The American capture of Guam was even more absurd. When the U.S. Navy opened fire on Guam in 1898, they were met by a Spaniard in a rowboat who apologized that they did not have any gunpowder to return the American salute. True story.
What's absurd about this story is that the Spaniard was in fact actually sincerely apologizing and not making a veiled insult. The American fire had been high and went completely over the old (largely abandoned fort) and the Spanish governor was completely unaware the two countries were at war, so he really did think he was receiving visitors who were paying him honors. He'd even sent a message to the small garrison on the island to rush two artillery pieces to the beach, not to fight the Americans, but to give a return salute.
It gets better, the American cruiser then left, leaving ONE random guy (the only American on Guam) in charge. Wasn’t an officer or an official, just some guy who happened to also be an American.
@@williamlydon2554 For yall information, The name of the american that Governed the Guam after the takeover is Frank Portusach. But shortly after getting the job, he get deposed by a fillipino named Jose sisto and after that he got deposed by the natives, after some time, the US Navy got back to guam and instated Jose sisto as the Governor of Guam.
Imagine being that German Officer: You’ve been transferred to a quiet post in what Germany would consider a backwater posting, and you’re pretty disappointed that you’re missing out on all the action. All of a sudden you’re in the middle of unpacking your personal equipment and establishing yourself as a fresh military attaché and someone runs to you and tells you to get to the other side of this newly-conquered island to negotiate with Greek authorities at the order of like an Italian general. You get in your staff car and floor it all the way because you wouldn’t want to leave your new supervisor waiting, and you arrive to a bunch of Greek old people who look at you, surrender specifically to you and not the Italians, then walk off. Imagine being brought-in just to roast your allies.
@@giannisd.6587 You know, actually i think this is more likely about Greeks taking a piss on Italians because of the war, and to be frank when its all about banter who would i be to stop it? Don't midn me then, go on as you wish.
Not just that, but the Italians need help from the Germans for Greek civilians negotiating a surrender of a town with not one Greek soldier garrisoned in it.
@@oilersridersbluejays that's a nice way to put that they preferred being humiliated than having to massacre a bunch of civilians they had nothing against of
@@gauntlettcf5669 A lot of Italian soldiers didn’t particularly like the Fascists/the war itself so they were pretty lenient. After 1943 the Germans started to massacre Italians to which Greeks started helping/hiding Italians. I think it’s nice that here they just negotiated and were willing to be humiliated rather than shoot civilians, and later on the Greeks helped save them from getting shot by Germans
@@coffee4682 Yeah, Italy's abysmal military performance in WWII can be largely (though not necessarily entirely) attributed to the fact that the Italian people *really* didn't want to fight. When Italy switched sides later on, Italian volunteers for the Allies, while not typically assigned to combat roles, were so much more motivated, making them valuable personnel that kept the Allied war machine running smoothly. There's no better morale booster than knowing you've got genuine Italian chefs on your side.
@@gustavabensberg4260 to be fair Italy did do quite a bit during WWII, them being useless is mainly left over from very effective British propaganda of the time. Just off the top of my head: - Italy had fantastic G.55 series of fighters and highly trained airmen. Earned great respect from Luftwaffe fighter pilots that worked with them. - just by existing, the Italian navy > cut off British transport through the Mediterranean and forced them around the African continent > forced the British to commit already limited capital ships to keep Italian battleships in check, keeping them from defending over sea colonies against IJN. - Italian navy had very good costal submarines and world’s best and only experienced human torpedo team at the time. - Italian army had very good equipment for mountain fighting in 1930s, their industry just couldn’t keep up during WWII.
