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The November 18 Hitler-Ciano meeting and Albania

2025-11-02 17:32:00, Opinione Auron Tare

Between the end of October 1940 and April 1941, Southern Albania became one of the most important theaters of the first phase of World War II.

After a long propaganda and psychological campaign aimed at the invasion of Greece, on the morning of October 28, 1940, Italian troops launched an attack along the entire Albanian-Greek border.

Albanian territory served as the main logistical and military base for this operation: the airports of Kuçova, Berat and Gjirokastra, as well as the roads of Këlcyra, Korça and Tepelena, were filled with Italian troops, equipment and supplies.

According to Rome's plan, this was to be a "quick campaign," a passeggiata militare toward Athens. But difficult mountainous terrain, bad weather, lack of preparation, and fierce Greek resistance turned the intervention into a disaster for Italy.

Within a few weeks, the Greeks managed to cross the border and occupy several Albanian cities, such as Gjirokastra, Saranda, and Himara, establishing a bloody front line that lasted until the spring of 1941.

In this context, the Albanian population found itself under the double pressure of the Italian occupation and the consequences of the war on its territory, with mobilizations, military orders and frequent evacuations, depending on the movement of the front.

At the height of the military crisis, Hitler invited Count Galeazzo Ciano, the Italian Foreign Minister and Mussolini's son-in-law, to his mountain residence at Obersalzberg on November 18, 1940.

Ciano, in his diary, describes this meeting with the words: "The atmosphere was heavy", a tense meeting, where deep German disappointment at the ill-considered Italian initiative was felt.

According to his description,

Hitler was frustrated and angry about the invasion of Greece, calling it a strategic mistake that endangered German interests in the Balkans and the Romanian oil fields. He warned that the British entry into Greece would allow them to come "within striking distance" of vital German resources and that, in the event of Italy's failure, Germany would be forced to intervene militarily.

Ciano admitted that the Italian military's outlook was bleak, noting that Berlin was already preparing plans to take control of the situation in the Balkans.

The meeting of November 18 marked a turning point: from that moment on, Germany's role in the Mediterranean and the Balkans became dominant, while Italy, due to Mussolini's unsuccessful adventure, began to be seen as the Axis' weakest partner.