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The power vacuum that the occupation created was filled by several resistance movements that ranged from royalist to communist ideologies. Resistance was born first in eastern Macedonia and Thrace, where Bulgarian troops occupied Greek territory. Soon large demonstrations were organized in many cities by the (YVE), a patriotic organization.

However, the largest group to emerge was the (EAM), founded on 27 September 1941 by representatives of four left-wing parties. Proclaiming that it followed the Soviet policy of creating a broad against fascism, EAM won the support of many noncommunist patriots.

These resistance groups launched attacks against the occupying powers and set up large espionage networks. The communist leaders of EAM, however, had planned to dominate in postwar Greece, so, usually by force, they tried to take over or destroy the other Greek resistance groups (such as the destruction of (EKKA) and the murder of its leader, by ELAS partisans) [ ] and undertaking a campaign of. When liberation came in October 1944, Greece was in a state of crisis, which soon led to the outbreak of civil war.

Although controlled by the KKE, the organization had democratic rhetoric. [ ] Its military wing, the (ELAS) was founded in February 1942., a member of KKE's Central Committee, was nominated Chief ( Kapetanios) of the ELAS High Command. The military chief,, was a colonel in the prewar Greek army who had been dismissed during the for his views.

The political chief of EAM was Vasilis Samariniotis ( nom de guerre of ). The (OPLA) was founded as EAM's security militia, operating mainly in the occupied cities and most particularly Athens. A small (ELAN) was created, operating mostly around the Ionian Islands and some other coastal areas. Other Communist-aligned organizations were present, including the (NOF), comprised mostly by in the region. They would later play a critical role in the civil war. The two other large resistance movements were the (EDES), led by republican former army officer Col., and the social-liberal EKKA, led by Col..

Guerrilla control over rural areas [ ]. Guerillas of 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 the mountainous countryside to the resistance.

[ ] EAM-ELAS in particular controlled most of the country's mountainous interior, while EDES was limited to and EKKA to eastern. [ ] By early 1944 ELAS could call on nearly 25,000 men under arms, with another 80,000 working as reserves or logistical support, EDES roughly 10,000 men, and EKKA under 10,000 men. [ ] To combat the rising influence of the EAM, and fearful of an eventual takeover after the German defeat, in 1943,, the Prime Minister of the collaborationist government, authorised the creation of paramilitary forces, known as the. 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 anti-partisan operations and soon achieved a reputation for brutality.

EAM-ELAS, EDES and EKKA were mutually suspicious and tensions were exacerbated as the end of the war became nearer and the question of the country's political future arose. The role of the British military mission in these events proved decisive. [ ] EAM was by far the largest and most active group but was determined to achieve its own political goal to dominate postwar Greece, and its actions were not always directed against the Axis powers. Consequently, British material support was directed mostly to the more reliable Zervas, who by 1943 had reversed his earlier anti-monarchist stance.

[ ] First conflicts: 1942–1944 [ ]. (2nd from left) with fellow officers.

The Western allies, at first, provided all resistance organisations with funds and equipment. However, they gave special preference to ELAS, which they saw as the most reliable partner and a formidable fighting force that would be able to create more problems for the Axis than other resistance movements. As the end of the war approached, the British, 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,, 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 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 EAM-ELAS and the other movements erupted into armed conflict.

The communists and EAM accused EDES of being traitors and collaborators, and vice versa. Other smaller groups, such as EKKA, continued the anti-occupation fight with sabotage and other actions. They declined to join the ranks of ELAS and were systematically murdered by the Communists [ ]. While some organizations accepted assistance from the Nazis in their operations against EAM-ELAS, the great majority of the population refused any form of cooperation with the occupation authorities. Military leader of, victim of the 'first phase' of the civil war, during the Resistance. By early 1944, after a British-negotiated ceasefire (the Plaka Agreement), EAM-ELAS had destroyed EKKA and confined EDES to a small part of, where it could only play a marginal role in the rest of the war.

