Download or read book Diary of a Disaster written by Robin Higham and published by University Press of Kentucky. This book was released on 2014-07-11 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On October 28, 1940, the Italian army under Benito Mussolini invaded Greece. The British had insisted on guaranteeing Greek and Turkish neutrality, despite the fact that Greece was never more than a limited campaign in an unlimited war as far as they were concerned. The British, however, were never quite sure that Greece was not their last foothold in Europe, and they harbored dreams of holding on to this last bastion of civilization and of protecting it with a diplomatic and military alliance -- a Balkan bloc. These dreams bore little relation to military and economic realities, and so the stage was set for tragedy. In Diary of a Disaster, Robin Higham details the unfolding events from the invasion, though the Italian defeat and the subsequent German invasion, until the British evacuation at the end of April 1941. The Greek army, while tough, was small and based largely upon reserves. They were also largely equipped with obsolete French, Polish, and Czech arms for which there was now no other source than captured Italian materiel. Transportation was also lacking as Greece lacked all-weather roads over much of the country, had no all-weather airport, and only one rail line connecting Athens with Salonika and Florina in the north. Added to the woes of the Greek military, the British commander-in-chief for the Middle East, Sir Archibald Wavell, faced huge logistical challenges as well. Based in Cairo, he was responsible for a huge theatre of operation, from hostile Vichy French forces in Syria to the Boers in South Africa nearly six thousand miles away. His air force was comprised of only a handful of modern aircraft with biplanes and outdated, early monoplanes making up the bulk of his force. Radar was also unavailable to him. His navy was woefully short on destroyers and often incommunicado while at sea. While Wavell had roughly 500,000 men under his command, he was severely limited in how he could use them. The South Africans could only be deployed in East Africa and the Austrians and New Zealanders could not be employed without the consent of their home governments. In short, Churchill had instructed Wavell to offer support that he did not really have and could not afford to give to the Greeks. Higham walks readers through these events as they unfold like a modern Greek tragedy. Using the format of a diary, he recounts day-by-day the British efforts though the failure of Operation Lustre, which no one outside of London thought had any chance of stemming the Nazi tide in Greece.
Download or read book The Battle of Thermopylae written by Rupert Matthews and published by The History Press. This book was released on 2021-06-11 with total page 364 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'Tell the Spartans, stranger passing by, that here obedient to their laws we lie.' One of the most remarkable actions in ancient or modern military history took place at Thermopylae in 480BC. Rupert Matthews has personally examined the battlefield in order to try to explain how 300 Spartans could hold at bay the hordes of the Persian Emperor Xerxes. This was no vain sacrifice; the delay gave breathing space for the Greek states to organise their defence, and ultimately defend successfully their homelands. Among other intriguing revelations the author explains the importance of the half-ruined wall that sheltered the Spartans against the onslaught. With concise diagrams and maps of the entire campaign, the reader can begin to understand the extraordinary, apparently impossible outcome of the war.
Download or read book Modern Greece written by John S. Koliopoulos and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2009-10-27 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Modern Greece: A History since 1821 is a chronologicalaccount of the political, economic, social, and cultural history ofGreece, from the birth of the Greek state in 1821 to 2008 by twoleading authorities. Pioneering and wide-ranging study of modern Greece, whichincorporates the most recent Greek scholarship Sets the history of modern Greece within the context of a broadgeo-political framework Includes detailed portraits of leading Greek politicians Provides in-depth considerations on the profound economic andsocial changes that have occurred as a result of Greece’s EUmembership
Download or read book The Campaign in Greece and Crete written by Great Britain. War Office and published by . This book was released on 1942 with total page 72 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Campaign in Greece and Crete Issued for the War Office by the Ministry of Information The Story of the Campaign Up to the Evacuation of the Greek Mainland by D Garnett With Maps written by David Garnett and published by . This book was released on 1942 with total page 64 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Diggers and Greeks written by Maria Hill and published by UNSW Press. This book was released on 2010 with total page 498 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Little is known about the real reasons that Australia committed troops to Greece. Australian historians have, for too long, neglected the Greek and Crete campaigns and what has been written, until now, has ignored the Greek side of the story.
