Greek Civil War: Difference between revisions

{{About|the conflict between monarchist and communistCommunist factions||Greek civil wars of 1823–1825}}

| result = Kingdom of GreeceMonarchist victory

{{flag|United Kingdom}} (1944–1947)<br>{{flag|United States}} (1946–1949)<br>{{flagdeco|Union of South Africa}} [[Union of South Africa|South Africa]] (1944–1945)

{{flag|Yugoslavia}} (1946-19481946–1948)<br>{{flagdeco|PR Bulgaria}} [[People's Republic of Bulgaria|Bulgaria]]<br>{{flagdeco|PR Albania}} [[People's Socialist Republic of Albania|Albania]]<br>{{flag|Soviet Union}} (limited)

| casualties3 = 80,000{{sfn|Keridis|2022|p=54}}–158,000 total killed<ref>Howard Jones, "''A New Kind of War"'' (1989){{page missing|date=June 2024}}</ref><ref>Edgar O'Ballance, ''The Greek Civil War : 1944–1949'' (1966){{page missing|date=June 2024}}</ref><ref>T. Lomperis, From People's War to People's Rule (1996){{page missing|date=June 2024}}</ref><ref>"B&J": Jacob Bercovitch and Richard Jackson, ''International Conflict : A Chronological Encyclopedia of Conflicts and Their Management 1945–1995'' (1997){{page missing|date=June 2024}}</ref><br />1,000,000 temporarily relocated during the war<ref name=Margaritis>Γιώργος Μαργαρίτης, ''Η ιστορία του Ελληνικού εμφυλίου πολέμου'' {{ISBN|960-8087-12-0}}{{page missing|date=June 2024}}</ref>

The '''Greek Civil War''' ({{lang-langx|el|Eμφύλιος Πόλεμος|translit=Emfýlios Pólemos}}) took place from 1946 to 1949. The conflict, which erupted shortly after the end of [[World War II]], consisted of a [[Communism|communistCommunist]]-dominatedled uprising against the established government of the [[Kingdom of Greece]]. The oppositionrebels declared a [[people's republic]], the [[Provisional Democratic Government|Provisional Democratic Government of Greece]], which was governed by the [[Communist Party of Greece]] (KKE) and its military branch, the [[Democratic Army of Greece]] (DSE). The rebels were supported by [[People's Socialist Republic of Albania|Albania]] and [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia]]. With the support of the [[United Kingdom]] and the [[United States]], the Greek government forces ultimately prevailed.

The war had its roots in divisions within Greece during [[World War II]] between the communistCommunist-dominated [[Left-wing politics|left-wing]] [[Greek Resistance|resistance]] organisation, the [[National Liberation Front (Greece)|EAM]]-[[ELAS]], and loosely-allied [[Anti-communism|anti-communist]] resistance forces. It later escalated into a major [[civil war]] between the Greek state and the communistsCommunists. FightingThe resultedDSE inwas the defeat of the DSEdefeated by the [[Hellenic Army]].<ref>Nikos Marantzidis and Giorgos Antoniou. "The Axis Occupation and Civil War: Changing trends in Greek historiography, 1941–2002." ''Journal of Peace Research'' (2004) 41#2 pp: 223–231.</ref>

