.Not even 1 albanian had helped greece,however, there is evidence such as photographs and documents that the Albanians took part in the war but against Greece
@@teokyr6170 are u greek ?
@@connorconnor7536 that is BULLSHIT! Albanians were the FIRST soldiers that attacked the Greeks. The Greeks anihilate them all. My grandfather told me exactly what happened and he hated albanians. Greeks hate albanians up to this day... hateful nation filled with criminals and false history books.
Σε ευχαριστώ εκ μέρους των Ελλήνων που έκανες βιντεάκι με ενα τοσο σημαντικό γεγονός για την πατρίδα μου! Την Ελλαδα!
Thank you for your support 🤗👍
ΑΠΟ ΕΛΛΑΔΑ ΕΙΣΑΙ
On behalf of Greece i thank you for acknowledging our sacrifice
You are welcome. Thanks for watching 🙂
δες τον κόσμο γύρω σου και αναλογίσου τι μεγάλη μαλακία κάναμε και την πληρώνουμε και θα την πληρώνουμε για χρόνια ακόμη
This was an Amazing reaction video , I'm Proud to be Greek .
Έτσι πρέπει να είμαστε πάντα
Awe thank you!! I certainly learned a lot 🙂
@@timosthomo566 ναι ρε
@@JustAnotherArmyVet th-cam.com/video/xYivAelPLTU/w-d-xo.html
@@JustAnotherArmyVet
Good afternoon from Greece...
i send you the all video of OXI military parade in Thessaloniki....
i hope enjoy ... especially if you haven't see a greek military parade
Well, Greece is the Granddaddy of Europe after all, and when history calls this little spec of land will always shine right and bright.... we done it for 5000 years, we are good for several more....
Respect!
“If there had not been the virtue and courage of the Greeks, we do not know which the outcome of World War II would have been.” Winston Churchill
Well said
Fun fact the Greeks don't celebrate the end of the war but the beginning every year. The day of OXI...
I believe it’s the only country that does that 🙂👍
@@JustAnotherArmyVetbecause we say OXI all the time. Even between us!
After the WWII war, a civil war started.
Greece is probably the country with most civil wars!
@@Stamatis_Misirlis I did not realize that.
We Greeks love to fight if necessary, so we celebrate the beginning of a war.The end is boring.
@@Stamatis_Misirlis The fairy tale of the Greeks who are always divided and fight each other, only serves those who like the "divide and conquer", till nowadays. The Chinese also fought constantly with each other. The Japanese also, the Indians also etc. Until their countries became united.
My grandfather was in Albania, and lost his life in this exactly war front. I am very proud of there courage!
Never surrender!
Your grandfather died as a hero! 👍
Respect!
Mine too, I carry his name
@@nikolaspanteris respect!
A big 'thank you' ,from a Greek, for this wonderful video.
We, Greeks, are born fighters. We are not afraid of death, when it comes to our freedom and we fight like lions.
It was my pleasure!! Thanks for your support 🤗
GREEK MEN fight like lions and Greek women are tigers in bed.
@@angelosliotscos5861 😁
The lions fight like greek
There is a quote that Hitler told that time , and it says
For the sake of historical truth I must verify that only the Greeks, of all the adversaries who confronted us, fought with bold courage and highest disregard of death.
Respect!
The rumour has that he said more, like "the Greeks instead of running in order to hide from Ju-88 Stuka, they were taking aim at the aircrafts with their bloody rifles and sidearms, officers and soldiers alike".
Inside one of the fortresses of Metaxas line, the officer in command, he must have been an Captain (or Major), wrote on a wall
ΣΤΙΣ ΘΕΡΜΟΠΎΛΕΣ ΈΠΕΣΑΝ ΟΙ 300.
ΕΔΏ ΘΑ ΠΈΣΟΥΝ ΟΙ 80.
The HotGates saw the fall of 300.
This place will see the fall of 80.
Gebbels was a guest on a radio broadcast once a week. Now, the German civilian population was was expecting a rapid progress in Greece for the first 2 days. All of a sudden they do not receive news of this rapid progress......
The host of the radio broadcast asks Gebbels why the advance is that slow. Well a non scientist like Josef gave the most scientific answer any guy could give: what were you people expecting? We are facing Dorians down there!
This kind of videos bring tears to my eyes. I'm happy that people who barely know Greece, acknowledge and appreciate the sacrifices and the outcome of them. I would like to say something that we are taught during the conscript training: None of the ships of the Hellenic Navy has ever lowered their flag. They either won or sank.
Thank you for your insight on the Navy and for your support. 🤗🇬🇷
My great grandfather was one of the soldiers that went to Albania and barely survived with a bullet stuck next to his lung, proud to be his ancestor
Respect!
descendant** but im glad he survived
thanks to all the soldiers that fought against the italians and the germans, proud to be greek and hello from athens
Hello from South Carolina! Respect to all those Soldiers!
Greece actually Delayed the Nazis, hence the Alliance and Russia was able to Defeat them..Greece get's overshadowed in that period by biggest countries unfortunately. Churchill was the man that multiple times praised the courage of the Greeks.
Not to mention they humiliated the fascist Italy wen they decided to invade Greece. They pushed them out with 10x a smaller military.
Well said!
Here is the British news of the time:
th-cam.com/video/pc30qAJRTtM/w-d-xo.html
@@FLORATOSOTHON nice find!
Ethiopia defeated the Italians. It´s no big thing.
ZetarOmicron. Churchill was a treacherous Toad. Whilst he praised Greece during the war, the bastard at wars end supported the Greek collaborators and instrumental in igniting the Greek Civil War. Check out the Greek famine in WW2 during which 3,00,00 Greeks died of starvation thanks to this Fat Lying Toad.
I feel very proud of my great grandfather who fought in the mountains of Albania
Thanks for the video
My pleasure! Thank you for watching and thanks to your great grandfather for his service!
Μy great grandfather Τhomas fought there too.
@@iraklisstv696 are you a north epirote?