Download or read book That Greece Might Still be Free written by William St. Clair and published by Open Book Publishers. This book was released on 2008 with total page 480 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When in 1821, the Greeks rose in violent revolution against the rule of the Ottoman Turks, waves of sympathy spread across Western Europe and the United States. More than a thousand volunteers set out to fight for the cause. The Philhellenes, whether they set out to recreate the Athens of Pericles, start a new crusade, or make money out of a war, all felt that Greece had unique claim on the sympathy of the world. As Byron wrote, 'I dreamed that Greece might Still be Free'; and he died at Missolonghi trying to translate that dream into reality. William St Clair's meticulously researched and highly readable account of their aspirations and experiences was hailed as definitive when it was first published. Long out of print, it remains the standard account of the Philhellenic movement and essential reading for any students of the Greek War of Independence, Byron, and European Romanticism. Its relevance to more modern ethnic and religious conflicts is becoming increasingly appreciated by scholars worldwide. This new and revised edition includes a new Introduction by Roderick Beaton, an updated Bibliography and many new illustrations.
Download or read book Salamis 480 BC written by William Shepherd and published by Osprey Publishing. This book was released on 2010-06-22 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Osprey's study of a crucial battle of the Grerco-Persian Wars (499-449 BC). Weeks after the glorious disaster at Thermopylae and heavy but inconclusive fighting at sea off Artemisium, with Athens now in barbarian hands and the Acropolis burned, the Greeks dramatically halted the Persian invasion of 480BC. They brought the 600-strong Persian fleet to battle with their 350 triremes in the confined waters of the straits of Salamis and, through a combination of superior tactics and fighting spirit, won a crushing victory. This drove the Persian navy out of the western Aegean and enabled the Hellenic Alliance to combine its manpower in sufficient force to destroy the massive occupying army in the following year. Victory over the Persians secured the 5th century flowering of Greek and, in particular, Athenian culture and institutions that so influenced the subsequent development of western civilisation. This book draws extensively on the findings of archaeological, technological and naval research, as well as on the historical sources to vividly recreate one of the most important naval campaigns in world history.
Download or read book The Greek Revolution written by Mark Mazower and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2022-11-22 with total page 625 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winner of the Duff Cooper Prize • One of The Economist's top history books of the year From one of our leading historians, an important new history of the Greek War of Independence—the ultimate worldwide liberal cause célèbre of the age of Byron, Europe’s first nationalist uprising, and the beginning of the downward spiral of the Ottoman Empire—published two hundred years after its outbreak As Mark Mazower shows us in his enthralling and definitive new account, myths about the Greek War of Independence outpaced the facts from the very beginning, and for good reason. This was an unlikely cause, against long odds, a disorganized collection of Greek patriots up against what was still one of the most storied empires in the world, the Ottomans. The revolutionaries needed all the help they could get. And they got it as Europeans and Americans embraced the idea that the heirs to ancient Greece, the wellspring of Western civilization, were fighting for their freedom against the proverbial Eastern despot, the Turkish sultan. This was Christianity versus Islam, now given urgency by new ideas about the nation-state and democracy that were shaking up the old order. Lord Byron is only the most famous of the combatants who went to Greece to fight and die—along with many more who followed events passionately and supported the cause through art, music, and humanitarian aid. To many who did go, it was a rude awakening to find that the Greeks were a far cry from their illustrious forebears, and were often hard to tell apart from the Ottomans. Mazower does full justice to the realities on the ground as a revolutionary conspiracy triggered outright rebellion, and a fraying and distracted Ottoman leadership first missed the plot and then overreacted disastrously. He shows how and why ethnic cleansing commenced almost immediately on both sides. By the time the dust settled, Greece was free, and Europe was changed forever. It was a victory for a completely new kind of politics—international in its range and affiliations, popular in its origins, romantic in sentiment, and radical in its goals. It was here on the very edge of Europe that the first successful revolution took place in which a people claimed liberty for themselves and overthrew an entire empire to attain it, transforming diplomatic norms and the direction of European politics forever, and inaugurating a new world of nation-states, the world in which we still live.
