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GREECE AND YUGOSLAVIA 203

Paxoi

Cerigo

Sikinos

Peloponnese

Vis

Brac

Hvar

Korčula

Mljet

Šolta

Ios

Naxos

Mikonos

Tinos

Andros

Paros

Amorgos

Thira

Astipalaia

Nicaria

Samos

Khios

Psara

Skopelos

Lliodhomia

Skiathos

Samothrace

Lesbos

Idhra

Corfu

HUNGARY

ITALY

GREECE

RO

M

AN

IA

Y U G O S L A V I A B

U

L

G

A

R

IA

TU

RK

EY

Ad

ri

a

ti

c

S

e

a

SERBIA

MONTENEGRO

CROATIA

ALBANIA

Vr

ba

s

D

rin

a

Va

rda

r

Sem

an Ma

ri

ts

a

Vij

ose

Sa

va

Un

a

Sa

va

Drav

a

Mo

rav

a

Da

nub

e

Lake

Balaton

Lake

Skadar

Tisza

Neretva

Bo

sn

a

Aegean

Sea

Dubrovnik

Klagenfurt

Timisoara

Deta

Ljubljana

Kranj Kamnik Celje

Subotica

Sabac

Scutari

Maribor

Potenza

Taranto

Pristina

Presevo

Surdulica

Leskovac

Obrenovac

Brindisi

Durazzo

Prizren

Sibenik

Szeged

Trieste

Skopje

Veles

Tirana

Zara

Fiume

Plaskio

Graz

Sofia

Pecs

Sombor

Srbobran

Split

Pula

Bari

Nis

Bela Palanka

Vlasotince

Sarajevo

Zenica

Tuzla

Mostar

Gacko

Žabljak

Šavnik

Andrijevica

Kolašin

Bileća

Cetinje

Banja

Luka

Jajce

Drvar

Bihać

Gospić

Zagreb

Požega Vinkovci

Varaždin

Budapest

Arad

Novi Sad

Zrenjanin

Belgrade

Požarevac

Vidin

Bor

Petrovac

Paraćin

Sokobanja

Mihajlovac

Smederevo

Kragujevac

Janina

Trikkala

Koritsa Salonika

Monastir

Florina

Kavala

Xanthi

Adrianople

Athens

Piraeus

Thebes Chalcis

Distamo

Thermopylae

Patras

Pirgos

Corinth

Lamia

Kalamata

Volos

Larissa

Osijek

△ Greek partisans on the move

A line of partisans marches to join Allied forces in Greece in October 1944.

Partisan forces in Greece and Yugoslavia offered a serious challenge to German

troops, keeping them from joining Axis campaigns elsewhere.

Following the invasion of the Balkans (see pp.80–81), Italy occupied

most of Greece, while Yugoslavia—now divided into three states and

with its remaining land annexed by its neighbors—was dominated

by Germany. After Italy surrendered in September 1943 (see pp.164–

165), the Germans occupied the whole region, but the approach of

the Soviet Army in September 1944 (see pp.182–183) threatened to

encircle them and they withdrew. At the same time, Churchill and

Stalin agreed that Britain would have a free hand in Greece, while

the USSR would have influence over the other Balkan nations.

In both countries, resistance to the occupying forces formed under

competing groups. In Yugoslavia, Colonel Draža Mihailović led the

Royalist Chetniks, and Josip Broz, known as Tito, led the Communist

Yugoslav Partisans. By 1943, it was clear that Tito was more effective

against the Germans, and when the Chetniks began collaborating

with the Nazis against the Communists, Tito won Allied support. In

Greece, Communist and Republican partisan groups shared mutual

dislike of the British-supported Royalist government-in-exile. As

liberation drew nearer, the British were alarmed by the increasing

power of the Communist-dominated partisan group EAM and its

armed wing, ELAS. Their attempts to broker a Greek government

that would bring all factions together tipped into a civil war.

GREECE AND

YUGOSLAVIA

After Axis armies occupied Greece and Yugoslavia

in 1941, partisan factions fought fiercely against them,

but also against each other. As Axis control over the

Balkans crumbled from 1943 onward, the Allies became

embroiled in the complex politics of the region.

Sep 9, 1944

Bulgaria switches

sides and declares

war on Germany.

A FRAGILE PEACE

DECEMBER 4, 1944–FEBRUARY 12, 1945

As ELAS units marched toward Athens, Churchill

ordered British troops to use force against them.

A month of clashes in Athens between ELAS

and the British, known as the Dekemvriana, or

“December events,” followed. The British regained

control for the Royalist government in January, and

ELAS was disbanded on February 12, following

the signing of a truce. However, the issue of who

should govern Greece remained unresolved, and

civil war erupted again in 1946.

7

Dekemvriana clashes

CIVIL WAR BREAKS OUT

OCTOBER 16–DECEMBER 3, 1944

The British secured the return of the government-

in-exile on October 16. The Greek prime minister

Georgios Papandreou, under pressure to disarm

the partisan forces, announced plans to form a

new Greek National Army, but the Communist-

dominated ELAS, the most powerful partisan

group, refused to disarm and began to incite

anti-British feeling. On December 3 in Athens,

a large crowd of protesters clashed with police;

28 civilians were killed, triggering a civil war.

6

Areas under ELAS (Communist) influence

Areas under Republican influence

Outbreak of civil war

BRITISH LANDINGS IN GREECE

SEPTEMBER 17–OCTOBER 15, 1944

The British SOE had been involved in Greece from

1942 (see pp.138–139), but in September 1944 the

British began to land troops there as German

forces withdrew. This was intended both to speed

the German withdrawal and prevent ELAS taking

power. In Operation Manna, more troops landed

at Patras on October 4 and advanced to Corinth.

The last Germans left Athens on October 12, and

the next day British forces seized an airfield near

Athens and occupied Piraeus, the port of Athens.

5

British airborne landings

British Operation Manna, Oct 1944

German withdrawal route,

Oct 1–Nov 15, 1944

LIBERATION OF YUGOSLAVIA

OCTOBER 20, 1944–MAY 8, 1945

Having lost Belgrade, German and pro-Fascist

Croatian forces formed the Syrmian Front, a

defensive line around Sarajevo, where they fought

a bloody war of attrition through the winter. Tito’s

partisans, helped by the Soviets, Bulgarians, and

Italians, broke through the front in April and

drove Axis forces north-west through Serbia and

Croatia, until the German surrender on May 8.

4

Partisan army

campaign, 1944–45

Syrmian Front

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