Kingdom of Greece
92-485: Supported by: [REDACTED] Provisional Democratic Government (from 1947) Supported by: War The Greek Civil War ( Greek : Eμφύλιος Πόλεμος , romanized : Emfýlios Pólemos ) took place from 1946 to 1949. The conflict, which erupted shortly after the end of World War II , consisted of a Communist -led uprising against the established government of the Kingdom of Greece . The rebels declared
184-571: A government-in-exile . At the same time, the Germans set up a collaborationist government in Athens , which lacked legitimacy and support. The power vacuum that the occupation created was filled by several resistance movements that ranged from monarchist to Communist in ideology. Resistance was born first in eastern Macedonia and Thrace , where Bulgarian troops occupied Greek territory. Soon large demonstrations were organized in many cities by
276-897: A people's republic , the Provisional Democratic Government of Greece , which was governed by the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) and its military branch, the Democratic Army of Greece (DSE). The rebels were supported by Albania and Yugoslavia . With the support of the United Kingdom and the United States , the Greek government forces ultimately prevailed. The war had its roots in divisions within Greece during World War II between
368-428: A "statement of renouncement of KKE and of the communist ideology," a very humiliating act for a communist at the time. These statements of renouncement, called "declarations of repentance", were then distributed to the authorities in the signatory's home village. These confessions were often publicly published listing both the actions for which the signatory had confessed, as well as wholly fabricated confessions, marking
460-576: A critical role in the civil war. The two other large resistance movements were the National Republican Greek League (EDES), led by republican former army officer Colonel Napoleon Zervas , and the social-liberal EKKA, led by Colonel Dimitrios Psarros. The Greek landscape was favourable to guerrilla operations, and by 1943, the Axis forces and their collaborators were in control only of the main towns and connecting roads, leaving
552-521: A government of national unity consisting of 24 ministers (6 to be EAM members). By 1944, EDES and ELAS each saw the other to be their great enemy. They both saw that the Germans were going to be defeated and were a temporary threat. For the ELAS, the British represented their major problem, even while the majority of Greeks saw the British as their major hope for an end to the war. By the summer of 1944, it
644-548: A long and troubled relationship between Greece and the United States. For several decades to come, the US ambassador advised the king on important issues, such as the appointment of the prime minister. Through 1947, the scale of fighting increased. The DSE launched large-scale attacks on towns across northern Epirus, Thessaly, Peloponnese, and Macedonia, provoking the army into massive counteroffensives, which met no opposition as
736-639: A member of KKE's Central Committee, was nominated Chief ( Kapetanios ) of the ELAS High Command. The military chief, Stefanos Sarafis , was a colonel in the prewar Greek army who had been dismissed during the Metaxas regime for his views. The political chief of EAM was Vasilis Samariniotis ( nom de guerre of Andreas Tzimas ). The Organization for the Protection of the People's Struggle (OPLA)
828-400: A member of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE). During the 1920s and 30s he was jailed several times for different offenses. He became an editor in the communist Rizospastis and wrote several articles supporting socialist revolution. In 1931, an article of Klaras caused the intervention of the authorities, who shut down the newspaper and proceeded to prosecute its editors. The newspaper
920-592: A network of sympathizers and informants in every village and suburb. Among analysts emphasising the KKE's perceived control and guidance by foreign powers, such as the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia, some estimate that of the DSE's 20,000 fighters, 14,000 were Slavic Macedonians from Greek Macedonia. Expanding their reasoning, they conclude that given their important role in the battle, the KKE changed its policy towards them. At
1012-414: A report, stating that "some children have in fact been forcibly removed." The Communist leadership claimed that children evacuated from Greece at the request of "popular organizations and parents". According to other researchers, the Greek government also followed a policy of displacement by adopting children of the guerrillas and placing them in indoctrination camps. According to the official KKE story,
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#17327653089891104-730: A reputation for brutality. As the end of the war approached, the British Foreign Office , fearing a possible Communist upsurge, observed with displeasure the transformation of ELAS into a large-scale conventional army more and more out of Allied control. After the September 8, 1943, Armistice with Italy , ELAS seized control of Italian garrison weapons in the country. In response, the Western Allies began to favor rival anti-Communist resistance groups. They provided them with ammunition, supplies, and logistical support as