Its political network (EAM) had reached about 500,000 citizens around the country. [ ] By 1944, ELAS had the numerical advantage in armed fighters, having more than 50,000 men in arms and an extra 500,000 working as reserves or logistical support personnel ( Efedrikos ELAS). In contrast, EDES had around 10,000 fighters and EKKA around 10,000 men. After the declaration of the formation of the Security Battalions, KKE and EAM implemented a pre-emptive policy of terror, mainly in the Peloponnese countryside areas close to garrisoned German units, to ensure civilian allegiance. As the communist position strengthened, so did the numbers of the 'Security Battalions', with both sides engaged in skirmishes. The ELAS units were accused of what became known as the massacre.

Meligalas was the headquarters of a local Security Battalion Unit that was given control of the wider area of Messenia by the Nazis. After a battle there between ELAS and the Security Battalions, ELAS forces prevailed, and the remaining forces of the collaborators were taken into custody. [ ] After the civil war ended, postwar governments declared that 1000 members of the collaborationist units were massacred along with civilians by the Communists; however, that number was not matched by the actual numbers of bodies found in the mass grave (an old well in the area) of executed Security Battalion and civilian prisoners. According to left-wing sources, civilian bodies found there could have been victims of the Security Battalions. As Security Battalions were replacing occupation forces in territories the Germans could not enter, they were accused of many instances of brutality against civilians and captured partisans, and of the executions of prominent EAM and KKE members by hanging.

In addition, recruiting by both sides was controversial, as the case of indicates. The soon-to-be military leader of ELAS sought to join the noncommunist resistance group commanded by Kostopoulos in, along with other former officers. On their way, they were captured by an ELAS group, with Sarafis agreeing to join ELAS at gunpoint when all other officers who refused were killed.

Sarafis never admitted this incident, and in his book on ELAS makes special reference to the letter that he sent all officers of the former Greek army to join the ranks of EAM-ELAS. Again, numbers favored the EAM organisation; nearly 800 officers of the pre-war Greek army joined the ranks of ELAS with the position of military leader and Kapetanios. Egypt 'mutiny' and the Lebanon conference [ ].

During his visit to a Greek fighter station, 1944. 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 '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 consisted of Communists and noncommunist progressives. The moderate aims of the PEEA (known as 'κυβέρνηση του βουνού', 'the Mountain Government') aroused support even among Greeks in exile. In April 1944 the, many of them well-disposed towards EAM, demanded for a government of national unity to be established, based on PEEA principles, to replace the, as it had no political or other link with the occupied home country. The movement caused problems and anger to the British and Americans and was suppressed by British forces and Greek troops loyal to the exiled government.

Approximately 5,000 Greek soldiers and officers were sent into prison camps in Libya, Sudan, Egypt and South Africa. [ ] After the mutiny the economic help from the Allies to the almost stopped. Later on, through political screening of the officers, the Cairo government created the, composed of staunchly anticommunist personnel, under the command of Brigadier. In May 1944, representatives from all political parties and resistance groups came together at a conference in under the leadership of, seeking an agreement about a government of national unity. Despite EAM's accusations of collaboration made against all other Greek resistance forces and charges against EAM-ELAS members of murders, banditry and thievery, the ended with an agreement (the National Contract) for a government of national unity consisting of 24 ministers (6 of whom were EAM members). The agreement was made possible by Soviet directives to KKE to avoid harming Allied unity but did not resolve the problem of disarmament of resistance groups. Confrontation: 1944 [ ] 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 for the majority of Greeks, the British were their major hope for an end to the war. From the Lebanon conference to the outbreak [ ] By the summer of 1944, it was obvious that the Germans would soon withdraw from Greece, as Soviet forces were advancing into Romania and towards Yugoslavia, with the retreated Germans at risk of being cut off. In September, General 's armies advanced into, forcing the resignation of the country's pro-Nazi government and the establishment of a pro-Communist regime while Bulgarian troops withdrew from. The government-in-exile, now led by prominent liberal, moved to Italy, in preparation for its return to Greece. Under the of September 1944, all resistance forces in Greece were placed under the command of a British officer, General.

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.

The king stayed in Cairo because Papandreou had promised that the future of the monarchy would be decided by referendum. There was little to prevent the ELAS from taking full control of the country. With the German withdrawal, ELAS units had taken control of the countryside and of most cities. However, they did not take full control because the KKE leadership was instructed by the Soviet Union not to precipitate a crisis that could jeopardize Allied unity and put Stalin's larger postwar objectives at risk.