και ο παππούς μου έλεγε πολλές ιστορίες..... για τον πόλεμο στην Αλβανια
Hellas (Greece) has been protecting Europe for 3000 years. It is just that the Europeans have not realize it as of yet. But...there is still hope.
👍🙏🤗🇬🇷
We allowed you to cheat yourself into the Euro-zone.
Most certainly the whole of Europe and who knows who else would be speaking Arabic today , if ancient Greeks had not seriously kicked some Persian ass , to the point of dismantling the Persian Empire . 👍👍👍👍👍👍
@@samuelsamenstrang6069
Thank you for that. We'll keep guarding Europe's borders.
@@yiannisaivaliotis926 - But the Ancient Persians did not speak Arabic; if they had won, wouldn’t the “whole of Europe and who knows who else” be speaking Persian? (or even Aramaic - the official language of the Achaemenid Empire?).
My grand-ma lived in a small Greek village near the Albanian frontier. The Greek army was able to sustain the Italian assault because women like her carried the ammunition (mainly French mortars) to the summit of the mountains on their backs and brought back to the valley the wounded men. Again on their backs. She broke her leg, she received basic treatment in the field, healed but she limped all her life. She never complained. The Greek Army used their French mortars to their advantage, lobbing over the top of the mountains down to the positions of the Italians and changing position as often as possible when the Italian traditional artillery was unable to shoot at them over the top of the mountain and were not able to move their artillery cross country so they sustained huge casualties. As a result when their officers ordered to charge the Greek lines they often found out that their artillery had not done the expected damage to the Greeks who were able to shoot at them while they where slowly climbing the mountain, covering it with corpses. There are still plenty of human remains in the Pindus mountain that where never recovered and will not be. The lrvel of Klissoura pass was lowered by four entire meters due to heavy Italian fire. In my village when I was young the villagers used old Italian helmets as makeshift feeders for their chicken. That campaign was bloody and atrocious for both sides.
Lord have mercy on their souls.
Kyrie eleison.
Was that Hill 731?
@@JustAnotherArmyVet A hill where a battle was fought between a non-fully manned Greek battalion and an Italian brigade. The bombardment was so severe that the hill got stripped off the trees and bushes and there were so many corpses that the Italian Catholic priest who would perform a funeral for the dead threw up before reaching the summit
@@JustAnotherArmyVet
The Battle of Hill (Height) 731 (Greek: Μάχη του υψώματος 731), was a fierce battle fought during World War II in southern Albania, part of the Greco-Italian War. It began in the early morning of 9 March 1941, when Fascist Italy launched an assault (Operation Primavera) against Greece, aimed at capturing the critical mountain pass leading into the Kalpaki valley. Hill 731, strategically located 20 km north of Klisura (Këlcyrë) at the feet of Mount Trebeshinë, stood at the heart of the Greek defensive line. Despite being repeatedly and heavily attacked by superior Italian forces for over two weeks, Hill 731 was not captured, contributing to the failure of the Primavera offensive and the repulsion of Italians.
@@JustAnotherArmyVet
The Italian attack, observed by Italian dictator Benito Mussolini in person, was launched on 9 March with a heavy artillery barrage and air bombardment; on the main sector, held by the Greek 1st Division, over 100,000 shells were dropped on a 6 km front. Despite repeated assaults and heavy shelling that dug up the soil, the defenders of Hill 731 held during 9-15 March.[6] With the support of the Greek artillery, they managed to take advantage of the terrain and launch counterattacks. Greek riflemen charged at the oncoming Italians with fixed bayonets, under the cover of dense smoke. Dimitrios Kaslas, after the bombardment gave an order for every soldier to stand his ground no matter what, and promised to personally shoot and kill anyone trying to retreat.[7]
A flanking manoeuvre by the Blackshirts of the 26th Legion on 11 March ended in Italian defeat. In the afternoon of the 12 March, the Greeks reinforced the defending units with the entire 19th Regiment of the 4th Division; Hill 731 was now defended by the III/19 Battalion under the command of Captain Panagiotis Koutridis.[8] On the night of 12 March, the Italians withdrew the exhausted Puglie Division and replaced it with the Bari Division. The Italian offensive halted between 16-18 March, allowing the Greeks to bring reserves forward and begin a gradual reshuffle of their line, relieving the 1st Division with the 17th. The Italian offensive resumed on 19 March with another attack of the Siena Division on Height 731 (the 18th thus far). Supported by four M13/40 tanks and an Arditi assault unit from the Siena Division, the Italians seized a portion of Hill 731 but were soon pushed back by a Greek counter-attack. Attacks, preceded by intense artillery bombardments, followed daily until 24 March, without achieving any result.[9] Mussolini was forced to admit that the result of the Italian offensive was zero,[10] and the Italian offensive was terminated on 24 March.
@@konstantinosskarpalezos3528 amazing story!
Love Greece
🤗🤗
My beautiful country!!Im proud!Thank you about your video. Greetings from Thessaloniki! Greece.
Awe, thanks for your support! Greetings from South Carolina 🤗
@@JustAnotherArmyVet
th-cam.com/video/fA3Z-EaKRVU/w-d-xo.html
Thank you very much !!
@@isidoraaltantsidou8235 thanks for sharing that 🤗
Θεσσαλονικάρα!!
@@skg2304 Γεια σου Πατριώτη!!!!
Thanks it's about time we finally got time shined on our country 💪🏾🇬🇷
You are quite welcome! And one more video on a Greece today 🙂
As fraudsters?
@@samuelsamenstrang6069 no my friend
@@samuelsamenstrang6069 where are you from
@@stinky_mustard Take a guess. You took a lot of our tax payers money to safe your economy.
My grandfather was there. He saw three soldiers killed in front of his eyes after a bombing attack, from stukas.. The only one who survived this attack was my grandfather. Thanks for the great dedication 🇬🇷
Thanks for your support and for sharing. My thanks (for his service) and respect goes to your grandfather ❤️
Να είσαι υπερήφανος για τον παππού σου και είναι αθάνατοι όσοι έπεσαν "τοις κείνων ρήμασι πειθόμενοι".
