Losses of Finland in the Soviet-Finnish, or Winter, war in November 1939 - March 1940, Finnish army lost 18,139 killed, 1,437 dead from wounds and diseases, 4,101 missing and 43,557 wounded survivors, out of 337,000 drafted into the army. Of the 4101 missing 847

Syracuse - the heart of great Greece According to archaeologists, the settlement of Sicily and its islands began in the 9th millennium BC. e. immigrants from Africa. The first inhabitants were called sesiotes. Sesiotes mastered the north-west of Sicily. Traces of their stay were found near the cities

CHAPTER 6 The Decision to Help Greece So far we have not made any commitment to action in Greece, except for the extensive preparations that we have been continuously making in Egypt and those negotiations and agreements with Athens, which have already been mentioned.

Chapter 13 Complications in Greece After the Allied retreat in April 1941, Greece was occupied by the Axis powers. The collapse of the army and the departure of the king and his government into exile revived the bitter infighting inherent in Greek politics. Both in Greece itself and in the Greek

Chapter 18 English Intervention in Greece Before leaving for Italy at the end of August, I asked the Chief of the Imperial General Staff to draw up a detailed plan for an English expedition to Greece in the event that the Germans should fail there. We have given this operation a conventional name

Presentation of evidence by the assistant to the chief prosecutor from the USSR L. N. Smirnov under the prosecution section “Crimes against humanity committed by the Nazis in the occupied territories of the Soviet Union, Poland, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia and Greece” [Transcript

Losses ... In any feast, to the noise and din of the departed, remember; although they are invisible to us, they see us. (I. G.) ... When I was awarded the highest officer rank, my son Seryozha and my friend and brother of my wife, lieutenant colonel of the medical service Ruzhitsky Zhanlis Fedorovich, were most happy about this.

Controlling the Balkan Peninsula, Germany would have the opportunity to conduct military operations against Britain and its allies in the Mediterranean, the Middle East and North Africa, as well as to carry out a direct invasion of Asia and Africa. In addition, Germany would have the opportunity to deploy air force and naval bases and to control the areas of the Mediterranean Sea, along which the routes of oil supplies to Britain from the countries of the Middle East passed.

In the second half of 1940 - early 1941, Germany significantly increased its influence in the Balkan Peninsula due to the accession of Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria to the tripartite pact. But the position of such large states in the region as Yugoslavia and Turkey was still uncertain. Their governments were outside the spheres of influence of the opposing blocs. Greece was under British influence.

“Hitler always presents me with a fait accompli. But this time I will repay him with the same coin: he will learn from the newspapers that I have occupied Greece.

To ensure the advancement of ground troops, Italian aviation had to paralyze Greek communications with air strikes, cause panic among the population and thus disrupt the mobilization and concentration of the Greek army. The directive stated that as a result of the offensive of Italian troops in Greece, a severe domestic political crisis would arise, which would contribute to achieving success with small forces and in the shortest possible time.

To capture Greece, the Italian command allocated two army corps, which included eight divisions (six infantry, one tank and one mountain rifle), a separate task force (three regiments) - a total of 87 thousand people, 163 tanks, 686 guns, 380 combat aircraft. 54 large surface ships (4 battleships, 8 cruisers, 42 destroyers and destroyers) and 34 submarines based in Taranto (Adriatic Sea) and to the island of Leros.

The offensive was planned to be carried out in a coastal strip 80 km wide by the forces of one Italian corps, numbering three infantry and one tank divisions, and a mobile task force. The main blow was delivered in the direction of Yanina, Metsovon. Another Italian corps, consisting of four divisions, was deployed to conduct active defense on the left wing of the Italo-Greek front. An infantry division stationed in Italy was allocated for the landing on the island of Corfu and its occupation. By the beginning of the aggression, the Greek armed forces in Epirus and Macedonia numbered 120 thousand people. In total, the mobilization plan of the Greek General Staff provided for the deployment to full strength of 15 infantry and 1 cavalry divisions, 4 infantry brigades and the reserve of the main command. The Greek Navy had 1 battleship, 1 cruiser, 9 destroyers, 8 destroyers, 6 submarines. The air force consisted of 156 aircraft. In the event of war, the general staff planned to concentrate these forces in the areas bordering Albania and Bulgaria. The Greek covering troops, permanently deployed on the Greek-Albanian border, had 2 infantry divisions, 2 infantry brigades, 13 separate infantry battalions and 6 mountain batteries. Their total number was 27 thousand people. There was very little military equipment in this area - only 20 tanks, 36 combat aircraft, 220 guns.

Italo-Greek War 1940

Invasion

On October 28, 1940, Italian troops launched an invasion of Greece. In the early days they were opposed only by weak barriers in the form of border units. However, the Greek covering troops, reinforced by five infantry and one cavalry divisions, put up strong resistance. On November 1, according to the order of the commander-in-chief of the Greek army A. Papagos, a counterattack was launched on the open left flank of the enemy. Over the next two days of fighting, Italian troops in the Korca region were forced back into Albanian territory. In Epirus, in the valleys of the rivers Viosa, Kalamas, resistance to the invasion intensified so much that already on November 6, Ciano made an entry in his diary: "The fact that on the eighth day of the operation the initiative passed to the Greeks is a reality."

On November 6, the Italian General Staff, as part of an urgent replenishment and reorganization of troops in Albania, issued an order to form a new army group "Albania" as part of the 9th and 11th armies, headed by Deputy Chief of the General Staff U. Soddu. On November 7, Italian troops ceased active operations, and preparations began for a new offensive. There was a temporary period of calm on the Italo-Greek front.

With the Italian attack, Great Britain was forced to fulfill its obligations under the guarantees given to Greece in April 1939. Despite the fact that the creation of a bridgehead in the Balkans was one of the priorities of the British ruling circles, the request of the Greek government to send naval and air units to protect the island of Corfu and Athens was initially rejected, since, according to the British command, their troops were more needed. in the Middle East than in Greece. However, 4 squadrons of aircraft were still sent to Greece, and on November 1, British units landed on the island of Crete, which was of great strategic importance in the Mediterranean Sea.

Greek counteroffensive

Second invasion attempt

Italian artillery bombarding Greek positions

But Mussolini needed only victory. He demanded that Cavaliero urgently prepare an offensive on the Italo-Greek front. Duce (it. duce- leader; commander) wanted to preempt Nazi Germany, which, contrary to his wishes, was preparing the invasion of German troops in Greece. “... The Fuhrer intends to strike Greece in March with large forces from the territory of Bulgaria,” Mussolini wrote to his chief of staff. “I hope that your efforts will make direct assistance to us from Germany on the Albanian front redundant.” The offensive, scheduled by the Italian General Staff for mid-January 1941, began, but did not develop: there were still not enough forces. Greek troops continued to attack the enemy along the entire front. Only by the beginning of March, when the Italian troops achieved some superiority in forces (they numbered 26 divisions against 15 Greek), the command was able to begin preparing a "general" offensive. The main blow was delivered to Klisura by 12 divisions. The offensive began on March 9, but the bloody battles that lasted several days did not bring success to the aggressor army. On March 16, the offensive stopped.

Political situation in 1940-1941

Allied actions

As soon as the Italo-Greek war began, England made attempts to attract Greece, Turkey and Yugoslavia to join the Anti-Hitler coalition. However, the implementation of this plan ran into great difficulties. Turkey refused not only to join the anti-Hitler bloc, but also to fulfill its obligations under the Anglo-French-Turkish Treaty of October 19, 1939. The Anglo-Turkish staff talks held in Ankara on January 25, 1941 turned out to be a fruitless attempt by England to involve Turkey in providing real help Greece. The ruling circles of Yugoslavia, although they refrained from joining the tripartite pact, did not intend to actively oppose it.

England also counted on the fact that she would be able to gain a foothold in the Balkans, using the clash of Soviet and German interests in this area. The British government made plans that this clash could develop into an armed conflict between the USSR and the Third Reich and thereby divert the attention of the Nazi leadership from the Balkan Peninsula.

Britain's policy in the Balkans met with ever-increasing support from the United States. In the second half of January, Roosevelt's personal representative, one of the leaders of American intelligence, Colonel W. Donovan (en: William Joseph Donovan), left for the Balkans on a special mission. He visited Athens, Istanbul, Sofia and Belgrade, urging the governments of the Balkan states to pursue policies that were beneficial to the United States and England. In February and March, American diplomacy did not ease pressure on the Balkan countries, especially on Turkey and Yugoslavia, trying to achieve its main goal - to prevent the strengthening of the positions of Germany and its allies. Notes, memorandums, personal messages from the President, etc. were sent to the governments of the Balkan states. All these actions were coordinated with the British government.

In February 1941, British Foreign Secretary E. Eden and Chief of the Imperial General Staff D. Dill (en: John Dill) went on a special mission to the Middle East and Greece. After consultations with the British command in the Eastern Mediterranean, they arrived in Athens, where on February 22 they agreed with the Greek government on the upcoming landing of the British Expeditionary Force here. This agreement was in line with the plans of the British Defense Committee, which considered the Balkans to be of decisive importance at that time. However, the attempts of British diplomacy to win over Yugoslavia were still unsuccessful.

Actions of the countries of the fascist bloc

The Italian aggression against Greece, and then its unsuccessful outcome for Italy, created a new situation in the Balkans. It served as a pretext for Germany to intensify its policy in the area. In addition, Hitler hastened to take advantage of the situation that had arisen in order to gain a foothold in the Balkan bridgehead under the guise of helping a defeated ally.

