"Heroes fight like Greeks!", the British Prime Minister is reported to have said Winston Churchill after the defeat of the Italian Axis forces in the victorious Epic of 1940. Yet following the paths of historical research, a lack of authentic sources was presented where this specific phrase is not sufficiently documented as valid.

But even so, in no case can the value and historical past of the history of Hellenism be diminished. Therefore, instead of collecting data that may aim at the degradation, devaluation and potentially the deconstruction of the history of the Greeks, we can well engage in research to highlight their important contribution to historical milestones.

According to World War II therefore, during this critical and important period of modern history, Hellenism decisively demonstrated its greatness and distinguished itself for its heroic national resistance in the years 1940–44Let's see how the leading figures of World War II "saw" the national resistance of the Greeks.

Starting with the aforementioned Prime Minister of Great Britain Winston Churchill, in his written testimony about the excellence of the Greek resistance in 1940. Specifically, Churchill in his written work "World War II" he writes clearly about the bravery and high-level ability of the Greek army to defeat and strike Mussolini's army, thus encouraging additional Balkan states that were fearful under the threat of the Axis.

The King of England also makes a similar written statement. George VI in his personal letter to the King of Greece, adding that England owes the greatest gratitude for the commendable feats of the Greek army and people in Albania in 1940.

Quite special and equally interesting is the reference made about the Greeks by the emblematic and tough-minded British field marshal. Montgomery in his memoirs. In particular, Montgomery mentions that at a critical moment in El Alamein he remembered it associatively Simonides Epigram of Thermopylae «Oh, I know, messengers to the Lacedaemonians...", invoking the authority of the ancient greek virtue of war, in order to aptly parallel the army of The ancient spartans with his own In august 1942, at the same time that The greek guerrillas had already begun to fight their own difficult struggle.

On the other hand, the Mussolini, extremely annoyed by the severe defeat he suffered on the Greek-Albanian border in 1940, then in a speech (18/11/1940) he mentions the phrase "We will break the ribs of Greece", thus expressing the blatant anger and hatred that had accumulated in his psyche after his outcry from the pindos mountains to The international community.

Mussolini, of course, had an additional reason to have such a reaction, since the reprimand he received from "theFührer» Adolf Hitler, who after occupying almost the entire greek kingdom in the spring of 1941, delivered a wooden speech in Reichstag where he recognized the Greek national resistance, characterizing it as brave, while taking into account the adverse weather conditions of this war.

In this speech, Hitler, on the one hand, praised the Greeks, but on the other hand, he accused the British of circumventing and manipulating the Greek leadership, disregarding the fact that the latter had been the main long-term allies of the Greeks since the 1921 era.

A more measured but meaningful written statement is made in a personal document by the Nazi field marshal. RommelMore specifically, the "desert fox", as Rommel was characteristically called, upon his arrival in Thessaloniki, after the report submitted to him by the "deputy" of the area, Colonel Loehr, postpones a scheduled flight due to the need to have a more complete picture of the situation in Greece. Rommel emphasizes that a lot of work is still needed for there to be absolute control by the Nazis, and it is worth noting here that this observation by Rommel was made reasonably since we are in the heart of the national resistance in 1943.

From her side Soviet Union we have written reports about the national resistance of the Greeks, and in particular the Ministry of Defense of the USSR characterizes the action of the Greek army and people during the Greco-Italian War as heroic. The same Stalin in his 1937 writing, at the first signs of World War II, he brings the Bolshevik army back to the forefront, identifying it with the power of the invincible mythical hero Anteiou, thus making a crucial reference to Greek antiquity. Then, during wartime, he notes that countries under Nazi occupation, such as Greece, through their passionate resistance, do as much harm as they can to the Nazi armies.

Representing the country with dignity America, its president Franklin Roosevelt states in a written letter in 1942 that the brave and courageous Greek people resisted ceaselessly without cost, showing an important example of the conquest of freedom. Finally, the France — also an eternal ally Of Greece — expresses its glorious general Charles De Gaulle in his personal letter to the Prime Minister "NO» Ioannis Metaxas in November 1940, where he states that the honored resistance of the Greeks is worthy of their ancient Greek heritage and a model of admiration in order to confront the common Nazi enemies.

Christos Stryftos – Historian

Sources:

Winston Churchill, "World War II", published by GOVOSTI, translated by G. Kastanaras, Athens, 2010
Norman Stone, “World War Two-Short History”, BasicBooks, London 2013