GREECE AFTER THE SECOND WORLD WAR

GREECE AFTER THE SECOND WORLD WAR

The Greek Civil War (1946-1949)

After the Second World War, a new political polarization emerged in Greece. If political polarization existed on the basis of national interests (integrity and sovereignty of the Greek state) between 1941 and 1944, then a new political polarization emerged after 1945 and was based on class interests (state regulation, political system, etc.).

The new political polarization contributed to the change in the balance of political power in Greece. The political left forces (CPG), on the one side began to weaken, and the political centre-right forces on the other began to strengthen. In practical terms the idea of one state, one nation, one language, political freedom, private property, etc., was more appealing to the petty Greek nation than the political idea of a basic political communist ideology postulating a proletariat dictatorship, nationalization, collectivization, etc.

After the German forces withdrew from Greece, the two political opposites stood “face to face”. With strong support from England the political right began to slowly gain strength. Accompanied by an English military detachment Georgios Papandreou arrived in Athens on October 18, 1944. On December 3, 1944, EAM organized large demonstrations at the Sintagma Square in Athens. The police opened fire on the demonstrators killing 15. In retaliation, ELAS military units began to attack police stations and heavy street battles broke out between the ELAS units and the English army. The hostilities lasted for days.

After the clashes in Athens, later named “The December encounters” by Greek historians, Papandreou’s government fell and a new government, led by Plastiras, a former liberal, took its place. Following the December encounters, political talks began in Varkiza with aims at resolving the political crisis. When it was concluded the Varkiza Agreement, signed on February 12, 1945, called for ELAS to be disarmed and for the government to amnesty all those detained as well as allow the people the freedom to vote in elections and in a referendum to decide on the kind of political system (Monarchy or Republic) the people wanted for their country. Stemistoclis

Soufoulis’s liberal government decided to have the elections on March 31, 1946. The right-wing coalition, which put its support behind the Monarchist People’s Party, won the election. After that Dino Tsaldaris’s newly formed government began to organize the referendum. However it was a dubious referendum in which 68% of the voters declared that they wanted a monarchy in Greece. Because of this the CPG decided to boycott the parliamentary elections scheduled for September 31, 1946, and opted for an armed struggle.

The armed struggle began with an attack on the police station in the village Lithohori (March 1946), which initiated what later was termed the Greek Civil War. In 1947, the Greek government enacted law number 509 which banned all communist activities in Greece. The political left (CPG) created the “Democratic Army of Greece” DAG, a partisan army with 30,000 partisans led by Markos Vafiadis, a Madzhir (Turkish Christian colonist) from Asia Minor. The same year the political left formed an Interim Government. With an all-out economic and military support from England and from the United States, the Greek government organized a well-trained, well-armed military consisting of 100,000 soldiers led by General Alexandros Papagos. Filled with great ideological hatred the two sides fought heavy and bloody battles in Gramos, Vicho, Lerin, etc. In August 1949, following heavy attacks from the government forces, DAG was defeated and its units retreated to Albania, Yugoslavia (without weapons) and Bulgaria. In addition to other factors, DAG’s defeat was mainly due to the misunderstandings between Markos Vafiadis (guerrilla warfare) and Nikos Zahariadis (frontal warfare).

One of the most critical problems DAG faced during the Greek Civil War was maintaining its reserve composition. In order to resolve this problem the political left needed to attract the Macedonian population. As a result, DAG Headquarters introduced Statute Act No. 5, by which it recognized national minority rights in Greece, but without naming the minorities. Later, during the CPG’s Fifth Plenum, held in January 1949, the CPG recognized the Macedonian people’s right to self-determination. Following these decisions, the Macedonian population was forcibly mobilized (men, women and children). Children ages 12 to 15, who had already been sent to

Eastern European countries to be saved, were also mobilized and, after some brief military training, were sent to the front to fight.

The consequences of the Greek civil war were enormous, especially for the Macedonian people. A ruined economy, a population scattered all over the country (especially the Macedonian villages), many military people killed on both sides… Let us not forget the 60,000 people, including the 28,000 refugee children, who were forced to flee to Eastern European countries (Bulgaria, Romania, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, USSR and only a handful of Greek children to East Germany) to save themselves from the ravages of war and from the winning side taking revenge on them. The Macedonian children in the Eastern European countries were brought up in the spirit of Macedonian-ism and communism. The Macedonian children who ended up in Queen Fredericka’s homes inside Greece were brought up in the spirit of Hellenism and anti-communism.