The German command decided to start the attack on Greece simultaneously with the attack on Yugoslavia. Plan "Marita" was subjected to radical processing. Military operations against both Balkan states were considered as a single operation. After the plan of attack was finally approved, Hitler sent a letter to Mussolini, saying that he was waiting for help from Italy.

The invasion was supposed to be carried out by applying simultaneous strikes from the territory of Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Austria in converging directions to Skopje, Belgrade and Zagreb in order to dismember the Yugoslav army and destroy it in parts. The task was to seize, first of all, the southern part of Yugoslavia in order to prevent the establishment of interaction between the armies of Yugoslavia and Greece, to connect with the Italian troops in Albania and to use the southern regions of Yugoslavia as a springboard for the subsequent German-Italian offensive against Greece.

Against Greece, it was planned to deliver the main blow in the direction of Thessaloniki, followed by an advance to the Olympus region.

The 2nd and 12th armies and the 1st tank group were involved in the operation. The 12th Army was concentrated on the territory of Bulgaria and Romania. It was significantly strengthened: its composition was brought up to 19 divisions (including 5 tank divisions). The 2nd Army, consisting of 9 divisions (including 2 tank divisions), was concentrated in southeastern Austria and western Hungary. 4 divisions were allocated to the reserve (including 3 tank divisions). For air support, the 4th air fleet and the 8th Air Corps, numbering together about 1200 combat and transport aircraft. The overall command of the grouping of German troops aimed at Yugoslavia and Greece was entrusted to Field Marshal V. List.

After negotiations between General F. Paulus and the Chief of the Hungarian General Staff X. Werth, which began on March 30, an agreement was signed under which Hungary allocated 10 brigades for aggression against Yugoslavia (corresponding to approximately 5 divisions). Their transition to the offensive was scheduled for April 14 .

Romania

Romania command of the Wehrmacht assigned the role of a barrier against the Soviet Union. Both ground forces and aviation were deployed on Romanian territory, providing support for the actions of German troops in the Balkans, and through which it was planned to deliver a massive bombing strike on Belgrade.

Bulgaria

The monarchical government of Bulgaria did not dare to send troops to participate in the aggression against Yugoslavia and Greece, but provided the territory of the country for the rapid deployment of the Wehrmacht. At the request of the Nazis, the Bulgarian command pulled off the bulk of its ground forces, reinforced by German tank units, to the borders of Turkey. Here they served as rear cover for the German formations operating against Greece and Yugoslavia.

Coordination of actions of states, armed forces which opposed Greece and Yugoslavia, was carried out in accordance with Directive No. 26 signed by Hitler on April 3, 1941 "Cooperation with the Allies in the Balkans." Coordination was to be carried out in such forms that would create the appearance of "sovereignty" of Nazi Germany's accomplices in aggression. For aggression in the Balkans, Germany and its allies allocated more than 80 divisions (of which 32 were German, more than 40 were Italian, and the rest were Hungarian), more than 2,000 aircraft and up to 2,000 tanks.

The defeat of the Greco-British army

The Greek army was in a difficult position. Prolonged hostilities depleted the country's strategic reserves. The bulk of the Greek troops (15 infantry divisions, combined into two armies - "Epirus" and "Western Macedonia") was stationed on the Italo-Greek front in Albania. The entry of German troops into Bulgaria and their exit in March 1941 to the Greek border put the Greek command before the intractable task of organizing defense in a new direction, where no more than 6 divisions could be transferred. The arrival of an expeditionary force from Egypt, which began on March 5, could not significantly change the situation, which included two infantry divisions (the New Zealand division, the Australian 6th division) [c], the British 1st armored brigade and nine aviation squadrons (2nd New Zealand, 6th Australian divisions and the 1st British tank brigade).

To repel aggression, the Greek command hastily created two new armies: "Eastern Macedonia" (three infantry divisions and one infantry brigade), which relied on the fortifications of the Metaxas line along the border with Bulgaria, and "Central Macedonia" (three infantry divisions and an English expeditionary corps), which, using a mountain range, took up defense from Olympus to Kaimakchalan. The armies did not have operational-tactical communications and could easily be cut off both from each other and from the troops concentrated on the Albanian front. The Greek command did not have strategic reserves. In deploying forces, it proceeded from the assumption that the enemy would operate only from the territory of Bulgaria and would not go through Yugoslavia.

The threat of a German attack increased the defeatist mood among the Greek generals. In early March 1941, the command of the Epirus army brought to the attention of the government that it considered the war with the Germans futile, and demanded that diplomatic negotiations be started with Germany. In response, the government changed the leadership of the Epirus army, appointed a new army commander and new corps commanders. However, these measures failed to achieve a turning point in the mood of the highest command of the Greek army. The situation in the Balkans required joint action by Great Britain, Greece and Yugoslavia. On March 31, the Chief of the British General Staff, General Dill, arrived in Belgrade, accompanied by Dixon, Eden's personal secretary. For two days, Dill negotiated with Prime Minister Simović, Minister of War General B. Ilić and officers of the General Staff to harmonize the efforts of Yugoslavia and Greece and mobilize their military and economic capabilities to fight the impending aggression. The exchange of opinions showed that Great Britain was not going to render significant assistance to Yugoslavia and Greece.

Meanwhile, the German divisions, advancing from the Bitola region through Florina and further south, again created a threat to the coverage of the Anglo-Greek forces and during April 11-13 forced them to hastily retreat to the city of Kozani. As a result, German troops went to the rear of the "Western Macedonia" army, isolating it from the troops stationed in the central part of the country.

The British command, considering resistance to the aggressor troops unpromising, began to plan the withdrawal of its expeditionary force from Greece. General Wilson was convinced that the Greek army had lost its fighting capacity, and its command had lost control. After Wilson's meeting with General Papagos on April 13, it was decided to retreat to the line of Thermopylae, Delphi and, thus, leave the entire northern part of the country to the enemy. British units from April 14 retreated to the coast for evacuation.

On April 13, Hitler signed Directive No. 27, in which he specified the plan of action for German troops in Greece. The Nazi command called for two strikes in converging directions from the areas of Florina and Thessaloniki to Larissa in order to surround the Anglo-Greek troops and frustrate attempts to form a new front of defense. In the future, the advance of motorized units was planned to capture Athens and the rest of Greece, including the Peloponnese. Particular care was taken to prevent British troops from being evacuated by sea.

In five days, the British Expeditionary Force retreated 150 km and concentrated in the area of ​​Thermopylae by 20 April. The main forces of the Greek army remained in the north-west of the country, in the mountains of Pindus and Epirus. The remnants of the "Central Macedonia" army and the troops of the "Western Macedonian" army, which suffered heavy losses, were reassigned to the commander of the "Epirus" army. This army was retreating, holding battles with Italian troops and being subjected to heavy air strikes. With the Germans entering Thessaly, there were practically no opportunities for the Epirus army to retreat to the Peloponnese.

The order of the Greek government to withdraw troops from Albania, failures at the fronts caused a long-awaited crisis in the ruling circles of Greece. The generals of the Epirus army demanded a cessation of hostilities with Germany and the conclusion of a truce with her. They put forward only one condition - to prevent the occupation of Greek territory by Italy.

The retreat of the British contingent

Main article: Operation Demon

English troops leave Greece

Subtotals

The campaign of German troops in the Balkans, which lasted 24 days (from April 6 to April 29), strengthened the faith of the Nazi command in the infallibility of the "blitzkrieg" strategy. Dominance in the Balkans was achieved at the cost of small losses: during the fighting, the German army lost about 2.5 thousand killed, 3 thousand missing and about 6 thousand wounded.

The losses of Yugoslavia and Greece were many times greater. Fascist troops captured 375 thousand soldiers and officers of the Yugoslav army (345 thousand Germans and 30 thousand Italians). Most of them were sent to Germany. 225 thousand Greek soldiers were taken prisoner. The British during the Balkan campaign lost about 12 thousand people killed, wounded and captured.

Operation Mercury

The final operation of the Balkan campaign was the capture of the island of Crete by German troops. It was of great strategic importance. The possession of the island made it possible to block the entrance to the Aegean Sea and control the approaches to the eastern Mediterranean Sea, Egypt, the Suez Canal and Palestine.

Results of the invasion

The territory of Greece, divided into 3 occupation zones

The Balkan campaign was distinguished by its originality in the use of methods of strategic deployment of troops. Preparing for the campaign, the Nazi command, as in the past, sought to create shock groups in advance in selected directions. But if the concentration of the 12th Army in Romania and Bulgaria took a considerable time, and its advance to the initial areas took place gradually, then, on the contrary, the concentration of the 2nd Army on the territory of Austria and its occupation of the initial areas for the offensive was carried out in a short time.

The directions of strikes in the mountain theater of military operations were chosen along the main roads, river valleys, in the interfluves, taking into account that they led to the main communications, the mastery of which violated the defense system of large areas and made it possible to accelerate the pace of the advance of mechanized troops. The breakthrough of the first German tank group in the direction of Nish, Belgrade was carried out with an average daily rate of advance of more than 40 km.

The capture of the island of Crete revealed increased opportunities airborne troops. At the same time, he showed that the implementation of such operations without interaction with other branches of the armed forces, and especially without reliable support by amphibious assault forces, inevitably leads to heavy losses. Therefore, it is no coincidence that the German command, after the capture of Crete, did not dare to carry out such large-scale airborne operations.

As the fighting in the Balkans showed, the operational art of the Italian army during the war with Greece did not go beyond the concepts characteristic of the First World War. It was considered quite legitimate, in particular, the linear deployment of troops. The operational art of the Greek army remained at the same level.

