CHAPTER FOUR - Withdrawal of the Democratic Army

CHAPTER FOUR - Withdrawal of the Democratic Army

1. Ratio of opposite forces in 1949

In 1948 the Democratic Army of Greece failed to achieve its set objectives, both in terms of mobilization of new forces in its ranks, and to deliver on the plan of expanding its free territory.

The CPG Central Committee 5th Plenum was held on January 30 and 31, 1949, during which the military and political situation in Greece for 1948 was evaluated. The 5th Plenum evaluated the military situation as follows:

“In 1948 the Monarcho-Fascists experienced a general failure in their military sector. In 1948 the Americans and the Monarcho-Fascists made versatile preparations to eliminate DAG. They created Armed Forces (Army, National Guard, Gendarmes, MAI, MEA etc.) numbering more than three hundred thousand people. They armed these forces with the best weapons available to the US military. They moved 700,000 villagers from their homes in order to isolate the Democratic Army from the villages. They used extreme terror, that exceeds any classic example, to crush the popular resistance in the cities. They developed well-organized ideological propaganda. They developed their own “spiritual mobilization” to influence and break the spirit of the masses. All these preparations were reflected in the slogan: “We will end in 1948.” This was clearly an all American, British, and Monarcho-Fascist plan aided by international reaction. But these results are refuted by all people’s enemies. The Monarcho-Fascist, American and British general strategies have failed the entire line. They failed to destroy even the most inexperienced DAG forces. They lost tens of thousands of their most elite soldiers, especially in Gramos, without any success. At the end of 1948 they saw their tactical successes of the year evaporate. Even though Tsakalatos had two corps in his possession, he still lost at Vicho. The Democratic Army now firmly holds the Pindos massif and has again taken back Gramos. Conditions have been created in the Peloponnesus that threaten to turn all Monarcho-Fascist strategic forecasts and the entire military situation in Greece...”

It is true that the Democratic Army endured difficult ordeals in 1948. But it is also true that, despite the enemy failing to subdue the Democratic Army, it did manage to thwart DAG’s plan to mass mobilize and frustrated its plans to expand its free territory; items not mentioned in the above evaluation.

Exactly because of the above mentioned tactical and strategic tasks that the two opposing camps in Greece undertook in 1948, huge battles broke out in Central and Eastern Macedonia in the Peloponnesus and in Rumelia, as well as in Gramos and Vicho. These were tactical battles for supremacy, each side trying to impose itself on the other. The Monarcho-Fascists imposed themselves on the Democratic Army for a positional struggle in Gramos and in doing so suffered heavy casualties in manpower and material. And even though DAG won that round it was not without human sacrifices. After defending the region for several weeks, DAG was eventually forced to give way. It was a positional struggle in a mountainous terrain where tanks could not operate. But the enemy did use its artillery and aviation abundantly.

The fall of 1948 produced a significant victory for DAG, especially in the Mali Madi Region where DAG not only denied the Athens regime a victory but smashed two of its brigades and sent its troops running in panic. Unfortunately DAG failed to capitalize on this victory and did not occupy any of the urban centres in southwest Macedonia, especially in the Kostur-Kozheni region, mainly because the DAG leadership was not fully aware of the significance of the battle it had won.

The Monarcho-Fascists (the Athens regime) in 1949, on the other hand, were proud of their well-equipped army of about 200,000 people. They were proud of their fanatical gendarme numbering 50,000 and their armed civilian force numbering 50 to 60,000 people. This army was lavished with modern weapons. The Athens regime was successful in establishing units, which by their tactical purpose and composition would guarantee a good fight. Most vicious of them all were the so-called LOK and gendarme units.

DAG consisted of about 40,000 people armed with reasonable infantry weapons (according to DAG).

The Athens regime managed to sufficiently control and defend the towns and transport links opposed to DAG, which in 1949 lost its opportunity to work in the cities and to carry out mobilization of new fighters. DAG at this point was confined mainly to the mountainous terrain of Eastern, Central and Western Macedonia, Epirus, Rumeli and the Peloponnesus.

From a purely military point of view the Athens regime, compared to the Democratic Army, had an advantage both in numbers and in arming its military. But for a revolutionary army with a rebel initiative, such a relationship was not terrible if DAG was allowed to develop to the full extent of its revolutionary essence. But this one issue was not enough for the development of the struggle, there were other important issues including moral and political ones.

The Cominform attack, with its well-known June 22, 1948 resolution, aimed against the CPG had direct impact on events in Greece. At first not by much but the tense relations increasingly encouraged the enemy to make good use of it. This crisis was not without consequences for DAG. This is what was written in the CPG Central Committee 5th Plenum Resolution: “…to discuss the CPG Central Committee Politburo decision from November 15, 1948, about the right opportunistic break in the CPG...” This, as it was known then, was about the exclusion of General Markos and Hrisa Hadzhivasiliou from the ranks of the CPG Central Committee. It is clear that this could only have negative consequences in the ranks of DAG and the democratic movement as a whole, given that General Markos was Supreme Commander of DAG and President of the Provisional Democratic Government. That is why events in 1949 must be viewed in light of these incidents.

