The "Oxi" that Sent Us to War

October 28th, 1940, otherwise known as "Oxi" day. It's sad that today most of us don't even know which of the two national holidays have to do with the Italians and which one with the Turks. Well, let me remind you that this date has to do with the Italians, and WWII... and do you happen to remember that the great man (Ioannis Metaksas) who said OXI was a dictator of Greece at the time? Ok... let's back up a bit...

Metaksas and the coming of the "Third Greek Culture"

In 1936, a weak King George of Greece, allowed army General Ioannis Metaksas, the leader of a far-right political party that had the least supporters nationwide, to take control in containing the communists and their socialist ways in the labor force. Metaksas was another one of those dictators who wanted to control his fellow patriots by reminding them of their "Greekness." This was to be done by instilling in them the values of Ancient Greece (especially the strict citizens' control of Sparta) and the Christian morals of the Byzantine Empire, all under the label of "The Third Greek Culture"; something like Hitler's Third Reich. Although his opponents charged him with a Nazi profile, he supposedly hushed them by spreading fear and not by literally "eliminating" them. He was also unwilling to turn his back on Britain's support and even asked to become Britain's ally in 1936 (which Britain denied, fearing a new set of responsibilities towards Greece).

It all started with the bombing of Elli

After the outbreak of WWII and the occupancy of Albania by the facist Italians, Britain and France vouched that Greece's borders would be left untouched. Meanwhile, Metaksas was hoping to keep Greece outside this war, but Mussolini had other ideas. READ THE REST AT ALLTHEGREEKS.COM

Sources: A Concise History of Greece by Richard Clogg

http://www.hellenicnavy.gr/history.asp

Image: http://www.lookatgame.com/index.php?key=28η