Alexandros Papagos
Αλέξανδρος Παπάγος
The Greek field marshal who staked the war on the Albanian front
When German forces invaded across the northern frontier, the main Greek army was still tied down on the Albanian front.
Alexandros Papagos was a career officer loyal to the Greek monarchy and the Metaxas dictatorship, and the commander of the Hellenic Army during the Second World War. In 1940 he coordinated the defence against Italy's invasion from Albania and the Greek counteroffensive, but kept the army's main strength on the Albanian front as German intervention approached, weakening the defence of the Metaxas Line. During the occupation he helped form a resistance organization, was arrested and imprisoned by the Germans, and later commanded government forces in the Greek Civil War before becoming prime minister.
Career timeline
- 1906Commissioned as a cavalry second lieutenant in the Hellenic Army
- 1935–1936Minister for Military Affairs and Inspector-General of the Army
- 1936–1940Chief of the Army General Staff, strengthening the military basis of the Metaxas regime
- 1940–1941Commander-in-Chief of the Greek Army, directing operations on the Albanian front and at the Metaxas Line
- 1943–1945Helped form the Military Hierarchy resistance organization, then arrested and imprisoned by German authorities
- 1949–1951Commander-in-Chief of government forces in the Civil War, directing the final offensive against the communist army
- 1952–1955Prime Minister of Greece