Download or read book Archaeology Behind the Battle Lines written by Andrew Shapland and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-07-20 with total page 399 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume focuses on a formative period in the history and archaeology of northern Greece. The decade following 1912, when Thessaloniki became part of Greece, was a period marked by an extraordinary internationalism as a result of the population movements caused by the shifting of national borders and the troop movements which accompanied the First World War. The papers collected here look primarily at the impact of the discoveries of the Army of the Orient on the archaeological study of the region of Macedonia. Resulting collections of antiquities are now held in Thessaloniki, London, Paris, Edinburgh and Oxford. Various specialists examine each of these collections, bringing the archaeological legacy of the Macedonian Campaign together in one volume for the first time. A key theme of the volume is the emerging dialogue between the archaeological remains of Macedonia and the politics of Hellenism. A number of authors consider how archaeological interpretation was shaped by the incorporation of Macedonia into Greece. Other authors describe how the politics of the Campaign, in which Greece was initially a neutral partner, had implications both for the administration of archaeological finds and their subsequent dispersal. A particular focus is the historical personalities who were involved and the sites they discovered. The role of the Greek Archaeological Service, particularly in the protection of antiquities, as well as promoting excavation in the aftermath of the 1917 Great Fire of Thessaloniki, is also considered.
Download or read book The Campaign in Greece and Crete written by Great Britain. War Office and published by . This book was released on 1942 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Campaign in Greece and Crete written by and published by . This book was released on 1942 with total page 64 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book War and Violence in Ancient Greece written by Hans van Wees and published by Classical Press of Wales. This book was released on 2009-12-31 with total page 394 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The study of Greek warfare should involve much more than reconstructing the experience of combat or revisiting the great wars of the classical period. Here, a distinguished cast of international scholars explores beyond the usual thematic and chronological boundaries. Ranging from the heroes of Homer to the kings and cities of the hellenistic age, the contributors set war in the context of other forms of Greek violence, private and public. At every turn they challenge received ideas about the causes and conduct of war, its development and its place in Greek society and culture.
Download or read book Taken at the Flood written by Robin Waterfield and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2014 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Addressing a marginalized era of Greek and Roman history, Taken at the Flood offers a compelling narrative of Rome's conquest of Greece.
Download or read book Great Naval Battles of the Ancient Greek World written by Owen Rees and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2018-12-31 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Naval warfare is the unsung hero of ancient Greek military history, often overshadowed by the more glorified land battles. Owen Rees looks to redress the balance, giving naval battles their due attention. This book presents a selection of thirteen naval battles that span a defining century in ancient Greek history, from the Ionian Revolt and Persian Invasion to the rise of external naval powers in the Mediterranean Sea, such as the Carthaginians.Each battle is set in context. The background, wider military campaigns, and the opposing forces are discussed, followed by a narrative and analysis of the fighting. Finally, the aftermath of the battles are dealt with, looking at the strategic implications of the outcome for both the victor and the defeated. The battle narratives are supported by maps and tactical diagrams, showing the deployment of the fleets and the wider geographical factors involved in battle. Written in an accessible tone, this book successfully shows that Greek naval warfare did not start and end at the battle of Salamis.
Download or read book Swastika over the Acropolis written by Craig Stockings and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2013-07-04 with total page 664 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Swastika over the Acropolis is a new, multi-national account which provides a new and compelling interpretation of the Greek campaign of 1941, and its place in the history of World War II. It overturns many previously accepted English-language assumptions about the fighting in Greece in April 1941 – including, for example, the impact usually ascribed to the Luftwaffe, German armour and the conduct of the Greek Army Further, Swastika over the Acropolis demonstrates that this last complete strategic victory by Nazi Germany in World War II is set against a British-Dominion campaign mounted as a withdrawal, not an attempt to ‘save’ Greece from invasion and occupation. At the same time, on the German side, the campaign revealed serious and systemic weaknesses in the planning and the conduct of large-scale operations that would play a significant role in the regime’s later defeats.
Download or read book Greece s Pivotal Role in World War II and Its Importance to the U S Today written by Eugene T. Rossides and published by American Hellenic Institute. This book was released on 2001 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume is designed to illuminate Greece'ss efforts in World War II and to set forth the reasons for Greece's importance to the U.S. today. It is my hope that this volume will stimulate much additional scholarship on Greece'ss historic role in World War II and in the 20th Century as well as Greece'ss importance to the U.S. in the new millennium.