1196-456: A way of balancing ELAS's increasing influence. In time, the flow of weapons and funds to ELAS stopped altogether, and rival EDES received the bulk of the Allied support. In mid-1943 the animosity between ELAS and the other movements erupted into armed conflict. The Communists, and EAM and EDS, accused each other of being 'traitors' and 'collaborators'. Other smaller groups, such as EKKA, continued
1288-525: A well. In March 1944, EAM established the Political Committee of National Liberation ( Politiki Epitropi Ethnikis Apeleftherosis , or PEEA), in effect a third Greek government to rival those in Athens and Cairo. PEEA was dominated by, but not composed exclusively of Communists. The movement threatened Allied unity, angering Great Britain and the United States. British and Greek troops loyal to
1380-556: The nom de guerre Aris Velouchiotis ( Greek : Άρης Βελουχιώτης ), was a Greek journalist, politician, member of the Communist Party of Greece , the most prominent leader and chief instigator of the Greek People's Liberation Army (ELAS) and the military branch of the National Liberation Front (EAM), which was the major resistance organization in occupied Greece from 1942 to 1945. Athanasios Klaras
1472-530: The Defenders of Northern Greece (YVE), a patriotic organization. However, the largest group to emerge was the National Liberation Front (EAM), founded on 27 September 1941 by representatives of four left-wing parties. Although controlled by the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), the organization had democratic republican rhetoric. Its military wing, ELAS was founded in February 1942. Aris Velouchiotis ,
1564-808: The Greek Civil War . The government controlled various mountainous areas along Greece's northern border, adjoining the communist states of SFR Yugoslavia and Albania , and was seen as the succession of the World War II -era " Mountain Government " of the Communist-led EAM-ELAS Resistance movement . Its main allies were the USSR and the Eastern Bloc . The Greek Civil War had broken out in spring 1946, but it
1656-640: The March 1946 elections , which were won by the monarchist United Alignment of Nationalists ( Inomeni Parataxis Ethnikofronon ), the main member of which was Konstantinos Tsaldaris 's People's Party . The KKE reversed its former political position after the arrival of Zachariadis. The change of political attitude and the choice to escalate the crisis derived primarily from the conclusion that regime subversion, which had not been successful in December 1944, could now be achieved. A referendum in September 1946 favored
1748-699: The Political Committee of National Liberation (PEEA). Velouchiotis passed from Central Greece to Peloponnese to clear the region from the Security Battalions , and fought several battles against them. The British, with units of the Greek Army, were landed in Greece ( Operation Manna ) and a new government was formed under Georgios Papandreou , the leader of the Greek National Unity Government, which
1840-465: The Red Terror . In his memories he appreciates his military abilities. However, he was a man of strong patriotic beliefs. He was especially strict to Greeks who sought collaboration with the occupying forces, with his companions who broke the organized discipline, and people who approved the involvement of the British in Greek politics since he considered the British a threat to the patriotic cause of
1932-514: The Soviet Communist Party , and its leader, Nikos Zachariadis, had visited Moscow on more than one occasion. No evidence exists of mercenaries, although the guerrillas received various types of assistance from their Balkan Communist neighbours. One example of an international volunteer joining the ranks of the DSE was Turkish Communist Mihri Belli . By late 1946, the DSE was able to deploy about 16,000 partisans, including 5,000 in
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#17327653089892024-625: The Soviet Union , the Greek Communist Party championed the creation of the National Liberation Front (EAM), and Klaras was sent to Central Greece (Greek Roumeli) to assess the potential for the development of a guerrilla movement against the occupation forces in this area. His proposals were adopted by the party, and in January 1942, Klaras moved to the mountains to start setting up guerrilla groups. The first appearance of
2116-623: The partisans organised by Klaras occurred on June 7, 1942, in the village of Domnista in Evrytania in Central Greece. There he presented himself as Major of Artillery (for gaining extra prestige among the villagers) with the nom de guerre of Aris Velouchiotis (from Ares , the Hellenic god of war, and Velouchi , a local mountain) and proclaimed the existence of the Greek People's Liberation Army (ELAS). Initially, he collected also