Respect Greeks
#respect
My grandfather was a Greek partisan who fought against Italians and Albanians. I am proud of my grandfather, he was a great warrior, like all the Greeks who defended their homeland from enemies. Eternal Glory and Honor to them!!! Ζήτω η Ελλάδα! ζήτω οι Έλληνες !
My respect to them!
Thank you for your video!
I salute you! 🇬🇷
My pleasure! Thanks for your support!
My grandpa was in the Albanian front. He talked about that battle. What he didn't talk about when I was a boy was the German invasion and how he was captured and beaten daily in a camp till the end of the war. A good analysis was done by Kings and Generals channel. What's unfortunate is the British had literally zero air force in Greece and underestimated this front at that time. Even in Crete which could of been a victory.
Thank your grandpa for his service..and thanks for sharing 🙂
The famous battle of Crete ended in Nazi victory only because of English failed strategy. They had enough power to stop the paratroopers invasion , but never believed it would come from the air . Despite all that , Axis forces suffered huge casualties in men and material , because of brave fighting from Greek, English , Australian , and New Zealand troops who were garrisoning the 4 main cities of the island . The local population also caused the Germans great casualties, as many locals joined the troops and attacked the paratroopers with everything they had, rocks, spades, etc. , killing them as they landed and grabbing their weapons. I don't know if you have heard of this before , but after this battle , because of so high cost in life , Hitler never used paratroopers again as part of an invasion throughout the war.
Ty Greece ❤
❤️🙂
Dear Maam, thank you for highlighting our history.
The fact is not how many weeks our resistance lasted. The fact is that a tiny country with no means said NO! It is a matter of discipline!
Just check out two battles. The Battle of hill 731, where Mussolini himself supervised the attack and where after the end of the battle the hill was 5meters lower...so today its 726.
The second is the Battle of Crete. The elite of German troops attacked the island. Under which circumstances the Elite Forces is required to engage ? Well....even Cretan women slaughtered Germans soldiers with agricultural tools!
As Gustav Le Bon stated, the power of a country is not dependent on the number of inhabitants but on the number of its civilians.
I think you will enjoy it.
Kindest Regards from Greece.
Thank you kindly for your insight and for your kind words! I really appreciate it. And yes, Greece has an AMAZING and proud history!
All above really well said, the Germans were so furious with the Cretan people resistance during the battle , that when they finally got control of the island , burned many important villages to the ground , as well as executed hundreds of locals .
As for the Battle of hill 731 , it is very rightly mentioned , you should check it out. It is considered to be Greece's Hamburger hill.
Thank you for your time !
There is a wonderful Greek documentary about Hill 731, about the famous Officer Kaslas and his men. Some of them are talking in the docu, which needs to be subtitled at all costs.
My great-grandfather "Akindynos" fought as Army Officer in afion kara hissar in WWI, My grandfather "Antwnis" Fought in Battle of Hill (Height) 731 in WWII as Cavalary Infantry
Both of them survived until their old age and had many stories to tell, they did whatever they could to make us feel free,
Thank you RIP
Hill 731. Fierce battle/shelling. My respect goes out to all those who fought. Thanks for sharing 🙏❤️
My great grandfather fought too in Afio Kara hissar. I have even seen a photo of him,you know the old black and white.Amazing what we have been through.
@@alexisz7 that was a WW2 battle? Where was that?
@@JustAnotherArmyVet No that is WW1,but he fought on WW2 too.Also i have another great-grandfather who fough,my grandmother's father,which she lost him,but I can't remember which frontier it was sadly.
@@alexisz7 thank your family for their service ❤️🙏
thank you very much for making this video !Greetings from Greece.
You are welcome! Thanks for watching 🙂
The Greece is the only country in the wold which cellebrates its entrance to the WW2 (the oxi day) and not the end of the war
Very unique 🙂👍
Unique indeed. This shows us that Greeks are not afraid to fight for their country and for their believes. We celebrate the moment that we have decided that we might be dead at the end. Greeks are proud and respectful. Hospitality is our main characteristic but if someone make a real bad joke to us as a war with no thought and hesitation, we would do the same as our grandfathers.
@@allinaxxxx66 more countries should follow Greek’s example). The difference is that Greeks have philotimo
@@JustAnotherArmyVet Ty so much for your nice words! Yes philotimo should be a lesson in school. And philotimo is what keep our nation strong. I feel that you like Greece i hope u could visit some day. Wish u health and great achievements. Stay safe.
@@allinaxxxx66 thanks for your support. Greece is on my bucket list. I would love to visit Greece one day. I actually have a short video on philotimo coming out in the next week or so 🙂. Have a great day 🤗
Thank you very much girl !!!!! Thanks for recognise this fight because people arent ejucated about this .... As a Greek i am very proud ! Thanks thanks thanks !
The pleasure was mine! Thanks for your support 🤗❤️🇬🇷
Hello from Greece . Really nice to see an American interested in my country's HUGE history , and it's contribution to a democratic world. I am really touched, thank you . I am also happy that you have taken the time to research and really grasp the effect that the Greek victory over Italy, and subsequently delay of the German forces for more than a month , had to the outcome of WW2. Not to mention the number of much needed divisions the Germans had to keep commited to Greece because of the never stopping resistance of the people. Proud to be Greek and proud friend of the U.S. We have been friends and allies for so long !
Awe thanks for your kind word and support. Greece has an amazing history and was a vital contributor to the allied win in WW2. Absolutely. Love and respect from South Carolina!
*@yiannisaivaliotis926* The Greeks delayed the Germans for 2 months and the Axis for ~7 months in total. Let alone the resistance that followed and lasted till the end of the war, forcing the Germans to preserve strong forces in Greece.
@@JustAnotherArmyVet you must come someday in Greece. Im 100% sure that you will feel like home!
@@panteliskorfias yes 🤗
Thank you for showing this video . Greece still guards Europe's South -Eastern flank...Nicholas John Papadopoulos , Auckland ,New Zealand.