My grandfather (by mother) was an italian soldier in ww2 Who hated fascists and never asked for the party card (you had to have It in order to find a job in most public and private places) and always worked for himself. One day he was forced to become a soldier and sent to Greece where he and other Italians were captured and imprisoned as POW's in an english camp in Greece. He sad they were treated very well and that he had more food there than in the italian army,only suffered the cold. Howewer in 1943 Italy surrendered and the British freed the Italians prisoners and the germans instead started searching Italians to kill them since they were betrayers but the greek popoulation always hiding them,giving them shelter and food and pretending they were their sons,husbands etc and always saying to them "una faccia una razza" meaning One face One race and helping them crossing in other countries too. My grandfather came back home after 2 years of trying to avoid germans when the war was basically over passing from the balcans. In the 80's my mother went to Greece in Summer vacation and she told me that whenever the greeks in front of her understood she was italian they were always saying to her "una faccia una razza" and that thing made her feel powerful emotions thinking of her father. Sorry for the bible here but I wanted to share this story with someone and this video felt appropriate. Honor to my grandfather which died in 2005 when I was 4. Can't wait till all this covid thing is over to come to Greece and visit your beautiful nation.
@ why on earth you are welcome my friend, if you've visit Athens notify me and I'll try to make time to show you around and make you feel like home, greetings from Greece and as always (we still say this to this very day), ουνα φάτσα, ουνα ράτσα αδερφέ μου (una faccia, una raca my brother)
Mr. Anderson - professional catholic monster hunter No I think you're confused, Talia Shire is his aunt not his mom. August Coppola was his father. He was the brother of Francis Ford Coppola and Talia Shire. Jason Schwartzman is Talia's son. Nicholas is a Coppola, his mother was of German and Polish extraction. So Nicholas is half Italian on his father's side and a quarter German and a quarter Polish on his mother's side.
That was the point... the Greeks weren't going to surrender to the namby pamby Italians. The Greeks knew that the Nazi Germans weren't someone to tell to "fuck off." Of course US General Anthony McAuliffe *did* tell the Germans to more or less fuck off at Bastogne but that was another story.
@T. G. Woah woah, sport, yes, the Greeks fought them to the end, I know. But the country was occupied and the government defeated. I know the Greek partisans put up one hell of a fight afterwards. My comment was only to say that the Greeks would only surrender to the Germans, not the Italians.
@@barneybeartilde9601 keep i mind that italian army had some of the bravest soldiers in the whole war its their generals who were stupid idiots Italian army itself was a force to be recon with but they could have had the best army in the world they would still lose because of their stupid ass leaders
@@nikolatodorovic8680 it isn't just leaders, Italy is also had one of the worst tank designs. Also lets keep in mind that Allies controled Gibraltar and suez canal, making their navy fairly limited and lets not forget the Royal navy + later on americas navy.
Captain Corelli's mandolin is a heart-felt movie about the relationship between Greeks and Italians...In 1943, following the breakup between Hitler's Germany and Mussolini's fascist Italy, the Germans massacred about 5,200 soldiers from the Italian "Acqui" division. The Kefalonia massacre is considered one of the Wehrmacht's greatest war crimes in southern Europe. Enemies became allies as Greeks hid Italians to save them from death.
@@kekw6883 OK, these are the same guys who murdered their own population based on appearance and religion. Do you really think it was based on "enemity".
@Shaboi_Mike we had warships without radar in a time when other nations had carriers and radar ... our main fighter was biplane cr.42 until 1942 (fighting Spitfires ... can you imagine ?)
Under the Japanese Imperial occupation of the Philippine Commonwealth. The local civilian government can't say something like that to the Japanese Imperial Army. If you think Germans are barbaric. Check out Imperial Japan.
@@yrlikng5767 First of all learn to respect a nation that has provided so many things in humanity! What does Turkey have to show other than slaughters, wars and brutalities? Science? Culture? Arts? What?
At the German HQ: "General, the Italians are getting ready to attack!" "Oh, then send a Battalion to stop them." "But General, the Italians are fighting on our side" "Good Heavens, then send two Battalions to support them."
My wife and I watched this film at Argostoli cinema on Kefalonia Island on its opening premiere. We were probably the only non-Greeks in the audience. They all erupted into wild applause at the scene where they told the Italian soldiers to "Fuck Off!" This before Nicholas Cage translated their Greek. A wonderful night watching a movie based on their island's own history. Two 20 minute intervals in the middle of the movie and a wobbly 15 mile ride home in the dark on a rented Vespa scooter. A birthday treat never to be forgotten.
I was a small child but I remember back in the day cinema was such an experience, people would shout, applaud and laugh, nowadays (before corona) it has lost the emotions.