{{cite book|last1= Service|first1= Robert|author-link1= Robert Service (historian)|chapter= 22. Western Europe|title= Comrades!: A History of World Communism|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Frgm5QodnFoC|location= Cambridge, Massachusetts|publisher= Harvard University Press|date= 2007|pages= 266–268|isbn= 9780674025301|access-date= 2016-10-28|quote=After the German forces withdrew in October 1944, the Greek Communist Party found its armed force – ELAS – subordinated to the British army with Moscow's consent. But the Greek Communist Party soon opted for insurgency. Clashes occurred between the communists and the British, together with the forces of the new British-backed Greek government. Stalin at the time, however, needed to maintain good relations with the United Kingdom for strategic reasons [...] Without outside help, [...] the revolt petered out. Then Stalin changed his mind, hoping to play off the Americans and British over Greece. [...] By 1946 [the Greek communistsCommunists] were eager to resume armed struggle. [...] Zachariadis [...] needed support from communistCommunist states for military equipment, and he gained the desired consent on his trips to Belgrade, Prague and Moscow. [...] But Stalin changed his mind yet again and advised emphasis on political measures rather than the armed struggle. [...] Tito and the Yugoslavs, however, continued to render material assistance and advice to the Greek communists. [...] Stalin reverted to a militant stance after the announcement [1947] of the Marshall Plan and ceased trying to restrain the Greek Communist Party. Soviet military equipment was covertly rushed to Greece. A provisional revolutionary government was proclaimed [24 December 1947]. But it became clear that the Greek communistsCommunists as well as their Yugoslav sympathisers had exaggerated their strength and potential. Stalin felt he had been misled, and called for an end to the uprising in Greece. [...] The Yugoslav communistsCommunists objected to Stalin's change of policy. [...] Bulgarian communistCommunist leader [[Traycho Kostov|Traicho Kostov]] urged that Soviet aid be sent to the Greek insurrectionists. [...] This had disastrous consequences for the Soviet-Yugoslav relationship; it also brought doom to Kostov, who was executed [16 December 1949] with Stalin's connivance at the end of 1948. Stalin himself continued to waffle on the Greek question in the following months [...] but in the end he ordered the communists under Nikos Zachariadis and Markos Vafiadis to end the civil war. [...] Yet, despite being deprived of supplies from Moscow, they refused to stop fighting royalist forces. [...] Ultimately the communistCommunist insurgency stood no chance of succeeding. By the end of 1949 the communistCommunist revolt had been crushed and the remnant of the anti-government forces fled to Albania.

The power vacuum that the occupation created was filled by several resistance movements that ranged from [[Monarchism|monarchist]] to [[Communism|communistCommunist]] in ideology. Resistance was born first in eastern [[Macedonia (Greece)|Macedonia]] and [[Thrace]], where [[Bulgaria during World War II|Bulgarian]] troops occupied Greek territory. Soon large demonstrations were organized in many cities by the [[Defenders of Northern Greece]] (YVE), a patriotic organization. However, the largest group to emerge was the [[National Liberation Front (Greece)|National Liberation Front]] (EAM), founded on 27 September 1941 by representatives of four [[Left-wing politics|left-wing]] parties.

The [[Organization for the Protection of the People's Struggle]] (OPLA) was founded as EAM's security militia, operating mainly in the occupied cities and most particularly Athens. A small [[Greek People's Liberation Navy]] (ELAN) was created, operating mostly around the [[Ionian Islands]] and some other coastal areas. Other Communist-aligned organizations were present, including the [[National Liberation Front (Macedonia)|National Liberation Front]] (NOF), composed mostly of [[Slavic Macedonians]] in the [[Florina]] region. They would later play a critical role in the civil war.<ref>Andrew Rossos, "Incompatible Allies: Greek Communism and Macedonian Nationalism in the Civil War in Greece, 1943–1949. Andrew Rossos", ''The Journal of Modern History'', Vol. 69, No. 1 (Mar., 1997) [https://www.jstor.org/stable/2953432 p.42]</ref><ref>''History of National Resistance 1941–1944'', v. 1</ref> The two other large resistance movements were the [[National Republican Greek League]] (EDES), led by republican former army officer Colonel [[Napoleon Zervas]], and the social-liberal EKKA, led by Colonel Dimitrios Psarros.

To[[Ioannis Rallis]], the Prime Minister of the collaborationist government sought to combat the rising influence of the EAM, and was fearful of an eventual takeover after the German defeat,. inIn 1943, [[Ioannis Rallis]], the Prime Minister of the collaborationist government,he authorised the creation of paramilitary forces, known as the [[Security Battalions]]. Numbering 20,000 at their peak in 1944, composed mostly of local [[Fascism|fascists]], convicts, sympathetic prisoners of war, and forcibly impressed conscripts, they operated under German command in [[Bandenbekämpfung|Nazi security warfare]] operations and soon achieved a reputation for brutality.