Thanks for your support 🙂
Greece and USA shares the same Values!
Democracy...Freedom...Equality !!!
Thanks for the video !
28t October 1940 Greeks Fight and Died for Freedom and Democracy !!
#respect
*@user-cs6yd8dc8d* Well, at that time Greece didn't have democracy.
@@PlanetIscandaryes but Mr. Metaxas was not an ordinary dictator. He was a benefactor he established the 8 hour job and made sure overtimes get paid. He made Sunday a public holiday. 1st of May made the same. He established mandatory 15 day job paid vacation. He established work clothes in many businesses so the people doesn't damage theirs. He forbidded child work and many many more things. He was a Ethnarch.
Goosebumps!! thank you
Awe, thanks for your support! 💙
I’m so proud to be Greek 🇬🇷
#respect
Great video, lots of thanks! Proud to be Greek!🇬🇷🇨🇾
Thank you for your support! Cheers!
My Grandpa fought this war in Greece and captured by the Germans.
After 3 years, he managed to escape and returned home.
He lived until his 90s.
Thank you.
Να είσαι υπερήφανος για τον παππού σου.
@@fotis1964 👍
My respect to your father and all of those who bravely fought!
@@JustAnotherArmyVet Thank you.
Worth to mention, that after the defeat by the Wehrmacht, a large part of the Greek military first fled to Crete and from there to Syria , where they formed the ''Greek Armed Forces in the Middle East'' and fought alongside the Allied Forces against Rommel in the N. Africa Campaign. Greek soldiers fought in the Battle of Alamein and various other operations in the N. Africa Campaign.
Also, Greek commandos, the ''Holy Squadron'', were part of the original 1st SAS Regiment and fought under Major Stirling ( the famous ''Phantom Major'') and Lt. Colonel Paddy Mane, conducting operations behind enemy lines.
They would later return together with the British SBS under the command of Brigadier Jellicoe, liberate the Aegean Islands from the Axis Forces and later the capital Athens.
Because of this tradition, even the modern day elite Greek 1st Paratrooper/Mountain Raiders Regiment LOK, share the SAS' motto ''wo dares wins'' ( "o tolmón niká" ) & have a similar badge with the sword & wings.
Oh wow. I did not know any of that. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for the video !
Welcome! 🤗
IM FROM GREECE, THANK YOU FOR THE VIDEO. GREETINGS FROM GREECE, I HOPE ALL WORLD UNDERSTAND THE MEANING OF OXI. WE BELIEVE IN FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY!!! BRAVE GREEKS, HELLENES... IF NEEDED WE ARE HERE AGAIN, FOR FREEDOM AGAINST TYRANNY AND SLAVERY... WITH RESPECT TO ALL HUMANITY FROM THE YEARS OF ANCIENT GREECE UNTIL NOW!!! AND I TELL YOU FOR REAL NOTHING IS MORE IMPORTANT FROM OUR OWN HOMELAND.
I FEEL PROUD OF YOU PEOPLE 😊🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂....
You are so sweet! Thank you for your kind words!! #respect 🇬🇷
I have been to the US and I have mostly met good and honourable people who respect democracy and human rights, and we do remember that America came and fought on our side on 2 world wars when the world needed you ! Our friendship is deep !
"Fighting against all odds"
is Greece's moto
since the beginning of time!
Thank you for that video! 🙏
Thanks for sharing and thanks for your support 🙏💙
Awesome video. Precise. My grandfather was in the Ipiros front fighting Mousolini's troops. The Greek soldiers were able to beat the Italian troops. Just when My grandfather and the rest of the resistance thought they've won, the nazi's made their way into Greece. Hitler and his army thought they can take Greece in a few weeks. It took them more than 7 months. Giving the rest of Greece's allies time to regroup.
One thing that's not mentioned, in many videos I watched is the fact that the Greeks, including my Grandfather, were protecting the Jewish Greeks. My grandfather and the local town in northern Greece were hiding the Jewish families from the nazies. My grandpa and the local policeman were brutally beaten. The price you pay for freedom and love.
Thanks for sharing! Thank your grandfather and your fellow Greeks for their service! #heroes
Greeks we need to thank the AUSTRALIAN people for fighting for the Greeks
the Maori Battalion fought like they were fighting for their families 20.000 came less than 8.000 left
thousand of greeks was accepted in Australia after a letter made from the Men of Maori Battalion to their government to help ruined Greece
nobody says anything about them they got no credit!!!!
Heroes all of them!
Thank you for sharing! I did not know that…I thought Māori people were only from New Zealand. Well, respect them! #heroes
Ahidia when the going got tough they fled!!
@@hoplite101able The English left..
ANZAC was there and it is mention especialy island crete.get your facts right.
This is not true in the battle of crete the creta celebrate every year the Australians and the new Zealanders and the come until now all the way from those far away countries and is really emotional to see the few left from the battle of crete parade proudly in an old age
In the books they are also testimonials that cretans prefer to fight sight by sight with Maori warriors than with the English soldiers
The Maori worries even practice haka their dance before the war similar dance that also have cretans with pentosali one warrior recognise the other warrior
Συγχαρητήρια για το βίντεο! Εξαιρετική δουλειά, πλήρως αληθινό!
Awe thank you kindly!! 🤗 #respect to Greece
Super video….🇬🇷✌️
Thanks so much for the kind words! 🤗
Proud to be even half Greek
#respect
Even Hitler admitted in a speech (audio speech is on you tube )he made in Reihstag that out of all the countries they have fought the Greek soldiers they were the most brave.
#respect
Greeks and USA soldiers, always at the same side of the front line for freedom & always at the right side of history. GR USA 👍👍
My grandfather fought this war as a soldier of the artillery of 8th division of Epirus.
He lost his eye from an Italian mortar projectile , and he lived his life until 2018 that he died 102 years old.
He was extremely proud for his service, and of course so did we, his family.
Thank you for this video, i wish he was alive to explain and translate it to him, he would be really happy to hear the recognition of his fight.
