The Greek Civil War was fought from 1946-49 between the Greek government army—backed by the United Kingdom and the United States—and the Democratic Army of Greece, the military branch of the Greek Communist Party, backed by the USSR, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, and Albania.
It was the result of a highly polarized struggle between leftists and rightists that started in 1943 and targeted the power vacuum that the German-Italian occupation during World War II had created. One of the first conflicts of the Cold War, according to some analysts it represents the first example of postwar North European and North American involvement in the internal politics of a foreign country.
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It was the result of a highly polarized struggle between leftists and rightists that started in 1943 and targeted the power vacuum that the German-Italian occupation during World War II had created. One of the first conflicts of the Cold War, according to some analysts it represents the first example of postwar North European and North American involvement in the internal politics of a foreign country.
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| Steel-helmeted Elas troops use a corner building as a shelter as they fire at police headquarters during a civil uprising in Athens. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images). 1944 |
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| Greek government commandos near Karpenisi, equipped with British berets and American fur-trimmed jackets. (Photo by Bert Hardy/Picture Post/Getty Images). 22nd May 1948 |
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| A sentry on guard on Mount Likebetos, overlooking the city of Athens. Military forces were employed to guard the city against possible attacks from communist paratrooper guerrillas. (Photo by Chris Ware/Keystone/Getty Images). 1947 |
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| Refugee children in a filthy cellar at Piraeus during the Greek Civil War. (Photo by Haywood Magee/Picture Post/Getty Images). 1st November 1947 |
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| Greek National Guards bring prisoners from guerilla-occupied territory to Drama in northern Greece. (Photo by Bert Hardy/Picture Post/Getty Images). 22nd May 1948 |
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| A Home Guard at Goumenissa, Macedonia, after an Andartes raid during the Greek Civil War. (Photo by Haywood Magee/Picture Post/Getty Images). August 1947 |
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| The Greek army opening fire on guerrilla troops during the Greek Civil War. (Photo by Bert Hardy/Picture Post/Getty Images). 22nd May 1948 |
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| A group of soldiers loading a wounded man on a stretcher into a van during the Greek Civil War. (Photo by Bert Hardy/Picture Post/Getty Images). 22nd May 1948 |
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| A Greek soldier surveys the surrounding mountainside from his tank during the Greek Civil War. (Photo by Bert Hardy/Picture Post/Getty Images). 22nd May 1948 |
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| A pair of Greek soldiers make contact with their troops on a field radio during the Greek Civil War. (Photo by Bert Hardy/Picture Post/Getty Images). 22nd May 1948 |
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| A Greek commando soldier, wearing a fur-collared jacket supplied by the Americans, waits for a guerrilla target to emerge during the Greek Civil War. (Photo by Bert Hardy/Picture Post/Getty Images). 22nd May 1948 |
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| During the Greek Civil War, government troops are instructed to cease travelling and fortify their position during the night, when the guerrilla army is more likely to attack. The last transport of the night makes its way along a lonely mountain road. (Photo by Bert Hardy/Picture Post/Getty Images). 22nd May 1948 |
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| An old Greek woman takes her most precious possession, a calf, loads it onto her donkey and heads away from the battle zone during the Greek Civil War. (Photo by Bert Hardy/Picture Post/Getty Images). 22nd May 1948 |
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| A band of Greek army commandos on the move during the Greek Civil War. (Photo by Bert Hardy/Picture Post/Getty Images). 1948 |
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| A Greek woman checks in with the village patrol for the evening curfew during the Greek Civil War. (Photo by Bert Hardy/Picture Post/Getty Images). 22nd May 1948 |
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| Greek commander General Vadzis holds a conference with General Van Fleet (centre) of the US and Major-General Down (left) of Britain during the Greek Civil War. The interest of the western powers in the conflict lies mainly in preventing the communist forces of Albania, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia from gaining a stronghold in Greece. (Photo by Bert Hardy/Picture Post/Getty Images). 22nd May 1948 |
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| A Greek soldier keeps his machine gun at the ready, on the lookout for guerrilla troops during the Greek Civil War. (Photo by Bert Hardy/Picture Post/Getty Images). 22nd May 1948 |
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| A truck carries a band of government soldiers along a rocky mountain pass during the Greek Civil War. (Photo by Bert Hardy/Picture Post/Getty Images). 22nd May 1948 |
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| Monarchist soldiers armed with a machine gun guarding a mountain garrison at Karpenisi during the Greek Civil War. (Photo by Bert Hardy/Getty Images). 1948 |
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| A mule train carrying ammunition near Papades on Euboia during the Greek Civil War. (Photo by Bert Hardy/Getty Images). 1948 |
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| Officers plan the assault on Mount Kiapha at Mount Lyoku during the Greek Civil War, while a Greek Orthodox priest drinks coffee. Each brigade has a chaplain who travels with them. (Photo by Federico Patellani/Getty Images). 1947 |
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| One exhausted guerrilla fighter surrenders to the Greek army during the Greek Civil War. (Photo by Bert Hardy/Getty Images). 1948 |
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| Greek regular soldiers search a peasant and his wife for arms, which are being smuggled to the Andartes rebels during the Greek Civil War. (Photo by Haywood Magee/Picture Post/Getty Images). October 1947 |
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| Greek soldiers climbing ropes during training by British officers in the Greek civil war. (Photo by Keystone Features/Getty Images). 1947 |
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| A class of recruits in the technical training wing of a Greek training centre are given advice from a British instructor during the civil war. (Photo by Keystone Features/Getty Images). 1947 |
The Greek communists were murderers and not resistance fighters in the least. They killed many Greeks during the occupation and burned many villages. I KNOW! MY GRANDFATHERS WAS ONE OF THEM. So come talk to me about truth. ELAS/OPLA = FRAUD! My father fought for the government army in the Greek civil war. Thank God the left lost. They were nothing but criminals and it is taboo to say. Well, I am saying it!
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely! ELAS burned my mothers village during the occupation and killed many people including her 2 cousins who were teenagers and their father ( my mothers uncle ). Wikepedia states the Germans burned the village. How convenient! Now that almost every old who remembers has passed away they write these lies! What is wrong with us Greeks? What is it with this obsession with communism after all these years? Even communist countries have lost interest in this failed political system. I am not even political but even a blind person can see communism is dead and the criminals that tried to implement it in this country should be taught to children in schools! ELAS was a BIG fraud! Thank goodness the left lost the civil war too. My father fought in it and I am very proud of him for it!
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