Starting the British operation in Greece

 <p>You could tell what the future was thought to hold by the fact that there was interest in doing reconnaissance, looking for good places that might be used in defense during a retreat. This was happening at time when the British were talking with a Yugoslav staff officer about possible cooperation. The Yugoslavs wanted to talk about "maintaining communications with Yugoslavia through Salonika." When General Wavell's Chief of Staff arrived, Wilson and his staff wanted to talk to him about getting some help with the reconnaissance  of the retreat path. While these discussions were underway in Greece, the Italians started a new offensive in Albania where they were fighting a smaller Greek force but not making much progress. While the staff officer was in Greece, Prince Paul of Yugoslavia visited Germany. Yugoslavia's leaders decided to join with Germany. In reaction to the news, a coup was staged in Yugoslavia, putting King Peter in power.</p>

<p>Churchill's natural bent was to be a "wild optimist". ?The news of the coup caused his spirits to soar." Churchill went so far as to think that there was now a good possibility of forming a "Balkan front". Churchill chose to ignore the Turkish position that "they would remain neutral except if attacked". For the Balkan front to be a real possibility, they needed to hold the roads from Greece to Yugoslavia and to hold Salonika. Anthony Eden and General Dill, the CIGS, They decided to make some promises to the Yugoslav government in hopes that they would cooperate against the Germans. The Yugoslavs, though, were not ready to promise any cooperation with Greece. This is  based on the account in "Greece Crete and Syria" by Gavin Long.</p>