Greeks Counterattack Italy: Mussolini's Invasion Fails
Greece wasn't supposed to win. Mussolini launched his invasion expecting a collapse in days — he'd even called it a "military promenade." Instead, Greek General Alexandros Papagos drove his forces straight back through brutal mountain terrain into Albania, seizing Korytsa on November 22 with 2,000 prisoners and massive Italian supplies. The humiliation forced Hitler to postpone Operation Barbarossa to bail out his ally. A small Balkan counterattack may have delayed the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union — possibly costing Germany the entire Eastern campaign.
November 22, 1940
86 years ago
Key Figures & Places
World War II
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Greco-Italian War
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Kingdom of Greece
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Albania under Italy
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Korytsa
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Korçë
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Italian-occupied Albania
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World War II
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Volgograd
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Red Army
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Friedrich Paulus
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Battle of Stalingrad
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Kingdom of Greece
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6th Army (Wehrmacht)
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Kingdom of Albania in personal union with Italy
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Greco-Italian War
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Korçë
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Don (Asowsches Meer)
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What Else Happened on November 22
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Simon de Montfort's forces breach the Castle of Termes, ending the Cathar stronghold that had defied papal authority for months. This victory shatters organized…
Pope Honorius III crowned Frederick II as Holy Roman Emperor in Rome, formalizing the union of the Sicilian throne with the imperial title. This consolidation f…
Nikolaus III. wird in Viterbo als Nachfolger von Johannes XXI. zum Papst gewählt.
Pope Clement V issued the papal bull Pastoralis Praeeminentiae, ordering every Christian monarch in Europe to arrest the Knights Templar and seize their vast ho…
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