Nikolas Apelaios II described the days leading up to the Italian attack on Greece, from October 23 to 27, 1940, stating that the Greek ambassador in Rome had informed the government that the attack was expected between October 25 and 28. According to him, Italian reconnaissance aircraft were photographing military points of interest, while senior Greek officials considered the attack imminent. Apelaios reported that on October 24, Ioannis Metaxas recorded in his diary rumors of an attack the next day and informed the chiefs of staff to remain in Athens or to notify where they were. On October 25, according to the post, Metaxas informed the Cabinet about the concentration of Italian troops at the border, and the government rejected both substantial territorial concessions and symbolic gestures toward Italy. He noted that Metaxas and his ministers did not attend the premiere of the opera "Madama Butterfly" at the Royal Theater on October 25, in the presence of Antonio Puccini and Curzio Malaparte. From the government, as he wrote, Deputy Foreign Minister Mavroudis and Deputy Minister of Press Nikolidis attended. The next day, Ambassador Politis reported that the Athens–Rome airline had been suspended until further notice. In his narrative, at the reception of the Italian embassy on October 26, Ambassador Grazzi was often absent, while on the upper floor the ultimatum to Greece was being dictated from Rome. Nikolidis called Metaxas early on October 27 regarding reports of incidents at the border. Apelaios noted that the Athens News Agency denied the news at 04:00, following an order from Metaxas. Apelaios also wrote that, on October 27, Greek and Italian officers met to discuss the incidents, while the Greek government was receiving information about the movements of Italian units towards the border. He added that shortly after Metaxas left his office, information arrived from the Italian embassy that a declaration of war was imminent, but it was decided not to inform him. According to him, the Prime Minister's car departed for Kifisia without him knowing the information. #Ιστορία #Ελλάδα #ΔεύτεροςΠαγκόσμιοςΠόλεμος (translated)
