The Italian Spring Offensive in Greece (Operazione Primavera), March 9, 1941
ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΑ The Italian Spring Offensive, also known as Operazione Primavera (Operation Spring), was an offensive operation during the Greco-Italian War, which lasted from March 9 to March 16, 1941. It was the final Italian attempt to defeat the Greek forces, which had already advanced deep into Italian-controlled Albania. The attack was personally overseen by Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, but the operation ended in complete failure within a week. On October 28, 1940, Fascist Italy declared war on Greece. The Italian 9th and 11th Armies invaded northwestern Greece from Albania but were soon repelled, prompting a Greek counteroffensive deep into Albanian territory. By February 1941, intense preparations began to reinforce the Italian front line. By the end of the month, the 15 Italian divisions fighting in Albania had been reinforced with an additional ten divisions. To boost morale, Mussolini ordered that the units be accompanied by the most aggressive Fascist officials, as well as m...