2208-494: The Allied Middle East High Command under General Wilson (the " National Bands Agreement "), in the political field, the mutual mistrust between EAM and the other groups escalated. EAM-ELAS was by now the dominant political and military force in Greece, and EDES and EKKA, along with the British and the Greek government-in-exile, feared that after the inevitable German withdrawal, it would try to dominate
2300-701: The Balkans with southern Greece, but did not disrupt any supply lines—as would have been the case had it happened, as the British intended, two months earlier—to Erwin Rommel 's German forces in Northern Africa , as it took place one month after the commencement of the El Alamein battle on October 23, 1942, in which Rommel was badly defeated by the British. The destruction of the Gorgopotamos viaduct
2392-469: The British, agreed to participate alongside Napoleon Zervas 's republican EDES resistance forces and twelve British saboteurs under the leadership of Major E. C. W. "Eddie" Myers ) was the blowing-up of the Gorgopotamos railway viaduct, south of Lamia, on November 25, 1942 ( Operation Harling ). The destruction of the viaduct cut the single Thessaloniki - Athens rail line, thus the line connecting
2484-665: The Communist-dominated left-wing resistance organisation, the EAM - ELAS , and loosely-allied anti-communist resistance forces. It later escalated into a major civil war between the Greek state and the Communists. The DSE was defeated by the Hellenic Army . The war resulted from a highly polarized struggle between left and right ideologies that started when each side targeted the power vacuum resulting from
2576-452: The DSE attacked the town of Konitsa , intending to seize the city as the new government's headquarters. According to testimony by Vafiadis, Zachariadis had expressed the hope that if the city fell and became the Communists' capital, the PDG would be recognized by the Soviet Union and other Eastern Bloc states. The attack lasted until 4 January 1948, but ended in failure. In the end, the PDG
2668-521: The DSE melted back into the mountains and its safe havens across the northern borders. In the Peloponnese, where General Georgios Stanotas was appointed area commander, the DSE suffered heavily, with no way to escape to mainland Greece. In general, army morale was low, and it would be some time before US support became apparent. In September 1947, however, the KKE's leadership decided to move from guerrilla tactics to fullscale conventional war despite
2760-627: The EAM/ELAS and subsequently of the Communist party itself (after the end of the Greek military junta ), busts and statues of Aris Velouchiotis have been erected in his native town. Recently the KKE moved discreetly for Velouchiotis' rehabilitation, following in turn the expulsion of the KKE's wartime leader (who had denounced him), Nikos Zachariadis. Velouchiotis is one of the most controversial figures of modern Greek history. His personality and action
2852-613: The KKE had in total 400,000 members (or 800,000, according to some sources) immediately prior to December 1944 and that during the Civil War, 100,000 ELAS fighters, mostly KKE members, were imprisoned, and 3,000 were executed. Supporters emphasise instead the DSE's conduct of a war effort across the country aimed at "a free and liberated Greece from all protectors that will have all the nationalities working under one Socialist State". DSE divisions conducted guerrilla warfare across Greece. III Division, with 20,000 men in 1948, controlled 70% of
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2944-551: The KKE's political defeat into a military one. The ELAS's existence was terminated. The amnesty was not comprehensive because many actions during the German occupation and the Dekemvriana were classified as criminal, exempting the perpetrators from the amnesty. Lawsuits for criminal offences began to be filed. It is estimated that around 80,000 people were prosecuted. As a result, a number of veteran partisans hid their weapons in
3036-569: The Mediterranean". (Stalin used the word svernut , Russian for "fold up", to express what the Greek Communists should do.) Yugoslavia had been the Greek Communists' main supporter from the years of the occupation. The KKE thus had to choose between its loyalty to the Soviet Union and its relations with its closest ally. After some internal conflict, the great majority, led by party secretary Nikolaos Zachariadis, chose to follow
3128-502: The National Resistance arms; particularly moving was the sight of his elite massed Mavroskoufides (Black Berets) openly mourning. He was outmaneuvered by the KKE leadership and resolved to leave Greece; he repeatedly requested permission from the party to be allowed to depart, but was refused. His intention was to create a new ELAS and a National Independence Front (MEA). Though most of his associates abandoned him, he
3220-406: The Peloponnese and other areas of Greece. According to the DSE, its fighters "resisted the reign of terror that right-wing gangs conducted across Greece". In the Peloponnese especially, local party officials, headed by Vangelis Rogakos, had established a plan long before the decision to go to guerrilla war under which the numbers of partisans operating in the mainland would be inversely proportional to
