CHRONOLOGY OF IMPORTANT EVENTS IN 1946

CHRONOLOGY OF IMPORTANT EVENTS IN 1946

Date

12.02.1946

31.03.1946

02.04.1946

Description of events or documents

The CPG Central Committee 2nd Plenum was held in Athens during which it was decided to abstain from the parliamentary elections in Greece, which led to the armed struggle.

The partisans attack government forces in the village Lithohori killing 23. As one of DAG’s major actions this incident was credited with the start of the Greek Civil War.

On his return from Moscow, CPG Secretary General Nikos Zahariadis stopped off in Belgrade to meet with Marshal Tito to discuss his decision to launch an armed struggle against the political right in Greece. Tito gave Zahariadis his full support and promised him moral and material help. The following were agreed to at this meeting:

1. Place the Macedonian People’s Liberation Movement for Greek occupied

Macedonia led by NOF, AFZH and NOMS under full CPG control. NOF, AFZH and NOMS were created in April 1945 and since then were under CPM/CPY control.

2. Move part of the CPG Central Committee Politburo, headed by Ianis Ioanidis, to Belgrade with the task of leading the armed struggle in Greece from abroad and providing weapons, food, clothing and other supplies for the partisans.

3. Allow the CPG to recruit fighters from the people who fled to Yugoslavia from Greece. In other words, allow the Greek communists to recruit fighters from the ranks of the Macedonian political refugees who fled Greek occupied Macedonia to save themselves. Yugoslavia was also required to assist in organizing hospitals for the wounded and sick DAG fighters as well as assume the role of organizer and coordinator of assistance provided for DAG by other countries.

13.04.1946

17.04.1946

The CPG newspaper “Rizospastis” came out in defense of the “Slavo-Macedonian” people by pointing out the terrible and unbelievable abuse they endured at the hands of the Greek terrorists. The newspaper went on to say that: “The persecution perpetrated against the Macedonians was unprecedented in modern Greek history...”

The Solun based daily nationalist newspaper the “Nea Alithia” publishes an article entitled “Our Sudetenland”, speaking of the Macedonians and

qualifying them as Sudetenlanders that should be liquidated in the interest of peace and security in Greece.

04.05.1946

21.05.1946

27.07.1946

24.08.1946

The first partisan detachment was formed on the Trsie-Turie Mountain in Lerin Region and headed by Petre Markov from the village Neret, Lerin Region.

The nationalist newspaper “Ethnikos Kirikas” wrote: “80,000 Slavo-Macedonians should be expelled from Greece as soon as possible”. The same was said in the weekly Republican newspaper “Eleftheros Tipos” on January 28, 1946 in an article entitled: “...Let the Slavo-Macedonians leave our Macedonia – let them go wherever they want to go…”

A Greek military court sentenced Mirka Ginova to death. Mirka was a teacher from the village Rosilovo, Voden Region. She was also secretary of AFZH for Voden District. Under the Tito-Zahariadis agreement, a part of the CPG Central Committee Politburo, headed by Ioanis Ioanidis, as well as all necessary apparatus, was illegally moved from Athens to Belgrade. General Markos Vafiadis, who Zahariadis appointed organizer and leader of the partisan groups in June 1946, left Greece illegally and moved to Belgrade where he received specific directives and promises from the CPG Central Committee Politburo. In September he moved back to Greek occupied Macedonia where, on October 28, 1946, he formed DAG Headquarters. On November 10, 1946, Stalin instructed Zahariadis to end the

armed struggle during the winter of 1946-1947 because it was allegedly creating an international situation, and instructed the CPG to give primacy to a political struggle and the like.

21.11.1946

27.12.1946

Based on the decision made by Tito and Zahariadis on October 14, 1946, the CPY, represented by Karaivanov, and the CPG, represented by Ioanidis, reached the following agreement: “The Macedonian organizations NOF, AFZH and NOMS and their leaderships were to be placed under full CPG control. All NOF armed units were to be transferred to DAG and placed under General Markos’s command.” Sometime after the CPY-CPG agreement was made, the NOF main board membership, headed by Paskal Mitrevski, was received by Lazar Kolishevski, CPM Central Committee Secretary, who said to them: “You are now to go down there (to Greek occupied Macedonia). The CPG will now be the leader of your struggle. The CPG line is the correct line. Have confidence in it. Fight with all the forces available against chauvinism, separatism and local tendencies...”

Order no. EP 13 issued by General Markos read: “From today on forward all partisan units are to be included in DAG.”

DEVELOPMENT OF EVENTS IN 1947

In February 1947, the CPG leadership reached a decision to change DAG’s strategic goal from pressuring the Athens regime to agree to a peaceful resolution to the internal Greek problem, to fighting to overthrow the regime and seize power. The Athens government reacted very strongly and even passed a series of laws through the Greek parliament. At the same time it announced the return of the Greek king.

On February 24, 1947, the Greek king and the Greek government publicly called on the DAG fighters to surrender by March 15, 1947. They promised to pardon all acts committed against the state and the people if the DAG fighters abided by the deadline and returned to their homes.

On February 14, 1947, US Secretary of State, G. Marshall, stated that the US government was pleased with the change of government in Greece and that it was in the interest of the United States and all the United Nations for Greece to receive assistance to preserve its independence and territorial sovereignty. (See: State Department, Bulletin, 23.2.1947, 341). Mr. Marshall’s statement initiated the process by which Greece was to receive US assistance.

The United States and England were determined to stop a communist takeover in Greece at all costs. This resulted in the US intervention in Greece carried out by the famous Truman Doctrine on March 12, 1947. The “Truman Doctrine” clearly warned Stalin not to hope for any success in Greece. The unrestricted assistance that Greece received through the “Truman Doctrine” and later through the “Marshall Plan” enabled it to create a large and modern army capable of defeating DAG.

On February 17, 1948, US President Truman informed the US Congress in his monthly report which in part said: “If there is a need, we are ready to give Greece even greater and more comprehensive assistance...”

Given that two Great Powers, the USA and England were prepared to assist the Greek government to “wipe out” the communist threat

in Greece, what chance did the Macedonians and allies of the communists have in wining this war? To engage the entire Macedonian population in this totally meaningless war was not only unwise but catastrophic.

Involving the Macedonian people in this senseless ideological war was disastrous. It created conditions for them to be banished from their own ancestral homeland.

The following is a MEMORANDUM that Markos Vafiadis, then supreme leader of DAG, wrote to address the UN Inquiry Commission: