If the crisis in Greece does not force them into fiscal responsibility—THEN NOTHING WILL!!
I have to clear up a few things about Greece in WWII. When Mussolini invaded in 1940, the British did offer help. KEEP IN MIND that the Brits were fighting in north Africa, had other commitments around the world, and had to protect their home island (Battle of Britain ended shortly before the invasion). Air units were sent and British forces were on Crete. Greece asked for a large British force to help against the Italians, but the Brits simply did not have enough troops to send to Greece. They offered a small force, but Greek dictator Metaxas refused realizing that such a small force would make no difference and quite possibly provoke the Germans into attacking.
Metaxas tried very, VERY hard not provoke any German move into Greece (unknown to him, Germany began planning to aid Mussolini when it became clear the Italians screwed up). After Metaxas died, the new Prime Minister accepted Britain’s offer for a small ground force on the mainland.
Britain did contribute at sea. The Italians never were able to fully exploit their naval superiority over the small Greek navy thanks to the Royal Navy triumphs at Taranto and Matapan.
It’s not fair to complain about the small contribution Britain made to aid Greece. It would have been great had they done so. Britain had too many commitments elsewhere and even if more troops were sent, I highly doubt that would have stopped the Germans.
Glad to see that someone knows their WW2 European/Med. Theater of Operations history.
The British, using torpedo planes, sank almost the whole Italian fleet at Taranto Bay, thus ending a potential threat to the US, British and French fleets (Free French) in Northern Africa.
Much of the French Vichy fleet was destroyed in No. Africa, possibly at Oran. It too was a real threat to the Allies.
If I recall history correctly, the British loss a lot of troops on one of the Greek islands, probably Crete. After that, they had almost no major military presence in the area for years.
Correct me or add more information if you want to.