After the Greek Civil War ended the Greek political right took control of the Greek government. Parliamentary elections were held in 1951 during which the Greek political right, united under the “Brotherhood Board” headed by Marshal A. Papagos, received 49% of the vote. The Greek political left, united under the “United Democratic Left” became the main political opposition. While in power Papagos’s government made no effort to expedite democratization of the country. Law 509, which forbade all communist activities, was still in force. At the same time, authorities began to collect information and to open so-called “black files” on citizens suspected of performing “hostile activities”. The state apparatus itself consisted only of people who were loyal to the government. As a result of law 509, Nikos Beloianis, a CPG activist, was tried on charges of performing “illegal activities” and executed in 1952.

The Greek economy began to slowly recover mainly due to financial support from Western countries, especially the United States. Financial injections from the large Greek population living and working abroad, in the United States, Australia, Canada, and later in West Germany, also contributed to the stability of the Greek economy.

Papagos’s government had both successes and failures in Greek foreign policy. In 1952 both Greece and Turkey were admitted to NATO. After the Informbiro, Greece, Turkey and Yugoslavia formed the so-called “Balkan Union”, but good neighbourly relations between Greece and Turkey did not last long. The Cyprus issue began to surface again and became a serious “apple of discord” between the two countries. General Georgios Grivas organized the illegal EOKA (National Organization of Cypriot Fighters) organization in Cyprus. The purpose of this organization was to re-unite Cyprus with Greece. The Turkish minority, however, retaliated and wanted to break away. Tensions between the two ethnic communities on the island seriously strained Greek-Turkish relations. Massive anti-Greek demonstrations took place in Istanbul, frightening the so-called Greek population into leaving Istanbul.

In March 1955 Marshal Papagos died and, to the surprise of a some Greek political elites, the king appointed Konstantinos Karamanlis to form the new Greek government. Under his mandate Karamanlis formed the “National Radical Union” (ERE) party. In the 1956 elections, during which women were allowed to vote for the first time, ERE won. During the 1958 parliamentary elections, the Greek political right took power and the Greek united left took the opposition. In 1961 Gerogios Papandreou, an old and experienced diplomat, formed the “Union of the Centere Party”. In the 1961 elections, Karamanlis’s party won again but the Union of the Centre Party and the United Left Party accused his government of electoral fraud. Then, in 1962, Grigoris Lambrakis, an EDA lawmaker, who had a negative attitude towards the European democratic public, was assassinated in Solun.

On the issue of foreign policy, Karamanlis’s government once again faced the Cyprus question. During conferences in Zurich and London, Greece, Turkey and England, in 1959, decided that Cyprus should be an independent state without the right to “break away” or “re-unification”. Turkey and England became the guarantors of Cyprus’s independence while Greece, Turkey and England had the right to station their own military forces on the island. As a result of these agreements the Turkish minority in Cyprus gained broad rights which included the obligation that a Turk serve as vice president of

the republic, the Cypriot parliament have 30 Turkish MPs, and 40% of the police force be of Turkish origin.

The agreements made in Zurich and London caused a lot of discontent in Greece. Karamanlis’s government was accused of national treason. Another serious misunderstanding took place in 1961 between Karamanlis and the royal court (with king Pavlos and Queen Fredericka). As a result his government resigned and Karamanlis voluntarily exiled himself abroad but returned for the parliamentary elections in 1963. Papandreou’s “Union of the Centre Party” won the election but did not secure an absolute majority in parliament. So, in order to exploit his current popularity, Papandreou chose to have new elections in 1964 during which he received 53% of the vote.

When it took power, the new government made a few changes. It released some political prisoners, got rid of the catharevousa (ancient Attic) language and introduced the dimotiki (people’s language) in the school system. It also took serious steps to stabilize the economy. As a result of this, the political right became very upset and accused Andreas Papandreou, (son of Georgios Papandreou), then Minister of the Economy, that he was “the grey eminence of ‘Aspida’ (Shield)”, a secret military organization. After he lost the election Karamanlis, leader of ERE, fled Greece and went abroad to France.

