Whereas the National Fascist Party, headed by Benito Mussolini, imposed totalitarian rule over Italy from 1922 to 1943; Whereas Fascist Italy, in alliance with Nazi Germany, formed the Axis forces and sought to promote fascist and racist policies throughout Europe in the World War II era; Whereas, on October 28, 1940, the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini delivered a 3 a.m. ultimatum to Greek Prime Minister Ioannis Metaxas, demanding he allow Axis forces to enter Greece or face war; Whereas Prime Minister Metaxas answered the Axis force’s request for surrender with one word: Oxi! or No! ; Whereas Italian troops attacked the Greek border hours later, marking the beginning of Greece’s involvement in World War II; Whereas that same morning, thousands of Greek citizens took to the streets, chanting Oxi! , in honor of Prime Minister Metaxas’ refusal to relent to fascism; Whereas after the world watched the Axis forces overwhelm 15 countries in less than a year, Greece became the first to repel the Axis invasion, leading United States President Franklin Roosevelt to say, When the entire world had lost all hope, the Greek people dared to question the invincibility of the German monster, raising against it in the proud spirit of freedom ; Whereas British Prime Minister Winston Churchill observed of the Greek people’s courageous actions, Hence we will not say that Greeks fight like heroes, but that heroes fight like Greeks ; Whereas Nazi forces had to delay their invasion of Russia to intervene in the Greco-Italian War to ensure the ultimate defeat of Greece and the Greek people’s spirited resistance; Whereas this delay caused the Nazi regime to face a brutal Russian winter which hindered their advance and ultimately led to their eventual defeat; Whereas the Greek people’s bravery changed the trajectory of the war, leading Hitler’s Field Marshal and Chief of Staff Wilhelm Keitel to say, The Greeks delayed by two or more vital months the German attack against Russia