The First Victory: Greece in the Second World War

This book provides a sweeping account of the role that Greece played in that conflict. During the first thirteen months of the war, Hitler's unstoppable war machine had occupied seven European countries and had enslaved a population of 120 million by fighting for less than three months. The surprising seven-month-long Greek resistance to the invading armies of Italy and Germany that followed in 1940-1941, gave the Greeks the first Allied victories on land, and became a beacon of hope and an inspiration to freedom-loving countries everywhere. The Greek victories provided badly needed relief to the British who,, at that time, were fighting the Axis alone. The archives of the warring armies provide the backdrop of ferocious battles of the Greek forces against numerically superior and far better equipped Italian and German troops. Personal accounts by men and women who lived through extraordinary events provide the details, pinpointing moments that horrify and inspire. From the introduction, which describes the events leading to the Second World War, the book unfolds through the diplomatic and military developments of the battle of Greece. The resistance, which emerged during the occupation and persisted through to the liberation at a staggering cost to the Greek nation, completes the saga. "George Blytas's book brings Greece's heroic and pivotal role in WWII to the forefront. Few people realize that Greece's defeat of Mussolini's forces in 1940 was "The First Victory" against Axis forces in World War II and forced Hitler to invade Greece and delay his Operation Barbarossa against the Soviet Union, a key factor in Hitler's failure to defeat the Soviet Union. Gene Rossides, Editor, Greece's Pivotal Role in World War II and its Importance to the U.S. Today (2001)