@@cyberbeat11 Italy's one of the most multi-lingual nations in the world by my own estimation. It's economy relies so heavily on tourism from countries that mainly speak English. In larger cities, many of the hospitality staff often speak at least a working daily amount of three to four languages. Every waiter in a city speaks English. As native English speakers, it's really easy for some of us to forget (or simply not realize) that most of the non-English speaking world puts massive emphasis on being at least bi-lingual. The world economy relies on English now, and 60 years ago many would have argued French was essential for international business. Spanish is obviously also very helpful just based on how many countries use it as their national language. I don't think backslash used translate either. Two reasons... The name is English and the colon usage. The writer is either telling the truth which is not unlikely or as you said, telling a tall tale (but what would be the point?).
There is an old German military joke about the Italians, and it goes like this; An officer reports to a German General and says "Sir, we are going to war with the Italians." The General responds, "Send five divisions South into Italy, and capture the Tyrol Mountains." The liaison officer replies, "Sir, we are at war with them not against them!" The General shouts "Verdammt! Send the whole Army Group South to assist them!"
I love the scene so much! The island portrayed in the movie is Kefalonia, which is my home island and is often omitted from history despite having a very rich historical past.. My late grandmother - who btw was of italian descent herself - had told me a story about the occupation. When the Axis forces dropped some bombs on the island the people on the city of Lixouri mentioned in the video were offended because they had been dropped on Argostoli which was the capital.. something which people from Lixouri never accepted! So they were actually shouting to the passing planes: "Why are you not bombing our city? We are the real capital and important part, you should not be ignoring us!!!!" This gives you a taste of the people's insane attitude!! When the Italians came to occupy they were hardly seen as conquerors which explains the reactions in the movie. The people knew that the greek army had not been beaten by them plus most of the population was much more sympathetic to them. When the Germans turned on the Italians considering them traitors as is later on shown in the movie, the locals actually helped them hide, fight or escape; my grandmother's family as well since some of her relatives even spoke italian so they could better communicate with the soldiers. After the Nazis sunk a ship full of Italians despite promising to take them home, a monument was erected in their memory which is one of the largest in Argostoli. My grandmother told me her mother wept when she first visited the place. And despite the hatred in the comments by many people.. much love from a Greek who has been in Italia seven times and considers it a second homeland!
Kefalonia? The storyline of Assassin's Creed Odyssey starts there, looks like it's not so unknown after all 🙂 Great story btw, I laughed so hard when you mentioned that the people of Lixouri were angry because the axis didn't bomb them 😂😂
Don't you mean when the Italians turned on the Germans by surrendering to the allies, without telling the Germans first. Also, the ship sunk that was filled with Italian soldiers being brought back to Italy, was sunk by a British sub, not by the Nazis. In the end it is just a movie, though the uniforms are rather good.
Walter Schumann I would not consider surrendering as turning on an allie, also Italian orders after the armistice were just to not attack allied forces and only to return fire if attacked
based on a true story, even if the movie does not re-act history. The real capt. Corelli was named Amos Pampaloni, he survived to the mass extermination of the 33rd division, healed with help of a Greek doctor and then he fought with the Greek resistance and freedom fighters until the end of the war. His wife was indeed a Greek woman. Fun fact: as far as I know, his musical instrument was not a mandolin but an accordion! He died some years ago in Italy.
The first word - άντε - has a double meaning - it can mean both “go” and “hurry up”, so not only are they telling them to go fuck themselves, they’re telling them to hurry up about it too - they have better things to do with their time. It’s a very dismissive way of telling them to fuck off. In fairness to the Italians as has already been pointed out the Italians were generally very tolerant occupiers. The Germans respected the Greeks initially but took no crap from them and behaved appallingly on a number of occasions. In fairness to the Germans there are many stories of German grunts helping locals. One time in Crete a group of locals was hiding from the Germans in the mountains and had a baby with them. As a patrol walked past the baby started crying. Only one of the Germans heard it and instead of alerting the others shouted out in broken Greek “mother choke your baby” (he was probably trying to say “quieten”). When the officer asked him what he said he replied that it was something Greeks said whilst walking in the mountains.