3312-410: The Peloponnese countryside areas close to garrisoned German units, intending to ensure civilian allegiance. As the Communist position strengthened, so did the numbers of the "Security Battalions", with both sides engaged in skirmishes. The most notorious example of these skirmishes is Battle of Meligalas . The ELAS victory was followed by a massacre, during which prisoners and civilians were executed near
3404-501: The Peloponnese politically and militarily; battalions named after ELAS formations were active in northwestern Greece, and in the islands of Lesvos, Limnos, Ikaria, Samos, Crete, and Evoia, and the bulk of the Ionian Islands. Advisers, funds, and equipment were now flooding into the country from Western Allies, and under their guidance the Greek army launched a series of major offensives into the mountains of central Greece. Although
3496-540: The Peloponnese. In February 1945, the various Greek parties signed the Treaty of Varkiza , with the support of all the Allies. It provided for the complete demobilisation of the ELAS and all other paramilitary groups, amnesty for only political offenses, a referendum on the monarchy and a general election to be held as soon as possible. The KKE remained legal and its leader, Nikolaos Zachariadis , who returned from Dachau at
3588-501: The Provisional Government issued a directive for the evacuation of all minors from 4 to 14 years old for protection from the war and problems linked to it, as was stated clearly according to the decisions of the Provisional Government on March 7, 1948. According to non-KKE accounts, the children were abducted to be indoctrinated as Communist Janissaries . Several United Nations General Assembly resolutions appealed for
3680-703: The Soviet Union and its satellites broke off relations with Tito. In one of the meetings held in the Kremlin with Yugoslav representatives, during the Soviet-Yugoslav crisis, Stalin stated his unqualified opposition to the "Greek uprising". Stalin explained to the Yugoslav delegation that the situation in Greece had always been different from the one in Yugoslavia because the US and Britain would "never permit [Greece] to break off their lines of communication in
3772-427: The Soviet Union. In January 1949, Vafiadis was removed from his political and military positions, to be replaced by Zachariadis. Provisional Democratic Government The Provisional Democratic Government ( Greek : Προσωρινή Δημοκρατική Κυβέρνηση , romanized : Prosoriní Dimokratikí Kyvérnisi ) was the name of the administration declared by the Communist Party of Greece on 24 December 1947, during
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3864-461: The Yugoslav and Albanian borders. They were now organized as the Democratic Army of Greece ( Dimokratikos Stratos Elladas , DSE). ELAS veteran Markos Vafiadis (known as "General Markos") was sent by the KKE to organize already existing troops, and took command from a base in Yugoslavia. The Yugoslav and Albanian Communist governments supported the DSE fighters, but the Soviet Union remained ambivalent. The KKE kept an open line of communication with
3956-510: The anti-occupation fight with sabotage and other actions. By 1944, ELAS had the numerical advantage in armed fighters, having more than 50,000 of them and an extra 500,000 working as reserves or logistical support personnel ( Efedrikos ELAS ). In contrast, EDES and EKKA had around 10,000 fighters each. After the declaration of the formation of the Security Battalions, KKE and EAM implemented a pre-emptive policy of terror, mainly in
4048-679: The area, blocking the way of the demonstrators. The shootings began when the marchers had arrived at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier , in front of the Royal palace, above Syntagma Square . More than 28 demonstrators were killed, and 148 were injured. This signaled the beginning of the Dekemvriana ( Greek : Δεκεμβριανά , "the December events"), a 37-day period of full-scale fighting in Athens between EAM fighters and smaller parts of ELAS and
4140-725: The capital from the country, or us who are stuck on our doorsteps here?......" From Velouchiotis speech in Lamia During the Dekemvriana events in Athens, he was sent by the Party to Epirus, where he attacked the forces of Zervas' EDES , which evacuated the region of Epirus and passed to the Ionian islands. When the Varkiza Agreement was signed to end the fighting between EAM forces and governmental and British forces in Athens, he personally with General Sarafis signed
4232-584: The collaborationist government sought to combat the rising influence of the EAM, and was fearful of an eventual takeover after the German defeat. In 1943, he authorised the creation of paramilitary forces, known as the Security Battalions . Numbering 20,000 at their peak in 1944, composed mostly of local fascists , convicts, sympathetic prisoners of war, and forcibly impressed conscripts, they operated under German command in Nazi security warfare operations and soon achieved