The following were immediate tasks set out for DAG, as registered in the January 1949 Plenum:

“a) Carry out sudden and sustained attacks to the maximum throughout the country to prevent and paralyze possible enemy preparations for 1949;

b) Stabilize and expand the liberated territories in northwestern Greece, take urban centres;

c) Rumelia and Thessaly are tasked with decisive military actions to exhaust enemy ground attack in 1949 and to create a wide free zone around central Pindos;

d) The Peloponnesus needs to destroy enemy attacks and to develop its forces and attacks so that they would practically constitute a real second front in the rear of the enemy, which would upset its strategic plans and forecasts;

e) Divisions VI and VII have, as their main task, to strengthen their attacks against the enemy, increasing progressively around Solun.”

These plans unfortunately did not materialize, primarily because DAG during this period, as it did before, could not resolve the issue of reserves, i.e. broad mobilization of new forces. This actually incorporates all elements of the uprising weaknesses in Greece. This means that this movement never developed the necessary revolutionary swing.

Here is what has been said about this issue by the CPG Central Committee during the 5th Plenum:

a) “To ensure by regions, divisions and General Headquarters, reserves according to plan. Any lag in this regard will have the same consequences as in 1948. The value of every military and political leader and all of our staff will be judged on the basis of whether they carried out this basic task.”

All efforts to mass mobilize the rebel forces in 1949 failed. This became the great and final phase of the civil war in Greece, resulting in the withdrawal of the bulk of the Democratic Army to Eastern European countries.

2. Most important events in 1949

According to assessments made during the CPG Central Committee 5th Plenum, attempts were made to widen the fighting during 1949.

DAG was expected to frustrate enemy preparations and use the experience gained in 1948 to prepare for a new offensive during 1949. And indeed DAG did develop a broad offensive all throughout Greece in the winter and early spring in 1949.

In the month of January 1949, DAG units attacked and overran the town Negush in Aegean (Greek occupied) Macedonia. Even though the attack and capture of Negush was a morale boosting success, DAG units could not hold onto it. One thing that DAG gained from that attack was new recruits for its ranks. This proved that a wide mobilization was possible even from the territory controlled by the enemy.

The town Karpenisi in Rumelia was also taken during the month of January and held for some time.

These attacks continued throughout the month of February with the attack on Lerin. The attack on Lerin not only failed but was catastrophic in terms of casualties, which was a morale blow to the DAG divisions fighting in this area.

The situation began to shift in favour of the Athens regime in the spring of 1949 with the Monarcho-Fascists gradually and simultaneously taking the offensive in Gramos, Eastern Macedonia and strengthening their offensive in the Peloponnesus and Thessaly. But in spite of all that, the Athens regime still failed to dislodge DAG from Gramos during its spring offensive.

The Interim Democratic Government undertook peace initiatives during the spring of 1949.

On April 26, 1949 DAG published the Interim Democratic Government’s appeal on the first page of its newspaper called “Pros ti niki”. The appeal was entitled: “General Assembly of the United Nations, World Congress of Peace supporters and Democratic people from around the world.” This is the text that followed:

“The Interim Democratic Government of Greece, during its Extraordinary Session, held on April 20, 1949, the day when the World Congress for peace began, announced the following appeal:

‘Three years have passed since the day our foreign masters with their Monarcho-Fascist lackeys forced the Greek people to pick up guns in order to defend themselves, their freedom and their independence; forced to defend their rights for a peaceful life, the right to work to support their children and for the good of their homeland.

In these three years the enemies of peace and democracy have mobilized all their forces in order to destroy our national resistance. But our people remain invincible. Greece could live calmly and peacefully today if there were no foreigners, those who stir up the fire of civil war in our place.

The three years that have passed have pushed Greece into an even greater state of chaos and poverty. Tens of thousands of men and women lost their lives during this period. The Interim Democratic Government of Greece is prepared to put an end to this tragedy. Many times it has offered to cease all military operations and to achieve a democratic agreement. But all our proposals are refused each time and so disaster and the spilling of blood continues in our country.

We today are extending our hand to our opponents. There is a need to stop the drama of one million homeless villagers who have been driven from their homes to suffer in the cities; we should stop the tragedy of hundreds of thousands of naked, hungry and abandoned children; it is time for them to return to their families, to their homes, to their fields… We have enough blood spilled in Greece. Let the fires die out.

We are ready to make major concessions in order to achieve peace and tranquility in Greece. We are willing to make this commitment even though the Democratic Army of Greece has the upper hand, has remained unbeatable and has achieved much success against its opponent. We are strictly driven by the interests of the people of Greece and we value peace over war.