In operation "Mercury" an important task was solved by the German aviation dominating the air. She had a significant impact on the course of the operation. The evacuated British troops, despite the huge superiority in naval forces, suffered heavy losses from the attacks of the German Air Force. At the same time, German aviation, used on a large scale, but without interaction with the forces of the fleet, was unable to disrupt the evacuation. The operation revealed the increased role of interaction between the branches of the armed forces and the combat arms. The defeat of Yugoslavia and Greece in 1941 meant that Nazi Germany had seized the dominant position in the Balkans. Thus, the Nazi command provided more favorable conditions to attack the USSR from the south.

Jewish persecution

12,898 Greek Jews fought on the side of the Greek army. One of the most famous representatives of the Jewish community was Lieutenant Colonel Mordechai Frizis (el:Μαρδοχαίος Φριζής), who successfully resisted the Italian invasion, but was defeated by the German troops. 86% of the Jews, especially in the areas occupied by Germany and Bulgaria, were killed despite the efforts of the Greek Orthodox Church and many Greeks to shelter them. Although a large number of Jews in the occupied territory were deported, many found shelter with their neighbors.

Resistance

Main article: Resistance Movement (Greece)

1941

From October 1941 to the spring of 1942, a wave of strikes and demonstrations swept through the country. On the day of the national holiday, March 25, 1942 (Greek Independence Day), a demonstration was held in Athens at the initiative of EAM under the slogan of uniting patriotic forces in the struggle "for bread and freedom", which was brutally suppressed.

1942

In early 1942, partisan detachments launched operations in Rumelia, Central and Western Macedonia. In Crete, from the first days of the occupation, the detachments of General E. Mandakas fought.

In early January, the VIII Plenum of the KKE took place. On the basis of an analysis of the international and domestic situation, the plenum concluded that the current phase of the war was creating the prerequisites for a "new stormy upsurge of the national liberation movement." The KKE called on the population to organize a partisan movement in the mountains, to make it mass. In accordance with the decisions of the EAM and the VIII Plenum of the KKE, on February 16, a declaration was published on the creation of the People's Liberation Army of Greece (ELAS). It stated that the goals of ELAS are: the struggle for the liberation of the country from the occupying forces; defense of ELAS conquests; ensuring order before the elections .

In May 1942, the first ELAS detachment began to operate. The detachment consisted of 15 people, it was led by A. Klaras, known under the name of A. Veluhiotis. In the summer, similar detachments were created in a number of mountainous regions of Greece. The baptism of fire of ELAS was the battle on September 9 in the town of Rica Gionas. On October 29, a group of partisans led by A. Veluhiotis made a successful attack on an Italian detachment. By November, ELAS managed to liberate a number of mountainous regions of Greece.

From September 7 to 14, under the leadership of EAM, a general strike took place in Athens and Piraeus, in which a total of 60 thousand people took part. The demands of the strikers included: stopping the shipment of grain to Germany, raising wages, and issuing free rations to the starving.

1943

In the spring of 1943, ELAS represented a significant fighting force. Many objective reasons contributed to this: the success Soviet army on the Eastern Front, the growth and strengthening of the authority of EAM and ELAS, the weakening of the occupying forces in Greece, the achievements of the national liberation movement in Yugoslavia and Albania. If by the beginning of the year there were about 6 thousand people in ELAS detachments and subunits, then by the summer - about 12.5 thousand.

In May, after a large group of officers from the former Greek army joined the ELAS ranks, the command was reorganized. The newly created main command (commander-in-chief S. Sarafis, first deputy commander-in-chief A. Velouhiotis, commissar V. Samariniotis, and then first secretary of the Central Committee of the KKE G. Syandos) from that time on, all military units were subordinate, except for those operating in the regions of Athens and Piraeus, in the Peloponnese and Crete. The latter were directly led by the ELAS Central Committee in Athens. The reorganization significantly increased the combat power of ELAS.

In early July 1943, the British military mission, ELAS and two organizations - the National Democratic Union (EDES) and the National and Social Liberation (EKKA) - concluded an agreement between themselves recognizing ELAS, EDES and EKKA as parts of the allied army. The British side took over the overall leadership of the hostilities, the supply of weapons and everything necessary. A joint main command was created, which, together with three representatives of ELAS, included three representatives of other parties, although by this time ELAS numbered up to 14 thousand, EDES - 3-4 thousand, and EKKA - 200 fighters. The subordination of ELAS to the British Middle East command actually limited its independence.

By the middle of 1943, EAM and its army had achieved major successes. The July events of 1943 were of great importance for the further strengthening of the EAM forces, when German troops made an unsuccessful attempt to capture part of the territory of Greece. After the capitulation of Italy and the disarmament of the Italian troops in Greece by ELAS units, the combat power of the National Liberation Army increased significantly, and its positions in the country were strengthened. From a partisan army, ELAS turned into a regular one. It consisted of five divisions and a cavalry brigade with a total number of 35-40 thousand soldiers and exceeded the forces of EDES and EKKA many times over. EAM was the political leader of the country. It united in its ranks up to 2 million people.

German troops were advancing in the Metsovon, Kalambaki region, trying to capture the Kalambaki-Joannina highway connecting Epirus with Thessaly. Then the punitive operations also covered Western Macedonia. The German troops were followed by "security battalions", which were entrusted with the function of "processing" the population that supported ELAS. At this time, on the initiative of the SVM, the EDES detachments, with the support of "security battalions", launched an offensive against ELAS in order to seize control of Western Rumelia, Thessaly and that part of Epirus occupied by ELAS forces. However, ELAS managed to stop the offensive. Moreover, having launched a counteroffensive, ELAS regained its control over the lost areas, shifting its operations closer to major centers and communications centers. Also, ELAS part of the forces launched a counterattack on the EDES detachments, capturing Rumelia and Thessaly. On January 4, 1944, EDES detachments, replenished and supplied with British weapons, attacked ELAS units in the Arakhtos region at the direction of the SVM. However, this attempt was not successful. As a result, on January 26, the SVM proposed a truce between ELAS and EDES. EAM started negotiations, and on February 28 an agreement was signed on the cessation of hostilities between parts of ELAS and EDES.

The act of cooperation of the British government with the German military leadership caused outrage in the public in many countries, including in England itself [e] . This, as well as the stubborn resistance of ELAS, forced Churchill to change tactics somewhat. Rejecting the direct support of the Greek king, the British government approved the appointment of the Athenian archbishop Damaskinos as regent [f] .

1944

By the spring of 1944, ELAS had up to 50,000 men and controlled two-thirds of the country's territory. On April 5, the main leadership of the EAM issued an order in which it demanded that its troops prepare the necessary conditions in order to launch a general offensive against the retreating occupying forces at a decisive moment in order to destroy them or inflict maximum damage on them. In accordance with this order, the ELAS troops during April and May launched extensive offensive operations throughout Thessaly, in Central and Western Macedonia, in the region of Olympus and Gramos, Central Greece and on the Peloponnese peninsula.

Formation of an interim government

In the context of the continued liberation of the EAM-ELAS countries, they set themselves the task of creating an interim government of Greece to coordinate military and political efforts. After unsuccessful attempts to negotiate with the emigre government and opposition parties on the formation of a government of national unity, the KKE and EAM formed the Political Committee of National Liberation (PEEA) on March 10, which was entrusted with the functions of an interim democratic government. It included colonels E. Bakirdzis and E. Mandakas, the first secretary of the Central Committee of the KKE G. Syandos, the secretary of the agrarian party K. Gavriilidis and the secretary of the Union of People's Democracy I. Tsirimokos, that is, representatives of all EAM parties. The news of the creation of PEEA caused great enthusiasm among the population. This was confirmed by the general elections in constituent Assembly(the highest legislative body of the country), held on April 23. They were attended by 1.8 million people.

The formation of PEEA was negatively received by the émigré government and the SVM. On March 15, PEEA informed the government in exile in Cairo of its creation and emphasized that its goal was "to unite national forces to coordinate the national liberation struggle on the side of the Allies and, first of all, to form a government of national unity." At the insistence of George II, the government of E. Tsouderos not only did not respond to the appeal of the PEEA, but also hid the fact of its creation. Upon learning of this, the Greek armed forces in the Middle East sent a delegation to the Prime Minister and demanded "an agreement be reached immediately on the basis of the PEEA proposals." This performance was suppressed, and the Greek armed forces in the Middle East were disarmed. About 20 thousand soldiers and officers were imprisoned in concentration camps created by the British in Africa. The American ruling circles also expressed their solidarity with the actions of the SVM.

The task of popularizing the government in exile was brought to the fore. In this regard, the Lebanese Agreement was adopted. On the initiative of the British government, from May 20, a meeting of representatives of the government in exile, EAM - ELAS, EDES and a number of opposition parties was held near Beirut. The parties signed an agreement, the main points of which were the following:

• condemnation of the actions of the armed forces in the Middle East on the side of EAM - ELAS, qualifying it as a "crime against the Motherland";
• giving the government and the British command in the Middle East full initiative in resolving the main issue - the fate of the armed forces, mainly ELAS [g] ;
• liberation of the country by "joint action with the allied forces";
• providing coalition government the right to decide at one's own discretion constitutional and dynastic issues;
• PEEA, EAM and KKE receive 25% of minor ministerial portfolios.

Concerned about the creation of PEEA, the German command launched a major punitive operation between August 25 and 25 against the main ELAS group in the Pindus mountains. However, the operation was thwarted, and the decisive battle of Carpenision became the largest in the history of ELAS.

