Balkan Campaign ( World War II ) - wikipedia Balkan Campaign ( World War II ) This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( February 2017 ) Balkans Campaign Part of Eastern Front Theatre and Mediterranean and Middle East Theatre of the Second World War German paratroopers on Crete in 1941 Date 28 October 1940 -- 1 June 1941 ( 7 months and 4 days ) Location Albania, Yugoslavia, Greek mainland and the Greek islands Result Axis victory Guerilla war in Yugoslavia Territorial changes Yugoslavia and Greece are added to Axis control Belligerents Axis : Germany Italy Albania Hungary Bulgaria Allies : Yugoslavia Greece British Empire Australia New Zealand Commanders and leaders Wilhelm List Maximilian von Weichs Kurt Student Ugo Cavallero Giovanni Messe Elemér Gorondy - Novák Dušan Simović Milorad Petrović Alexander Papagos Henry Maitland Wilson Bernard Freyberg Strength 680,000 565,000 850,000 430,000 62,612 Mediterranean and Middle East Theatre Adriatic North Africa East Africa Mediterranean Sea Gibraltar Malta Bahrain Balkans Yugoslavia Iraq Syria -- Lebanon Palestine Iran Sicily Italian mainland Dodecanese Corsica Dragoon Balkan Campaign Greco - Italian War Invasion of Yugoslavia German invasion of Greece Crete The Balkan Campaign of World War II began with the Italian invasion of Greece on 28 October 1940. In the early months of 1941, Italy 's offensive had stalled and a Greek counter-offensive pushed into Albania. Germany sought, by deploying troops to Romania and Bulgaria, to aid Italy by attacking Greece from the east ; while the British landed troops and aircraft to shore up Greek defences. A coup d'état in Yugoslavia on 27 March caused Hitler to order the conquest of that country. The invasion of Yugoslavia by Germany and Italy began on 6 April, simultaneously with the new Battle of Greece. On 11 April, Hungary joined the invasion. By 17 April the Yugoslavs had signed an armistice and by 30 April all of mainland Greece was under German or Italian control. On 20 May Germany invaded Crete by air and by 1 June all remaining Greek and British forces on the island had surrendered. Although it had not participated in the attacks in April, Bulgaria occupied parts of both Yugoslavia and Greece shortly thereafter for the remainder of the war in the Balkans. Contents 1 Background 2 Campaign 2.1 Greco - Italian War 2.2 Invasion of Yugoslavia 2.3 Battle of Greece 2.4 Battle of Crete 3 Result 3.1 Bulgarian occupation 3.2 Resistance movements 4 See also 5 References 6 External links Background Main article : Italian invasion of Albania After World War I, with the complete collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the Austro - Hungarian Empire, the Albanians looked to the Kingdom of Italy for protection against its enemies. In 1919, Albania 's territorial integrity was confirmed at the Paris Peace Conference after United States President Woodrow Wilson opposed a plan by the European powers to divide Albania amongst its neighbors. There were attempted backroom negotiations that ultimately failed. However, after 1925, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini sought to dominate Albania. In 1928, Albania became a kingdom under Zog I, who was a clan chief and former Prime Minister. Zog failed to stave off Italian ascendancy in Albanian internal affairs. On 7 April 1939, Mussolini 's troops occupied Albania, overthrew Zog, and annexed the country to the Italian Empire. Campaign Greco - Italian War Main article : Greco - Italian War The Italian invasion of Greece lasted from 28 October 1940 to 30 April 1941 and was part of World War II. Italian forces invaded Greece and made limited gains. But soon the Greeks counter-attacked and the Italians were repulsed and driven back at the borders with Albania. The Italians spent much of the winter stabilizing a line which left them in control of only about two - thirds of Albania. A much anticipated Italian offensive in March 1941 had as result few territorial gains. Germany, led by Adolf Hitler, intervened in April and invaded Greece after a successful invasion of Yugoslavia. Invasion of Yugoslavia Main article : Invasion of Yugoslavia The invasion of Yugoslavia ( also known as `` Operation 25 '' ) began on 6 April 1941 and ended with the unconditional surrender of the Royal Yugoslav Army on 17 April. The invading Axis powers ( Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, and Hungary ) occupied and dismembered the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. By cobbling together Bosnia and Herzegovina, some parts of Croatia, and Syrmia, the `` Independent State of Croatia '' ( Nezavisna Država Hrvatska, NDH ) was created by Germany and Italy. In some of the territory of the former Kingdom of Serbia and the Banat, the German - occupied Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia, the Germans appointed a puppet government, the Government of National Salvation led by Milan Nedić. Montenegro remained under Italian occupation, and Bulgaria was permitted to annex eastern areas of Yugoslavia, including most of modern - day Macedonia. Axis advances in the Balkans