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Fascist Italy had initially invaded Greece in October 1940 but was defeated, and the Greek Army pushed the invaders back into neighbouring Albania. This forced Germany to shift its military focus from the preparation of "Operation Barbarossa" to an intervention on its ally's behalf in southern Europe.
A rapid German Blitzkrieg campaign followed in April 1941, and by the middle of May, Greece was occupied by the Nazis who proceeded to administer the most important regions themselves, includingAthens and Thessaloniki. Other regions of the country were given to Germany's lesser partners, Fascist Italy and Bulgaria. Acollaborationist Greek government was established immediately after the country fell.
The occupation brought about terrible hardships for the Greek civilian population. Over 300,000 civilians died in Athens alone fromstarvation, tens of thousands more through reprisals by Nazis and collaborators, and the
country's economy was ruined.[At the same time the Greek Resistance, one of the most effective resistance movements in Occupied Europe, was formed. These resistance groups launched guerrilla attacks against the
occupying powers, fought against the collaborationist Security Battalions and set up large espionage networks, but by late 1943 began to fight amongst themselves. When liberation came in October 1944, Greece was in a state of extreme political
polarization, which soon led to the outbreak of civil war. The subsequent civil war gave the opportunity to many prominent Nazi collaborators not only to escape
punishment (because of their anti-communism), but to eventually become the ruling class of postwar Greece, after the communist defeat
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