4324-499: The command of a British officer, General Ronald Scobie . The Western Allies arrived in Greece in October, by which time the Germans were in full retreat and most of Greece's territory had already been liberated by Greek partisans. On October 13, British troops entered Athens, the only area still occupied by the Germans, and Papandreou and his ministers followed six days later. There was little to prevent ELAS from taking full control of
4416-413: The constitution of a National Guard under government control. The Communists, believing that it would leave the ELAS defenseless against its opponents, submitted an alternative plan of total and simultaneous disarmament, but Papandreou rejected it, causing EAM ministers to resign from the government on December 2. On December 1, Scobie issued a proclamation calling for the dissolution of ELAS. Command of ELAS
4508-461: The country and establish a soviet regime The rift ultimately led to a civil war in late 1943 and early 1944, in which ELAS attacked EDES , EOEA and destroyed EKKA 's 5/42 Evzones Regiment, executing its leader Col. Dimitrios Psarros . In October 1944, when the Nazis evacuated Greece, ELAS was the dominant force in most of the Greek cities, except Athens, while EAM had established its own government,
4600-593: The country. With the German withdrawal, ELAS units had taken control of the countryside and most cities. The issue of disarming the resistance organizations was a cause of friction between the Papandreou government and its EAM members. Advised by British ambassador Reginald Leeper , Papandreou demanded the disarmament of all armed forces apart from the Sacred Band and the III Mountain Brigade and
4692-512: The demobilization of the ELAS army. However, afterwards, he vehemently refused to comply with the agreement, which he regarded as a betrayal of the guerillas. The leadership of the Communist Party, under Nikos Zachariadis , consequently accused him of treachery and of being a "suspicious and adventurous element" and spurned him as a member of KKE. The Communist Party was always suspicious of Velouchiotis's actions even though he had been
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#17327653089894784-412: The end of Axis occupation (1941–1944) during World War II. The struggle was the first proxy conflict of the Cold War and represents the first example of postwar involvement on the part of the Allies in the internal affairs of a foreign country, an implementation of the containment policy suggested by US diplomat George F. Kennan in his Long Telegram of February 1946. The Greek royal government in
4876-409: The end of May 1945, formally stated that the KKE's objective was now for a "people's democracy" to be achieved by peaceful means. There were dissenters such as former ELAS leader Aris Velouchiotis. The KKE disavowed Velouchiotis when he called on the veteran guerrillas to start a second struggle; shortly afterwards, he committed suicide surrounded by security forces. The Treaty of Varkiza transformed
4968-464: The end was funded by the United States (through the Truman Doctrine of 1947 and the Marshall Plan of 1948) and joined NATO (1952), while the insurgents were demoralized by the bitter split between the Soviet Union's Joseph Stalin , who wanted to end the war, and Yugoslavia's Josip Broz Tito , who wanted it to continue. While Axis forces approached Athens in April 1941, King George II and his government escaped to Egypt , where they proclaimed
5060-442: The exiled government moved to suppress the PEEA. Approximately 5,000 Greek soldiers and officers were disarmed and deported to prison camps. After the mutiny, Allied economic aid to the EAM almost stopped. In May 1944, representatives from all political parties and resistance groups came together at the Lebanon Conference under the leadership of Georgios Papandreou . The conference ended with an agreement (the National Contract) for
5152-530: The fifth Plenum of KKE on January 31, 1949, a resolution was passed declaring that after KKE's victory, the Slavic Macedonians would find their national restoration within a united Greek state. The alliance of the DSE with the Slavic Macedonians caused the official Greek state propaganda to call the Communist guerrillas Eamovulgari (from EAM plus Bulgarians). The Communists called their opponents Monarchofasistes (monarchist fascists). The extent of such involvement remains contentious and unclear; some emphasize that
5244-423: The forces of the British army and the government. Conflicts continued throughout December with the forces confronting the EAM slowly gaining the upper hand. By 12 December, ΕΑΜ was in control of most of Athens, Piraeus and the suburbs. The government and British forces were confined only in the centre of Athens, in an area that was ironically called Scobia (Scobie's country) by the guerrillas. The British, alarmed by
5336-416: The founder of ELAS because of his status as a simple party member, his old renouncement of the party and his fickle character. Velouchiotis moved again to the mountains of Central Greece in order to start an insurgency (see Greek Civil War ) against the new government and the British allies who supported them. He was reported to have denounced the sell-out to the British in the Varkiza Agreement to lay down