As the end of the war approached, the British [[Foreign Office]], fearing a possible communistCommunist 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, [[Armistice with Italy]], ELAS seized control of Italian garrison weapons in the country. In response, the Western Allies began to favor rival anti-communistCommunist 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 ELAS and the other movements erupted into armed conflict. The communistsCommunists, and EAM and the EDS, accused each oftherother of being 'traitors' and 'collaborators'. Other smaller groups, such as EKKA, continued the anti-occupation fight with sabotage and other actions. By 1944, ELAS had the numerical advantage in armed fighters, having more than 50,000 of them and an extra 500,000 working as reserves or logistical support personnel (''Efedrikos ELAS''). In contrast, EDES and EKKA had around 10,000 fighters each.<ref>The Greek Civil War 1944–1949, Edgar O'Ballance, (1966) p. 105</ref><ref>''The Greek Civil War 1944–1949, Edgar O'Ballance,' 1966 ppp. 65, 105</ref>

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, intending to ensure civilian allegiance.<ref>Kalyvas 2000, pp. 155–156, 164.</ref> As the communistCommunist position strengthened, so did the numbers of the "Security Battalions", with both sides engaged in skirmishes. The most notorious example of these skirmishes is [[Battle of Meligalas]]. The ELAS victory was followed by a massacre, during which prisoners and civilians were executed near a well.<ref>{{cite book | last=Moutoulas | first=Pantelis | title=Πελοπόννησος 1940–1945: Η περιπέτεια της επιβίωσης, του διχασμού και της απελευθέρωσης | language=el | trans-title=The Peloponnese 1940–1945: The struggle of survival, division, and liberation | publisher=Vivliorama | year=2004 | location=Athens|pages=580 }}</ref>

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. PEEA was dominated by, but not composed exclusively of communistsCommunists.

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, saw the British wereas their major hope for an end to the war.<ref>Lars Baerentzen, "Occupied Greece," ''Modern Greek Studies Yearbook'' (Jan 1998) pp. 281–286</ref>

The issue of disarming the resistance organizations was a cause of friction between the Papandreou government and its EAM members. Advised by British ambassador [[Reginald Leeper]], Papandreou demanded the disarmament of all armed forces apart from the [[Sacred Band (World War II)|Sacred Band]] and the III Mountain Brigade and the constitution of a National Guard under government control. The communistsCommunists, believing that it would leave the ELAS defenseless against its opponents, submitted an alternative plan of total and simultaneous disarmament, but Papandreou rejected it, 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.

On December 1, 1944, the Greek government of [[Cabinet of Georgios Papandreou (October 1944)|"National Unity" government of under Papandreou]] announced an ultimatum for the general disarmament by 10 December of all guerrilla forces by 10 December excluding the tactical forces (the III Greek Mountain Brigade and the Sacred Band);<ref name="zeta_Tzabara">{{cite book|script-title=el:Δεκέμβρης '44 Οι μάχες στις γειτονιές της Αθήνας|author=Ζέτα Τζαβάρα, "Ο Δεκέμβρης του 1944 μέσα από την αρθρογραφία των εφημερίδων της εποχής"|author2=Mαργαριτης Γιώργος|author3=Λυμπεράτος Μιχάλης|publisher=Ελευθεροτυπία|isbn=978-9609487399|year=2010|url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/62403494/%CE%95%CF%86%CE%B7%CE%BC%CE%B5%CF%81%CE%AF%CE%B4%CE%B1-%CE%97-%CE%95%CE%9B%CE%9B%CE%91%CE%A3-%CE%9F%CE%BB%CE%B1-%CF%84%CE%B1-%CF%86%CF%8D%CE%BB%CE%BB%CE%B1-46-%CF%84%CE%B5%CF%8D%CF%87%CE%B7-%CE%91%CF%80%CF%8C-1944-12-05-%CE%AD%CF%89%CF%82-1945-01-21|page=77|language=el|access-date=2012-06-14|archive-date=2016-05-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160527214522/https://www.scribd.com/doc/62403494/%CE%95%CF%86%CE%B7%CE%BC%CE%B5%CF%81%CE%AF%CE%B4%CE%B1-%CE%97-%CE%95%CE%9B%CE%9B%CE%91%CE%A3-%CE%9F%CE%BB%CE%B1-%CF%84%CE%B1-%CF%86%CF%8D%CE%BB%CE%BB%CE%B1-46-%CF%84%CE%B5%CF%8D%CF%87%CE%B7-%CE%91%CF%80%CF%8C-1944-12-05-%CE%AD%CF%89%CF%82-1945-01-21|url-status=dead}}</ref> and also a part of EDES and ELAS that would be used, if it was necessary, in Allied operations in [[Crete]] and [[Dodecanese]] against the remaining German Army units. The EAM called for a general strike and announced the reorganization of the Central Committee of ELAS. A demonstration, forbidden by the government, was organised by EAM on December 3.