This reminds me when the Americans were encircled and attacked for hours with significant loses in the Ardene forest during the battle of the bulge and then the Germans sent a letter to the American officer telling the him to surrender and the American officer responded simply with one word “Nuts” The Germans were like what the hell does that suppose to mean ?
So, what you're describing specifically happened at the town of Bastogne, Belgium, which was one of the most pivotal strategic points in the Battle of the Bulge, known as "The Siege of Bastogne." The 101st Airborne was tasked with capturing the town, which was well behind enemy lines, and holding it until US forces could reinforce them. They held the town from December 20th to December 27th. They were completely surrounded by the Germans, and due to the weather, they had no air support, so the Germans sent an envoy to demand that they surrender. The response given by the commanding officer of the 101st Airborne to the Germans was, as you have stated, "Nuts" another noteworthy quote from the siege of Bastogne, was when a US soldier had said to one of his fellow soldiers "The Germans have us surrounded" to which the other soldier replied "those poor bastards." The 101st Airborne held the town of Bastogne until Patton's reinforcements pushed back the German offensive during the Battle of the Bulge. Not a single member of the 101st Airborne ever admitted they needed rescuing. In fact, they wouldn't relinquish control of the town to the US reinforcements until they had an officer write out an official document acknowledging they had received the town of Bastogne from the 101st Airborne's custody, signed by the 101st Airborne's commanding officer.
My late father stood on the roadside outside Bardia and watch 35000+ Italians soldiers march peacefully to Alexandria. They did not want to fight Mussolini's war. They were so happy they were now POW's they carried their guards kit. They could have overcome their Australian guards easily who were generally armed only with 303 Lee Enfield rifles. But why - their war was over. They were Italians but they were not stupid!!!
No, they were just cowards that lost the war and decided to switch side. So what if they were on the losing side, where is their sense of pride and honour?
@@Daki55555 My grandfather, rest in peace, fought in the italian army in WW2. He did not know anyone who wanted to fight te war. Not like they had a choice, fight or be a criminal... We have to understand that being drafted does not turn a civilian to a warrior.
@@1yoan3 Wrong....When the British entered in that war the Germans also entered...The Greeks were out of supply with a stretched line due their advance...Also Mussolini called them to fall back instead of keeping their positions (the generals wanted to) so Mussolini's decision saved lots of manpower....There is books about it...Some even made by Greek authors.
@@red36825924 The Italians were good soldiers but they had virtually no modern vehicles and few experienced generals. There were a few instances where German equipped Italian forces went against the allies, including the US, and did quite well. As usual, it was all Mussolini's fault.
@@Elthenar They had modern vehicles but could not keep the pace in production and development of tanks also they didn't got the time as we can see, they did had on fast development new tanks but the fate was sealed and the time was up for them in the war. They did quite well when well supplied too...This Wehraboo nonsense in popular culture needs to stop, that is not how the facts and real history happened. Saying like just add the german army in the equation and magically things will perform better its just straight bullshit. (Just saying)
@@red36825924 First, you are going off the deep end. In no way did I say anything about magic German equipment. Second, Italy had some good stuff but they did not have anything equal to the latest german, Russian, British or US tanks. There stuff still used riveted armor for gods sake. There 90mm gun was every bit as good as the German 88 though. They were highly effective on the Semovente platform but they still had that shit riveted armor and they were too little too late. As you say, Germany started the war before Italy could get it's war manufacturing going. When I talked about the Italians with German gear, I was not talking about any magical supertanks or planes. I was talking about being fully equipped with trucks, mobile artillery, radios and the latest german rifles, stuff none of the Italian troops were getting from Mussolini. Nothing wehraboo about it.
this is pretty accurate when you consider the Greeks kicked Italy's ass so hard that they nearly forced Italy out of Albania (edit) Thx so much for the likes guys
5 лет назад
Twobit Gaming they did force them outta Albania. Hitler almost always had to bail out Mussolini. The Italians in desert is a good example.