Respect 🇬🇷🇺🇸
usa soldiers always at the right side of history? are you an allien? usa has a massacred millions of innocent souls. iraq, vietnam, kosovo, somalia and how many more !! not to mention the coups backed against governments they didn't like.!!
fuck the usa !!
@@Freamon_L Maybe you would like the world to be like Nicaragua, Cambodia and Soviet Union, without other political parties, religious freedom, and equality for the citizens .
We wont make you the favour. Dispear, and understand that we stand for democracy.
And take some time to make some criticism for the regimes that you comrades created across the world, which history has fortunately left behind, cause what is left is mafia and prostitutes.
Amazing video thanks!
Awe thank you for your support 🙂👍
Thank you for making this video!Greetings from Athens Greece!
Thanks for watching! Greetings from South Carolina!
Respect to our heroes that fought and died for the freedom of the Fatherland 🇬🇷🇬🇷🇬🇷
The burnt men of Hill 731 will never be forgotten 🔥🔥🔥
The Greek lands of Northern Epirus will be liberated again!!! 🇬🇷🇬🇷🇬🇷
Never forget!
We Greeks said always Motherland😉
Thank you for honoring us and our ancestors. It is really nice to see others, especially an american to view this event. Also big respect for answering to most of the comments if not all.
My pleasure!! Thanks so much for your support and kind words!
HELLAS ,..... thanks !!!!!!!
🤗❤️👍
Ι m proud that i m Greek and i have to thank you so much that you makes this video so people learn our history .
My pleasure! Thank you for your support 🤗
@@JustAnotherArmyVet ❤🤗 Your welcome
No comment, all said in your beautiful work and the comments of the viewers. Only a very big thank you for uploading this masterpiece, on behalf of my family from my father's side that before ww2 had 10 members and after 6, my mother's family that before the war had 9 members and after 6 and mind you we are very lucky to have so many survivors.
Oh wow. Thanks for your kind words and support. And respect to your family 🇬🇷
"small" country with over 4000 years of history.
Lots of history. Respect
Thank you for acknowledging and honouring Greece's contribution to the victory against Axis forces in WWII. My grandfather fought in the NW western front in North Epirus against the Italians. Contrary to common perceptions this was a gruesome, brutal war in the middle of one of the coldest winters. Not just Italians suffering it, the Greek army suffered it more with more, in percentage, losses due to gangrene caused by frozen feet and hands, due to lack of proper material. Things were only getting better when pushing back Italians, advancing and capturing Italian military stocks. Imagine how tragic it was for Greek troops to see their victory being in vain when Germans attacked from the other side alongside Bulgarians ending up in a quadruple occupation by Germans, Italians and their Bulgarian and Albanian henchmen who had a vested hatred against Greeks and each of the four competing in crimes against the Greek civilians. But the sacrifice overall was not in vain as it put a strain in the Axis delaying the attack on USSR with all repercussions that even Stalin himself acknowledged. Those 8 months delay and the deflection of a sizeable number of forces and resources were indeed crucial. And that is why we all need to remember the sacrifice of the Greek people in the struggle against Axis.
Well said! Never forget! 🇬🇷
Η Ελλάδα ειχε 807.000 νεκρους στον δεύτερο παγκόσμιο πόλεμο,ειμαι υπερήφανος που ειμαι Έλληνας!
May all those souls Rest in Peace!
Nice of you to present this story
My pleasure! Thank you for your support!
Saving Europe in 480 B.C and in 1940.
Proud to be Greek
480 BC..something about Greeks stopping the Persians?
@@JustAnotherArmyVet yeah battle of Marathon and Thermopylae
Ah great, thanks 👍🇬🇷💙
05:14 "Greeks fight like heroes !" Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of Great Britain / United Kingdom
Respect!
The ancient Greeks said "come and get them" to the Persians.
The medieval Greeks said "freedom or death" to the Turks.
The modern Greeks said "no" to the Axis.
Despite Italians and Greeks considering each other brothers, you just cannot surrender to invaders.
Hitler was very angry at Mussolini's incompetence and the fact that many Italians would refuse to attack the Greeks, that he ordered the German Reich and Bulgaria to attack from all fronts.
When they finally took control of Greece after a very long time and losses, Hitler gave a speech in Germany, saying (paraphrasing) that the Greeks were the only country (in his opinion) that fought with such ferocity and altruism that they still have his outmost respect.
I didn’t realize that some Italians refused to fight…
@@JustAnotherArmyVet We Greeks share strong bonds with the Italians. There is an Italian phrase ''una faccia una razza'' , literally translating to ”One face, one race,” and with its Greek variation being ”Mia fatsa, mia ratsa,” (μια φάτσα μια ράτσα) this beautiful Italian phrase incorporates the reality of centuries of history and cultural ties that Greek and Italian people share together.
The phrase focuses on the fact that many Italians and Greeks look so much alike, that it is a self-evident proof that these two people belong to the same ethnic group.
Although somewhat exaggerated, this is not completely wrong. Modern DNA research has shown that many people living now in southern Italy share almost identical genetic information with a majority of the people who currently live in metropolitan Greece.
And how could that not be true, since wave upon wave of Greek people throughout history has traveled, lived and prospered in the areas of southern Italy, and Sicily in particular.
@@christos.8157 I’ve never even heard that before. But I see your point. That does make sense.
Hello again...! Thank you for highlighting the history of Greece. I sent you some videos. In some you have to activate the subtitles...! Good night to you!
Ah thanks for you support!! 🙂 Did you email them?
@@JustAnotherArmyVet Yes!
First and foremost I would like to thank you for your service 🎖️i am a army brat, my father was in the US army for 22 years, and served in the gulf war. I'm a proud Greek American living in greece. My grandfather from my mother's side fought in WW2 against the Italian. I'm beyond proud to be both Greek and American. Thank you so much for this video, it means so much for the Greek people. Allot of countries around the world seems to fail to realize how precious and special Greece is, and if it weren't for the Greeks in general who knows what civilization would of been without the Greek knowledge.