The shootings began when the marchers had arrived at the [[Tomb of the Unknown Soldier]], in front of the Royal palace, above [[Syntagma Square]]. More than 28 demonstrators were killed, and 148 were injured. This signaled the beginning of the ''[[Dekemvriana]]'' ({{lang-langx|el|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.

In February 1945, the various Greek parties signed the [[Treaty of Varkiza]], 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, [[Nikolaos Zachariadis]], who returned from [[Dachau concentration camp|Dachau]] at the end of May 1945, formally stated that the KKE's objective was now for a [[People's democracy (Marxism–Leninism)|"people's democracy"]] to be achieved by peaceful means. There were dissenters such as former ELAS leader Aris Velouchiotis. 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.<ref>{{harv|Grigoriadis|2011|pp=68–69}}</ref>

BetweenIn 1945 and 1946, anti-communist forces allegedly killed about 1,190 communistCommunist civilians and tortured many others. Entire villages that had helped the partisans were attacked. TheSome [[Whiteclaimed Terrorthat (Greece)|anti-communist forces]] areadmitted claimedthat to[[White have admitted thatTerror (Greece)|they were "retaliating" for their suffering under ELAS rule.]]<ref name="gang-state-2016">

The KKE boycotted the [[result of 1946 electionsGreek inlegislative Greeceelection|March 1946 elections]], which were won by the monarchist [[United Alignment of Nationalists]] (''Inomeni Parataxis Ethnikofronon''), the main member of which was [[Konstantinos Tsaldaris]]'s [[People's Party (Greece)|People's Party]]. The KKE reversed its former political position after the arrival of Zachariadis. 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. A [[1946 Greek referendum|referendum in September 1946]] 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 [[List of Prime Ministers of Greece|six changes of prime ministers]] within just two years, an indication of the instability that would characterise the country's political life.

Fighting resumed in March 1946, as a group of 30 ex-ELAS members attacked a police station in the village of [[Litochoro]], killing the policemen, the night before the elections. The next day, the ''[[Rizospastis]]'', 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 [[People's Socialist Republic of Albania|Albanian]] borders;. theyThey were now organized as the [[Democratic Army of Greece]] (''Dimokratikos Stratos Elladas'', DSE). under the command of ELAS veteran [[Markos Vafiadis]] (known as "General Markos"), operating from a base in Yugoslavia andwas sent by the KKE to organize already existing troops, and took command from a base in Yugoslavia.<ref name=Shrader171>{{cite book|author=Charles R. Shrader|title=The Withered Vine: Logistics and the Communist Insurgency in Greece, 1945-1949|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vu2i13Yq60QC&pg=PR9|year=1999|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-275-96544-0|pages=171–188}}</ref>