5428-414: The heads displayed (a practice of the pre-war Greek State and Police for the common mountain bandits), hanging from a lamp post in the central square of the town of Trikala . When British Labour government members of Parliament objected to the barbarity of the operation, they received the reply that the display was in accordance to an "ancient Greek war custom". Following the rehabilitation in Greece of
5520-457: The initial successes of EAM-ELAS and outnumbered, flew in the 4th Indian Infantry Division from Italy as emergency reinforcements. By early January, EAM forces had lost the battle. Despite Churchill's intervention, Papandreou resigned and was replaced by Lieutenant General Nikolaos Plastiras. On 15 January 1945, Scobie agreed to a ceasefire in exchange for the ELAS's withdrawal from its positions at Patras and Thessaloniki and its demobilization in
5612-478: The instability that would characterise the country's political life. Fighting resumed in March 1946, as a group of 30 ex-ELAS members attacked a police station in the village of Litochoro , killing the policemen, the night before the elections. The next day, the Rizospastis , the KKE's official newspaper, announced, "Authorities and gangs fabricate alleged communist attacks". Armed bands of ELAS' veterans were then infiltrating Greece through mountainous regions near
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#17327653089895704-410: The main unit, and finally, he committed suicide with his comrade, either by a hand grenade or by a bullet, on the same day he learned that he was denounced by the communist party. Rumours want him to "have committed suicide with his commander Tzavellas when his thoughts were that there is no better future for his revolution". The corpses of Velouchiotis and Tzavellas were subsequently decapitated, and
5796-420: The mountainous countryside to the resistance. EAM-ELAS in particular controlled most of the country's mountainous interior, while EDES was limited to Epirus and EKKA to eastern Central Greece . By early 1944, ELAS could call on nearly 25,000 fighters, with another 80,000 working as reserves or logistical support. EDES had roughly 10,000 members, and EKKA had under 10,000. Ioannis Rallis , the Prime Minister of
5888-429: The mountains, and 5,000 of them escaped to Yugoslavia although that was not encouraged by the KKE's leadership. In 1945 and 1946, anti-communist forces allegedly killed about 1,190 Communist civilians and tortured many others. Entire villages that had helped the partisans were attacked. Some claimed that anti-communist forces admitted that they were "retaliating" for their suffering under ELAS rule. The KKE boycotted
5980-680: The new government would base itself. The new government's formation was announced on 23 December 1947, with Markos Vafiadis , the leader of the Communists' Democratic Army of Greece (DSE), as its first chairman. The government was composed exclusively of Party members, with Giannis Ioannidis serving as Vice Chairman and Foreign minister, Petros Rousos as Justice Minister, Miltiadis Porfyrogennis as Health and Welfare Minister, Petros Kokkalis as Finance Minister, Vassilis Bartziotas as Agriculture Minister, Dimitris Vlantas as Minister of National Economy and Leonidas Stringos as Minister of Supply. Notably, Party General Secretary Nikolaos Zachariadis
6072-461: The number of soldiers that the enemy would concentrate in the region. According to the study, the DSE III Division in the Peloponnese numbered between 1,000 and 5,000 fighters in early 1948. Rural peasants were caught in the crossfire. When DSE partisans entered a village asking for supplies, citizens were supportive (in previous years, EAM could count on two million members across the whole country) or did not resist. When government troops arrived at
6164-408: The offensives did not achieve all their objectives, they inflicted serious defeats on the DSE. The removal of children by both sides was another highly emotive and contentious issue. About 30,000 children were forcibly taken by the DSE from territories they controlled to Eastern Bloc countries. The issue drew the attention of international public opinion, and a United Nations Special Committee issued
6256-425: The opposition of Vafiadis. In December, the KKE announced the formation of a Provisional Democratic Government, with Vafiadis as prime minister; that led the Athens government to ban the KKE. No foreign government recognized this government. The new strategy led the DSE into costly attempts to seize a major town as its seat of government, and in December 1947, 1,200 DSE fighters were killed in the Battle of Konitsa . At
6348-538: The pursuit of the war. Finally, he was ousted from his position as PDG chairman on 7 February 1949. In 3 April 1949, he was succeeded by Dimitrios Partsalidis . Following defeat by government forces in the Battle of Grammos , the Provisional Democratic Government was defeated in the Civil War and left Greece on 28 August 1949. The PDG survived in exile until they were finally dissolved in October 1950. Aris Velouchiotis Athanasios Klaras ( Greek : Αθανάσιος Κλάρας ; August 27, 1905 – June 15, 1945), better known by