Thanks for sharing and for your kind words 🤗. And respect to Greece and your family And all those who have served 🙂🇬🇷
Υou americans are murdering Greeks untill now .. People you saw in the vid above, you burned them with napalm bombs in 1949.So just read greek history
From 1971 and Cyprus island , you agree for turkey's war attack and occupy the first Nato member after the ww2.It's not Ukraine..It was Greece and Cyprus island
1996 in Imia islands, then you forced for "grey" zones in aegean sea which is greek territory
2001-until now you are bombing and occupy middle east so millions Immigrants from your war. are coming to Greece and Europe
2018 You forced and take greek name and history giving them to North Macedonia an albaniaslavian area so 2 years later become one more NATO member
In GeoPolitic (greek words) ( ge / γη = territory and politic/ politiki =policy) there is a term for US killing domination. an fucking army and us bases all over the word.Thats not defence..Thats clearly ATTACK or Imperealism The term "RIMLAND" just search...
US and nato make the first war action against russia after 1991 and the agreement from 1997 in Paris.
14 countries former ussr countries became nATOS members and US military bases against Serbia and Russia.And that was the first war action..Not fucking Ukraine the 15th member
Learn one more thing about Greeks. Greece was the first battle US-USSR on cold war
Greeks you saw in the vid and say about heroes etc. The 80% men and women on the mountains you saw were organised on ΕΛΑΣ (ELAS). A communist organization which fight Italians,Germans and Bulgarians . Greek communists had the majority and the armament for their battles after ww2. But in 1945 in Yalta, Stalin and Churchil they split in half Europe..
One more time against greek people .Napalm bombs used in European area in Greek civil war from American airplane on the mountains, and British tanks in Athens.
Im not surprised. Greeks are tough man they have it in their blood they didn't need more man power. The mentality of defending their mighty land was strong
Agreed!
You are a vary valuable lady and person... Equipped with honor hunger of knowledge and appreciation for all things right in life... Keep up the good work... I know if ever the time comes or situations demand it you wil do the ultimate sacrifice in order to save others... My regards and deepest respects to you!!!!
You are so kind. Thank you!!! My respect to you as well 💙🙂🤗
Metaxas' actual wording was «Alors, c'est la guerre!» (Then, this is war), French being the language of diplomats. But «No» was more catchy...
Ahhh.. got it! 👍🙂
Correct!!!!❤
What a beautiful reaction ❤
You are so sweet, thanks!
A very good video result, thanks again.
Awe thanks. Great suggestion 🙂
@@JustAnotherArmyVet This is the Video of the parade i the city of Thessaloniki, as was shown by the Greek public TV:
th-cam.com/video/8pGuOjBx1uM/w-d-xo.html
The parade as always starts with disabled veterans, followed by the Greek Red Cross and representatives of various cultural groups from Greece and abroad (frankly I thought this part was too long). At about the middle of the video (1:15:00) the military units paraded, initially with the mechanized forces, followed (1:41:00) by the regimental battle flags, Army military academy cadets from the officer and NCO academies, followed by infantry, air mobile and commando forces.
The Army units are followed by Cadets of the Navy's Officer and NCO academies, followed by a group of OYK (SEALS).
Then, cadets from the Air Force officer and NCO academies follow during this time fighters pass overhead.
After the military forces, Police, Coast Guard, CG SOFs and the Fire Brigade close the parade.
The three Evzone markers withdraw. These three Evzones stand in front of the president's stand and when the parading sections pass in front of the first evzone, the sections leader raises his arm as a get ready sign. As every line of the parading section passes the second evzone they turn their heads to the right facing the dignitary, in this case the President of Greece, and as they pass the third evzone they turn their head facing forward again.
After the ground parade a brief single aircraft acrobatic demonstration follows.
After the President Mrs. Sakelaropoulou makes a statement and leaves, the politicians, starting with the Greek defense minister also make some short statements for the press.
What was new, were the statements made by the new US Ambassador in Greece (2:32:48), who is Greek American and started his speech in Greek.
@@FLORATOSOTHON Thanks for taking the time to explain all of that!
@@JustAnotherArmyVet Since our guys don't have subtitles in their videos, someone needs to explain what is going on to people that do not know Greek.
More or less, we know our history, but non-Greeks do not, so someone needs to take the time to explain the basics to people that are interested.
One some TH-cam Greek videos that have subtitles, the auto translation is terrible, and the translated subtitles don't make any sense.
There are many historical channels, but they are fairly superficial, or they try to present things taking information from all the sides involved, presenting some propaganda or history revisionist views, thinking they are impartial this way.
I try to find videos in English or at least with English subtitles to support what I present or say and if I can't, I translate the basics to make a video useful to non-Greeks.
Even the guys from the OXI Day Foundation made some errors in their video.
The guy that says about a 10 to one Italian superiority, probably gets that from Mussolini who bolstered that he had an army with 8 000 000 Bayonets, however the numerical superiority the Italians had when they invaded Greece was about 3 to 1 in ground forces. They did have a huge advantage in the naval and air forces though.
The invasion scenes were in fact from the North African campaign.
The Greek with the funny moustache, the old man with the rounds across his shoulders and the soldiers standing in line holding their weapons pointing up, were resistance fighters during the triple occupation of Greece by Germany, Italy and Bulgaria.
The crowds shown were from a communist demonstration in Syntagma square in Athens, during December 4th, 1944.
And the crowds kissing the soldiers parading, involved Greek and British troops returning to Athens, after the Germans left on October 12, 1944 (this is why the uniforms are British. Greek troops that escaped to Egypt, in order to continue the war in exile, adopted the British uniforms there).
I guess, the people in the OXI day foundation did not have actual footage from October 28 to show and they used what they had, in a commendable effort to show what happened in 1940.
Your video with the addition of the women in the mountains and the Germans freezing in Russia was much more complete with real footage than the OXI Day Foundation's video.
