Adriatic campaign of World War II

The Adriatic campaign of World War II was a minor naval campaign fought between the armies and navies of Fascist Italy (later the RSI), Nazi Germany, the Independent State of Croatia, and other axis powers versus the United Kingdom, the Kingdom of Greece, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (later the Yugoslav Partisans) and other Allied powers during the Mediterranean and Middle East theatres of World War II. The campaign either started with the Italian invasion of Albania in 1939 or the Italian invasion of Greece the year later, the Greeks pushed the Italians back into Italian Albania and Commonwealth forces were sent to support the Greeks. The Axis powers Invaded Yugoslavia in 1941 to send reinforcements to help the Italians in Albania. Yugoslavia and Greece were both defeated and puppet states like the Hellenic State and the Independent State of Croatia were formed out of the occupied areas of the two countries, but resistance groups like the Yugoslav Partisans and EAM were formed to fight against the Axis. In 1943, the Allies invaded Italy and gained a foothold in the south. In 1944, the Soviet Red Army crossed into Yugoslavia to help the partisans and liberated the capital Belgrade, and the Axis forces in Greece and Albania were evacuated to north Yugoslavia. In April 1945, the Allies advanced in Italy and Yugoslavia. Western Allied and Yugoslav forces linked up near trieste on May 1. On 8 May 1945, Germany surrendered, ending World War II in the Mediterranean & Europe.

Category:World War II