We invite you all to help us in this endeavour. We are ready to stop the war immediately, as soon as Greece is ready to provide

opportunity for everyone to live without fear of death. We will stop the war as soon as the mass shootings stop, as soon as general amnesty is given and as soon as the most elementary democratic rights are guaranteed for our citizens.

Recently officials in Athens have indicated the need for Greece to hold new parliamentary elections. We accept a peaceful and democratic solution to the internal problems in Greece and we are ready to follow a plan that will stop the bloodletting. We are all for a solution that will bring peace to our people and strengthen world peace.

Free Greece, April 20, 1949.

The Interim Democratic Government of Greece’.”

I decided to publish the full text of this document in order to reveal all of its importance.

The Greek government in Athens categorically refused to accept any of the proposals made by the Interim Democratic Government. The Athens regime turned these proposals into weapons of propaganda, alleging that they were signs of weakness on the part of Interim Democratic Government, and stepped up its attacks against DAG.

After several months of fighting during the summer of 1949, the Athens regime failed to break DAG in the Peloponnesus and in Central Greece so it began to concentrate its attacks in Macedonia, Epirus and Thrace. In June 1949 it attacked DAG at Mounts Paiak and Kajmakchalan and after several days of heavy fighting it managed to evict many DAG units from their positions, forcing them to withdraw into Yugoslav territory. After this the Athens regime concentrated its forces for an attack against the two main free territory strongholds - Vicho and Gramos.

The Athens regime did not hide its preparations for an attack on the Vicho free territory.

In one of DAG’s articles entitled “Decisive super tension”, published on June 10, 1949, Zahariadis, among other things, wrote:

“Great battles are coming to Vicho. If the Monarcho-Fascists do not openly want to admit their bankruptcy, then they will be forced to carry out their great offensive at Vicho. Otherwise they have lost. They have lost the war and they have lost the peace. The moment they show how powerful and victorious they are will be the moment when they are measured against DAG. That is why they are forced to come to Vicho, pressured by their political, military and moral necessities. That is why, whether they want to or not, they will have to drink from the bitter cup called Vicho.”

In another DAG article entitled “The enemy will never set foot on Vicho”, published in June 6, 1949, Zahariadis ended with the words: “Our slogan is: Our enemy will never set foot. We will break Papagos’s wings at Vicho. Vicho will make 1949 a deceive year for our victory.”

Zahariadis’s forecast that the enemy was going to attack Vicho materialized but his wishes, according to his slogan, did not come true. Vicho was invaded and occupied. DAG did not even offer the enemy serious resistance but did suffer major losses at the straits between the two Prespa Lakes while trying to flee to Albania (at this point soldiers and civilians were not allowed to withdraw to Yugoslavia).

The DAG divisions that were driven out of Vicho were quickly deployed in Gramos, expecting that the enemy would attack Gramos next. And indeed the enemy did. It began an offensive against DAG in Gramos in October 1949, driving most of its principle units to withdraw to Albania.

Some of DAG’s units that were fighting in Eastern Macedonia and Thrace fled to Bulgaria. Some of the units fighting in Central and Western Macedonia, throughout the summer of 1949, withdrew to Yugoslavia. Only a small number of partisan groups remained in Greece by the end of 1949 and practically all of them operated behind enemy lines. These were the so-called groups of political commissars.

So, in less than five years the National Liberation Movement in Greece suffered its second defeat despite the extraordinary efforts made by the democratic forces in the country; despite the heavy fighting and sacrifices made by the DAG fighters, the misery and suffering of the thousands that were interned and those imprisoned in the Greek island prison camps.

After DAG’s withdraeal, the Democratic Army Supreme Headquarters and the Interim Democratic Government issued a statement which, among other things, said: “The Democratic Army of Greece was not defeated but withdrew only to put an end to the bloodshed and to contribute to the country to move towards a peaceful development.”

In connection with the above press release and with the outcome of the civil war in Greece, the reader deserves to know that long social contradictions have existed in Greece which were exacerbated to the extent that social change was required. Such change unfortunately could come from military interventions or from imperialist power meddling. Britain intervened in Greece in December 1944 and kept the bourgeois government in power, which was contrary to what the masses wanted. Then during the civil war when Britain could no longer bear the load, it invited the United States to come and suppress the guerrilla movement.

The Democratic Army of Greece was defeated with assistance from abroad, primarily from the United States. Even though the Democratic Army was forced to withdraw, the democratic movement in Greece was still not stifled. That is why the Greek bourgeoisie, after the civil war, remained closely tied to the United States and to US imperialism interests. Greece was one of the countries which participated in the Korean War alongside the United States. In 1953 Greece signed a military agreement with the United States allowing the US to build a military naval base on Greek soil. Greece also became a zealous member of the Atlantic Pact (NATO).

The price that the Greek bourgeoisie paid for the aid they received from foreign imperialists was loss of independence and dignity. Greece has become a tool in the hands of foreign imperialists...

Greece again has to fight for its independence, to throw off the yoke of imperialism and military dictatorships.