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Metaxas Line
The Metaxas Line (, ''Grammi Metaxa'') was a chain of fortifications constructed along the line of the Greco-Bulgarian border, designed to protect Greece in case of a Bulgarian invasion after the rearmament of Bulgaria. It was named after Ioannis Metaxas, then Prime Minister of Greece, and chiefly consists of tunnels that led to observatories, emplacements and machine gun nests. The constructions are so sturdy that they survive to this day, some of which are still in active service. Some of them are open to the public. The Metaxas Line consists of 21 independent fortification complexes, the largest of which is Fort Roupel as it covers 6.1 out of the 155 km of the full line and had been constructed at a height of 322 m. Illumination was initially mostly provided by oil-lamps, although generators were also installed. Currently, the fortifications are supplied with public electricity, but they are also equipped with generators. Ventilation was achieved both naturally an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dragon's Teeth (fortification)
Dragon's teeth (german: Drachenzähne) are square-pyramidal fortifications of reinforced concrete first used during the Second World War to impede the movement of tanks and mechanised infantry. The idea was to slow down and channel tanks into killing zones where they could easily be disposed of by anti-tank weapons. They were employed extensively, particularly on the Siegfried Line. World War II Dragon's teeth were used by several armies in the European Theatre. The Germans made extensive use of them on the Siegfried Line and the Atlantic Wall. Typically, each tooth was tall. Land mines were often laid between teeth, and further obstacles were constructed along the lines of teeth, such as barbed wire to impede infantry or diagonally-placed steel beams to further hinder tanks. Many were laid in the United Kingdom in 1940–1941, as part of the effort to strengthen the country's defences against a possible German invasion. Due to the huge numbers laid and their dura ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ormenio
Ormenio ( el, Ορμένιο, tr, Çirmen, bg, Черномен, Chernomen) is the northernmost place in all of Greece. It is part of the municipal unit of Trigono in the Evros regional unit of Thrace. It is situated near the right bank of the river Evros, which forms the border with Bulgaria here. On the other side of the Evros, 6 km to the north, lies the Bulgarian town Svilengrad. Nearby villages in Greece are Ptelea to its southeast and Petrota to its southwest. History In 1371 Ormenio was the site of the Battle of Maritsa in which the Serb army under Ivan Uglesha and Vukashin was decisively defeated by the Ottomans. It was known as "Çirmen" during Ottoman rule and was a sanjak centre until 1829. In 1878 it was inhabited by 870 Bulgarians and 120 Muslims. After the Balkan Wars, the village was annexed to Bulgaria as "Chernomen" until 1919, when the village was ceded to Greece in the Treaty of Neuilly. In 1997 under the Kapodistrias reform, the community of O ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
4th Of August Regime
The 4th of August Regime ( el, Καθεστώς της 4ης Αυγούστου, Kathestós tis tetártis Avgoústou), commonly also known as the Metaxas regime (, ''Kathestós Metaxá''), was a totalitarian regime under the leadership of General Ioannis Metaxas that ruled the Kingdom of Greece from 1936 to 1941. On 4 August 1936, Metaxas, with the support of King George II, suspended the Greek parliament and went on to preside over a conservative, staunchly anti-communist government. The regime took inspiration in its symbolism and rhetoric from Fascist Italy, but retained close links to Britain and the French Third Republic, rather than the Axis powers. Lacking a popular base, after Metaxas' death in January 1941 the regime hinged entirely on the King. Although Greece was occupied following the German invasion of Greece in April 1941 and the Greek government was forced into exile in the British-controlled Kingdom of Egypt, several prominent figures of the regime, notably the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Greco-Italian War
The Greco-Italian War (Greek: Ελληνοϊταλικός Πόλεμος, ''Ellinoïtalikós Pólemos''), also called the Italo-Greek War, Italian Campaign in Greece, and the War of '40 in Greece, took place between the kingdoms of Italy and Greece from 28 October 1940 to 23 April 1941. This local war began the Balkans Campaign of World War II between the Axis powers and the Allies and eventually turned into the Battle of Greece with British and German involvement. On 10 June 1940, Italy declared war on France and the United Kingdom. By September 1940, the Italians had invaded France, British Somaliland and Egypt. This was followed by a hostile press campaign in Italy against Greece, accused of being a British ally. A number of provocations culminated in the sinking of the Greek light cruiser ''Elli'' by the Italians on 15 August. On 28 October, Mussolini issued an ultimatum to Greece demanding the cession of Greek territory, which the Prime Minister of Greece, Ioannis Metaxa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Albania
Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) ... and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares land borders with Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, North Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south. Tirana is its capital and largest city, followed by Durrës, Vlorë, and Shkodër. Albania displays varied climatic, geological, hydrological, and morphological conditions, defined in an area of . It possesses significant diversity with the landscape ranging from the snow-capped mountains in the Accursed Mountains, Albanian Alps as well as the Korab, Central Mountain R ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kingdom Of Italy (1861–1946)
