Netflix Irks Greeks with ‘Weak Resistance’ to Italy’s WWII Invasion

Many Greeks raised their eyebrows when they watched the latest Netflix documentary which describes the resistance to the WWII Italian invasion as “weak.”

The Netflix documentary titled “World War II: From the Frontlines,” claims to bring WWII to life like never before through vividly enhanced archival footage and voices from all sides of the conflict.

The documentary suggests that Italy encountered weak resistance from the Greeks and fails to mention the Greek military’s tenacious defense, overcoming odds to push Mussolini’s forces back into Albania.

History disagrees with Netflix over the 1940 resistance

Historical records show that when Italy attacked Greece on the Albanian front on October 28, 1940, the Greek forces were expecting the move and were well-prepared.

The Greek Army not only repelled the Italians on the Albanian Front but also entered the neighboring country and took back territories that had belonged to Greece.

The failure of Italy to take over Greece forced the Nazis to invade the country months later, wasting men and time they could have used for their main objective, which was to take over Russia, inexorably changing the progression of the war.

Greek resistance to the Axis powers during the Second World War was the longest of all the nations of Western Europe, except the UK, which was never occupied outside of the Channel Islands.

According to historical records, Greece resisted for a total of 219 days against Italy, Germany, Bulgaria, and Albania between October 1940 and April 1941, when Nazi Germany launched a final, massive attack through Bulgaria.

By comparison, the nation of Norway resisted for sixty-three days whereas France, which was a military superpower at the time, managed to hold the Axis powers for only forty-three days.

Controversy over Greek Queen Cleopatra

This is not the first time Netflix has caused controversy. In July of this year, Netflix released Queen Cleopatra, a four-part docuseries exploring the life and reign of the queen.

The series which explores the life of the legendary ruler of Egypt came under fire for historical revisionism. It has been criticized for “blackwashing” due to the decision to depict Cleopatra as black, despite the historical figure being of Greek descent.

Cleopatra VII Philopator belonged to the Ptolemaic dynasty, the Macedonian Greek royal house that ruled Egypt during the Hellenistic period. Cleopatra was the descendent of Ptolemy I Soter, a Macedonian Greek general who served alongside Alexander the Great and founded the Ptolemaic Kingdom in Egypt after Alexander’s death.

Egyptologist Zahi Hawass, a former Minister of State for Antiquities Affairs of Egypt, said he was unhappy with the “completely fake” portrayal of the famous queen, who he alleges was entirely Greek and “not black.”

Hawass accused Netflix of “trying to provoke confusion by spreading false and deceptive facts that the origin of the Egyptian civilization is black.”