It was October 28th 1940 when Greece entered the WWII after the Greek Prime Minister Ioannis Metaxas refused the Italian ultimatum that demanded free passage in Greek territory for the Italian army that had gathered at the Greek-Albanian borders. The answer “alors c’est la guerre”, “so, it’s war” has been encapsulated in the word “ΟΧΙ”, “No” in Greek.

It was the moment Greeks were united as one leaving behind everything that divided them on any level. This is the reason Greece, unlike any other country in the world, celebrates the day it entered the war instead the end of WWII.

The has become one of the two National Days, along with March 25th the day the Greek Revolution against the Ottoman Turks was declared. On these days there is a parade of the Hellenic Armed Forces, in Thessaloniki on October 28th and in Athens on March 25th.

This year is no exception and without further ado here is live the parade.

The parade traditionally starts with civilian groups and organizations before the main military units.