OCTOBER 28, 1940! This Day in History § The Morning of OXI Day! At 3:00 am on the morning of October 28, 1940, Italian ambassador Emmanouel Grazzi in Athens gave a war ultimatum , set to expire in three hours, to Greece’s Prime Minister, Ioannis Metaxas at his home in Kifissia. The ultimatum stated that Italy wanted to occupy “some strategic points on Greek territory respecting Greek sovereignty over the rest of the territory.” Greece’s Prime Minister, Ioannis Metaxas carefully read the directive and with a stern voice rejected the ultimatum with the words “Alors, c’est la guerre” (French for “ then it is war!” “ OXI.” At 5:30am on October 28 th , 1940, the Italian army was crossing the border to Albania with Greece. At 6:00am, Metaxas proceeds to a national radio announcement informing the country that Italy had declared war on Greece and called for every Greek man of age to enlist in defense of Greece. Retrospectively, there were many signs of pot