On the issue of foreign policy, Papandreou also faced the Cypriot problem. In 1963, Archbishop Makarios, then president of the Cypriot republic, requested a revision of the Zurich and London agreements. The Cypriot government was dissatisfied with all the rights given to the Turkish minority by the Zurich and London agreements. A conflict was sparked between the two Cypriot ethnic communities and culminated in warfare between the Greek and Turkish minorities. Greece and Turkey, once again, were brought to the brink of war. It took vigorous intervention from the United States to calm the two sides down and prevent a massive military conflict.

Political life in Greece was also unstable. Constantine II, the new king who succeeded his father Pavlos, began to strengthen his

relationship with the military elite which created serious misunderstandings between the king and Georgios Papandreou. Papandreou, then leader of the “Union of the Centre Party” and president of the Greek Government, decided to schedule elections for the month of May 1967. The Greek political right was upset about Georgios Papandreou having a second and even more convincing victory and was particularly concerned about Andreas Papandreou’s (his son’s) political views.

The April 21, 1967 rebellion

A few weeks before the scheduled and promising parliamentary elections, on April 21, 1967, led by G. Papadopoulos, N. Makarezos and S. Patakos, the military took power in Greece. Immediately after the colonels took power they began a repressive policy against their political opponents. Many prominent Greek politicians including Georgios Papandreou, intellectuals, musicians (M. Theodorakis) and artists were sent to the Greek islands or sentenced to house arrest.

But, despite its populist politics, the military junta in Greece remained isolated. The Greek political right and the political centre refused to co-operate with it. With approval from the king another coup attempt was made in December 1967. This coup failed. As a result the king fled the country and the colonels appointed a regent in his place. In the absence of the king, G. Papadopoulos took all governing power into his own hands. With a new constitution (1968) approved by a plebiscite, the junta tried to give legitimacy to Papadopoulos’s power but resistance against the junta was massive. There was much dissatisfaction with the military junta’s rule especially expressed by the student youth. Under the slogan “Down with the Junta”, students took over the Polytechnic Academy at the University of Athens in November. The military brutally intervened and left many victims among the students. Then, after a failed naval revolt in the Greek navy, the colonels dethroned the king and declared Greece a presidential parliamentary republic. At the same time, dissatisfied with G. Papadopoulos’s rule, Brigadier General Dimitrios Ioanidis, head of the military police, took power in his own hands.

The bloody crackdown at the Polytechnic Academy in Athens received much condemnation from both inside and outside of the country. With a great desire to expand its own political authority at home, the military junta initiated a political crisis with Turkey. In early July 1974, it organized a coup in Cyprus in order to remove Archbishop Makarios as president of Cyprus and replace him with Nikos Samson, a staunch supporter of the unification of Cyprus with Greece. The Turkish government saw the coup as a serious violation of the Zurich and London agreements, which guaranteed Cyprus its independence. Being one of the guarantors of Cyprus’s independence, on July 24, 1974, the Turkish militarily invaded Northern Cyprus and prevented its unification with Greece. After some heavy fighting, the Turkish military managed to occupy 36% of the Cypriot territory and placed it under its control. Nearly 200,000 Greeks from the northern part rushed to the south, and the Turkish minority from the south fled north. The island was then divided into two ethnic parts: Turkish to the north and Greek to the south. In Nicosia, the capital of Cyprus, the two ethnic communities were separated by a so-called “green line”, placed under the control of the United Nations blue helmets.

Turkey’s military intervention in Cyprus strained Greek-Turkish relations and brought the two countries to the brink of a new war. Isolated, the military junta was advised by the Greek military and political elite to withdraw from power. After 11 years of voluntary exile, on July 24, 1974, Konstantinos Karamanlis returned to Greece and was greeted like a Messiah; a saviour of the Greek nation and Greek fatherland. He was appointed President of the Greek Government. In the November 1974 parliamentary elections, under the motto “Karamanlis or tanks”, his newly formed “New Democracy” party won the election. New Democracy received 54% of the vote (219 deputies out of 300), the “Union of the Centre Party” received 21%, and the newly formed PASOK (All Greek Socialist Movement) party, headed by Andreas Papandreou, received 14% of the vote.

