Each 28 October, Greeks around the world remember the morning their country said “No” to Mussolini. Here is the story behind Oxi Day, what came after it, and how the day is marked today, from Thessaloniki to Sydney.
Contents
- What is Oxi Day?
- The ultimatum of 28 October 1940
- The Greco-Italian War and the push into Albania
- The German invasion of April 1941 and the occupation
- Why Oxi Day mattered in the Second World War
- How Oxi Day is celebrated in Greece and Cyprus
- How the Greek diaspora marks Oxi Day
- Oxi Day FAQ
What is Oxi Day?
Oxi Day (also written Ochi or Ohi; in Greek, Epeteios tou Ochi, “the Anniversary of the No”) falls on 28 October. It is a national holiday in Greece and Cyprus, and Greek communities everywhere observe it. The day remembers how Greece rejected an ultimatum from Fascist Italy in the early hours of 28 October 1940, and the war of resistance that followed.
The word oxi means “no”. For Greeks it is a shorthand for a whole generation’s refusal to give in: soldiers who fought in the freezing mountains of Epirus and Albania, civilians who went hungry under occupation, and resistance fighters who kept going until liberation in 1944.
The ultimatum of 28 October 1940
A tense summer
Greece was neutral when the war began, but by 1940 it was under real pressure. Italy had occupied neighbouring Albania in April 1939. Then, on 15 August 1940, the feast of the Dormition, a submarine sank the Greek light cruiser Elli while she lay at anchor in Tinos harbour. The submarine was later confirmed as the Italian Delfino. Mussolini was also annoyed that Hitler had sent German troops into Romania in October 1940 without warning him, and he wanted a quick victory of his own.
A knock at the door in Kifisia
Shortly after 3am on 28 October 1940, the Italian ambassador in Athens, Emanuele Grazzi, arrived at the Kifisia home of Prime Minister Ioannis Metaxas. Grazzi handed him an ultimatum. Italy demanded that its troops be allowed to enter Greece and occupy unnamed “strategic points”. Greece had until 6am to agree.
The reply
Popular memory says Metaxas answered with one word: Oxi. By most accounts, though, he actually spoke in French, then the language of diplomacy: “Alors, c’est la guerre”, meaning “Well then, it is war.” Either way the answer was a refusal. Italian forces based in Albania crossed the Greek border at about 5:30am, before the ultimatum had even run out.
Metaxas had ruled Greece as a dictator since 4 August 1936, and his legacy is still debated. But his refusal that morning matched the mood of the country. As news spread, crowds filled the streets of Athens and other cities, and people from across the political spectrum rallied to defend Greece. The word “OXI” first appeared as a newspaper headline on 30 October 1940, in the Athens paper Ellinikon Mellon (“Hellenic Future”), over an article by Nikos P. Efstratiou.
The Greco-Italian War and the push into Albania
Holding the line in Epirus and the Pindus
Italy expected an easy campaign. What it got was hard fighting over a narrow front of rugged mountains with very few roads. In Epirus, Greek forces built their defence around the Kalpaki position and the marshy Kalamas river. To the north-east, in the Pindus mountains, a small Greek detachment under Colonel Konstantinos Davakis met the elite Italian Julia Alpine Division. Greek reinforcements arrived, and by mid-November the Italian advance had been stopped and pushed back. Davakis was badly wounded in the fighting.
The counteroffensive
Under commander-in-chief General Alexandros Papagos, the Greek army counterattacked on 14 November 1940. Within days the Italians had been driven off Greek soil. On 22 November Greek troops entered Korçë (Koritsa), the first major town they took in Albania. Over the following weeks they captured Gjirokastër (Argyrokastro) on 8 December, along with Sarandë (Agioi Saranta) and Himara. In this region, known to Greeks as Northern Epirus, many residents were ethnic Greeks.
Winter and stalemate
Fighting in the Albanian mountains through the winter of 1940–41 was brutal. Many soldiers suffered frostbite, and Greek supply lines were stretched to breaking point. Greek forces took the strategic Klisura Pass in January 1941. Metaxas died in Athens on 29 January 1941. In March, Mussolini travelled to Albania to watch a major Italian spring offensive, which failed to break the Greek lines. Greece’s counteroffensive of November 1940 was one of the first significant Allied land victories over an Axis power, and it won admiration across the free world. Britain, Greece’s ally, sent air units and later ground forces, including Australian and New Zealand troops.
The German invasion of April 1941 and the occupation
Hitler had come to see the Balkans as a threat on his southern flank, especially once British forces were in Greece. On 6 April 1941 Germany invaded Greece and Yugoslavia at the same time (Operation Marita), attacking through Bulgaria. Greek forts on the Metaxas Line put up stubborn resistance, but German armour soon broke through via Yugoslavia. Most of the Greek army was still committed in Albania. The Greek Army of Epirus surrendered later in April, Commonwealth forces fell back towards Thermopylae and then evacuated, and German troops entered Athens on 27 April 1941.
The Battle of Crete followed in May 1941. German paratroopers landed on the island, and Greek, British, Australian and New Zealand troops and Cretan civilians resisted fiercely before the island fell at the start of June.
