Last Stand of Greece

Could Greece of held off Italy until Italy was defeated during world war 2 if Italy had not asked Germany for help? What would of been different if that had happened?
 
Italy didn't exactly ask Germany for help, at least I have yet to read something suggesting against that. The successful defense Greece mounted and the subsequent counterattack into Albania was the first true victory against the forces of Axis.

Thing is, Hitler saw a small poor country fighting with WW1 weapons against the way better supplied Italians and winning and he couldn’t allow such humiliation to pass. Most of his regime was based upon an image, that of invulnerability.

Think of it like that. There are two bullies in the playground, and one of the smallest sick children manages to not only defend himself from one of the bullies but hit him back as well. The other bully can’t allow that. Who knows whether the other children will fight back as well.

Now, that’s a very simplistic image of the events that took place there but this was the main reason behind Hitler’s attack. That and the fear that the British would use Greece as a staging point.

Regarding your question. Greece was really weak, as in few ammunition, old World War 1 era weapons, no available manpower pool. All in all, it was a miracle it held against them, that’s what makes it even more awesome. The only thing Greeks had going for them was the terrain which they knew since it was their homeland.

However, Italy managed to invade a few kilometers in Epirus, but in the following months Greece mounted a counterattack pushing the Italians back and reaching as far into Albania as the Klisura Pass.
Nevertheless, projections put that Greece would have stalled there until at least one more month by April 1941, the supplies were really low and people were dying from frostbite.

Even though the British did send some equipment in the two last months before Greece capitulated, it was too little too late. Barely a couple divisions worth of supplies had arrived by the time Germany attacked end in order to properly man the Italian front, the Metaxas line was completely undefended.

Concluding regarding the first part of your question, yes it was possible but only if the Allies managed to send the required equipment.

As far as the second part of your query goes, we obviously can’t know what exactly would have gone wrong, but it is my personal belief that firstly Greece wouldn’t be completely broke by the end of WW2, after all almost none reparations were paid. In a 2015 evaluation it is believed that the war reparations that were owed to Greece were in today’s dollars 300 billion USD. A little bit less than the country’s debt. These reparations are for the huge loan Nazi Germany took from Greece with 0% interest and the enormous destruction it wrought to the country.

80% of the industry destroyed, 28% of the infrastructure, 25% of the available natural resources and let’s not forget that almost 10% of the then population that was killed either directly or indirectly by the Nazis. Of course, these numbers do not explain that the costs of the German army in Greece also burdened the Greek state.
 
Part of it was Greece's unwillingness to concede the territory they had gained against the Italians. If they commit themselves completely to a defence in depth strategy, as they did against Italy, it could drag things on, but I don't think Mainland Greece can hold. More time to prepare defences around Crete though.
 
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