After gaining strong national legitimacy, Konstantinos Karamanlis began a process of removing the Junta from Greek society (administration, military, education, etc.). At the same time, Brigadier General Ioanidis, Papadopoulos, Patakos and Makarezos,

the main actors of the “April 21, 1967 revolt” were tried and sentenced to death. But their death sentences were quickly changed to life imprisonment. Only Brigadier General D. Ioanidis received a sentence of many years in prison.

Karamanlis’s new government then took steps towards bringing national reconciliation. Law No. 509 was banned and the CPG and its activities were legalized. According to the new Greek political nomenclature, the CPG was no longer a threat to the stability of the country. Following the processes of destabilization in the USSR, the CPG entered a deep political crisis. There were clashes taking place between the “Stalinists” (supporters of Zahariadis) and the “Revisionists” (supporters of Khrushchev) in the USSR (Tashkent) that took on the shape of a real war. Physical contacts between the two groups were so powerful that Soviet state organs were forced to intervene and establish peace and order. The CPG crisis further deepened after Czechoslovakia was occupied (1968). On the advice of the CPY, the “Revisionists” formed the CPG (Internal). The elections in 1977 unfortunately did not bring serious changes to the political balance in the Greek parties. New Democracy, with the motto “Greece belongs to the West”, won 42% of the vote, PASOK with the motto “Greece belongs to the Greeks”, headed by Andreas Papandreou, received 25%, the CPG received 9% and the CPG (Internal) received 3% of the vote. Another serious problem the New Democracy government faced was how to regulate state order: a monarchy or a republic. In December 1984 a referendum was held during which 70% of the people in Greece voted for a republican government, and 30% for a monarchy.

After Northern Cyprus was annexed and proclaimed a Turkish Cypriot Republic, Greece’s relations with Turkey became even more complicated and sensitive, especially with the misunderstandings over the continental plate delineation and Greek threats to extend its territorial waters from 6 to 12 miles. This for Turkey was “casus belli” and so was the air space between the two countries. This caused a cyclical crises between the two traditionally rogue countries. The greatest success the Karamanlis government experienced was the signing of an agreement to become a full member of the EU (1 January 1981). Greece later accepted the euro as its own currency (2001).

By choosing Konstantinos Karamanlis as President of the Greek Republic and by electing Georgios Ralis as the (non charismatic) leader of New Democracy, suggested that New Democracy would lose its political influence in the country, which was confirmed by the October 1981 parliamentary elections. With the motto “Change”, PASOK, headed by Andreas Papandreou, promised to organize a referendum on Greece’s EU membership, withdrawal from NATO, close US bases in the country, and orient itself in support of protecting the environment. And, thanks to its national-populist policy, PASOK won 48% of the vote, New Democracy won 36% and the CPG won 11%. After that A. Papandreou’s PASOK government led a policy of national reconciliation.

PASOK recognized EAM and ELAS’s anti-fascist resistance in the Second World War, allowed all Greek “by birth” political refugees to return to Greece from Eastern European countries, introduced civil marriage, and allowed infidelity, i.e. infidelity was no longer considered a criminal offence in Greece. PASOK’s political position strengthened after Christos Tsarzethakis was elected President of the Greek republic. At the same time New Democracy, led by Mitsotakis,, weakened mainly due to its internal political struggles. The elections in 1985 reaffirmed PASOK’s victory with 46% of the vote and New Democracy with 41%. But, at the same time, Greece was inching closer to a serious economic crisis.

The PASOK government took steps to improve the economic situation, but did not achieve the desired results. A. Papandreou, leader of PASOK, was also faced with personal problems. He divorced his American wife and married Liani, a young stewardess popularly called Mimi.

Unfortunately A. Papandreou did not fulfill his election promises. He did not have the referendum to decide on remaining or exiting the EU, he did not withdraw Greece from NATO and he did not close down the four US bases that existed in the country. Relations between Greece and Turkey became even worse after Northern Cyprus was proclaimed a Turkish Republic and after Turkey made attempts to look for oil in the disputed waters of the Aegean Sea. At the same time, Turkey expressed great concern about the bad

treatment the Turkish minority living in Western Thrace was getting from the Greeks. On top of everything, instead of using the name “Turkish population” (as the Turkish population called itself), the Greek authorities exclusively used the name “Muslim population” to refer to the Turks of Western Thrace.