Greece was then split into German, Italian and Bulgarian occupation zones. The years that followed were among the darkest in modern Greek history. Famine struck in the winter of 1941–42, killing huge numbers of people, especially in Athens and Piraeus. Villages were destroyed in reprisals, and most of Greece’s Jewish communities were deported and murdered in the Holocaust. Resistance started early. On the night of 30–31 May 1941, two young men, Manolis Glezos and Apostolos Santas, tore down the swastika flag from the Acropolis. Armed resistance movements grew in the mountains. Athens was liberated on 12 October 1944.
Why Oxi Day mattered in the Second World War
When Greece entered the war in late 1940, Britain and its Commonwealth were the only other powers still fighting the Axis in Europe. France had fallen, and neither the Soviet Union nor the United States had entered the war. Greece’s victories over a much larger Italian force lifted Allied morale. They also showed that the Axis could be beaten in the field.
People often say the Greek campaign delayed Hitler’s invasion of the Soviet Union, Operation Barbarossa. That invasion began on 22 June 1941, weeks later than the mid-May date in early German planning. Hitler himself later blamed Mussolini’s Greek adventure for the delay. Anthony Eden, Britain’s foreign secretary, also made the argument. Historians remain divided, however. Many, including Ian Kershaw and Antony Beevor, argue that an unusually wet spring, logistics and Germany’s own planning problems were more important to the timing. They also argue that the Balkan campaign made little difference to how Barbarossa turned out. Others still argue it had some effect. What no one disputes is the courage of the stand Greece made, and its symbolic weight at a moment when much of Europe had fallen.
A famous saying has come down from that winter: “Hence we will not say that Greeks fight like heroes, but that heroes fight like Greeks.” It is often credited to Winston Churchill, but researchers have found no record of him saying it. The earliest known version appears in a Greek diplomat’s article in The Manchester Guardian in April 1941, presented as a saying already in circulation.
How Oxi Day is celebrated in Greece and Cyprus
In Greece, 28 October is a public holiday. Government offices, schools and most businesses close. Blue-and-white flags hang from balconies and public buildings in the days before, and churches hold doxologies (services of thanksgiving) and memorial services for the fallen.
The main military parade is held in Thessaloniki. The city also celebrates its patron saint, Agios Dimitrios, on 26 October, and the anniversary of its 1912 liberation, so the last week of October is a festive one there. Across the rest of the country, from big cities to island villages, the day centres on school parades. Students in uniform march behind the Greek flag past local officials and veterans’ groups, while families line the footpaths. Schools usually hold ceremonies the day before, with poems, songs and re-enactments of the events of 1940. Wreaths are laid at war memorials, and many towns organise local events, concerts and exhibitions.
In Cyprus, 28 October is also a national holiday. It is marked with school and student parades, church services and wreath-laying ceremonies honouring the Greek Cypriots who served in the war.
How the Greek diaspora marks Oxi Day
For Greek communities abroad, Oxi Day is one of the key dates on the calendar, alongside Greek Independence Day on 25 March.
In Australia, home to one of the world’s largest Greek diasporas, community organisations, churches, Greek schools and consular offices hold commemorations each year in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane, Perth and Canberra. These typically include wreath-laying ceremonies at war memorials and cenotaphs, church services, and marches or gatherings. Greek-school students take part, often in traditional dress, and so do veterans’ and community groups. Oxi Day has special meaning for Australians, too. Australian soldiers fought beside Greeks in mainland Greece and on Crete in 1941, and many Cretan and Greek families sheltered Allied soldiers during the occupation. So many Oxi Day services in Australia also honour the Anzacs.
In the United States, Greek Orthodox parishes, Hellenic societies and Greek-language schools hold doxologies, school programs and community events in late October. Organisations also work to tell American audiences about Greece’s role in the Second World War.
Elsewhere, in Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, South Africa and beyond, Greek communities mark the day in the same spirit. They gather around the flag, remember the fallen, and pass the story of 1940 on to children and grandchildren who may never have lived in Greece.
Oxi Day FAQ
What is Oxi Day?
Oxi Day is a Greek and Cypriot national holiday held on 28 October. It commemorates Greece’s rejection of Mussolini’s ultimatum on 28 October 1940 and the resistance that followed during the Second World War.
What does “Oxi” mean?
Oxi (όχι, also spelt Ochi or Ohi) is Greek for “no”. It is the answer Greece is remembered as giving to Italy’s demand to occupy Greek territory.
What did Metaxas actually say to the Italian ambassador?
By most accounts, Prime Minister Ioannis Metaxas replied in French, “Alors, c’est la guerre” (“Well then, it is war”). The single word “Oxi” became the popular symbol of his refusal.
Is Oxi Day a public holiday?
Yes. 28 October is a public holiday in Greece and Cyprus, marked by military and school parades, church services and flag displays. In Australia and other countries it is not a public holiday, but Greek communities hold their own commemorations.
How is Oxi Day celebrated in Australia?
Greek-Australian communities hold wreath-laying ceremonies, church services, marches and school events in capital cities including Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Canberra. Many of them also honour the Australian and New Zealand soldiers who fought in Greece and Crete in 1941.