The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to an 1946 Italian institutional referendum, institutional referendum to abandon the monarchy and form the modern Italy, Italian Republic. The state resulted from a decades-long process, the ''Italian unification, Risorgimento'', of consolidating the different states of the Italian Peninsula into a single state. That process was influenced by the House of Savoy, Savoy-led Kingdom of Sardinia, which can be considered Italy's legal Succession of states, predecessor state. Italy Third Italian War of Independence, declared war on Austrian Empire, Austria in alliance with Kingdom of Prussia, Prussia in 1866 and received the region of Veneto following their victory. Italian troops Capture of Rome, entered Rome in 1870, ending Papal States, more tha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wilhelm List
Wilhelm List (14 May 1880 – 17 August 1971) was a German field marshal during World War II who was convicted of war crimes by a US Army tribunal after the war. List commanded the 14th Army in the invasion of Poland and the 12th Army in the invasions of France, Yugoslavia and Greece. In 1941 he commanded the German forces in Southeast Europe responsible for the occupation of Greece and Yugoslavia. In July 1942 during Case Blue, the German summer offensive in Southern Russia, he was appointed commander of Army Group A, responsible for the main thrust towards the Caucasus and Baku. Following the war, List was charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity and stood trial in the Hostages Trial of 1947. He was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment. List was released early for poor health and died in 1971. Early years List, born in Oberkirchberg in Württemberg in 1880, entered the Bavarian Army in 1898; in 1913 he joined the Bavarian General Staff. He served ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Konstantinos Bakopoulos
Konstantinos Th. Bakopoulos ( el, Κωνσταντίνος Θ. Μπακόπουλος) (1889–1950) was a Greek General in the Hellenic Army who took part in the Balkan Wars (1912–3), played a crucial conciliatory role in Greek military politics during the 1930s and distinguished himself in the fight against the Nazis during World War II. In 1943 he was imprisoned in German concentration camps until the end of the war in 1945 (with four other generals, including General Alexander Papagos, a future Prime Minister). Early life and career K. Th. Bakopoulos (Bacopoulos) was born in 1889 in the village of Agiorgitika, near Tripoli, Province of Arkadia. His parents, Theodoros and Vassiliki, had fourteen children, of whom Konstantinos was the eleventh. His father Theodoros was mayor of Korythion-Mantinias in the Province of Arkadia. His grandfather Nikolaos had also been mayor of the same village. On June 26, 1912, Bakopoulos graduated from the Military Academy as a Second Li ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
XXX Army Corps (Wehrmacht)
German XXX. Corps (XXX. Armeekorps) was a corps in the German Army during World War II. In 1939/40, the corps carried out border surveillance at the German West Border and then took part in the Battle of France and the Balkan campaign. From June 1941, it fought for three years on the Eastern Front, first in the south, then north and center to move south again after the Battle of Stalingrad. In 1944, the Corps retreated to Romania, where it was destroyed during the Jassy–Kishinev Offensive in August 1944. A second deployment followed as the 30th Army Corps z.bV. in the Netherlands in 1944/45. Commanders * General der Artillerie Otto Hartmann, 26 August 1939 - 25 March 1941 * Generalleutnant Eugen Ott, 25 March 1941 - 10 May 1941 * General der Infanterie Hans von Salmuth, 10 May 1941 – 27 December 1941 * General der Artillerie Maximilian Fretter-Pico, 27 December 1941 – 4 July 1944 * General der Kavallerie Philipp Kleffel, 4 July 1944 - 16 July 1944 * Generalleutnant G ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
XVIII Mountain Corps
XVIII. ''Armeekorps'' was formed in Salzburg, Austria, on 1 April 1938, following the Anschluss of Austria into the German Reich. During the life of the XVIII. Armeekorps, they took part in the Polish campaign, Fall Weiss, and the campaign in the West 1940 (Fall Gelb and Fall Rot), and performed occupation duties in France. On 30 October 1940, the Corps gave up some elements to newly forming XXXXIX. Gebirgskorps, and on 1 November, they re-designated the Korps name to XVIII. Gebirgskorps. Commanders XVIII Armeekorps *General der Infanterie Eugen Beyer (1 April 1938 – June 1940) *Generalleutnant is the Germanic variant of lieutenant general, used in some German speaking countries. Austria Generalleutnant is the second highest general officer rank in the Austrian Armed Forces (''Bundesheer''), roughly equivalent to the NATO rank of ... Hermann Ritter von Speck (June 1940 – 15 June 1940) * General der Gebirgstruppe Franz Böhme (15 June 1940 – 1 November 1940) X ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maginot Line
The Maginot Line (french: Ligne Maginot, ), named after the French Minister of War André Maginot, is a line of concrete fortifications, obstacles and weapon installations built by France in the 1930s to deter invasion by Germany and force them to move around the fortifications. The Maginot Line was impervious to most forms of attack. In consequence, the Germans invaded through the Low Countries in 1940, passing it to the north. The line, which was supposed to be fully extended further towards the west to avoid such an occurrence, was finally scaled back in response to demands from Belgium. Indeed, Belgium feared it would be sacrificed in the event of another German invasion. The line has since become a metaphor for expensive efforts that offer a false sense of security. Constructed on the French side of its borders with Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Luxembourg and Belgium, the line did not extend to the English Channel. French strategy therefore envisioned a move into Belgium ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