Liberation

The landing of the English troops

Main article: Operation Manna (Greece, 1944)

According to the agreement adopted between the Prime Minister of the government of "National Unity" G. Papandreou and the SVM in Caserta on September 26, 1944, British troops were introduced into the territory of Greece. British troops had been directly preparing for a landing in Greece since the summer of 1944. On August 6, W. Churchill ordered the chief of the imperial general staff to land 10-12 thousand people with tanks and artillery under the overall command of the English General R. Scobie (en: Ronald Scobie) in early September. The intentions of the British government were shared by the US political leadership [i] .

The plan of the operation provided for the forces of the airborne assault to occupy the capital of Greece, and then prepare the harbor of Piraeus to receive the amphibious assault and ensure the arrival of the Greek government from exile in Athens. On October 4, 1944, the British command dropped the first airborne assault in the north of the Peloponnese, which on the same day, following ELAS units, entered Patras, the main city of the Peloponnese. On October 13, the British landed in the Athens area, and on November 1 - in Thessaloniki, controlled by ELAS units. The ELAS troops pursued the retreating German troops without the support of the British units, which, being 50 km away from the enemy, did not take hostilities, but occupied the liberated territory [j] .

Armed conflict between ELAS and British troops

Following the English troops in Athens from exile, the government of Papandreou arrived. With the support of the command of the British troops, it began to form its own military units, launched a propaganda campaign against EAM and ELAS. In November, Papandreou demanded the dissolution of ELAS. This demand was also expressed by General Scobie during a meeting with General Sarafis. However, the ELAS command rejected this demand. In this regard, General Scobie on December 1 ordered the dissolution of ELAS. -December 4, mass demonstrations were held in Athens and Piraeus in support of the EAM policy. Despite the generally peaceful nature of the demonstrations, on a number of occasions police and British troops opened fire on armed activists [k] . Despite the massive use of tanks and aircraft against ELAS units, they managed to establish control over most of Athens, with the exception of the central region, where the British troops first held back the ELAS detachments, and then launched a counterattack. By mid-December, the position of ELAS had strengthened, and the British command had certain concerns about the possible failure of the operation. The situation of the British contingent was saved by the expulsion by the American command of 100 transport aircraft for the transfer of reinforcements, as a result of which by mid-January the whole of Attica was drachmas, then already in 1944 - 100 trillion drachmas. One consequence of hyperinflation was a general famine that began in the winter of 1942 and lasted until 1944. The stratification of monetary savings caused by hyperinflation and black markets greatly hampered post-war economic development.

According to the model proposed in October 1944 by the governor of the central bank of Greece, K. Zolotas (el:Ξενοφών Ζολώτας), when the Greek economy reaches one fifth of the pre-war level, the accumulated money supply should first of all be spent on the payment of state funds. debt and inflation. However, even achieving a value of money turnover of 20% of the pre-war level was an unattainable task. The national income was minimal even taking into account the fact that the bulk of the population lived at the subsistence level. The only form of trade available was barter.

Based on the analysis of the current situation, Zolotas chose an economic policy, the initial condition of which was the rejection of the monetary system. This meant that first an organizational production infrastructure had to be created, then production itself was established, and money circulation had to be stimulated using the quantity theory of money and taking into account the velocity of money.

Zolotas also proposed a plan by which the government could avoid inflation - full support of the national currency by the Greek expatriate Treasury or through foreign lending along with the introduction of free convertibility of the national currency. Zolotas' plan also included government-level incentives to import goods and raw materials to subsidize the domestic market.

The most famous representative of the movement for state intervention in the economy at that time, K. Varvaresos, who took over the post of K. Zolotas on February 2, 1945, was a supporter of the "formula 1/5". His position was to cut the number of trading operations by about 50%. Taking into account the increase in world prices by 50%, he indexed the ratio of the drachma to the pound. Based on his calculations, this ratio should be increased several times. Taking into account psychological factors and deteriorating living conditions until the moment of the withdrawal of German troops, Varvaresos announced a turnover of 1/5 of the pre-war level as a stable anti-inflationary basis for economic recovery in post-war period.

In the autumn of 1944, EAM appointed Zolotos to the post of co-manager of the Central Bank of Greece along with Varvares. The latter refused to acknowledge this, submitting his resignation, but it was not accepted. On November 11, a new drachma was issued in denominations of £1/600. The former drachmas were converted into new ones at the rate of 50 billion/1. The central bank implemented a policy of realizing gold sovereigns in an effort to reinforce public acceptance of the new currency. However, the adoption of this policy was an irreversible phenomenon. Political instability led to the withdrawal of the KKE from the EAM and contributed to the rapid rise in prices. In June 1945, the ratio had already reached 1/2000. Between May and October 1945, Varvaresos was called to the post of prime minister. His plan was to build a strong government first and foremost, not to rebuild the economy. The plan called for immediate UN humanitarian aid in terms of food and raw materials, taxation of military acquisitions, and basic provision of the population through government administration. However, in September 1945, this plan, in fact the only one proposed, was rejected due to a lack of support from both the right and the left. The end result was the stabilization of the national currency after only 7 years "I intend to carry out an invasion of Yugoslavia by powerful attacks from the Fiume and Sofia area in the general direction of Belgrade and further south in order to inflict a decisive defeat on the Yugoslav army, and also cut off the southern part of Yugoslavia from the rest regions of the country and turn it into a base for further operations of the German-Italian troops against Greece. I order: a) As soon as the concentration of sufficient forces is completed and meteorological conditions permit, all important ground installations in Yugoslavia and Belgrade are to be destroyed by continuous round-the-clock air raids; b) If possible, at the same time - but in no case before - Operation Marita should be launched. .

Great Britain participated in the Second World War from its very beginning on September 1, 1939 (September 3, 1939, Great Britain declared war) and until its very end (September 2, 1945), until the day Japan signed the surrender. World War II ... Wikipedia

Great Britain participated in the Second World War from its very beginning on September 1, 1939 (September 3, 1939, Great Britain declared war) and until its very end (September 2, 1945), until the day Japan signed the surrender. World War II ... Wikipedia

Escalation of the conflict in the Balkans

At the beginning of 1940, the struggle for possession of the Balkans between the countries of the Anti-Hitler coalition and the Axis gradually escalated. This territory was of exceptional importance in the plans of the warring parties.
Britannia. The government of the state planned to create a cover for its territorial possessions on the Balkan Peninsula. This territory was also considered as a source of human and raw material resources. For a long time, Greece fell under the influence of Britain.
The Third Reich planned to use the Balkan Peninsula as a springboard for the upcoming takeover of the USSR. The previously conquered territories of Denmark and Norway, as well as the signed alliance treaty with Finland, made it possible to block Soviet Union in a northwestern direction. The government needed to occupy the Balkan Peninsula to create a southern flank and provide the entire army with food and the necessary raw materials. On this territory, the government planned to concentrate one of the largest groupings of the army. The offensive was supposed to deal a serious blow to Ukraine and the Caucasus.
Yugoslavia and Türkiye adhered to a position of neutrality.

Beginning of the Italo-Greek Wars

On October 15, 1940, a directive was developed in Italy, which spoke of an offensive into Greece. According to these data, Yanina was supposed to be hit by the Albanian troops, whose main goal was to break through the defenses of the Greek army. Italy planned the capture of Epirus, an attack on Thessaloniki and Athens. The island of Corfu had to be captured using amphibious forces.

Italian invasion of Greece

On October 28, 1940, Italian troops landed in Greece. On the first day, they received a weak rebuff from parts of the border guards. However, undercover Greek soldiers reinforced by 5 infantry and cavalry divisions prevented the invaders from moving. On November 1, army commander A. Papagos gave the order to launch a counterattack on the unprotected flank of the enemy - the left. After 2 days of prolonged fighting, the Italian army had to return to the Albanian Peninsula. The invasion was crushed.

Actions of the Axis states
In March 1941, a revolutionary coup took place in Yugoslavia. Due to the complication of the political situation, the German authorities were forced to look for opportunities for the operational implementation of plans in relation to the Balkans. It was decided to immediately change the methods of political pressure and pressure to an openly aggressive policy.

The invasion of the army of aggressors in the territory of Greece and Yugoslavia
The hostilities taking place in Greece have ended complete defeat British armies. Troops from Britain, Australia and New Zealand were evacuated as a matter of urgency. The number of troops removed was approximately 80% of all forces previously sent to Greece. This operation, the purpose of which was the conquest of the Balkan Peninsula, was called "Marita".

Results and consequences of the invasion

The aggressive policy of the German government towards Greece had grave consequences.
In May 1941, the entire territory of Greece was subjected to Nazi occupation. The interventionists got the opportunity to dispose of the most significant regions of the state - Athens and Thessaloniki. The rest of the territory was received by Germany's satellites - Bulgaria and fascist Italy.
Large losses among the civilian population. Over 30,000 civilians died of starvation in Athens and repression. Economic condition Greece was undermined. Almost the entire army was evacuated to the lands of the Middle East. German soldiers carried out several demonstration executions, during which about 2,000 people died. The total losses of Greece in World War II exceeded 200,000 inhabitants.
Formation of the Greek Resistance. This movement was one of the most effective in all of Europe. The resistance carried out guerrilla operations, worked to create a global spy network.

Jewish genocide

More than 12,000 Jews fought in the Greek army. Their most famous representative was Mordechai Frizis, who was credited with resisting the Italian invaders. The consequences of the aggressive genocide of the Third Reich were the murders of 86% of the Jews, despite the fact that the Greek Orthodox Church and most Greeks tried to protect them.
In July 1942, Jews were ordered to prepare for deportation to German concentration camps. For the purpose of release, the community paid a contribution of 2.5 million drachmas. However, the deportation was delayed only until March. About 45,000 Jews were sent to Auschwitz. Those people who were able to return witnessed the severe consequences of the genocide - destroyed Jewish schools and synagogues. This event is called the Holocaust and is one of the most brutal acts against humanity in history.

