the military background

By the time germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941 all of the Balkan states were involved in the hostilities: Romania and Bulgaria were Axis allies, whereas Greece, Albania, and Yugoslavia were under German, Bulgarian, and Italian occupation. The great influence exerted on Balkan affairs by external forces, in particular the Nazi–Soviet pact of August 1939 and the subsequent Axis victories, has been emphasized. This pattern was to continue throughout the war. Although Balkan conditions were always a concern of the great-power belligerents, the area was to remain during World War II, as during World War I, a sideshow to the decisive campaigns waged elsewhere. World War I, as we have seen, was won by the Allied victories in northern France in the summer and fall of 1918. The greatest influence on the outcome of World War II was undoubtedly the failure of the German campaign against the Soviet Union and this latter power's subsequent ability to launch a great offensive against Eastern and Central Europe. The British and American operations in North Africa, Sicily, and Italy, and, finally, the opening of the second front in Normandy, played a secondary role in the final defeat of Nazi Germany. Since the fate of the Balkan states was so closely tied to these battlefield decisions, a review of the major events on both the eastern and the western fronts is necessary.