These are colorized videos with good English subtitles from the actual events of the Greek Italian war, with some reenactments and fake sounds, but they are way too long and occasionally repetitive, jumping back and forth:
th-cam.com/video/g7Mx77J9kVo/w-d-xo.html
th-cam.com/video/3ViGHVdcQi8/w-d-xo.html
th-cam.com/video/LGs8xXodZyM/w-d-xo.html
th-cam.com/video/7EsHvKRdzCg/w-d-xo.html
th-cam.com/video/bEec5Ar2rlo/w-d-xo.html
This is a video with newspaper joke toons and theatrical plays of the time about the war (the songs are satirical songs of the same period):
th-cam.com/video/JcBEU1ZHPoM1/w-d-xo.html
@@FLORATOSOTHON thank you so much!! How did You know were all that footage is from?
Thanks for making a video about Greece!❤
Thanks for your support!
It is worth noting that while the story today rightfully focuses on the great effort of everyone, in truth, the military command in Athens had actually given the order to fall back on the third line of defence, below the mountains (which would have been a disaster). Instead it was the local army commander Katsimitros who disobeyed that order and gave the order to stand on the first line on defence, on top of the mountains, thus giving the outnumbered and badly equipped Greek army a fighting chance. And the rest is history. Sun Tzu had said, thousands of years ago, that the general that is in the frontlines sometimes has to disobey the ruler that is in the capital, because the general knows the ground and the situation, while the ruler has only second hand information of it.
Oh interesting! I did not know that!
@@JustAnotherArmyVet It is recorded in history, of course, but I learned that during the Greek Army's mandatory service. It is not a generally known fact since it is thought that it diminishes the whole achievement, which is not true. What it diminishes is the narrative that everyone down in Athens knew what they were doing, but I think that credit should go where credit is due. :)
@@ΤάσοςΚαυσοκαλυβίτης yes, well said 🙂
The first battles were fought to my father's village and the great grandmothers back there were carrying throught the snow and mud all those heavy supplies to our troops... I feel proud for the great courage and heart of all those good people to sacrifice so that together we can be a free country
Respect to them!
True. Because after the end of ww2, started a bloody Civil War about the control of the state.
The true is that Greek Prime Minister never said exactly NO. He said " So we have war!"
*@VexUnion-tl4mo* Exactly, he said it indirectly, but still completely clear.
Yes 👍
He said it at French to make it more correct
FOR 6000 YEARS WE DIDN'T CARE HOW STRONG THE ENEMY IS WE JUST SAID WHERE THE ENEMY IS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Respect!
Hitler lost more troops in 1 day in Crete, than in the 15 months prior to the invasion and in 11 other countries.
Let that fact sink in
Wow. How many were killed?
@@JustAnotherArmyVet at least 400
@@tassosplatis2143 Στην Κρητη εχασε πανω απο 17.000 στρατο ο χιτλερ...
@@PaoFootballClub εγώ έλεγα πόσοι έχασαν μέσα σε μια μονή μέρα
@@JustAnotherArmyVet During the 10 says of the battle of Crete there were: 426 Greeks KIA, with an unspecified number of wounded and prisoners.
The British forces had 1742 KIA, 1737 WIA and 11 835 prisoners. In addition, there were 2000+ Navy personnel lost, and 3 cruisers and 6 destroyers sunk.
The Germans had at least 1990? KIA (however, the sign on the German cemetery in Maleme says that here lie 4465 German soldiers most of them paratroopers), 1995? MIA (a German mountain infantry force transported by boats to Crete was destroyed by the British fleet and the boats were all sunk) and 4000++ WIA. It is estimated that from the 14000 paratroopers over 50% were casualties. Almost all German commanders were KIA during the first hours of the invasion.
ln addition to personnel, the Germans lost 220 airplanes with another 150 seriously damaged.
The forces involved in the battle of Crete were:
UK 15 000 (including Navy), Greeks 11 451, Australians 7100 and New Zealanders 6 700.
Germans 22 750.
There were also 1370 Aircraft (1300+ German) and 70 ships involved.
During WW2 there were about 15 000 German soldiers killed in Greece.
This is an official US video on the Battle of Crete (May 20 - June 1, 1941):
th-cam.com/video/4cZGqApwycw/w-d-xo.html
Hitler was so appalled by the loses that told general Student that the days of the paratroopers were over. The German paratroopers were never used again in large airborne operations but only as elite infantry forces.
By Hitlers order any German military man, regardless of rank, should stand on attention and salute anyone having the insignia of the battle of Crete on his sleeve (a band writing Kreta).
There was a German march made in honor of the paratroopers that fought in Crete:
th-cam.com/video/0SGvQ9ME9-Y/w-d-xo.html
An interesting story of the time was that of the 1st year cadets of the Greek Officer Academy. The duration of studies at the time was three years and when the war started, the 2nd and 3rd year cadets were hastily named WOs and 2LTs and were set to the front.
The 1st year cadets though, continued their studies until the Germans approached Athens in April 1941. At this time, the Academy's CO told them they were all dismissed in order to go home.
What they did instead, was to lock the CO in his office, brake into the Academy's armory and after taking the weapons, they commandeered any vehicle they could find, in order to go to the evacuation harbors.
From there they were transported to Crete, taking part in the Battle as a cadet company and then were evacuated to Egypt to serve in the reformed Greek army in exile.
Hey I was sticking for the Greek vids...but I appreciate your good vibes from now on il be sticking for all the vids
Awe you are sweet. Thank you 🙂🤗. That actually helps the channel out a lot. Always feel free to drop suggestions of content that you want to see 🙂
Thank you for all your words!
There is a video about Outpost Harry, Korean War that i believe you will like!
Awe thank you for your support! And yes, I do want to eventually react to that 🙂
Its amazing how a small country like Greece fought cowards like Germany Italy Bulgaria Albania at once ...The iconic British statesman Winston Churchill, who led the United Kingdom during World War II, reportedly praised the Greek people in a BBC speech during the first days of the Greco-Italian War, stating: “Until now we used to say that the Greeks fight like heroes. Now we shall say: Heroes fight like Greeks.”