Economic situation

After the occupation, the economy of the state remained completely destroyed. Agriculture became the most detrimental, foreign trade relations suffered - the two most important aspects economic system of Greece. Numerous compensations demanded by the invaders caused inflation in the market. In 1944, inflationary processes in Greece reached a peak point - the 100 billion drachma note began to be considered the most valuable. Barter exchange throughout the occupation period remained one of the most common methods of conducting trade.

Resistance

In order to repulse the troops of the interventionists, a people's liberation army was created in Greece. This system of armed forces planned to fulfill the following goals.
The fight against the Bulgarian, Italian and German occupation on the territory of the country.
Rebuff to Greek Nazism, as well as collaborator am.
The People's Liberation Army had the opportunity not to depend on anyone in its actions and to carry out operations without the help of allies. In fact, it was thanks to this military force that the liberation of Greece was realized in the future. Notable leaders included such personalities as Yiannis Ritsos, Yiannis Xenakos and Al Demi. En masse underground organizations, most of whom preached monarchist and pro-Western views.

Consequences

It is not known how the history of the Second World War would have ended for Greece, if not for the development of hostilities in other theaters. The offensive of the Soviet troops, the overthrow of the fascist regime in Italy - these events significantly undermined the military power of the Third Reich. Despite the imperfection of the conduct of military operations in Britain, Greece was liberated thanks to a global guerrilla movement.

Of course, the importance of Greece during the Second World War and in our time remains underestimated. Given the fact that Greece took the blow of the German army and repelled it for 2 months, we can safely say that this significantly undermined the military power of Germany and did not allow the Nazis to realize their plans for the USSR.

(1924-1935)

“Hitler always presents me with a fait accompli. But this time I will repay him with the same coin: he will learn from the newspapers that I have occupied Greece.

Italo-Greek War 1940

Invasion

Actions of the Axis powers

The defeat of the Greco-British army

The retreat of the British contingent

At sea, the evacuation was led by Vice Admiral G. Pridham-Wippel (en: Sir Henry Daniel Pridham-Wippell), and ashore by Rear Admiral G. T. Bailey-Groman and Army Headquarters.

The final evacuation figures for the army:

A total of 50,662 people were taken out, including the personnel of the British Royal Air Force and several thousand residents of Cyprus, Palestine, Greeks and Yugoslavs. This constituted about 80 percent of the force originally sent to Greece.

Results of the invasion

By mid-May, Greece was completely occupied by the Nazis, who began to rule the most important regions of the country, including the cities of Athens and Thessaloniki. Other regions of the country were transferred to Germany's satellites: fascist Italy and Bulgaria (see maps). The collaborationist government of Greece was created immediately after the defeat of the country.

The occupation led to terrible consequences for the Greek civilian population. More than 30,000 civilians died in Athens from starvation, tens of thousands as a result of repression by the Nazis and collaborators; the country's economy was also destroyed. Most of the navy and part of the Greek army went into exile in the Middle East.

At the same time, the Greek Resistance was formed, one of the most effective resistance movements in occupied Europe. Resistance groups launched guerrilla attacks against the occupying forces, fought against the collaborationist "security battalions" and created a large spy network, and at the end of 1943 they began to fight among themselves. When the country was liberated in October 1944 (largely due to the efforts of the local Resistance, and not to the British troops that landed in September 1944 during Operation Manna), Greece was in a state of extreme political polarization, which soon led to the outbreak of civil war .

Terror and hunger

Jewish genocide

12,898 Greek Jews fought on the side of the Greek army. One of the most famous representatives of the Jewish community was Lieutenant Colonel Mordechai Frizis (Μαρδοχαίος Φριζής), who successfully resisted the Italian invasion. 86% of the Jews, especially in the areas occupied by Germany and Bulgaria, were killed, despite the efforts of the Greek Orthodox Church and many Greeks to shelter them. Despite the fact that a large number of Jews in the occupied territory were deported, many found shelter with their neighbors.

Resistance

Economy

As a result of the occupation in 1941-1944. the Greek economy lay in ruins, significant damage was done to foreign trade relations and agriculture countries - the two most important components of the Greek economic system. Demands from the German side to pay significant "occupation costs" caused hyperinflation. Average inflation during the years of occupation was 8.55·10 9%/month (doubling prices every 28 hours). The highest inflation rate in the history of Greece was reached in 1944. If in 1943 the banknote of 25,000 drachmas had the highest price value, then already in 1944 - 100 billion drachmas. One consequence of hyperinflation was a general famine that began in the winter of 1942 and lasted until 1944. The stratification of monetary savings caused by hyperinflation and black markets greatly hampered post-war economic development.

According to the model proposed in October 1944 by the Governor of the Central Bank of Greece, K. Zolotas (Ξενοφών Ζολώτας), when the Greek economy reaches a fifth of the pre-war level, the accumulated money supply should first of all be spent on the payment of state funds. debt and inflation. However, even achieving a value of money turnover of 20% of the pre-war level was an unattainable task. The national income was minimal even taking into account the fact that the bulk of the population was at the subsistence level. The only form of trade available was barter.

Based on the analysis of the current situation, Zolotas chose an economic policy, the initial condition of which was the rejection of the monetary system. This meant that first an organizational production infrastructure had to be created, then production itself was established, and money circulation had to be stimulated using the quantity theory of money and taking into account the velocity of money.

Zolotas also proposed a plan by which the government could avoid inflation - full support of the national currency by the Greek expatriate Treasury or through foreign lending along with the introduction of free convertibility of the national currency. Zolotas' plan also included government-level incentives to import goods and raw materials to subsidize the domestic market.

The most famous representative of the movement for state intervention in the economy at that time, K. Varvaresos, who took the post of K. Zolotas on February 2, 1945, was a supporter of the "1/5 formula". His position was to cut the number of trading operations by about 50%. Taking into account the increase in world prices by 50%, he indexed the ratio of the drachma to the pound. Based on his calculations, this ratio should be increased several times. Given the psychological factors and deteriorating living conditions until the moment the German troops were withdrawn, Varvaresos announced a turnover of 1/5 of the pre-war level as a stable anti-inflationary basis for economic recovery in the post-war period.

In the autumn of 1944, EAM appointed Zolotos to the post of co-manager of the Central Bank of Greece along with Varvares. The latter refused to acknowledge this, submitting his resignation, but it was not accepted. On November 11, a new drachma was issued in denominations of £1/600. The former drachmas were converted into new ones at the rate of 50 billion/1. The central bank implemented a policy of realizing gold sovereigns in an effort to reinforce public acceptance of the new currency. However, the adoption of this policy was an irreversible phenomenon. Political instability led to the withdrawal of the KKE from the EAM and contributed to the rapid rise in prices. In June 1945, the ratio had already reached 1/2000. Between May and October 1945, Varvaresos was called to the post of prime minister. His plan was to build a strong government first and foremost, not to rebuild the economy. The plan called for immediate UN humanitarian aid in terms of food and raw materials, taxation of military acquisitions, and basic provision of the population through government administration. However, in September 1945, this plan, in fact the only one proposed, was rejected due to a lack of support from both the right and the left. The end result was the stabilization of the national currency after only 7 years.

see also

Reflection in modern culture and traditions

Ohi Day

Celebrated in Greece, Cyprus and Greek communities around the world on October 28 of each year, Ohi Day (Greek: Επέτειος του «"Οχι» ) honors the refusal of Ioannis Metaxas to accept the ultimatum presented to Mussolini on October 28, 1940.

In fiction

Novels translated into Russian:

• James Aldridge . "A Matter of Honor"
• Alistair McLean. "The Guns of Navarone", "10 Points from Navarone"
• Louis de Bernier. "Captain Corelli's Mandolin"

Write a review on the article "Greece in World War II"

Notes

Footnotes

Sources

Links

see also

Literature

• History of the Second World War 1939-1945 in twelve volumes(edited by A. A. Grechko, D. F. Ustinov), M., Military Publishing House of the Ministry of Defense of the USSR, 1973-1982