The KKE’s leadership knew so, but the ELAS's fighters and rank-and-file Communists did not, which became a source of conflict within both EAM and ELAS. People of Athens celebrate the liberation, October 1944. Following Stalin's instructions, the KKE’s leadership tried to avoid a confrontation with the Papandreou government. The majority of the ELAS members saw the Western Allies as liberators although some KKE leaders, such as and, did not trust them. Tzimas was in touch with Yugoslav Communist leader and disagreed with ELAS's cooperation with the Western Allied forces.

The issue of disarming the resistance organizations was a cause of friction between the Papandreou government and its EAM members. Advised by British ambassador, Papandreou demanded the disarmament of all armed forces apart from the and the, which were formed following the suppression of the April 1944 Egypt mutiny, and 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 the plan, 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 was KKE's greatest source of strength, and KKE leader Siantos decided that the demand for ELAS's dissolution must be resisted.

Tito's influence may have played some role in ELAS's resistance to disarmament. Tito was outwardly loyal to Stalin but had come to power through his own means and believed that the communist Greeks should do the same. His influence, however, had not prevented the EAM leadership from putting its forces under Scobie's command a couple of months earlier in accordance with the. In the meantime, following 's instructions, members had set up outposts in central Athens and resisted EAM for several days, until British troops arrived, as their leader had been promised. The Dekemvriana events [ ]. Unarmed protesters of EAM lying dead or wounded on 3 December 1944 in front of the, while others are running for their lives; moments after the first shootings that left at least 28 dead and signalled the beginning of the Dekemvriana events. According to the Caserta Agreement all Greek forces (tactical and guerillas) were under Allied command.

On December 1, 1944, the Greek government of 'National Unity' under Papandreou and Scobie (the British head of the Allied forces in Greece) announced an ultimatum for the general disarmament of all guerrilla forces by 10 December excluding the tactical forces (the 3rd Greek Mountain Brigade and the Sacred Squadron); and also a part of EDES and ELAS that would be used, if it was necessary, in Allied operations in and against the remaining German army. As a result, on December 2 six ministers of the EAM, most of whom were KKE members, resigned from their positions in the 'National Unity' government.

The EAM called for a general strike and announced the reorganization of the Central Committee of ELAS, its military wing. A demonstration, forbidden by the government, was organised by EAM on December 3. An order of General Scobie signed and printed on the government's newspaper 'Η ΕΛΛΑΣ' (December 6), enforcing the government's ultimatum (December 1) for the immediate disarmament of all guerrilla forces. The demonstration involved at least 200,000 people marching on towards the. British tanks along with police units had been scattered around the area, blocking the way of the demonstrators. The shootings began when the marchers had arrived at the, above the Syntagma Square.

They originated from the building of the General Police Headquarters, from the Parliament (Βουλή), from the (where international observers had settled), from other governmental buildings and from policemen on the street. Among many testimonies, N. Farmakis, a member of the Organization X participating in the shootings, described that he heard the head of the police giving the order to open fire on the crowd. [ ] Although there are no accounts hinting that the crowd indeed possessed guns, the British commander Woodhouse insisted that it was uncertain whether the first shots were fired by the police or the demonstrators.

More than 28 demonstrators were killed, and 148 were injured. This signaled the beginning of the Dekemvriana (: Δεκεμβριανά, 'the December events'), a 37-day period of full-scale fighting in Athens between EAM fighters and smaller parts of ELAS and the forces of the British army and the government.

Pamphlet calling workers from different neighbours of Athens to fight against the Greek Government and its British support At the beginning the government had only a few policemen and gendarmes, some militia units, the, distinguished at the, which, however, lacked heavy weapons, and the royalist group Organization X, also known as 'Chites', which was accused by EAM of collaborating with the Nazis. Consequently, the British intervened in support of the government, freely using artillery and aircraft as the battle approached its last stages. In the early morning hours of 4 December, ELAS reservists began operations in the Athens–Piraeus area, attacking Grivas' X forces. In the evening, a peaceful demonstration by EAM members cum funeral procession took place. Government forces took no action but the procession was attacked by Chites led by Colonel Grivas, with over 100 dead. Hindi Typing Lesson Book Pdf Download. On December 4, Papandreou gave his resignation to the Scobie, who rejected it. By December 12, ΕΑΜ was in control of most of Athens and.

