Greek Civil War

The Greek Civil War was a war fought between 1942 and 1949. On one side was the conservative part of the Greek society and the armed forces of the Greek government, supported at first by Britain and later by the United States. On the other side was the revolutionary part of the Greek society and the forces of the biggest wartime resistance organization (ELAS) against the German occupation, whose leadership was controlled by the Communist Party of Greece.

Background: 1941-44

The background to the civil war lay in the occupation of Greece by Nazi Germany (and its allies Italy and Bulgaria) from 1941 to 1944. King George II and his government escaped to Egypt, where they set up a government in exile which was recognised by the Allies. The British forced the King to use center wing politicians as ministers. Only two of his ministers were members of the previous dictatoric government. However, for most Greek citizens under occupation this government in exile was too far. On one hand, followers of the left-wing resistance movement claimed it was illegitimate even before the war, since it descended from the dictatorship of General Ioannis Metaxas from 1936 to 1941. On the other hand, its inability to influence the events in Greece rendered it irrelevant in the minds of most Greek people.

Related Topics:
Nazi Germany - Italy - Bulgaria - 1941 - 1944 - King George II - Egypt - Government in exile - Ioannis Metaxas - 1936

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The Germans set up a collaborationist government in Athens, but this government too lacked legitimacy and support, particularly once German economic exploitation of Greece created runaway inflation, acute shortages and eventually famine among the Greek civilian population. Some officers of the pre-War Greek regime served the Germans in various posts. During the war, this government created paramilitary forces armed by the Germans. These forces (whose maximum number was about 14.000 men in 1944) were never used against the allies but only against the pro-communist guerillas. In fact, most of them were ex-criminals.

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This vacuum of power was filled by several resistance movements which began operations shortly after German occupation. The largest of these was the National Liberation Front (in Greek Ethniko Apeleftherotiko Metopo, or EAM), which was founded in September 1941. EAM and its military wing, the Greek National Liberation Army (Ethnikos Laikos Apeleftherotikos Stratos or ELAS), were established by the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), whose acting leader at the time was Giorgios Siantos (its leader, Nikolaos Zachariadis, was in a German prison). Following the Soviet line of a broad united front against fascism, however, EAM succeeded in winning the support of many non-Communists. It expanded into a large popular organisation which although completely controlled by KKE was trying to appear as only an anti royalist democratic movement. Another organization controlled by the Greek communist party was the OPLA(Organization for the protection of the people's fighters). This was acting as a death squad executing mostly political opponents. In the area of Florina there was also the Slavo-Macedonian organization NOF which during the third phase changed its name to SNOF.

Related Topics:
Greek - Ethniko Apeleftherotiko Metopo - 1941 - Ethnikos Laikos Apeleftherotikos Stratos - Communist Party of Greece - Giorgios Siantos - Nikolaos Zachariadis - OPLA - NOF

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EAM and ELAS opposed any other resistance movement. The most important of them were the Greek National Republican League (Ethnikos Dimokratikos Ellinikos Syndesmos or EDES), led by a former army officer, Colonel Napoleon Zervas, and the National and Social Liberation (Ethniki Kai Koinoniki Apeleftherosis, or EKKA), led by Colonel Dimitrios Psaros. EKKA was liberal and republican. EDES was mainly anti-Communist.

Related Topics:
Ethnikos Dimokratikos Ellinikos Syndesmos - Napoleon Zervas - Ethniki Kai Koinoniki Apeleftherosis - Dimitrios Psaros

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The first resistance action took place in Eastern Macedonia when the Germans allowed Bulgarian troops to occupy Greek territories and large demonstrations were organized in Greek Macedonian cities.

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Greece is a country very favourable to guerilla operations, and by 1943 the axis forces and their collaborators controlled only the main towns and connecting roads, leaving the mountainous interior to the resistance. By 1943 ELAS had about 20,000 men under arms, and effectively controlled large areas of the mountainous Peloponnese, Crete, Thessaly and Macedonia. EDES had about 5,000 men, nearly all of them in Epirus. EKKA only had about 1,000 men. At the beginning the British were helping all resistance organizations with money and equipment, since they needed any help against the axis. Later they tried to promote the anticommunist resistance organizations. However, ELAS took control of the weapons of the Italian garrisons in Greece when Italy surrendered (and then switched side)in the summer of 1943. In 1944 ELAS was able to equipe its units with weapons looted by the enemy, while EDES enjoyed some British support.

Related Topics:
1943 - Peloponnese - Crete - Thessaly - Macedonia - Epirus

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There were also right-wing military organisations, such as X ("Khi")in Athens, PAO in Macedonia and others, which although part of the resistance, were accused by EAM that they were armed by the Germans. The fact is that all resistance organizations in Greece were accusing each other for secret agreements, and possible collaboration. The situation and the alliances were quite unstable. The enemy of my enemy maybe wasn't my friend but could be a source of equipment sometimes.

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EAM was the strongest of all resistance organizations and fought against them as well as against the paramilitary forces of the collaborationist government. EAM accused EDES of collaboration with the Germans and was determined to establish a monopoly over the resistance, since it believed that the Allies would soon invade southern Europe through Greece, and wanted to be in a dominant position the day the Germans would leave Greece. This situation led to triangular battles between ELAS, EDES and the Germans. Given the support of the British and the Greek Cairo Government for EDES, these conflicts precipitated a civil war. In October 1943 ELAS attacked its rivals, particularly EDES, precipitating a civil war across many parts of Greece which continued until February 1944, when the British agents in Greece negotiated a ceasefire (the Plaka agreement).

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In March 1944 the EAM, now in control of most of the country, established the Political Committee of National Liberation (Politiki Epitropi Ethnikis Apelevtheroseos, or PEEA), in effect a third Greek government to rival those in Athens and Cairo. Its aims were "to intensify the struggle against the conquerors... for full national liberation, for the consolidation of the independence and integrity of our country... and for the annihilation of domestic Fascism and armed traitor formations." PEEA's first president was Euripides Bakirtzis, the military leader of EKKA. Later on, Alexandros Svolos took his position and Bakirtzis became vice-president.

Related Topics:
1944 - Euripides Bakirtzis - Alexandros Svolos

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The deliberately moderate aims of the PEEA aroused support even among Greeks in exile. In April 1944 the Greek armed forces in Egypt mutinued against the royalist government in exile, demanding that the Government of National Unity should be established based on the PEEA principles. The mutiny was suppressed by British armed units. This episode discredited Greece among the allies. Later on, through political screening of the officers, the Cairo government created staunchly anti-Communist armed forces. In May 1944, representatives from all political groups came together at a conference in Lebanon, seeking an agreement about a government of national unity. Despite EAM's accusations of collaboration against other Greek forces, the conference succeded because of Soviet directives to the KKE to avoid harming Allied unity.

Related Topics:
1944 - Lebanon - KKE

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In Greece under Nazi occupation the struggle was bitter and there was no room for delicate differentiations. All sides burned villages and executed civilians and suspected collaborators. According to KKE "the collaborationist groups such as X, however, used terrorism as a deliberate strategy, while with ELAS fighters it was the result of over-zealous local commanders rather than official policy". The fact is that organization X couldn't burn villages or conduct terrorism since its influence was only in a small part of the Athens center. The execution of the EKKA leader Dimitrios Psaros was one of the most repellent ELAS crimes, according to KKE some of his officers were later proven to be collaborators with the Germans, according to them they were forced to act so only after the ELAS attacks against all non communist resistance organizations.

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