An excerpt characterizing Greece in World War II

At the beginning of 1806, Nikolai Rostov returned on vacation. Denisov was also going home to Voronezh, and Rostov persuaded him to go with him to Moscow and stay at their house. At the penultimate station, having met a comrade, Denisov drank three bottles of wine with him and, approaching Moscow, despite the bumps in the road, did not wake up, lying at the bottom of the sledge, near Rostov, which, as it approached Moscow, came more and more into impatience.
“Soon? Is it soon? Oh, these unbearable streets, shops, rolls, lanterns, cabbies! thought Rostov, when they had already written down their holidays at the outpost and drove into Moscow.
- Denisov, come! Asleep! he said, leaning forward with his whole body, as if by this position he hoped to speed up the movement of the sleigh. Denisov did not respond.
- Here is the corner of the crossroads where Zakhar the cab driver is standing; here he is and Zakhar, and still the same horse. Here is the shop where the gingerbread was bought. Is it soon? Well!
- Which house is that? asked the coachman.
- Yes, at the end, to the big one, how can you not see! This is our house, - said Rostov, - after all, this is our house! Denisov! Denisov! We'll come now.
Denisov raised his head, cleared his throat, and said nothing.
“Dmitry,” Rostov turned to the lackey in the box. “Is this our fire?”
- So exactly with and with daddy in the office glows.
- Haven't gone to bed yet? A? How do you think? Look, don’t forget, get me a new Hungarian at once, ”added Rostov, feeling his new mustache. “Come on, let’s go,” he shouted to the driver. “Wake up, Vasya,” he turned to Denisov, who lowered his head again. - Come on, let's go, three rubles for vodka, let's go! Rostov shouted when the sleigh was already three houses from the entrance. It seemed to him that the horses were not moving. Finally the sleigh was taken to the right to the entrance; above his head, Rostov saw a familiar cornice with broken plaster, a porch, a sidewalk pillar. He jumped out of the sleigh on the move and ran into the passage. The house also stood motionless, unfriendly, as if it didn't care who came to it. There was no one in the vestibule. "My God! is everything all right?" thought Rostov, stopping for a minute with a sinking heart, and at once starting to run further along the passage and the familiar, crooked steps. The same doorknob of the castle, for the uncleanliness of which the countess was angry, also weakly opened. A single tallow candle burned in the hallway.
Old man Mikhail was sleeping on the chest. Prokofy, the visiting lackey, the one who was so strong that he lifted the carriage by the back, sat and knitted bast shoes from the hems. He glanced at the open door, and his indifferent, sleepy expression suddenly changed into ecstatic fright.
- Fathers, lights! Count young! he exclaimed, recognizing the young master. – What is it? My dove! - And Prokofy, shaking with excitement, rushed to the door to the living room, probably in order to announce, but apparently again changed his mind, returned back and leaned on the shoulder of the young master.
– Healthy? Rostov asked, pulling his hand away from him.
- God bless! All thanks to God! just ate now! Let me see you, Your Excellency!
- Is everything all right?
- Thank God, thank God!
Rostov, completely forgetting about Denisov, not wanting to let anyone warn him, threw off his fur coat and ran on tiptoe into the dark, great hall. Everything is the same, the same card tables, the same chandelier in a case; but someone had already seen the young gentleman, and before he had time to run to the living room, something swiftly, like a storm, flew out of the side door and hugged and began to kiss him. Another, third, similar creature jumped out of another, third door; More hugs, more kisses, more cries, more tears of joy. He could not make out where and who is dad, who is Natasha, who is Petya. Everyone was screaming and talking and kissing him at the same time. Only his mother was not among them - he remembered that.
- But I didn’t know ... Nikolushka ... my friend!
- Here he is ... ours ... My friend, Kolya ... He has changed! No candles! Tea!
- Kiss me then!
- Darling ... but me.
Sonya, Natasha, Petya, Anna Mikhailovna, Vera, the old count, embraced him; and people and maids, having filled the rooms, sentenced and gasped.
Petya hung on his feet. - And then me! he shouted. Natasha, after she, bending him to her, kissed his whole face, jumped away from him and holding on to the floor of his Hungarian, jumped like a goat all in one place and squealed piercingly.
From all sides there were tears of joy shining with tears, loving eyes, from all sides there were lips looking for a kiss.
Sonya, red as red, also held on to his hand and beamed all over in a blissful look fixed on his eyes, which she was waiting for. Sonya was already 16 years old, and she was very beautiful, especially at this moment of happy, enthusiastic animation. She looked at him, not taking her eyes off, smiling and holding her breath. He looked at her gratefully; but still waiting and looking for someone. The old countess hasn't come out yet. And then there were footsteps at the door. The steps are so fast that they couldn't have been his mother's.
But it was she in a new dress, unfamiliar to him, sewn without him. Everyone left him and he ran to her. When they came together, she fell on his chest sobbing. She could not raise her face and only pressed him against the cold laces of his Hungarian coat. Denisov, not noticed by anyone, entered the room, stood right there and, looking at them, rubbed his eyes.
“Vasily Denisov, your son’s friend,” he said, introducing himself to the count, who looked at him inquiringly.
- Welcome. I know, I know,” said the count, kissing and hugging Denisov. - Nikolushka wrote ... Natasha, Vera, here he is Denisov.
The same happy, enthusiastic faces turned to the shaggy figure of Denisov and surrounded him.
- My dear, Denisov! - Natasha squealed, beside herself with delight, jumped up to him, hugged and kissed him. Everyone was embarrassed by Natasha's act. Denisov also blushed, but smiled and took Natasha's hand and kissed it.
Denisov was taken to the room prepared for him, and the Rostovs all gathered in the sofa near Nikolushka.
The old countess, without letting go of his hand, which she kissed every minute, sat next to him; the rest, crowding around them, caught his every movement, word, glance, and did not take their eyes off him with enthusiastic love. The brother and sisters argued and intercepted places from each other closer to him, and fought over who would bring him tea, a handkerchief, a pipe.
Rostov was very happy with the love he was shown; but the first minute of his meeting was so blissful that it seemed to him that his present happiness was not enough, and he kept waiting for something more, and more, and more.
The next morning the visitors slept off the road until 10 o'clock.
In the previous room, sabers, bags, carts, open suitcases, dirty boots were lying around. The cleaned two pairs with spurs had just been placed against the wall. Servants brought washstands hot water shaving and brushed dresses. It smelled of tobacco and men.
- Hey, G "bitch, t" ubku! shouted the hoarse voice of Vaska Denisov. - Rostov, get up!
Rostov, rubbing his eyes that were stuck together, lifted his tangled head from the hot pillow.
- What's late? “Late, 10 o’clock,” answered Natasha’s voice, and in next room there was a rustle of starched dresses, a whisper and laughter of girlish voices, and through the slightly open door flashed something blue, ribbons, black hair and cheerful faces. It was Natasha with Sonya and Petya, who came to see if he got up.
- Nicholas, get up! Natasha's voice was heard again at the door.
- Now!
At this time, Petya, in the first room, seeing and grabbing sabers, and experiencing the delight that boys experience at the sight of a warlike older brother, and forgetting that it is indecent for sisters to see undressed men, opened the door.
- Is that your sword? he shouted. The girls jumped back. Denisov, with frightened eyes, hid his shaggy legs in a blanket, looking around for help at his comrade. The door let Petya through and closed again. There was laughter outside the door.
- Nikolenka, come out in a dressing gown, - Natasha's voice said.
- Is that your sword? Petya asked, “or is it yours?” - with obsequious respect he turned to the mustachioed, black Denisov.
Rostov hurriedly put on his shoes, put on a dressing gown and went out. Natasha put on one boot with a spur and climbed into the other. Sonya was spinning and just wanted to inflate her dress and sit down when he came out. Both were in the same, brand new, blue dresses - fresh, ruddy, cheerful. Sonya ran away, and Natasha, taking her brother by the arm, led him into the sofa room, and they started talking. They did not have time to ask each other and answer questions about thousands of little things that could interest only them alone. Natasha laughed at every word that he said and that she said, not because what they said was funny, but because she had fun and was unable to restrain her joy, expressed in laughter.
- Oh, how good, excellent! she said to everything. Rostov felt how, under the influence of the hot rays of love, for the first time in a year and a half, that childish smile blossomed in his soul and face, which he had never smiled since he left home.
“No, listen,” she said, “are you quite a man now? I'm awfully glad you're my brother. She touched his mustache. - I want to know what kind of men you are? Are they like us? No?
Why did Sonya run away? Rostov asked.
- Yes. That's another whole story! How will you talk to Sonya? You or you?
“How will it happen,” said Rostov.
Tell her, please, I'll tell you later.
- Yes, what?
- Well, I'll tell you now. You know that Sonya is my friend, such a friend that I would burn my hand for her. Here look. - She rolled up her muslin sleeve and showed on her long, thin and delicate handle under her shoulder, much higher than the elbow (in the place that is sometimes covered by ball gowns) a red mark.
“I burned this to prove my love to her. I just kindled the ruler on fire, and pressed it.
Sitting in his former classroom, on the sofa with pillows on the handles, and looking into Natasha's desperately animated eyes, Rostov again entered that family, children's world, which had no meaning for anyone except for him, but which gave him one of the best pleasures in life; and burning his hand with a ruler, to show love, seemed to him not useless: he understood and was not surprised at this.
– So what? only? - he asked.
- Well, so friendly, so friendly! Is this nonsense - a ruler; but we are forever friends. She will love someone, so forever; but I don't understand it, I'll forget it now.
- Well, so what?
Yes, she loves me and you so much. - Natasha suddenly blushed, - well, you remember, before leaving ... So she says that you forget it all ... She said: I will always love him, but let him be free. After all, the truth is that this is excellent, noble! - Yes Yes? very noble? Yes? Natasha asked so seriously and excitedly that it was clear that what she was saying now, she had previously said with tears.
Rostov thought.
“I don’t take back my word in anything,” he said. - And besides, Sonya is so charming that what kind of fool would refuse his happiness?
“No, no,” Natasha screamed. We already talked about it with her. We knew you would say that. But this is impossible, because, you understand, if you say so - you consider yourself bound by a word, then it turns out that she seemed to have said it on purpose. It turns out that you still forcibly marry her, and it turns out not at all.
Rostov saw that all this was well thought out by them. Sonya struck him yesterday with her beauty. To-day, seeing her for a glimpse, she seemed even better to him. She was a lovely 16-year-old girl, obviously passionately loving him (he did not doubt this for a minute). Why should he not love her now, and not even marry her, thought Rostov, but now there are so many other joys and occupations! "Yes, they thought it up perfectly," he thought, "one must remain free."
“Very well,” he said, “we’ll talk later.” Oh, how glad I am for you! he added.
- Well, why didn’t you cheat on Boris? the brother asked.