during early 1941 Battle of Greece Main article : Battle of Greece Hitler began planning to invade Greece in November 1940, after the British occupied Crete and Lemnos. He ordered the German Invasion of Greece -- code - named Unternehmen Marita ( Operation Marita ) by Germany -- on 13 December 1940 for execution in March 1941. The stated aim of the operation was to prevent the British from getting air bases within striking range of the Romanian oilfields. On 6 April 1941, the German Army invaded northern Greece, while other elements launched an attack against Yugoslavia. Breaking through the Yugoslav lines in southern Yugoslavia allowed Germany to send reinforcements to the battlefields of northern Greece. The German army out - flanked the Greek Metaxas Line fortifications and, despite the assistance provided by a British expeditionary corps, set out to capture the southern Greek cities. The Battle of Greece ended with the German entry into Athens and the capture of the Peloponnese, although about 40,000 Allied soldiers were evacuated to Crete, prompting one of the largest airborne attacks in the history of warfare : Operation Merkur, or the Battle of Crete. Battle of Crete Main article : Battle of Crete On 20 May 1941, German paratroopers were dropped over the airfields of northern Crete to occupy the island. They were met by heavy resistance from Allied forces and the local Cretan population but eventually the defenders were overwhelmed by the German forces. The British Government ordered an evacuation on 27 May and the remaining forces surrendered on 1 June. However, the heavy losses incurred by the paratroopers forced the Supreme Command of the Wehrmacht to abandon large - scale airborne operations for the remainder of the war. Situation in Europe by May / June 1941 at the conclusion of the Balkans Campaign, immediately before Operation Barbarossa Result By 1 June 1941, all of Albania, Yugoslavia and Greece were under Axis control. Greece was placed under triple occupation, and Yugoslavia was dissolved and occupied. Germany had gained a significant strategic advantage : direct access to the Mediterranean. Bulgarian occupation Main article : Military history of Bulgaria during World War II On 6 April 1941, despite having officially joined the Axis Powers, the Bulgarian government did not participate in the invasion of Yugoslavia and the Battle of Greece. On 20 April, the Bulgarian Army occupied most of Western Thrace and the Greek province of Eastern Macedonia, which had been already conquered by Germany, with the goal of restoring its pre-World War I outlet to the Aegean Sea. Bulgarian troops also occupied much of eastern Serbia, where the so - called Vardar Banovina was divided between Bulgaria and the Italians. Resistance movements Main articles : Resistance in Yugoslavia, Greek Resistance, and Albanian Resistance of World War II Throughout the remainder of the war, active Yugoslav, Greek, and Albanian resistance movements forced Germany and its allies to garrison hundreds of thousands of soldiers permanently in the three countries, denying them to the other fronts. Especially in Yugoslavia after 1943, the threat of an Allied invasion and the activities of the partisans necessitated large - scale counter-insurgency operations, involving several divisions. See also Adriatic Campaign of World War II References Jump up ^ Hubatsch, Walther. Hitlers Weisungen fuer die Kriegfuehrung 1939 - 1945, Weisung Nr. 20, 2nd Edition, Bernard & Graefe Verlag, 1983 External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Balkans Campaign ( World War II ). The Fate of the Jews in South - Eastern Europe During the First Years of the War on the Yad Vashem website Summaries WORLD WAR II in the BALKANS Timeline of the Balkans Campaign World War Two Online Newspaper Archives -- The Invasion of the Balkans : Yugoslavia, Greece and Crete, 1940 - 1941 World War II in the Balkans World War II Asia and the Pacific China South - East Asia North and Central Pacific South - West Pacific Europe Western Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East North Africa East Africa Italy West Africa Atlantic North America South America Casualties Military engagements Conferences Commanders Participants Allies ( leaders ) Australia Belgium Brazil Canada China Cuba Czechoslovakia Denmark Ethiopia France Free France ( from June 1940 ) Greece India Italy ( from September 1943 ) Luxembourg Mexico Netherlands New Zealand Norway Philippines ( Commonwealth ) Poland South Africa Southern Rhodesia Soviet Union United Kingdom United States Puerto Rico Yugoslavia Axis and Axis - aligned ( leaders ) Albania Bulgaria Reorganized National Government of the Republic of China Independent State of Croatia Finland Germany Hungary Free India Iraq Italy ( until September 1943 ) Italian Social Republic Japan Manchukuo Philippines ( Second Republic ) Romania Slovakia Thailand Vichy France Armed neutrality Resistance Albania Austria Belgium Bulgaria Czech lands Denmark Estonia Ethiopia France Germany Greece Hong Kong Italy Japan Jewish Korea Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg Malaya Netherlands Northeast China Norway Philippines Poland Anti-communist Romania Thailand Soviet Union Slovakia Western Ukraine Vietnam Yugoslavia Monarchists Timeline Prelude Africa Asia Europe 1939 Poland Phoney War Winter War Atlantic Changsha China 1940 Weserübung Netherlands Belgium France Armistice of 22 June 1940 Britain North Africa West Africa British Somaliland North China Baltic States Moldova Indochina Greece Compass 1941 East Africa Yugoslavia Shanggao Greece Crete Iraq Soviet Union ( Barbarossa ) Finland Lithuania Syria and Lebanon Kiev Iran Leningrad Gorky Moscow Sevastopol Pearl Harbor The outbreak of the Pacific War Hong Kong Philippines Changsha Malaya Borneo ( 1941 -- 42 ) 1942 Burma Changsha Java Sea Coral Sea Gazala Dutch Harbor Attu ( occupation ) Kiska Zhejiang - Jiangxi Midway Rzhev Blue Stalingrad Singapore Dieppe El Alamein Guadalcanal Torch 1943 Tunisia Kursk Smolensk Gorky Solomon Islands Attu Sicily Cottage Lower Dnieper Italy Armistice of Cassibile Gilbert and Marshall Islands Burma Northern Burma and Western Yunnan Changde 1944 Monte Cassino / Shingle Narva Korsun -- Cherkassy Tempest Ichi - Go Overlord Neptune Normandy Mariana and Palau Bagration Western Ukraine Tannenberg Line Warsaw Eastern Romania Belgrade Paris Dragoon Gothic Line Market Garden Estonia Crossbow Pointblank Lapland Hungary Leyte Ardennes Bodenplatte Philippines ( 1944 -- 1945 ) Burma ( 1944 -- 45 ) 1945 -- 1991 Vistula -- Oder Iwo Jima Western invasion of Germany Okinawa Italy ( Spring 1945 ) Borneo Syrmian Front Berlin Czechoslovakia Budapest West Hunan Guangxi Surrender of Germany Project Hula Manchuria Manila Borneo Taipei Atomic bombings Debate Kuril Islands Shumshu Surrender of Japan End of World War II in Asia Aspects General Famines Bengal famine of 1943 Chinese famine of 1942 -- 43 Greek Famine of 1941 - 1944 Dutch famine of 1944 -- 45 Vietnamese Famine of 1945 Air warfare of World War II Blitzkrieg Comparative military ranks Cryptography Diplomacy Home front United States Australian United Kingdom Lend - Lease Manhattan Project Military awards Military equipment Military production Nazi plunder Opposition Technology Allied cooperation Total war Strategic bombing Puppet states Women Art and World War II Aftermath Expulsion of Germans Operation Paperclip Operation Osoaviakhim Operation Keelhaul Occupation of Germany Territorial changes of Germany Soviet occupations Romania Poland Hungary Baltic States Occupation of Japan First Indochina War Indonesian National Revolution Cold War Decolonization Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany Popular culture War crimes Allied war crimes Soviet war crimes British war crimes United States war crimes German ( Forced labour ) / Wehrmacht war crimes Holocaust Aftermath Response Prosecution Italian war crimes Japanese war crimes Unit 731 Prosecution Croatian war crimes against the Serbs against the Jews Romanian war crimes Wartime sexual violence German military brothels Camp brothels Rape during the occupation of Japan Sook Ching Comfort women Rape of Nanking Rape of Manila Rape during the occupation of Germany Rape during the liberation of France Rape during the Soviet occupation of Poland Prisoners Finnish prisoners of war in the Soviet Union German prisoners of war in the Soviet Union German prisoners of war in the United States Italian prisoners of war in the Soviet Union Japanese prisoners of war in the Soviet Union Japanese prisoners of war in World War II German mistreatment of Soviet prisoners of war Polish prisoners of war in the Soviet Union Romanian prisoners of war in the Soviet Union Soviet prisoners of war in Finland Bibliography Portal GND : 4132246 - 0 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Balkan_Campaign_(World_War_II)&oldid=836236839 '' Categories : Balkans Campaign ( World War II ) Wars involving the Balkans World War II campaigns of the Mediterranean Theatre Middle East theatre of World War II Albania in World War II Greece in World War II Greek Macedonia in World War II Yugoslav Macedonia in World War II Yugoslavia in World War II Conflicts in 1940 Conflicts in 1941 1941 in Greece 1942 in Greece 1941 in Yugoslavia 1942 in Yugoslavia Eastern European theatre of World War II Campaigns, operations and battles of World War II involving the United Kingdom Military campaigns involving Germany Military history of Greece during World War II Military history of Yugoslavia during World War II Modern history of the Balkans Hidden categories : Articles needing additional references from February 2017 All articles needing additional references Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Talk Contents About Wikipedia Български Català Čeština Dansk Deutsch Ελληνικά Español فارسی Français 한국어 Italiano עברית Latviešu Bahasa Melayu Nederlands 日本 語 Norsk Polski Português Română Русский Slovenčina Српски / srpski Suomi Svenska தமிழ் ไทย Türkçe Українська Tiếng Việt 中文 23 more Edit links This page was last edited on 13 April 2018, at 14 : 32. 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Question: who won the war in the balkans ww2
Answer: Axis victory