The British, outnumbered, flew in the from Italy as emergency reinforcements. Although the British were openly fighting against the EAM in Athens, there were no such battles in the rest of Greece. In certain cases, such as Volos, some RAF units even surrendered equipment to ELAS fighters. [ ] However, the units of the ELAS in Central Greece and Epirus attacked 's units of the EDES forcing them to flee to the. Conflicts continued throughout December with the forces confronting the EAM slowly gaining the upper hand.

ELAS forces in the rest of Greece did not attack the British. It seems that the ELAS preferred to avoid an armed confrontation with the British forces initially and later tried to reduce the conflict as much as possible although poor communication between its very independent units around the country might also have played a role. Biffy Clyro Discography Free here.

[ ] That might explain the simultaneous struggle against the British, the largescale ELAS operations against and other political dissidents in Athens and the many contradictory decisions of EAM leaders. Also, KKE's leadership, was supporting a doctrine of 'national unity' while eminent members, such as Stringos, Makridis and even were creating revolutionary plans. Even more curiously, Tito was both the KKE's key sponsor and a key British ally, owing his physical and political survival in 1944 to British assistance.

Churchill in Athens [ ] This outbreak of fighting between Allied forces and an anti-German European resistance movement while the war in Europe was still being fought was a serious political problem for Churchill's coalition government of left and right. It caused much protest in the British press and the. To prove his peacemaking intentions to the public, Churchill went to Athens on December 25 to preside over a conference in which Soviet representatives also participated, to bring about a settlement. It failed because the EAM/ELAS demands were considered excessive and so rejected. The conference took place in the.

Later, it became known that there was a plan by EAM to explode the building, aiming to kill the participants, and the conference was finally cancelled. British paratroopers of the, during the battle Meanwhile, the remained passive about developments in Greece. True to their ' with Britain relating to Greece, the Soviet delegation in Greece neither encouraged nor discouraged EAM's ambitions, as Greece belonged to the British sphere of influence. The delegation's chief gained the nickname 'sphinx' among local Communist officers for not giving any clues about Soviet intentions.

Did not mention the clashes at all. It is speculated that Stalin did not interfere because the would profit no matter the outcome. If EAM rose to power, he would gain a country of major strategic value.

If not, he could use British actions in Greece to justify similar actions in countries in his own sphere of influence. [ ] By early January, EAM forces had lost the battle. Despite Churchill's intervention, Papandreou resigned and was replaced by General. On January 15, 1945, Scobie agreed to a ceasefire in exchange for ELAS's withdrawal from its positions at and and its demobilisation in the Peloponnese.

Despite the severe defeat, ELAS continued to exist, and the KKE had an opportunity to reconsider its strategy. [ ] KKE's defeat in 1945 was mainly political but the exaltation of terrorism in the whole country made a political settlement even more difficult. The hunting of 'collaborators' was extended to people who were supporting the Greek government. [ ] The brutal treatment by the (OPLA) and other minor communist groups of their opponents (including policemen, professors and priests) during the events greatly increased anticommunist sentiment.

In the area of ULEN refineries, hundreds of noncommunists were executed. In addition, several had to leave the country in fear for their lives ( fled to France).

As a result of the fighting in Athens, most of the prominent noncommunists of EAM left the organization, and KKE support declined sharply. After the ceasefire, ELAS under the leadership of Siantos left Athens, taking thousands of captives. [ ] Interlude: 1945–1946 [ ]. In February 1945, the various Greek parties signed the, 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,, who returned from Germany in April 1945, said 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. [ ] 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 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 Dekemvriana were classified as criminal, exempting them from the amnesty. Thus, the authorities captured approximately 40,000 Communists or ex-ELAS members. As a result, a number of veteran partisans hid their weapons in the mountains, and 5,000 of them escaped to although they were not encouraged by the KKE leadership. Anticommunist poster during the referendum in favour of:' This is what they fear!Vote for the King!' Between 1945 and 1946, anticommunist gangs killed about 1,190 communist civilians and tortured many others. Entire villages that had helped the partisans were attacked by the gangs.