Today's events in Greece have a very long history. They write a lot about the Soviet troops brought into Prague in 1968. But about the fact in the history of the intervention of Great Britain and the United States in the internal affairs of Greece, about 36 years of repression, the shooting of a peaceful demonstration in Greece, they remember and write very little, or rather nothing at all, as if it didn't exist. History always has a double bottom. Especially if the party to the conflict acts contrary to the proclaimed values.

The British expedition against the sovereignty of the Greek people in December 1944 was twice the size of the British corps in Greece in 1941 against the forces of the Wehrmacht and relied on parts of collaborators.
“It should be noted that Mr. Churchill and his friends are strikingly reminiscent in this respect of Hitler and his friends. Hitler began the business of starting the war by proclaiming the racial theory, declaring that only German-speaking people constituted a complete nation. Mr. Churchill also begins the work of unleashing war with racial theory, arguing that only nations that speak English are full-fledged nations, called upon to decide the fate of the whole world.
German racial theory led Hitler and his friends to the conclusion that the Germans, as the only complete nation, should dominate other nations. The English racial theory leads Mr. Churchill and his friends to the conclusion that the nations that speak the English language, as the only full-fledged ones, should dominate the rest of the nations of the world.

After the retreat of the German army, British troops and Greek pro-monarchist military formations landed in Greece. In accordance with the official history, allegedly, it was they, and not the partisans, who liberated Athens. The partisans and their leaders at that time did not have information about the agreements signed in the Kremlin between Churchill and Stalin, according to which Greece became a zone of influence of Britain. The treaties actually conveyed the fate of the partisans ELAS into the hands of Great Britain.

On October 12, 1944, the Germans left Athens and the port of Piraeus, the 1st ELAS Corps took control of the capital, saved its facilities, including power plants, from destruction by the leaving Germans. At 9 am, ELAS city detachments entered the city center and removed the remaining Nazi symbols from the Acropolis of Athens. Today, the liberation of the city is celebrated on October 12, when it was liberated by ELAS units.

On October 14, the first British paratroopers arrived at the airfield in Tatoi, not far from Athens (the Palace of King George II is located in Tatoi). They were met by ELAS partisans, who occupied the airfield on October 12. This angered Churchill, who was preparing to clash with ELAS and the anti-monarchist government-in-exile of Georgios Papandreou. The "mistake" of the BBC was corrected by the English commander-in-chief Wilson Henry Maitland, who reported to Churchill that Athens had been liberated from 13 to 14 October by British units and the Holy Detachment.
At the same time, speaking in Parliament on December 8, 1944, Churchill was forced to admit: "British troops carried out an invasion of Greece, which was not due to military necessity, since the position of the Germans in Greece had long since become hopeless".
On October 18, the government of Georgios Papandreou arrived in Athens, which was met by an honor guard of the ELAS forces. In 1935, Georgios organized the Democratic Party, later renamed the Democratic Socialist Party. He took part in the Second World War, in 1942 he was captured by the Italians. In 1944 he fled to the Middle East, where he organized a government in exile.

On November 3, 1944, the entire territory of Greece was completely liberated from occupation. For the invaders, there was a threat of being cut off by the Red Army that had entered the Balkans. The emergency message from the ELAS High Command said: “The enemy ... under pressure from our troops and relentlessly pursued by them, left Greek territory. ... The long-term and bloody struggle of ELAS was crowned with the complete liberation of our homeland ".

Meanwhile, the landing British troops practically did not have to conduct military operations against the departing units of the Wehrmacht. The number of ELAS at that time was 119 thousand officers and soldiers, partisans and partisans of the reserve and 6 thousand people of the national police.

(p.) W. Churchill to General Scobie.

Henry Maitland Wilson. In November-December 1944, he led the fighting to defeat the people's liberation
movement in Greece. In December of the same year, he was appointed head of the British military mission to the Joint Chiefs.
headquarters in Washington. Participated in the Yalta and Potsdam conferences in 1945.

Let us analyze the chronicle of the events of December 1944.
The British army, still at war with Germany, issued guns to locals who collaborated with the Nazis to shoot at civilians who supported the guerrillas with whom Britain had been an ally for three years.
The crowd carried Greek, American, British and Soviet flags and chanted: "Long live Churchill, Viva Roosevelt, Viva Stalin" in support of the anti-Hitler alliance. Twenty-eight civilians, mostly young boys and girls, were killed and hundreds were injured.

Britain's logic was cruel and insidious: Prime Minister Winston Churchill believed that the influence of the Communist Party within the resistance movement he had supported throughout the war - the National Liberation Front, EAM - had grown more than he had expected.
Moreover, he considered this influence sufficient to jeopardize the plan to restore the king of Greece to power. Thus, Churchill treacherously supported Hitler's supporters against his former allies.

As a consequence of this betrayal, Greece plunged into the abyss of civil war. Every Greek citizen knows about this event, but in different ways, depending on which side his ancestors were on.

Before the war, Greece was under the rule of a monarchical dictatorship. The dictator, General Ioannis Metaxas, received his military education in Imperial Germany, while the Greek King George II - the uncle of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh - was of British descent.
Both dictators and kings were anti-communists and Metaxas banned the Communist Party, KKE. After the outbreak of war, Metaxas refused to accept Mussolini's ultimatum to surrender and declared his loyalty to the Anglo-Greek alliance.

The Greeks fought bravely and defeated the Italians, but were unable to resist the Wehrmacht. By the end of April 1941, the country was occupied. The Greeks - at first spontaneously, and later as part of organized groups - fought in the resistance. The right and the monarchists were more indecisive than their political opponents. England's natural allies were therefore the EAM - an alliance of the left wing and the Agrarian Party of which the KKE was dominant.

The occupation was terrible. Stripping and torturing women was a common means of extracting "confessions". Mass executions took place, and for purposes of intimidation there were gallows guarded by security officials to prevent them from being destroyed. In response, ELAS (People's Liberation Army of Greece) carried out daily counterattacks against the Germans.

Partisan movement born in Athens, but based in the villages, so that Greece is gradually liberated from the countryside. The British conducted joint operations with the guerrillas.

By the autumn of 1944, Greece was devastated by occupation and famine. Half a million people died - 7% of the population. ELAS liberated dozens of villages and set up provisional governments. After the withdrawal of German troops, ELAS kept 50,000 armed partisans outside the capital, and in May 1944 agreed to the entry of British troops, under the command of Lieutenant General Ronald Scobie.

December 3, Sunday. On the morning of Sunday, December 3, several columns of Greek republicans, anti-monarchists, socialists and communists marched towards Syntagma Square. Despite the government ban, hundreds of thousands of Athenians, as usual, peacefully filled Syntagma Square. Most of the demonstrators chanted slogans: "No new occupation!", "Collaborators to trial!". However, some of them greeted the British: "Long live the allies, Russians, Americans, British!" Police cordons blocked their path, but several thousand broke through. As they approached the square, a man in military uniform shouted: Shoot the bastards!

Unexpectedly, civilians were shot by the police. After the first victims, the demonstrators did not disperse, but continued to chant: “Papandreou's murderer!”, “English fascism will not pass!”. The news of the execution mobilized people from the working-class districts of Athens and Piraeus. Another 200 thousand people approached the city center. The shooting was stopped. 33 people were killed and over 140 wounded.
December 4 a general strike (previously scheduled for 2 December) and funerals were held for the victims of the previous day's rally. The funeral service took place in the cathedral church of Athens, after which the funeral procession headed to Syntagma Square. At the head of the procession stood out a banner held by three young women dressed in black. The banner read: "When a people is threatened by tyranny, they choose either chains or weapons".

The funeral procession was also shot. In the massacre of civilians, the British used mainly the ultra-right parts of Χ ; and former employees of the occupiers who lived in hotels on Omonia Square. About 100 people were killed and wounded. An angry mob, now accompanied by lightly armed ELAS groups, laid siege to the Mitropolis Hotel in Omonia Square, intending to burn it down.
But at that moment, when the resistance of the collaborators was broken, and they were ready to surrender, British tanks appeared, which took them to the Thissio area.

The bodies of unarmed demonstrators are shot by the police and the British army in Athens on December 3, 1944.

The pro-government historian, Englishman Chris Wodehouse, has argued that it is not clear who opened fire first: the police, the British, or the demonstrators.
However, 14 years after the massacre, Athens police chief Evert Angelos admitted in an interview with the Akropolis newspaper that he personally ordered the demonstrators to be dispersed by force, according to orders received from above.
Nikos Farmakis, a member of the far-right organization "Χ" who took part in the shooting of the demonstration, confirmed that the signal to start the shooting was given by the chief of the Athens police, Evert, waving a handkerchief from the window of the police headquarters.

5th of December Churchill sent a telegram to General Scoby: “You are responsible for maintaining order in Athens and for the liquidation of all EAM-ELAS groups. …You can make any rules you want to impose strict control on the streets or to capture any rioters, no matter how many. In cases where shooting may start, ELAS will, of course, try to put women and children in front as cover.
Here you have to show dexterity and avoid mistakes. But do not hesitate to open fire on any armed man in Athens who will not obey the English authorities or the Greek authorities with whom we cooperate. Of course, it would be nice if your orders were backed up by the authority of some Greek authorities ...
However, act without hesitation as if you were in a defeated city, engulfed in local rebellion ... As for the ELAS groups approaching the city, then you and your armored units should certainly be able to teach a lesson to some of them so that others will be discouraged. You can count on the support of all appropriate and reasonable actions taken on this basis. We must hold Athens and secure our dominion there. It would be good if you could achieve this as far as possible without bloodshed, but if necessary with bloodshed.”

