Exercises on the Nazi invasion of Greece

The occupation of Greece by the Nazis, starting in 1941, was largely due to the pretension of control of the Balkan region. However, a year earlier, Greece had already suffered an attack from another country. What country was this?

a) Portugal, led by Salazar.

b) Spain, led by Francisco Franco.

c) Italy, led by Mussolini.

d) Yugoslavia, led by Bros Tito.

e) Interests of the Rome-Berlin Axis.

At the same time that the Nazis launched the attack against Greece, which would culminate in its occupation, they were also acting on an eastern front, trying to occupy another country. What country was this?

a) Armenia

b) Japan

c) Turkey

d) Spain

e) Yugoslavia

In the first half of 2015, the then president of Greece, Alexis Tsipras, said that Germany owed a total of 278 million euros to Greece due to the occupation at the time of Nazism. This statement is based on the idea that:

a) retroactive economics.

b) neoliberalism.

c) nostalgia for the past.

d) historical debt, which should be paid in the present.

e) historical solidarity.

By having to fight on the Balkan front to guarantee the occupation of Greece, the Germans had to postpone a military mega-operation called “Operation Barbarossa”. Against whom would such an operation be launched?

a) against the English

b) against the Soviets

c) against the French

d) against the Italians

e) against Brazilians

Letter C

Greece had received an Italian fascist attack on October 28, 1940. Italy and Germany were allies in the context of the Second World War and both had an interest in the Balkan region. The Italian attack was repelled and, then, on April 6, 1941, the Germans headed for Greece, conquering it later that month.

Letter E

The Nazi attack on Yugoslavia took place on the same day as the attack on Greece, on April 6th. The fight against the Yugoslav guerrillas trained by Tito was one of the most exhausting for the German troops operating in the Balkans.

Letter D

The rhetoric of President Tsipras, then elected by the Greek socialist party Syriza, consisted of collecting an alleged historical debt for actions engendered at the time of a World War. This collection by Tsipras was made in the context of the large debt that the Greeks themselves contracted with international creditors (among them, German banks) throughout the first decade of the 21st century.

Letter B

Operation Barbarossa, or “Purple Beard”, was carried out in June 1941 against the Soviet Union. Two years earlier, the Nazis and Soviets had signed the non-aggression treaty, called the Ribbentrop-Molotov.