The Yugoslav and Albanian communistCommunist governments supported the DSE fighters, but the Soviet Union remained ambivalent.<ref name=Shrader171/> The KKE kept an open line of communication with the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Soviet Communist Party]], and its leader, Nikos Zachariadis, had visited Moscow on more than one occasion. No evidence exists of mercenaries, although the guerrillas received various types of assistance from their Balkan communistCommunist neighbours.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Nachmani |first1=Amikam |title=Civil War and Foreign Intervention in Greece: 1946-49 |journal=Journal of Contemporary History |date=1990 |volume=25 |issue=4 |page=497 |doi=10.1177/002200949002500406 |jstor=260759 |s2cid=159813355 |issn=0022-0094}}</ref> One example of an international volunteer joining the ranks of the DSE iswass Turkish communistCommunist [[Mihri Belli]].<ref>{{cite news |author=Maria Katsounaki|title=The Turk in the Greek ranks |url=https://www.ekathimerini.com/culture/62790/the-turk-in-the-greek-ranks/ |newspaper=[[I Kathimerini]] |date=4 August 2009}}</ref>

Rural peasants were caught in the crossfire. When DSE partisans entered a village asking for supplies, citizens were supportive (in previous years, EAM could count on two million members across the whole country) or did not resist. When [[Hellenic Army|government troops]] arrived at the same village, citizens who had supplied the partisans were immediately denounced as communistCommunist sympathizers and usually imprisoned or exiled. In rural areas, the government also used a strategy, which had been advised by US advisers, of evacuating villages under the pretext that they were under direct threat of communistCommunist attack. That would deprive the partisans of supplies and recruits and simultaneously raise antipathy towards them.<ref>''Nam, The True Story of Vietnam'', 1986</ref>

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&nbsp;million in Greece since 1944, could no longer afford this burden. US President [[Harry S. Truman]] announced that the United States would step in to support the Greek government against communistCommunist 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.{{citation needed|date=January 2013}}

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, 1,200 DSE fighters were killed atin a set battle aroundthe [[Battle of Konitsa|Konitsa]]. 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 [[Makronisos]].

Despite setbacks, such as the fightingdefeat at Konitsa, the DSE reached the height of its power in 1948, extending its operations to [[Attica]], within 20&nbsp;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 the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia, some estimate that of the DSE's 20,000 fighters, 14,000 were Slavic Macedonians from Greek Macedonia.<ref>Ζαούσης Αλέξανδρος. ''Η Τραγική αναμέτρηση, 1945–1949 – Ο μύθος και η αλήθεια'' ({{ISBN|960-7213-43-2}}).</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=Zaousis is a doctor and this is his autobiography. We need an academic source for these numbers.|date=August 2019}} Expanding their reasoning, they conclude that given their important role in the battle,<ref>[http://macedonian.atspace.com/doc/nz_govor.htm Speech presented by Nikos Zachariadis at the Second Congress of the National Liberation Front (NOF) of the ethnic Macedonians from Greek Macedonia], published in ''Σαράντα Χρόνια του ΚΚΕ 1918–1958'', Athens, 1958, p. 575.</ref> the 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.<ref>KKE Official documents, vol 8</ref> The alliance of the Democratic armyDSE with the Slavic Macedonians caused the official Greek state propaganda to call the communistCommunist guerrillas ''Eamovulgari'' (from EAM plus Bulgarians), and the. communistsThe wereCommunists callingcalled their opponents ''Monarchofasistes'' (Monarchmonarchist Fascistsfascists).

DSE divisions conducted guerrilla warfare across Greece;. III Division, with 20,000 men in 1948, 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, CretaCrete, and Evoia, and the bulk of the Ionian Islands. Advisers, funds, and equipment were now flooding into the country from Western Allies, and under their guidance the Greek army launched 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.

