CHAPTER THREE – ESTABLISHING A DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT

CHAPTER THREE – ESTABLISHING A DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT

1. United Greek political right combating the Democratic Movement

On September 7, 1947, after going through a deep government crisis, a new cabinet was formed. It was led by Themistoklis Sofoulis, head of the Liberal Party, which until then, since the day of the March 1946 parliamentary elections, was in opposition. When Sofoulis was in opposition he continuously criticized the far political right in government of creating economic chaos, terror and so on, in the country. By doing so he was seen as the voice of “peace” and “moderation”. That is precisely what enabled him to become, being elected head of a coalition government, a danger for the democratic movement.

After taking power Sofoulis announced that he would amnesty all the Democratic Army fighters who surrendered during a window of one month. He announced that he would also free a number of prisoners in order to prove that he was “consistent” in government as he was in opposition. However Sofoulis did not come to power to achieve a compromise solution, he came to power in order to continue the same oppressive policy against the resistance movement. In that sense he not only did not stop the oppressive measures conducted by his predecessors, but in the long term strengthened them by building up his armed forces with newly acquired Americans weapons. While building up the military he also continued with his political maneuvers, misleading the democratic movement about his intentions. During the “amnesty” period, government units operating against the Democratic Army were instructed not to perform open terror operations but to spread rumours that the Democratic Army was fighting against national interests and that the Sofoulis government was representative of true democracy which was visible through its deeds of providing amnesty, etc. The Sofoulis government knew that it could not break the Democratic Army with the amnesty. The most that it could expect from the amnesty was the surrender of a small number of those who would have deserted anyway. With the amnesty Sofoulis wanted to achieve psychological and political effect in order to

justify his predetermined line for a general strike against the Democratic Army.

After the “amnesty” window expired Sofoulis called for a “total mobilization of all national forces” to fight against the Democratic Army. In this regard the following measures were undertaken:

- He decided to deprive the masses in the country of being in contact with the Democratic Army movement. The first thing he did was ban the democratic newspapers and publications, which at that time were operating under difficult conditions and only in the large cities. This deprived the democratic masses, especially in the northern part of the country where the movement was massive, from being in contact with the resistance movement. He later passed a law banning all democratic publications. The entire democratic press, with its 28 daily and weekly publications, was attacked and liquidated.

- He continued mobilizing new armed forces because the government at that time did not have enough military strength to counter the Democratic Army. In terms of performing tactical tasks, the army was organized in two groups. The first group, created from the older folds and MAI units, was the National Guard battalions each consisting of 500 guardsmen responsible for guarding the cities. The plan was to expand these units to 50,000 guardsmen. The second group which was to grow to 150,000 soldiers, after it was equipped and armed was to carry out offensive actions against the Democratic Army. The continuation of this mobilization was announced in line with the above objectives.

- In the cities and larger towns where there was a large military and police presence, Sofoulis introduced strict military police control and controlled almost everyone’s movement. This was done with the intention of isolating the masses from contact with the free territories. A large segment of the population was mobilized in support of various government assigned tasks including transferring ammunition and food to government units that fought against DAG, guarding the highways and roads, cleaning the roads of mines, digging trenches in the cities and doing whatever else the government units required.

- After Sofoulis put measures to silence everyone except his own voice, during and after the “amnesty” period, he stepped up agitation through his so-called prominent personalities who visited towns and villages in order to develop intensive propaganda and spread it through like-minded people, slandering the neighbouring countries, primarily Yugoslavia. Precisely during the “amnesty” period Sofoulis prepared the ground for mobilizing the Monarcho-Fascist press to announce that a counter-revolution had taken place in Yugoslavia and was fighting against Tito. A little later the same press announced that “the counter-revolution rebels were fighting and occupying several places” and that “Tito’s army had joined the counter-revolution” and so on. This was done with the intent to divert public attention away from the mobilization and it succeeded.

- After the “amnesty” period expired, terror against the democratic population was intensified. Entire villages were burned down under the pretext that they were “partisan nests”. Village livestock and properties were looted under the pretext that “it was the partisans who did it!” Entire village populations near the areas where partisans frequented were moved so as not to aid the resistance movement. The military courts were issuing death sentences more than ever before.

The above were measures that the Sofoulis government undertook during the 1947 fall and winter. At the same time it conducted sabotage attacks in preparation for a large scale offensive in the spring of 1948.

But the Achilles heel of Sofoulis’s government was still the economic chaos in the country. Production was at a stand still, the same as it was during the occupation. American finished goods and UNRA assistance were the sole squalid materials and only sources of existence for more than one million destitute and unemployed people. Sofoulis was unable to establish any economic balance or stabilize the market or the money. Discontentment and dissatisfaction among the masses was tremendous, which the government strove to use for its own purposes. The starving masses were a source of recruitment for the government army. The government employed only members from the pro-Fascist

organizations and enacted laws to prohibit union activities and strikes.

All these measures, however, were not enough to fully encourage the Greek counter-revolutionary forces. It was therefore necessary to bring in the Americans. In that sense a joint staff was formed and an American officer was assigned to every major military formation that conducted operations.

This was the situation in the government camp under the Sofoulis coalition at the eve of 1948.

2. Formation of the Interim Democratic Government

With Sofoulis taking power in Greece, as head of the Athens government, in September 1947, the Democratic Army and the democratic movement in general found itself in a new situation. Sofoulis’s political manoeuvers were not disregarded, especially if we take into consideration the opposition’s view in parliament which was often praised by the democratic press. Increased American aid and measures to enhance the armed forces - army, police and armed civilians, called MAI, followed close behind these political manoeuvers.

The “amnesty” offered to the Democratic Army was truly a strong test. For as long as it lasted many individuals deserted the ranks of the Democratic Army.

In 1947, during the month of September, the government royalist army had undertaken an offensive and attacked the “free” territory of Mount Gramos. The aim behind the offensive was to place a wedge between the “free” territory in Epirus and that in Western Macedonia and to overshadow the Democratic Army General Staff’s plan to declare supremacy over the “free” zones and establish a democratic government. This hostile offensive failed to take Gramos but succeeded in establishing a better position for attacking DAG with greater efficiency and with heavy weapons - artillery and aviation. The hostile attack unfortunately thwarted DAG’s plan to extend the “free” territory, which would have created favourable

conditions for the realization of the envisioned political move -establishing a Democratic government.

The CPG Central Committee 3rd Plenum was held in October 1947, during which it was noted: “The American intervention in Greece closed the door for an Agreement on both sides of the camp.” During the same Plenum, based on that assessment, it was decided to call the people to arms and start a rebellion to “free Greece and to ensure its independence and democratic development.”

The next immediate task was to create more free territory, and for this purpose the “Democratic Army of Greece was to conduct a massive mobilization in order to raise a larger fighting force and to prepare and implement a master plan for constant attacks against the enemy.”

According to decisions made by the CPG Central Committee at the 3rd Plenum, DAG General Headquarters was to adopt the Plenum’s recommendation to create regular military formations. The following two documents for mobilization were to be adopted prior to the Plenum: