Oxi Day - October 28, 1940

On this day in 1940, Greek Prime Minister Ioannis Metaxas rejected an ultimatum from Italy to allow Axis forces to occupy strategic sites in Greece. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This Day in History Class. It's a production of I
Heart Radio. Hey I'm Eves, and you're listening to This
Day in History Class, a podcast that proves history is
always happening. Today is October. The day was October nineteen forty.

(00:27):
Just after three am, MM Will Grazi, the Italian ambassador
to Greece, presented an ultimatum issued by Mussolini to Greek
Prime Minister Ioannis Maytoxus. The ultimatum demanded that may taxes
allow access forces to enter Greece and occupy strategic sites
or face war. Matoxus rejected the demand, with the response

(00:49):
that led to the day being commemorated as Oki Day.
The totalitarian regime led by Iohannas my Texas was known
as the Fourth of August regime. The government was anti
communists and drew inspiration from the fascist regime in Italy.
Matoxes had also fostered friendly trade relations with Nazi Germany,

(01:10):
but King George the Second, the King of Greece, was
an Anglophoul, and the regime remained aligned with the British.
Greece remained influenced by Britain despite its fascist ideology. Italy
and Greece had tense relations for years over territory. Italy
invaded Albania and made it an Italian protectorate in nineteen nine,

(01:31):
and Albania entered war against Britain and France. Though Britain
and France guaranteed Greece territorial integrity, the Italians proceeded to
provoke Greece. Bombers attacked Greek ships and coast guard stations,
and the Italian press worked to encourage anti Greece sentiment.
Italy Greece relations continued to deteriorate, and Matoxes began mobilizing troops.

(01:56):
Mussolini decided to invade Greece. On Octo he issued the
ultimatum to Greece that they seed strategic points in Greek
territory or be invaded. The ultimatum also accused Greece of
allowing the British Royal Navy to use its waters and
ports to attack Italy. It said that the Greeks should
not resist the occupation. May Taxes responded to the ultimatum

(02:20):
by saying a lore slager in French, which means so
this is war. There is no evidence that he said ohi,
which means no in Greek, but the word no, which
is shorter and simpler, came to represent may Taxis response,
he called on Greeks to fight for their independence. A
couple of hours later, before the ultimatum expired, Italian troops

(02:43):
in Albania crossed the border in the Pendus region of
northern Greece. This marked the beginning of the Greco Italian
War in Greece's entrance into World War Two. Mussolini's advisers
and many others expected that an Italian victory over Greece
would take little effort, but the Greeks put up a
strong resistance. The mountainous terrain was rough and the winter

(03:06):
was harsh. People in surrounding villages supplied Greek forces with
food and ammunition. By the end of nineteen forty, the
Greeks had pushed the Italians back into Albania. In January
of nineteen forty one, May Taxes died suddenly from inflammation
of the pharynx that led to an infection. Italy attempted

(03:27):
a counter attack to drive the Greeks out of southern Albania,
but they failed. Mussolini was humiliated and Hitler was upset
at the failure. But Bulgaria had joined the Axis Powers
and Greece soon faced a threat from Germany. As the
German army advanced over Greece's Bulgarian and Yugoslavian borders. The

(03:48):
Greeks had put up a fight, but the Battle of
Greece as it's known, ended with the Axis occupation of Greece.
Hitler claimed that the Germans detour into Greece delayed their
invasion of the Soviet Union and lead to their failure
in the operation, which extended into the harsh winter. Critics
have said that the access failure in the Soviet Union

(04:09):
cannot be blamed on the delay due to the Battle
of Greece. Either way, Greeks commemorate Oki Day annually as
a celebration of Greek resistance and contribution to Allied victory
in the Second World War. I'm Eves Jeff Code, and
hopefully you know a little more about history today than
you did yesterday. I want to impress your Internet crush,

(04:31):
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(05:04):
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