Blog 8: Greek Civil War

Erika Ralph

11-9-2012

Blog 8:  Greek Civil War

Categorizing Political Violence

            According to David Samuels, for a Civil war to actually be a Civil War, the country involved must have experienced “armed combat within the boundaries of a sovereign state between parties that are subject to common authority at the start of hostilities.”[1]  Coinciding with his definition, David Samuels also states that a Civil War is normally preceded by or characterized by state weakness, colonial legacies, poverty, and “the attitudes and actions of foreign countries.”[2]   Understanding these definitions and the historical and political context of the Greek Civil War, we see that David Samuels’s definition does hold true in this particular case.

The Greek Civil War could be considered a continuation of the grievances born during and after the Second World War.[3]   During WWII, following Greece’s defeat in 1941, “joint German-Italian-Bulgarian” forces began occupying Greece.[4]  As this occupation overruled and destroyed political organizations in Greece, the Greek Communist Party (KKE) began to emerge as a resistance, with an army of 60,000 fighters known as the Greek National Liberation Army (ELAS).[5]  Eventually with this resistance on the rise, the Nazi party withdrew from Greece in November of 1944.  However, this only led to British forces seizing the opportunity to regain control in Athens, finding a chance to restore and support the original government in a now crumbling Greece.

These “attitudes and actions of foreign countries” in Greece left Grecian citizens divided and destroyed.  And although, these events cannot necessarily be classified as “colonial” legacy (that David Samuels asserts as one of the reasons for Civil War) these historical occurrences still share some of the detriments that do countries gaining independence from colonial rule.  As Nazi forces, and then British forces occupied Grecian territory, Greek governmental organizations began to dissolve and lose serious legitimacy, which is strikingly similar to the experience of newly independent colonial governments.  Greek governments lost strength and, upon regaining control in December of 1944 from British forces, the Greek Communist Party (KKE) was unable to, as David Samuels puts it, gain “effectiveness that enhances legitimate rule, such as provision of public services for all citizens and an ability to foster economic development.”[6]

Along with a Greek government that couldn’t seem to restore legitimacy, and a Communist Party also struggling to gain legitimacy, Greece was suffering from great economic distress and poverty- another reason for Civil War according to David Samuels.  To add to a weak state, the German forces that had drawn Allied attacks On Greece, then retreated in 1944 and left Greece to burn:

“At the end of World War II, Greece stood in virtual ruin. During the German occupation, which lasted until October 1944, the economy nearly collapsed. Allied bombing raids destroyed miles of railroads and devastated the major port cities of Salonika, Volos, and Piraeus. A combination of heavy military traffic and neglect left the country's highway network in a precarious condition. Then, as the Germans withdrew, they blew up bridges, highways, and portions of the 4-mile-long Corinth Canal, which was a vital link between Athens and the Adriatic Sea.”[7]

This economic disaster led to David Samuel’s idea of poverty’s influence on Civil War: “…where poverty is endemic, rebel leaders can build an army on the cheap, because more able-bodied men need a job.  In a poor and weak state, government may lack the resources to dissuade men from joining the insurgents.”[8]

            Eventually, British support of the original Greek government pushed back at the Greek Communist Party, which had at one point, received support from Russian organizations.   A truce was signed between the Communist party army (ELAS) and the Greek/British government on February 12, 1945, aiming to gain some reconciliation between both these right wing and left wing organizations.  However, the truce did not last long after both parties broke contract:

“The breach of its terms by both sides led to a new political polarization and the dramatic events of the last stage of a harsh civil war that lasted until 1949. The mass movement of the left now came under pressure and persecution and thus, in 1946 the tragedy began of a war that cost thousands of lives, with Greek fighting Greek in the mountains and in the cities.”[9]

After a series of bloody encounters, United States forces joining the fray and 158,0000 citizens killed on Greek soil, the last significant leader of the Greek Communist party was capture on August 28, 1949.[10]  And only months later, the forces of the Greek Communist party announced their surrender (October 16).  As a result, “rather than stay in Greece, those of the fighters who survived and tens of thousands of other leftists chose exile in camps in neighboring communist countries and in the Soviet Union.”[11]

           

           

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[1] Samuels, D. J. (2013). Comparative politics. (2 ed., Vol. 1). New Jersey: Pearson Education.

[2] Samuels, D. J. (2013). Comparative politics. (2 ed., Vol. 1). New Jersey: Pearson Education.

[3] Pike, J. (2011, November 07). Greek civil war. Retrieved from http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/greek.htm

[4] Kalyvas, S. N. (1993). The greek civil war in retrospect. Yale University Press. Retrieved from http://stathis.research.yale.edu/documents/kalyvasCORR.spr99.pdf

[5] Pike, J. (2011, November 07). Greek civil war. Retrieved from http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/greek.htm

[6] Samuels, D. J. (2013). Comparative politics. (2 ed., Vol. 1). New Jersey: Pearson Education.

[7] Pike, J. (2011, November 07). Greek civil war. Retrieved from http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/greek.htm

[8] Samuels, D. J. (2013). Comparative politics. (2 ed., Vol. 1). New Jersey: Pearson Education.

[9] Pike, J. (2011, November 07). Greek civil war. Retrieved from http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/greek.htm

[10] Pike, J. (2011, November 07). Greek civil war. Retrieved from http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/greek.htm

[11] Pike, J. (2011, November 07). Greek civil war. Retrieved from http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/greek.htm