In 1936, the Army General Staff was reorganized. In 1940–1941, during the Greco-Italian War and the subsequent German invasion of Greece, the Army General Staff served as the nucleus over the General Headquarters under the former Chief of the Army General Staff, Lt. General Alexander Papagos. Following the occupation of Greece by the Axis powers, the Greek armed forces were reconstituted in the Middle East by the Greek government in exile, along with a rudimentary Army General Staff.