{{See also|Political refugeesRefugees of the Greek Civil War}}

The removal of children by both sides was another highly emotive and contentious issue.<ref>[http://newhistories.group.shef.ac.uk/wordpress/wordpress/the-paidomazoma-tough-times-for-the-children-of-greece/ The Paidomazoma: Tough Times for the Children of Greece], ''New Histories'' October 30, 2011</ref> About 30,000 children were forcibly taken by the DSE from territories they controlled to [[Eastern Bloc]] countries.<ref>C. M. Woodhouse, ''Modern Greece'', Faber and Faber, 1991, 1992, pp. 259.</ref> Many others were moved for protection to special camps inside Greece, an idea of [[Frederica of Hanover|Queen Frederica]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.workmall.com/wfb2001/greece/greece_history_civil_war.html |title=Greece Civil War – Flags, Maps, Economy, Geography, Climate, Natural Resources, Current Issues, International Agreements, Population, Social Statistics, Political System |publisher=Workmall.com |date=2007-03-24 |access-date=2014-02-28}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3719/is_199707/ai_n8758886 |title=findarticles.com/p/articles |access-date=2007-01-24 |archive-date=2015-09-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924062326/http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3719/is_199707/ai_n8758886 }}</ref> 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"."<ref name="LB">Lars Barentzen, ''The 'Paidomazoma' and the Queen's Camps'', [https://books.google.com/books?id=zMr7EK3ms7AC&pg=PA129&dq=Greek+civil+war,+abductions,+children&ei=SMuRSLPcBIm2iwGu2MG5DA&sig=ACfU3U3ju6aDgzCKwQYAWoa1TKanLebYRQ#PPA135,M1. p 135–136129]</ref>

The communist leadership claimed that children were being gathered to be evacuated from Greece at the request of "popular organizations and parents".<ref>Lars Barentzen, ''The'Paidomazoma' and the Queen's Camps'', [https://books.google.com/books?id=zMr7EK3ms7AC&pg=PA129&dq=Greek+civil+war,+abductions,+children&ei=SMuRSLPcBIm2iwGu2MG5DA&sig=ACfU3U3ju6aDgzCKwQYAWoa1TKanLebYRQ#PPA135,M1 130]</ref> 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.<ref>Myrsiades, ''Cultural Representation in Historical Resistance'', [https://books.google.com/books?id=4V5bzyxHs7oC&pg=PA333&dq=Greek+civil+war,+abductions,+children&ei=SMuRSLPcBIm2iwGu2MG5DA&sig=ACfU3U0J5HfUP8xBrVMKg20Ka-NsQbio9Q p. 333]</ref>

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...."<ref>Kenneth Spencer, "Greek Children," The New Statesman and Nation 39 (January 14, 1950): 31–32.</ref> 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.<ref>KKE, official Documents v. 6 1946–1949, pp. 474–476</ref> According to non-KKE accounts, the children were abducted to be indoctrinated as communistCommunist [[Janissary|Janissaries]].<ref>Richard Clogg, ''A Concise History of Greece'', Cambridge University Press, 1992, p. 141.</ref> Several [[United Nations General Assembly]] resolutions appealed for the repatriation of children to their homes.<ref>[http://daccessdds.un.org/doc/RESOLUTION/GEN/NR0/051/07/IMG/NR005107.pdf?OpenElement Ods Home Page<!-- Bot generated title -->]{{dead link|date=October 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> After 50 years, more information regarding the children gradually emerged. Many returned to Greece between 1975 and 1990, with varied views and attitudes toward the communistCommunist faction.<ref>Dimitris Servou, ''The Paidomazoma and who is afraid of Truth'', 2001</ref><ref>Thanasi Mitsopoulou "We brought up as Greeks", Θανάση Μητσόπουλου "Μείναμε Έλληνες"</ref>

The insurgents were demoralised by the bitter split between Stalin and Tito.<ref name="Robert Service 2007 pp 266-68"/> 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,<ref>Djilas, Milovan (1962, 1990) ''Conversations with Stalin'', pp. 181–182</ref> Stalin stated his unqualified opposition to the "Greek uprising". Stalin explained to the Yugoslav delegation that the situation in Greece hashad 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 {{transliteration|ru|svernut}}, Russian for "fold up", to express what the Greek communistsCommunists should do.)

Yugoslavia had been the Greek communistsCommunists' 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 Nikolaos Zachariadis, chose to follow the Soviet Union. In January 1949, Vafiadis was removed from his political and military positions, to be replaced by Zachariadis.

