Editing Hellenic Armed Forces (section)

==History==
{{Main| History of the Hellenic Army| History of the Hellenic Navy| History of the Hellenic Air Force}}
The Greek military, encompassing the army and navy, was established during the fight for independence from Ottoman rule in 1821. The Hellenic air force was later introduced in September 1912 as the third arm of the military. Throughout the Balkan Wars of 1912/1913, the Greek armed forces achieved significant victories against the Ottoman and Bulgarian armies, effectively expanding Greece's territorial boundaries. The Kingdom of Greece aligned with the Entente powers during [[World War I]] and participated in the intervention in the Russian Civil War in 1919.

However, the conflict between Greece and Turkey, reignited in the early 1920s, concluded in the autumn of 1922 with a severe setback for Greece, known as the "Asia Minor Catastrophe." In World War II, under the leadership of dictator [[Ioannis Metaxas]], Greece rebuffed an ultimatum for surrender from Italy on October 28, 1940. Greek forces managed to repel the Italian invasion, driving them back across the Albanian border. Nonetheless, the combined forces of the German Wehrmacht and Bulgarian military in April and May 1941 (during the Balkan campaign) overpowered Greek resistance. Subsequent to this defeat, segments of the Greek army evacuated to Egypt, where they joined the British Expeditionary Force in continuing the struggle against Axis forces. Following the German withdrawal in 1944, Greece was embroiled in a civil war from March 1946 until October 1949.

Greek soldiers also participated in the Korean War from 1951 to 1955. Since February 18, 1952, Greece has been a fully-fledged member of NATO.

===Conscription===
Greece currently has universal compulsory military service for males from and over 18 years of age. Under Greek law, all men over 18 years of age [[Conscription in Greece|must serve in the Armed Forces for a period of 9-12 months]]. Women can serve in the Greek military on a voluntary basis, but cannot be conscripted.

===Budget===
{{See also|List of countries in Europe by military expenditures}}According to NATO sources in 2008, Greece spent 2.8% of GDP on its military, which translated to about €6.9 billion (US$9.3 billion).<ref name="globalsecurity.org">{{cite web |title=Greece - Military Spending |url=https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/europe/gr-budget.htm |publisher=globalsecurity.org}}</ref> In 2008, Greece was the largest importer of conventional weapons in Europe and its military spending was the highest in the European Union relative to the country's GDP, reaching twice the European average.<ref>{{cite web |author1=Frank Slijper |title=Guns, Debt and Corruption Military spending and the EU crisis |url=https://www.tni.org/files/download/eu_milspending_crisis.pdf |date=April 2013}}</ref><ref name="globalsecurity.org"/>

Data for the 2017 fiscal year showed an estimated expense of €4.3 billion in constant 2010 prices, or €4.2 billion in current prices, equivalent to 2.38% of GDP (+0.01 change since 2016). For the 2018 fiscal year, the expenditure was estimated at €4.3 billion in constant 2010 prices or €4.1 billion in current prices, equivalent to 2.27% of GDP (-0.11% change since 2017).<ref name="nato.int">{{cite web |url=https://www.nato.int/nato_static_fl2014/assets/pdf/pdf_2018_07/20180709_180710-pr2018-91-en.pdf |title=Defense Expenditure of NATO Countries (2011–2018) |date=10 July 2018 |publisher=NATO |access-date=24 March 2023}}</ref>

===Military personnel===
Military personnel was estimated at 106,000 for year 2017 and 105,000 for year 2018.<ref name="nato.int"/>

===International operations===
Greece is an [[European Union|EU]] and [[NATO]] member and currently participates primarily in [[peacekeeping]] operations. Such operations are [[International Security Assistance Force|ISAF]] in [[Afghanistan]], [[European Union Force|EUFOR]] in [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]] and [[Chad]], and [[Kosovo Force|KFOR]] in [[Kosovo]]. Greece also maintains a [[Hellenic Force in Cyprus|small force]] in Cyprus.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ο Πρόεδρος της Δημοκρατίας επισκέφθηκε στρατόπεδο της ΕΛΔΥΚ |url=https://riknews.com.cy/article/2023/4/12/o-proedros-tes-demokratias-episkephtheke-stratopedo-tes-elduk/ |access-date=2023-05-13 |website=Ο Πρόεδρος της Δημοκρατίας επισκέφθηκε στρατόπεδο της ΕΛΔΥΚ |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Participation of Hellenic Armed Forces in KFOR – Interconnection of Military* Hospitals |date=23 November 2019 |url=https://www.imiho.org/2019/11/23/participation-of-hellenic-armed-forces-in-kfor/ |access-date=2023-05-13 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=GEETHA |date=2019-11-20 |title=Afghanistan (ISAF) |url=https://geetha.mil.gr/en/afghanistan-isaf/ |access-date=2023-05-13 |website=Hellenic National Defence General Staff - Official Website |language=en-US}}</ref>