6440-399: The repatriation of children to their homes. After 50 years, more information regarding the children gradually emerged. Many returned to Greece between 1975 and 1990, with varied views and attitudes toward the Communist faction. Also, however, a UN committee reported at that time " Queen Frederica has already prepared special 'reform camps' in Greek islands for 12,000 Greek children..." During
6532-490: The retention of the monarchy, but the KKE claimed that it had been rigged. King George returned to Athens. The king's return to Greece reinforced British influence in the country. Nigel Clive, then a liaison officer to the Greek government and later the head of the Athens station of MI6, stated, "Greece was a kind of British protectorate, but the British ambassador was not a colonial governor." There were to be six changes of prime ministers within just two years, an indication of
6624-467: The same time, the strategy forced the government to increase the size of the army. With control of the major cities, the government cracked down on KKE members and sympathizers, many of whom were imprisoned on the island of Makronisos . Despite setbacks, such as the defeat at Konitsa, the DSE reached the height of its power in 1948, extending its operations to Attica , within 20 km of Athens. It drew on more than 20,000 fighters, both men and women, and
6716-491: The same village, citizens who had supplied the partisans were immediately denounced as Communist sympathizers and usually imprisoned or exiled. In rural areas, the government also used a strategy, which had been advised by US advisers, of evacuating villages under the pretext that they were under direct threat of Communist attack. That would deprive the partisans of supplies and recruits and simultaneously raise antipathy towards them. The Greek Army now numbered about 90,000 men and
6808-828: The signatories as dilosias (renegades) in their home villages. This left a mark on Velouchiotis' name, both with those supporting the Metaxas dictatorship, but also from the communists, who saw his declaration as a capitulation. During World War II, he fought as an artillery private of the Hellenic Army at the Albanian front against the Italian army, until the German invasion in April 1941 and Greece's subsequent surrender and occupation . After Germany's offensive campaign in
6900-464: The traditional local mountain living bandits in order to create a small group of experts in guerrilla fighting. Velouchiotis as a leader applied steely discipline and managed to have under his commands a considerable number of guerillas. Starting with only 15 men, ELAS' power finally comprised up to 50,000 guerillas. One of the most important early operations of the Greek resistance movement (in which Velouchiotis and his fighters, after negotiations with
6992-422: The war, more than 25,000 children, most with parents in the DSE, were also placed in 30 "child towns" under the immediate control of Queen Frederica, something especially emphasised by the left. After 50 years, some of these children, given up for adoption to American families, were retracing their family background in Greece. The insurgents were demoralised by the bitter split between Stalin and Tito. In June 1948,
7084-580: Was KKE's greatest source of strength, and KKE leader Siantos decided that the demand for ELAS's dissolution must be resisted. On December 1, 1944, the Greek"National Unity" government of under Papandreou announced an ultimatum for the general disarmament by 10 December of all guerrilla forces excluding the tactical forces (the III Greek Mountain Brigade and the Sacred Band); and also a part of EDES and ELAS that would be used, if it
7176-599: Was an "unprecedented witch-hunt" against Greek communists. Velouchiotis was arrested for his communist ideas at the end of 1936 and jailed in Aegina , where he was tortured under the police interrogation techniques refined by Konstantinos Maniadakis , the Minister of Security. He managed to escape during transport from Aegina to Athens for trial in 1937, but was arrested soon thereafter and sent back to Aegina for an additional four years. He remained imprisoned there until signing
7268-536: Was born in Lamia , Greece in 1905, to an upper urban class family of Aromanian origin. His father was Dimitrios Klaras, a well-known lawyer in the area and his mother was Aglaia Zerva. Initially Klaras studied journalism, but later attended and graduated from the Geoponic School of Larissa . He left for Athens, where he did various jobs, participated in the leftist and antimilitary movement and later became
7360-546: Was established following the Treaties of Lebanon and Caserta . Velouchiotis returned to Central Greece and made a speech in his native town, Lamia. ".......Who therefore is a patriot? They or us? Capital doesn't have a country and seeks profit in whatever country it is able to. That is why it isn't concerned for the existence of borders and the state. But all we own are our hats and the small kerb in front of us ...So, who can be interested more in their country? They, who remove