Tensions between the two countries collapsed in January 1988 after a meeting in Switzerland between A. Papandreou and Ozal, the President of Turkey. Following the “Davos Agreement”, both sides agreed to establish a hotline. Greek-Turkish relations were again aggravated during Kostas Simitis’s term in office. (Simitis succeeded A. Papandreou). The new crisis, which almost started another war, was a result of an incident around the island Imia where both Greece and Turkey hoisted their state flags (“War of the Flags”). The United States had to intervene to calm down passions but anti-Turkish feelings in Greece and anti-Greek feelings in Turkey intensified.

Relations between Greece and Bulgaria have been good and there are no unresolved issues between the two countries. Relations between Greece and Serbia have traditionally been good and Greece has always been pro-Serbian on the Kosovo issue and on the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Relations between Greece and Albania have been burdened with border incidents; Albanian migrants entering Greece, etc. Arresting members of the Greek minority “Omonia” in Albania have seriously strained Greek-Albanian relations. After the “Omonia” leadership was released, however, and the Orthodox Church granted wider rights, Greek-Albanian relations improved and attempts were made to resolve other remaining unresolved issues (the Chameri problem).

Relations between Greece and the Republic of Macedonia have been heavily burdened especially over the name “Macedonia”. Greece disputed the Republic of Macedonia’s right to use the name “Macedonia”. Greece insisted that the word “Macedonia” should not be part of the Republic’s name. By not recognizing the “name” of the Republic of Macedonia, Greece in effect has disputed the Macedonian language, culture and ethnic identity. And if possible Greece, by its many claims that “Macedonia is Greek”, would like to substitute the word “Greek” for “Macedonian” and, since according

to its many claims that “Macedonia is Greek”, then the Macedonians and everything that is Macedonian is also Greek. Supported by the EU, Greece strives to force the Macedonian people to change the name of their country so that the name of the Macedonian state does not reflect the name of the nation in Macedonia, and the name of the nation in Macedonia should be reflected by the name of the state (Swiss model ). In order to get concessions Greece imposed an economic blockade on the Republic of Macedonia. It was forbidden for anyone from Greece to export any type of goods with the exception of food and medicine. An Interim Accord between the two countries was signed (between country A and country B) with mediating assistance from the United States (1995). The Interim Accord called on the Republic of Macedonia to renounce its state flag with the star of Vergina on it and pledge that it had no territorial pretensions towards Greece (Greek occupied Macedonia). After the signing of the Interim Accord, Greece lifted the economic embargo.

At the end of the 20th century, Greece fell into a severe economic crisis. The great debt the Greek state had accumulated forced the EU (especially Germany) to intervene. The economic crisis contributed to the weakening of the Greek political right (New Democracy during the terms of Kostas Karamanlis and Antonis Samaras) and the Greek moderate left (PASOK led by Venizelos). The deep economic crisis contributed to reinforcing the influence of the extreme left (SYRIZA), headed by Alexis Tsipras, and the far right “Hrisi Avgi” (Golden Dawn), headed by Nikos Michaloliakos. After Pavlos Fisas, a famous Greek musician, was murdered “Golden Dawn” began to carry out public terror activities. Dangers from the extreme left and from the far right forced the two moderate parties New Democracy and PASOK to join forces and take control of the government, but the deep economic crisis hurt their chances. The voters were so displeased with the central parties they put their support behind the left (SYRIZA) which won the 2015 elections and formed a coalition government with a small right-wing party called “Independent Greeks”, headed by Panos Kamenos. This was the first leftist government in Greek history to be elected. It was led by Alexis Tsipras.

Despite a successful referendum on the non-acceptance of the conditions imposed by the Troika (IMF, World Bank and European

Bank), Tsipras’s government accepted the conditions for recovering from the crisis. This caused great dissatisfaction in the country which culminated in February 2016 with Greek farmers rebelling and persistently demanding that taxes not be increased and pensions not be reduced. Tsipras’s government faced serious economic and political problems with the deep economic crisis causing most of the instability in Greece.