TheCommentaryKing and your missing the point completely the fact is that even though Italy wasn’t pushed out of Albania the Greeks a second rate power were somehow able to not only stop Italy’s armies but also go on the attack that’s the impressive thing about it
Twobit Gaming Yeah their bravery is undeniable, but the italian army was under supplied and poorly led. The italians were fighting in mountainous terrain against a well defended opponent, after a rain season. The Greeks were also supported by the British that sent supplies and attacked the italians shipments with the RAF and RN
TheCommentaryKing the Italians had a much much much larger army had a larger economy and whose fault is it that the troops are undersupplied. we don't make up excuses for the Russians when they get their asses kicked why should Italy be different
Greeks were and are the craziest and most brave people to defend their country. "Greeks dont fight like heroes but heroes fight like greeks" Winston Churchil
Bit of historical context here: In 1940 Italy mounted an invasion of northern Greece through Albania, which had been pimped to Mussolini the year before by King Zog. This invasion was entirely unsuccessful, and the Greeks, with British material support, pushed the Italians all the way back into central Albania. Germany, seeing the potential defeat of its ally Italy as a threat to its own interests, joined the war and invaded Greece through its ally Bulgaria. Greece, having no resources left to defend this second front, folded quickly and surrendered to the Axis powers. The scene playing here is on the Greek island of Cephalonia, now about to enter Italian occupation. The Greeks are refusing to surrender to Italy, a nation they feel they comprehensively defeated. They're insisting that the Italians produce a German officer, whom they will surrender to.
Apalaharti Sebuahnama if we lost in Greece initially it is because we were outnumbered. But despite this they suffered our own losses. Nothing comparable to the humiliation suffered by the Soviets against the Finns. Italy. was one of the main powers of the time (and second in the axis in ww2) like now! Respect Italy, the homeland of civilization and strength! 😉 💪🏻🇮🇹❤️ en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wars_involving_Italy, en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_history_of_Italy
@@derpypara1952 nah i think not GESTAPO is secret police so in military purpose they only help to take control of occupied territories of germany such as handling spies,resistance,etc.By the way,Wehrmacht is the true german army while Waffen SS is half military organization.So both of them are responsible to different department.
They really did say it.. in not exact words. But they defeated the Italians, then the Germans came to help Mussolini’s defeat. The Greek war general refused to give the Italians a victory they didn’t earn.
@@sandman3881 they still didnt tell italians to fuck off while surrendering lmfao imagine a troop of men surrounds the building and they say ''fuck off''
My ancestors lived in a region of Turkey was occupied by Italy between 1919-1922. They all told how kind Italians are. As a Turk I must admit that Italians were the most kind and respectful occupaitors
Same here in Greece My grandma’s house was blown up by German soldiers and an Italian officer and his men helped her build a new one Even though it wasn’t a luxurious house it was at least something it was recently demolished as well So I do agree that Italians might have been the kindest occupiers in both Turkey and Greece
@@SpartanLeonidas1821 There were not any ethnic Turkish citizens in Libya in Ottoman Period. The soldiers were Libyan auxilaries, the local authorities were Libyans, even the governors in some period were Arabs. As a Turk I must admit that we did not even thought of sending Turkish governors and military staff to Libya until Italian invasion. To sum up, there were no Turkish "person" in Libya that Italians could be kind to :D
@@tunayumutlu4603 Im saying when they defeated you. Remember that? They took the 12 islands & then the Greeks took them from them when they defeated them in 1940 😃
@@tunayumutlu4603 what are you talking about. Libyas 3rd largest minority is Turkish and was even more so before the disintergration of the Empire. Turks live in Mistata make up around 15% of the population. Furthermore the Italians didn't oppress Turks during the occupation because they were disgruntled with the peace deal (vittoria mutilate). So they even sometimes supported the fledgling Ankara regime. Italians were brutal oppressors when they wanted to, check out Ethiopia. That being said I respect the countries history, people and art. But pretending that they were always sweet is nuts!
When the Greeks are bewting the Italians in Albania the French puts some posters in their border saying "This is French territory Greeks, dont advance further"
I think if that happened in real life the officer would just order his men to set fire to the building. But hey, maybe this Italian was the only man in WW2 who respected the rights of civilians in war time?
