81 years ago we were forced to fight a war we had never wished for. Our small country with outdated armed forces, obsolete arms and no means, had to defend itself from an empire with the most advanced military equipment at that time, and with a mighty power of hundreds of thousands heavily armed troops that they could just walk through!
There
was only one answer against fascism and that answer was heard loud and
clear: OXI ( = No)! Italy had ten times the fire-power of Greece and
overwhelming land, air and sea superiority. But we won. We won
spiritually, psychologically and practically in the extreme cold
mountains and fields of Northern Epirus, nowdays in Albania. It was the
first defeat of the Axis powers and the first liberation of territory
captured by the Axis powers.
The
price paid from both sides was high. Blood, sweat and tears. There is
nothing good at war. No greatness, no pride, no honour! History is full
of it. History is written with blood, sweat and tears...
We
all know that people make the same mistakes again and again, because
they never really learn. Sooner or later we might have to defend our
small homeland from fascism and oppression - once more, and we shall
prevail again, not because we have the strength or the fire-power but
because we have the will to defend ourselves and what is fair and just!