In summer 1948, DSE Division III in the Peloponnese suffered a huge defeat. Lacking ammunition support from DSE headquarters and having failed to capture government ammunition depots 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 "[[Operation Peristera|Peristera]]" (the Greek word for "dove (bird)"), was successful. A number of other civilians were sent to prison camps for helping communistsCommunists. 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.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> 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 [[Alexander Papagos]], commander of the Greek Army during the [[Greco-Italian War]]. In August 1949, Papagos launched a major counteroffensive against DSE forces in northern Greece, codenamed "[[Operation Pyrsos|Operation]] Pyrsos/("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. Two main groups remained within the borders, trying to reconnect with scattered DSE fighters largely in Central Greece.

These groups, numbering 1,000 fighters, left Greece by the end of September 1949. The main body of the DSE, accompanied by its HQ, after discussion with the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and other communistCommunist governments, was moved to [[Tashkent]] 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.

Western anti-communist governments allied to Greece 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 communistCommunist efforts to seize power in Greece. Both sides had, at differing junctures, nevertheless looked to an external superpower for support.

The Civil War left Greece in ruins and in even greater economic distress than it had been following the end of German occupation.{{citation needed|date=March 2013}} Furthermore, it divided the Greek people for ensuing decades, with both sides vilifying their opponents. Thousands languished in prison for many years or were sent into [[Internal exile in Greece|internal exile]] on the islands of [[Gyaros]] and Makronisos.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}} Many others sought refuge in communistCommunist countries or emigrated to Australia, Germany, the US, the UK, Canada, and elsewhere.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}} At least 80,000 people died in the civil war.{{sfn|Keridis|2022|p=54}}

After the collapse of the military junta, a conservative government under Constantine Karamanlis led to the abolition of monarchy, the legalization of the KKE and a new [[Constitution of Greece|a new constitution]], which guaranteed political freedoms, individual rights, and free elections. In 1981, in a major turning point in Greek history, the centre-left government of the [[Panhellenic Socialist Movement]] (PASOK) allowed a number of DSE veterans who had taken refuge in communist countries to return to Greece and reestablish their former estates, which greatly helped to diminish the consequences of the Civil War in Greek society. The PASOK administration also offered state pensions to former partisans of the anti-Nazi resistance; Markos Vafiadis was honorarily elected as member of the Greek parliament under PASOK's flag.

In 1989, the coalition government between Nea Dimokratia and the Coalition of Left and Progress (SYNASPISMOS), in which the KKE was for a period the major force, suggested a law that was passed unanimously by the Greek Parliament, formally recognizing the 1946–1949 war as a [[civil war]] and not merely as a communistCommunist insurgency (Συμμοριτοπόλεμος ''Symmoritopolemos'') (Ν. 1863/89 (ΦΕΚ 204Α΄)).<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20071230054543/http://tovima.dolnet.gr/print_article.php?e=B&f=15201&m=A26&aa=1 tovima.dolnet.gr] Dead URL (archive date = December 30, 2007) (access date = July 31, 2008)</ref><ref>[http://www.enet.gr/online/online_fpage_text/dt=27.10.2002,id=53398096,58807248,75086160,80744144 enet.gr/online/online_fpage_text] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081211190824/http://www.enet.gr/online/online_fpage_text/dt%3D27.10.2002%2Cid%3D53398096%2C58807248%2C75086160%2C80744144|date=2008-12-11}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mof-glk.gr/syntaxeis/kwdikas/polemikwn.pdf|title=Archived copy|access-date=2014-01-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120722190300/http://www.mof-glk.gr/syntaxeis/kwdikas/polemikwn.pdf|archive-date=2012-07-22}}</ref> Under the terms of this law, the war of 1946–1949 was recognized as a Greek Civil War between the National Army and the Democratic Army of Greece, for the first time in Greek postwar history. Under the aforementioned law, the term "communistCommunist bandits" (Κομμουνιστοσυμμορίτες ''Kommounistosymmorites'', ΚΣ), wherever it had occurred in Greek law, was replaced by the term "Fighters of the DSE".<ref>Article 1 of the Law 1863/1989</ref>

==NotesFootnotes==