249: Greece Pt. 1 - Plans and Preparations

History of the Second World War

Wesley Livesay

Society & Culture, Documentary, History

4.5 • 626 Ratings

🗓️ 23 February 2026

⏱️ 26 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In October 1940, Mussolini launched an invasion of Greece from Albania, determined to secure Italian expansion in the Balkans before any peace could be negotiated. This episode examines the lead-up to the Italo-Greek War, beginning with Greece under the Metaxas dictatorship and its efforts to build up military strength despite limited industrial capacity. We explore Italy's decision to target Greece after delays in North Africa, the flawed assumptions Italian leaders held about Greek willingness to fight, and the fabricated provocations used to justify the invasion. When the Italian ultimatum was delivered at 3AM on October 28th, Metaxas famously rejected it, and Greece mobilized with unexpected unity as political divisions evaporated overnight. The episode follows the opening days of the invasion, hampered by torrential rains and mountainous terrain, culminating in the Battle of Kalpaki on November 2nd where Greek artillery devastated Italian tank attacks. By November 8th, the Italian offensive had completely stalled, forcing a major reorganization and change of command that set the stage for further failures to come. Contact advertising@airwavemedia.com to advertise on History of the Second World War. History of the Second World War is part of the Airwave Media podcast network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit ⁠⁠⁠megaphone.f⁠m Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to an Airwave Media podcast. The French Revolution set Europe ablaze. It was an
0:08.4	age of enlightenment and progress, but also of tyranny and depression. It was an age of glory and
0:14.0	an age of tragedy. One man stood above it all. This was the Age of Napoleon. I'm Everett Rummage, host of The Age of Napoleon podcast.
0:23.7	Join me as I examine the life and times of one of the most fascinating and enigmatic characters
0:28.8	in modern history. Look for the Age of Napoleon wherever you find your podcasts. Hello everyone and welcome to history of the Second World War, episode 249, Greece part one, plans and preparations.
0:50.9	This week, a big thank you goes out to Ted for the donation and to Grant Theodore and
0:55.6	Generalissimo Wallenstein, which is quite the Patreon name. But anyway, thank you all for
1:02.1	supporting the podcast by becoming members. Remember, members get access to ad-free versions of all
1:06.3	of the podcast episodes, plus special member-only episodes released roughly once a month.
1:11.1	Head on over to History of the Second World War.com slash members to find out more.
1:15.8	The story of the Second World War, after the German attack on France, is a story of the
1:20.8	constant expansion of the fighting into new geographical areas and into new countries.
1:25.7	We've tracked that expansion so far on this podcast
1:27.8	over the last few months, first to North Africa, then to the Balkans and Yugoslavia.
1:33.2	And in fact, while the Germans were planning and then executing their invasion of Yugoslavia,
1:37.8	there was already a war happening in Greece, with the Italio-Greek War, having started with an
1:42.4	Italian invasion of Greece during the last
1:44.6	months of 1940. For Italy, this would become the primary area of focus for the Italian army,
1:50.4	with far greater numbers of men and supplies being sent to Greece than to North Africa,
1:54.6	where the Italian army was fighting against the British. At the exact time that Graziani
1:59.4	was begging for every tank and every soldier for his
2:02.5	efforts in North Africa, five full divisions would instead be sent to Albania to prepare for
	...

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