Patrick Ellis if we lost in Greece initially it is because we were outnumbered. But despite this they suffered our own losses. Nothing comparable to the humiliation suffered by the Soviets against the Finns. Italy. was one of the main powers of the time (and second in the axis in ww2) like now! Respect Italy, the homeland of civilization and strength! 😉 💪🏻🇮🇹❤️ en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wars_involving_Italy, en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_history_of_Italy
Italians did good when it comes to human rights and geneva convention.. At least in europe. Not many crimes commited and those mostly are some isolated incidents. They even tried to protect the population against germans and took refugees from parts under german occupation. Italian soldiers werent poisoned by that arian bullshit like the germans and didnt want to be in a war.. Especially not against its neighbours.. Many examples of the things i told you during the occupation of Yugoslavia. Also the italians who surrendered to the partisans mostly made it home alive without a scratch while the germans werent that lucky and got shot on the spot unless for officers.. They got shot a bit later.
@@warhund Who told you that, Mussolini? The Italians did commit serious war crimes, however many of them were not punished because the West feared that this would further help the already strong support for communism among the Italian people. Have a gander through the Wikipedia page: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_war_crimes#World_War_II
Italy had good soldiers. They had terrible equipment, bad leadership and inadequate logistics. They would have done a lot better if they had made German Tanks, German weapons and German aircraft. Their biggest problem was that Italy was still very agricultural and had very little industry in 1920-1950s. Most Italian soldiers were using rifles from 1897.
@@leifkhas7425 Yes. Soviets received from US and GB something like 7% of USSR's production. And military combat ammunition and machines - tanks, planes and so on were not the most useful part of that aid, but materials were very important. However, most of the Soviet soldiers used old Russian Mossin 1891 rifles even in Berlin on 1945. And before supporting Soviets US representative Mr. Harriman checked the situation and ensured US Government that USSR is going to win this war even without US aid. And do not forget that the US heavily supplied Germans too starting from1930. For example, the US and GB invested more than 3 bln USD after 1933 into Germany. German bombers bombed GB flying on US fuel from "Standard Oil".
You can tell the German officer was like "What in the absolute fuck is going on here? Why am I here? What the hell is happening? Why are the- just...wha-?" the whole time in his head xD
Kingdom of Greeceball "Every men fight like heroes during a wartime. It's only the lack of leadership that make them look weak." - George Washington 1939
*belgian* haha wtf is that? you mean dutch or french? haha u cant even decide *HAHAH* @CheChenBoyYt he is probs a grill thats pretty wet, cant resist my greek kod body
@@davidd5343 HAHAHAH mate. You are so insanely stupid. 1) how are Greeks gypsies? We are Caucasian 2) Turks are from deep Asia, so their dna is totally different to ours and also they look totally different 3) Greeks and Italians literally look the same. I'm half Italian half Greek and have lived in both countries for many years. Now you uncultured brat go fuck yourself. You're just jelous of our legacy
I visited Kefalonia in 1993 when I was 29yo. I had no idea of this episode and it certainly was not mentioned in the tourist blurb. We travelled every day into Argostoli for breakfast and went up to Fiskardo. The island was undeveloped then and the people very friendly. It was a great holiday..
rjd a as If turkish people just eat kebab they have both cacik caciki or dolma and dolmaki. Actually almost all Turks are Greek because Byzanz was Greek and the Turkish invaders were over 100 years just one million. But culture mixed in Anatolia so greeks became Turks and also they changed language and religion
The Italians were one of the only nations whos soldiers had zero will to fight in that war. They didn't want to be fighting their old allies from the last war, they knew Italy wasn't ready for the war, and they didn't see any dishonor in admitting when they'd lost, hence the sheer number who went "fuck this" and quit while they were ahead. Italian morale and equipment were their main issues, not the quality of their men. It's really hard to fight an offensive war when your army isn't behind it and what little equipment you have for them is often hilariously outdated and/or defective. Comparing them to the fanatics of Japan or Germany just isn't fair because the average Italian wasn't some political fanatic. Those were far, far less common than with their Axis counterparts.