The gangs admitted that they were 'retaliating' for their suffering under ELAS rule. [ ] The reign of ' led many ex-ELAS members to form self-defense troops, without any KKE approval. KKE soon reversed its former political position, as relations between the Soviet Union and the Western Allies deteriorated. With the onset of the, Communist parties everywhere moved to more militant positions. 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. The KKE leadership decided in February 1946, 'after weighing domestic factors, and the Balkan and international situation', to go forward with 'organization of a new armed struggle against the Monarcho-Fascist regime.'

The KKE boycotted the, which were won by the monarchist ( Inomeni Parataxis Ethnikofronon), the main member of which was 's. In September, a favored 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 within just two years, an indication of the instability that would then characterise the country's political life. Civil War: 1946–1949 [ ] Crest: 1946–1948 [ ].

Fighting resumed in March 1946, as a group of 30 ex-ELAS members attacked a police station in the village of, killing the policemen. The next day, the, 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 the Yugoslav and Albanian borders; they were now organized as the ( Dimokratikos Stratos Elladas, DSE) under the command of ELAS veteran (known as 'General Markos'), operating from a base in Yugoslavia and sent by the KKE to organize already existing troops. 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 the Soviet Communist Party, and its leader, Nikos Zachariadis, had visited Moscow on more than one occasion.

By late 1946, the DSE was able to deploy about 16,000 partisans, including 5,000 in 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 the number of soldiers that the enemy would concentrate in the region. According to this study, the DSE III Division in the Peloponnese numbered between 1,000 and 5,000 fighters in early 1948. Fighters during mortar training Rural peasants were caught in the crossfire. When DSE partisans entered a village asking for supplies, citizens were supportive (years previously, EAM could count on two million members across the whole country) or did not resist. When government troops arrived at the same village, citizens who had supplied the partisans were immediately denounced as communist sympathizers and usually imprisoned or exiled.

Rural areas also suffered as a result of tactics dictated to the National Army by US advisers; as admitted by high-ranking Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officials in the documentary Nam: the true story of Vietnam, a very efficient strategy applied during the Greek Civil War, and in the Vietnam and Korean Wars, was the evacuation of villages under the pretext that they were under direct threat of communist attack. It would deprive the partisans of supplies and recruits and simultaneously raise antipathy towards them.

The Greek army now numbered about 90,000 men and 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; U.S. President announced that the United States would step in to support the government of Greece against Communist pressure.

That began 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,, Peloponnese and, provoking the army into massive counteroffensives, which met no opposition as the DSE melted back into the mountains and its safe havens across the northern borders. In the Peloponnese, where General 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 the support of the United States became apparent.

Conventional warfare [ ]. Organisation and military bases of the 'Democratic Army', as well as entry routes to Greece (legend in Greek). In September 1947, however, the KKE’s leadership decided to move from guerrilla tactics to fullscale conventional war despite 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, 1200 DSE fighters were killed at a set battle around.

At 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. Despite setbacks, such as the fighting at Konitsa, the DSE reached the height of its power in 1948, extending its operations to, within 20 km of Athens. It drew on more than 20,000 fighters, both men and women, and 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 USSR and Yugoslavia, some estimate that of the DSE's 20,000 fighters, 14,000 were from Greek Macedonia.

Expanding their reasoning, they conclude that given their important role in the battle, KKE changed its policy towards them. At 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 extent of such involvement remains contentious and unclear; some emphasize that 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 its 1948 count of 20,000 men, controlled 70% of the Peloponnese politically and militarily; battalions named after ELAS formations were active in northwestern Greece, and in the islands of Lesvos, Limnos, Ikaria, Samos, Creta, Evoia and the bulk of the Ionian Islands. Western Allies' advisers funds, and equipment were now flooding into the country, and under Western Allies' guidance a series of major offensives were launched into the mountains of central Greece. Although the offensives did not achieve all their objectives, they inflicted serious defeats on the DSE.

Communist evacuation of the children and the Queen's Camps [ ]. Queen with visiting the cruiser at Athens, circa May 1947 The removal of children by both sides was another highly emotive and contentious issue. About 30,000 children were forcefully taken by the DSE from territories they controlled to Eastern Bloc countries. Many others were moved for protection to special camps inside Greece, an idea of. The issue drew the attention of international public opinion, and a United Nations Special Committee issued a report, stating that 'some children have in fact been forcibly removed'.