7452-549: Was founded as EAM's security militia, operating mainly in the occupied cities and most particularly Athens. A small Greek People's Liberation Navy (ELAN) was created, operating mostly around the Ionian Islands and some other coastal areas. Other Communist-aligned organizations were present, including the National Liberation Front (NOF), composed mostly of Slavic Macedonians in the Florina region. They would later play
7544-426: Was gradually being put on a more professional footing. The task of re-equipping and training the army had been carried out by its fellow Western Allies. By early 1947, however, Britain, which had spent £85 million in Greece since 1944, could no longer afford this burden. US President Harry S. Truman announced that the United States would step in to support the Greek government against Communist pressure. That began
7636-410: Was mythologized during his life and after his death. Supporters consider him a symbol of Greek resistance against the occupying powers , the founder and creator of the biggest guerrilla army in the Greek history ( ELAS ) and a hero of the communist cause. Critics see him as a perpetrator of atrocities and murders against rural people who were perceived as opponents of communism ; a basic instigator of
7728-665: Was necessary, in Allied operations in Crete and Dodecanese against the remaining German Army units. The EAM called for a general strike and announced the reorganization of the Central Committee of ELAS. A demonstration, forbidden by the government, was organised by EAM on December 3. The demonstration involved at least 200,000 people marching in Athens on Panepistimiou Street towards the Syntagma Square . British tanks along with police units had been scattered around
7820-603: Was never recognized by any government, because the Soviets feared a widening of the conflict into general warfare between the West and their satellite states in the Balkans . Soviet premier Joseph Stalin told Zachariadis in February 1948 that the neighbouring governments would only recognize the PDG after other countries had first done so. As the national government pushed the DSE back in 1948, Vafiadis clashed with Zachariadis over
7912-504: Was not a member of the government. The new government actively tried to present itself as a revival of the ideology and practices World War II -era National Liberation Front , which had dominated the Greek Resistance movement. It was also notable for its active protection of the minorities living in northern Greece, especially as these tended to support the Communists against the nationalist royal government. On 25 December,
8004-517: Was not only a renunciation of any chances of reconciliation with the royal government in Athens, but also implied also a move away from guerrilla warfare towards a more "regular" structure. This was in accordance with the Yugoslav-inspired "Lakes Plan", which envisaged the creation of a regular army of 50,000–60,000 men and the occupation of large parts of northern Greece, ultimately including Greece's second largest city, Thessaloniki , where
8096-539: Was not until June 1947 that the Greek Communists announced their intention to form a separate government. This move was announced by leading Party member Miltiadis Porfyrogennis at the Congress of the French Communist Party , in a move designed to garner publicity and highlight the support of other Communist parties and governments to the Greek Communists' cause. The formation of a separate government
8188-479: Was obvious that the Germans would soon withdraw from Greece, as Soviet forces were advancing into Romania and towards Yugoslavia , threatening to cut off the retreating Germans. The government-in-exile, now led by prominent liberal Georgios Papandreou, moved to Italy, in preparation for its return to Greece. Under the Caserta Agreement of September 1944, all resistance forces in Greece were placed under
8280-514: Was reported to have continued to conduct guerrilla activities until June 1945. He was denounced by the KKE Central Committee and increasingly isolated, until he was ambushed with his unit in the mountain of Agrafa (some say that he was set up or even betrayed by KKE contacts) by para-military groups controlled by the Athens government. Aris and his second in command, Giannis Aggeletos (nom de guerre: Leon Tzavellas), were isolated by
8372-436: Was republished as Neos Rizospastis . "If there is a moment in my life which I see with pride is when I entered the communist party.......It is honour for me and the communist party, because I survived from the corruption of my consciousness and I adorned Klaras, who was a lost case, with only pure revolutionary characteristics." From a letter of Klaras to Rizospastis , 1931 During the Metaxas regime (1936–1941), there
8464-625: Was to be the last operation where the communist-influenced ELAS organization fought alongside Greek Republican resistance forces, such as the EKKA 's 5/42 Evzones Regiment (military arm of EKKA) and EOEA (National Groups of Greek Guerillas, Εthnikes Omades Ellinon Antarton , military arm of EDES ). But despite the signing of an agreement in July 1943 between the three main Resistance groups (EAM/ELAS, EDES and EKKA) to cooperate and to subject themselves to
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