Greece 1940-1950

In contrast to the Spanish Civil War from 1936 to 1939, the Greek Civil War, which took place exactly ten years later, is not present in the historical consciousness of Europe. When it raged, Germany was busy with survival and Europe with reconstruction. Its causes date back to 1936, when King George II broke his oath taken on the Constitution and, together with General Metaxas, paved the way for the four-year dictatorship of the fascist system. The overwhelming majority of Greeks, and above all the broad resistance movement, wanted a Greek republic after the end of the war, but Churchill, who believed that only the king could guarantee a pro-British policy for Athens, decided to restore the monarchy by force. This policy of Churchill's led to the split of the Greek Resistance and to the "first round" in the Greek Civil War, the armed conflict between the ELAS and the EDES in Epirus in the winter of 1943/44, and in the "second round", British soldiers fought against the leftist Resistance in Athens in December 1944. Despite the peace treaty of Varkiza concluded in February 1945, the victorious Greek Right exercised a veritable reign of terror. Since the British did nothing about it, the left began to resist and an escalation of violence and counter-violence took place, which led to civil war in autumn 1946. Heinz A. Richter's study is the first scientifically based comprehensive account of the Greek civil war ever. In Greece, the subject is still taboo.