A well said quote 👍🇬🇷
I was born in Kastoria, Greek Macedonia.
My father never talked about the war, period. Through a friend of his and the Encyclopedia,
I learned he was the tank commander who disobeyed orders to drive the Italian forces into the Adriatic sea in Albania. He was an unacknowleged hero. After the war, he had to choose between fascism and communism, no middle road.
Dad rose to become a communist commissar who the fascists put before a firing squad
TWICE. His best friend, the mayor saved him at the eleventh hour, and for he being a sympathyser, was hanged, his body left hanging for 3 days as a warning to others.
Dad was sent to a concentration island camp and on his release, was forced to walk from Athens to Greek Macedonia. The mayor's son married my sister. As a boy, I witnessed daily firing squads from the mountains taking place in the early morning schoolyard. I suffer from post traumatic stress to this day.
Thank you for sharing experience and your story. I really appreciate your insight. That must have been hard seeing that as kid. I’m sorry about that. I do appreciate your sharing and thanks to your father for his service 🙏❤️
@@JustAnotherArmyVet Thank you for your comment.
@@angelosliotscos5861 🙂👍
*@angelosliotscos5861* I have the impression that you didn't describe this event precisely. Was your father under the command of the Italian forces? Also, i had no idea there was any other Macedonia than the Greek.
unfortunately the WW2 aftermath wasn't what the brave Greeks deserved, quite the opposite in fact...for all their troubles, they weren't even given the territory that they had occupied when advancing against the Axis forces (northern Epirus), instead it was given to Albania, after the insinstence of Italy! (who was among the defeated/axis forces mind you!) because they wanted to prevent Greece from gaining too much power in the region post-war, by controlling the Straits of Otranto (connection between the adriatic & Ionian seas)...This was one of those unique cases in world history where a country has gained sth by force of arms & loses it afterwards via diplomacy/politics...
Oh wow. I did not know that
It’s unfortunate this is not taught in schools.
I agree.
As a greek I thank you for this video!
Welcome! Thanks for watching!
My grandfather was one of the heroes who gave their lives defending Greece against the Axis.
Respect!
Respect !! Σεβασμός στον παππού !!!
Greeks celebrate the beginning of the war that should tell you everything you need to know about a race of people that throughout the centuries have fought against any type of enemies and even when they lose in the end they come out victorious
Yes. Well said
When the Greeks are united are formidable the problem is since ancient times are jealous and constantly fighting each other......
Greece is good at coming together when their counter is at stake. That is admirable
War is a bad situation, but many times it is the washing machine of mistakes...! In Rupel Fort (towards the end of the battles with the Germans) the conditions were indescribable. I had read that a soldier would hold his belly with his left hand, (as his bowels had come out and put them back in with his hand) and fire the gan with his right hand...! On hill 731, where many discoveries were made, there was an incredible story with a hoplite. During the battle, he couldn't stand it (and while he was in an airplane bomb hole, with other soldiers), he pulled down his pants to relieve himself. At that time, he raised his head and saw an Italian ready to kill him. He raised the gun and caught up and impaled him with the lance. He turned and told his friend indignantly. No one can even shit with the Italians. Tragic comic stories. The elevation was recorded and after the war they found it 3 meters lower. Imagine the bombs dropped on it. I couldn't find a video with English subtitles for hill 731 to send you. Grandpa fought the Italians and told me a lot. More people and many children died from starvation (during the German occupation than from the war). The bad thing was that after 1945 to 1949, there was a civil war and my grandfather had to fight against the communists inside Greece...! Good evening again!
Good evening!! Wow. I did not know though stories. Hopefully one day we can find a good video on Hill 731 in English.
@@JustAnotherArmyVet This is a video with English subtitles th-cam.com/video/xeh-umHfaiI/w-d-xo.html&ab_channel=YannaStamouli
@@andrkonst9910 great, thanks!
AWSOME video
Thank u
I just moved to Greece from Philadelphia
Awesome!! I have family in the PA 🙂. And thanks for your support!
@@JustAnotherArmyVet 1 love :)
@@jonnymak1079 🤗❤️
This leaves out the starvation of 1941 . Thanks to the righteous of nations who turned up to make hope float .
That does sound like a significant event… There were lots of starvations and famines in WW2. A very tough time 😢
@@JustAnotherArmyVet I understand that from your perspective, femine was something common in WW2, but if you search about it (check World War II casualties @ wikipedia for example), you will see that it wasnt so common in Europe! It was in the Soviet Union and in Asia (because of Japan) but not in Europe! You can order the chart per casualties from famine/diseases and you will be surprised to see that in Europe, the famine occurred only in Greece on such a scale and the reason is that during the first 2-3 years (at least until late 1942), Germans, Italians and Bulgarians (Greece was divided to those 3) were sending ALL the Greek supplies to Rommel in North Africa due to the location of Greece. It is believed that Greece lost around 10% of its population (almost 800k out of 7,5m population) and only 35k of them were soldiers (fought the Italians well without many casualties). Out of those 800k, 200k were executed, hunged etc and 600k died out of femine and diseases. As you see they are pointing this out to you because still today when we use the word "katohi" (occupation) it is synonym with the great femine of ww2. We even use it in our everyday talk.. for example even today young people when they see a friend eating much and quick they say "Have you not eaten since the occupation?". This is rooted deep inside our collective unconscious. There was no family that hadnt lost a member because of femine,disease or execution. People in the big cities who had no way to cultivate were eating their pets or rats to survive. All the food production (oil, grains etc) was confiscated by the axis to be sent to Rommel and our fathers/grandfathers survived with recipies still remembered today like some corn flour boiled in water with some sweet grape must extract etc. Just imagine.. 7-8% of the population of a country dying out of femine. That is why when we hear about femine in African countries or Asian countries it is a very sensitive subject to us Greeks. When I imagine what has happened in the soviet union or in some Asian countries (way worse things than here in Greece) my heart tightens.
@@Craven01 sad history 😢