Editing History of modern Greece (section)

==World War II==
{{Main|Military history of Greece during World War II|Axis Occupation of Greece|Hyperinflation in Greece|Greek Resistance}}

[[File:Triple Occupation of Greece.png|thumb|left|The three occupation zones. The Italian zone was taken over by the Germans in September 1943. {{legend-inline|#d09313|Italian}} {{legend-inline|#e4001f|German}} {{legend-inline|#32c714|Bulgaria}}]]
[[File:Αντάρτες του ΕΑΜ-ΕΛΑΣ.jpg|thumb|left|Guerillas of [[Greek People's Liberation Army|ELAS]]]]

Despite this declared neutrality, Greece became a target for Mussolini's expansionist policies. Provocations against Greece included the sinking of the [[Greek cruiser Elli (1912)|Greek cruiser ''Elli'']] on 15 August 1940. Italian troops crossed the border on 28 October 1940, beginning the [[Greco-Italian War]], but were stopped by a determined Greek defence that ultimately drove them back into [[Albania]].{{Sfn|Koliopoulos|Veremis|2009|p=107}}

Metaxas died suddenly in January 1941. His death raised hopes for a liberalization of his regime and the restoration of parliamentary rule, but King George quashed these hopes when he retained the regime's machinery in place. In the meantime, [[Adolf Hitler]] was reluctantly forced to divert German troops to rescue Mussolini from defeat, and [[Battle of Greece|attacked Greece]] through [[Kingdom of Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia]] and Bulgaria on 6 April 1941. Despite British assistance, the Germans overran most of the country by the end of May. The King and the government escaped to Crete, where they stayed until the end of the [[Battle of Crete]]. They then transferred to [[Egypt]], where a [[Greek government in exile]] was established.{{Sfn|Koliopoulos|Veremis|2009|p=111}}

Greece was divided into German, Italian and Bulgarian zones and in Athens, a [[puppet regime]] was established. The members were either [[Conservatism|conservatives]] or [[nationalists]] with fascist leanings. The three [[quisling]] prime ministers were [[Georgios Tsolakoglou]], the general who had signed the armistice with the Wehrmacht, [[Konstantinos Logothetopoulos]], and [[Ioannis Rallis]], who took office when the German defeat was inevitable and aimed primarily at combating the left-wing Resistance movement. To this end, he created the [[collaborationist]] [[Security Battalions]].{{Sfn|Koliopoulos|Veremis|2009|p=113}}

[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-164-0389-23A, Athen, Hissen der Hakenkreuzflagge.jpg|thumb|upright|The symbolic start of the [[Axis occupation of Greece during World War II|Occupation]]: German soldiers raising the [[Reichskriegsflagge|German War Flag]] over the [[Acropolis]]. It would be taken down in one of the first acts of the [[Greek Resistance]].]]
Greece suffered terrible privations during [[World War II]] as the Germans appropriated most of the country's agricultural production and prevented its fishing fleets from operating. As a result, and because a British blockade initially hindered foreign relief efforts, the [[Great Famine (Greece)|Great Greek Famine]] resulted. Hundreds of thousands of Greeks perished, especially in the winter of 1941–1942. The [[Modern drachma|drachma]] suffered one of the five worst [[hyperinflation]]s in recorded history. In the mountains of the Greek mainland, in the meantime, several [[Greek Resistance|Greek resistance movements]] sprang up, and by mid-1943, the Axis forces controlled only the main towns and the connecting roads, while a "Free Greece" was set up in the mountains. In September 1943, the Italian occupation zones of Greece were invaded by German forces following Mussolini's deposition and Italy's decision to join Greece as an Allied nation in the war.

The largest resistance group, the [[National Liberation Front (Greece)|National Liberation Front]] (EAM), was controlled by the [[Communist Party of Greece]], as was the Greek People's Liberation Army ([[Greek People's Liberation Army|ELAS]]), led by Aris Velouchiotis, and a civil war soon broke out between it and non-Communist groups such as the [[National Republican Greek League]] (EDES) in those areas liberated from the Germans. The exiled government in [[Cairo]] was only intermittently in touch with the resistance movement and exercised virtually no influence in the occupied country. Part of this was due to the unpopularity of King George II in Greece itself, but despite efforts by Greek politicians, British support ensured his retention at the head of the Cairo government.

As the German defeat drew nearer, the various Greek political factions convened in Lebanon in May 1944 under British auspices and formed a government of national unity under [[George Papandreou (senior)|George Papandreou]], in which EAM was represented by six ministers.{{Sfn|Koliopoulos|Veremis|2009|p=115}}