Map showing the distribution of refugees from Greece after the civil war The communist leadership claimed that children were being gathered to be 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 Kenneth Spencer, a UN committee reported at that time, 'Queen Frederica has already prepared special 'reform camps' in Greek islands for 12,000 Greek children.' According to the official KKE story, 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. Several resolutions appealed for the repatriation of children to their homes.

After 50 years, more information regarding the children has gradually emerged. Many returned to Greece between 1975 and 1990, with varied views and attitudes toward the communist faction. During 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, 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. End of the war: 1949 [ ] The insurgents were demoralised by the bitter split between Stalin and Tito. In June 1948, 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 has 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 the Mediterranean'. (Stalin used the word svernut, Russian for 'fold up', to express what the Greek Communists should do.). Was appointed Commander-in-Chief in 1949.

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, chose to follow the Soviet Union.

In January 1949, Vafiadis himself was accused of 'Titoism' and removed from his political and military positions, to be replaced by Zachariadis. After a year of increasing acrimony, Tito closed the Yugoslav border to the DSE in July 1949, and disbanded its camps inside Yugoslavia.

The DSE was still able to use Albanian border territories, a poor alternative. Within the Greek Communist Party, the split with Tito also sparked a witch hunt for 'Titoites' that demoralised and disorganised the ranks of the DSE and sapped support for the KKE in urban areas.

In summer 1948, DSE Division III in the Peloponnese suffered a huge defeat; lacking ammunition support from DSE headquarters and having failed to capture ammunition depots belonging to government forces at Zacharo in the western Peloponnese, its 20,000 fighters were doomed. The majority (including the commander of the Division, Vangelis Rogakos) were killed in battle with nearly 80,000 National Army troops. The National Army's strategic plan, codenamed 'Peristera' (the Greek word for 'dove') was successful. A number of other civilians were sent to prison camps for helping communists. The Peloponnese was now governed by paramilitary groups fighting alongside the National Army.

To terrify urban areas assisting DSE's III Division, the forces decapitated a number of dead fighters and placed them in central squares. Following defeat in southern Greece, the DSE continued to operate in northern Greece and some islands, but it was a greatly weakened force facing significant obstacles both politically and militarily. At the same time, the National Army found a talented commander in General, commander of the Greek army during the. In August 1949, Papagos launched a major counteroffensive against DSE forces in northern Greece, codenamed 'Operation Torch'.

The campaign was a victory for the National Army and resulted in heavy losses for the DSE. The DSE army was now no longer able to sustain resistance in pitched battles. By September 1949, the main body of DSE divisions defending Grammos and Vitsi, the two key positions in northern Greece for the DSE, had retreated to Albania, and two main groups remained within the borders, trying to reconnect with scattered DSE fighters largely in Central Greece. The leadership of the National Army after the successful operations in Grammos sector (Operation Pyrsos/Torch). The groups, numbering 1,000 fighters, left Greece by the end of September 1949 while the main body of the DSE, accompanied by its HQ, after discussion with the and other communist governments, was moved to, the capital of, in the Soviet Union.

They were to remain there, in military encampments, for three years. Other older combatants, alongside injured fighters, women and children, were relocated to European socialist states. On October 16, Zachariadis announced a 'temporary ceasefire to prevent the complete annihilation of Greece'; the ceasefire marked the end of the Greek Civil War. Almost 100,000 ELAS fighters and Communist sympathizers, able to serve in DSE ranks, were imprisoned, exiled or executed.

That deprived the DSE of the principal force still able to support its fight. According to some historians, [ ] the KKE's major supporter and supplier had always been Tito, and it was the rift between Tito and the KKE that marked the real demise of the party's efforts to assert power.

Greek Allied Western anticommunist governments saw the end of the Greek Civil War as a victory in the Cold War against the Soviet Union; communists countered that the Soviets never actively supported the Greek communists' efforts to seize power in Greece. Both sides had, at differing junctures, nevertheless looked to an external superpower for support. Postwar division and reconciliation [ ].