Immediately after receiving this directive, Scoby ordered the attack on ELAS. British planes began bombarding her positions in Thebes. At the same time, tank and infantry formations were thrown against ELAS in Athens.
On December 5, Lieutenant General Scobie declared martial law and the next day ordered an aerial bombardment of the working quarter.

At the end of the Dekemvriana (Dekemvrian, civil war), thousands were killed; 12,000 leftists are rounded up and sent to camps in the Middle East. The armistice was signed on 12 February. A chapter in Greek history known as the "White Terror" began, where every suspect who helped the Elas during the Dekemvriana or even the Nazi occupation was sent to the camps set up for their internment.

December 6 Churchill's open armed intervention began with the support of Roosevelt against the national liberation movement of the Greek people. The 4th division (10th, 12th, 23rd infantry brigades), the 2nd paratrooper brigade, the 23rd armored brigade, the 139th infantry brigade, and the 5th Indian brigade took part in the battles of the first days. The 23rd Armored Brigade was equipped with 35 Sherman tanks. The number of two infantry battalions deployed by air was 5 thousand people.
In addition, the British had auxiliary units of up to 10 thousand people. The main body of British reinforcements of the first wave: three infantry divisions - the 4th Indian, 4th and 46th British - arrived in mid-December. The British expedition against the sovereignty of the Greek people was twice the size of the British corps in Greece in 1941 against the forces of the Wehrmacht.
The British interventionists relied on illegitimate government forces, which included the 3rd Mountain Division (2,800 people), parts of the gendarmerie and city police, members of the ultra-right organization X, numbering from 2,500 to 3,000 armed people, members of other small organizations.

However, the largest number, about 12 thousand people, were from the "security battalions" that had previously collaborated with the Nazi occupiers. British troops were transferred to Greece on American planes. The American officers who were in Greece remained neutral, not hiding their sympathy for ELAS.

December 8 Churchill telegraphed General Scobie: “Our clear objective goal is to defeat EAM”. New reinforcements and Marshal Alexander were sent to Athens.
December 11th Marshal Alexander and Macmillan Harold arrived in Athens. Assessing the situation of Papandreou as the most difficult, Alexander demanded the urgent transfer of another division from the Italian front and decided to openly use the "security battalions" of the collaborators along with the British troops.

December 17–18 British aircraft bombed workers' quarters and ELAS positions in the capital and suburbs, inflicting numerous casualties on the civilian population. On the night of December 17-18, ELAS forces carried out a successful operation, occupying the Cecil, Apergi and Pentelikon hotels in the northern region of Kifissia, which housed RAF (Royal Air Force of Great Britain) personnel. A total of 50 officers and 500 RAF enlisted men were taken prisoner.

20th of December The EAM Central Committee handed over a protest to the chairman of the International Red Cross, I. de Renier, against the British bombing of the civilian population, which has already killed more than 2,500 people.
Alexander informed Churchill that in order to keep the situation in Athens and begin political negotiations, it was necessary to send additional forces. At the same time, 40 thousand British soldiers were already in Athens and the region. General Scobie was removed from command of operations. Gerosisis commented on it thus: "A man knew how to fight against the barefoot Indian tribal leaders, but not against the national guerrilla army".

21 December Marshal Alexander wrote to Churchill that there was no military solution in Greece, only a political one. The marshal emphasizes that ELAS could not defeat Hitler, and it is unlikely that it can be defeated by military means.

On the night of 24 to 25 December ELAS saboteurs mined the Grande Bretagne hotel, where the Greek government and the British headquarters were located. 1 ton of explosives was planted in the sewer channel, which led to the foundations of the hotel.

December 25 Churchill arrived in Athens accompanied by Anthony Eden, the foreign minister.

Churchill leaves the destroyer HMS Ajax on board and disembarks,
going to negotiations in Athens to participate in the conference.

During November, the British began the construction of a new National Guard, which they entrusted to the Greek police and the disarmament of the military militias. In fact, disarmament was applied only to ELAS, not to those who collaborated with the Nazis.
Any notion that the Communists were ready for revolution is wrong in the context of the Agreement between Churchill and Stalin in Moscow on October 9, 1944. The south-east of Europe was divided into "spheres of influence", as a result of which Stalin "took" Romania and Bulgaria, and England, in order to maintain balance in the Mediterranean, took Greece.

The British and the Greek government-in-exile decided from the outset that ELAS would not be allowed into the new army. Churchill wanted a showdown with the KKE in order to be able to restore the king. The Greek communists decided not to try to take power in the country, the KKE wanted to insist on a center-left government. If they wanted a revolution, they would not have left 50,000 armed men outside the capital after liberation.
The detachments of the ELAS reserve, unanimously supported by the population of the capital, responded with a successful counter-offensive and, during fierce battles, surrounded the British troops and their Greek accomplices in the central region, which was jokingly called "Scobia". The position of the British government was also complicated by the fact that the world government opposed its interference in the internal affairs of Greece. public opinion.
The well-known English writer Herbert Wells wrote in those days in the London Tribune: “Churchill's intervention in Greece has dishonored our nation. If we don't do away with Churchill, he will do away with us. World events are developing at lightning speed, but Churchill's ideas, taken out of the Indian barracks and ... his aristocratic home, form a kind of complex of outdated incoherent nonsense ...
Let Churchill go and take all the kings of the Earth with him, so much the better for humanity.”

December 27 - January 5, 1945- heavy fighting, up to hand-to-hand. On January 4, a column of about 100 British tanks broke through the line of defense and moved along the Rue Lenormand. The ELAS Central Committee decided to retreat to the foot of Mount Parnita. With the prospect of continuing the war, the ELAS Central Committee moved to the village of Mavreli. The Central Committee was full of optimism, because every time the British tried to move north, they ran into regular ELAS units and were defeated with heavy losses.
This confirmed the statement of Marshal Alexander that it would not be possible to defeat ELAS by military methods: the ELAS detachments would regroup and once again become invincible. ELAS controlled at that time 80% of the country's territory, having huge human reserves and the support of the people.

December 28th Churchill departed from Greece, "from this accursed country," as he described it. He managed to convince Papandreou of this "prime minister of the blood" to resign.
At the same time, it was Churchill who proposed to keep Papandreou in power throughout the crisis. Now the British Prime Minister shifted all the blame for the December bloodshed onto the Greeks themselves.
He also managed to convince the king, who was out of the country, to agree to the regency of the Archbishop of Damascus, whom Churchill himself called "quisling", "communist" and accused him of behaving like de Gaulle. For the post of Prime Minister, Churchill proposed the nominal leader of the pro-fascist EDES League - Plastiras Nikolaos.
Churchill reported on the Greek events to both Roosevelt and Stalin, describing the Greek rebels as rebels who could interfere with the common struggle against fascism.
Churchill was in a hurry to complete the intervention in Greece before the meeting of the "Big Three" in the Crimea, scheduled for February 4-11, 1945. He understood that at a peace conference it would be difficult for him to explain not only to the allies, but also to his own people, why they occupy part of the Greek territory and fight against the Greek Resistance, instead of fighting Hitler on the Eastern Front.

January 8 EAM accepted the British offer of a truce. The British needed a breather. To move to the north, where ELAS was strengthened, they needed new forces. Churchill knew that the forces of EDES, X, the "security battalions" without British support, would be swept away in a few days. In addition, some of the officers of the Greek aviation were suspected of sympathy for the EAM, however, as well as the Greek Navy, many of whose ships were ready to go over to the side of ELAS.
January 11 an armistice was signed. The protocol was signed by General Scobie, as a representative of the British army, Dzimas from the political leadership of EAM and Major Atinelis, as a representative of the ELAS General Staff. The truce was to come into force on 14 January.

The official forces of popular resistance were the 1st city corps of ELAS, numbering (according to documents) about 20 thousand women and men, of which only 6 thousand people possessed weapons, with a minimum supply of ammunition. The British estimated the strength of ELAS in the city at 6,300 poorly armed fighters. The only mechanized detachment used fire service vehicles. However, ELAS enjoyed the support of the people and had a constantly updated reserve.

So, the regiment of the eastern quarters of the city, numbering 1300 fighters, having lost 800 people, on the last day of the December events, totaled 1800 fighters. During the fighting, units from the Peloponnese, Central Greece and Thessaly, a cavalry brigade and the 54th regiment arrived in Athens, numbering up to 7 thousand armed people.

British tanks and infantry break into the building of the Athenian EAM government, along Korai Street, in the city center.

According to a number of researchers, in December 1944, ELAS units actually conducted military operations against the intervention of the British army, which sought to restore a conservative pro-British monarchical regime in the country. The fighting continued until January 5-6, 1945, killing over 5 thousand Greeks. The fighting ended in a military defeat for the ELAS forces in Athens.
In early 1945, the number of British soldiers in Athens reached 100,000. Without exaggeration, the British intervention in Greece began.

February 8, 1945 A conference of the heads of the three powers Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt opened in Yalta on the end of World War II and the post-war order of the world.

12th of February, despite the fact that the ELAS command, ordinary supporters of the EAM and members of the KKE were against peace with the British, the EAM leadership signed the Varkiz agreement. The leadership of the EAM and the KKE believed that the Agreement had been signed; in fact, it was a capitulation. ELAS was to be disarmed until March 15, 1945.

Ilias Tsirimokos, Yorgis Sianthos, Dimitrios Partsalidis signing the Varkiza Agreement, February 12, 1945

The agreement meant that Greece was transferred to the control and arbitrariness of the British, collaborators and monarchists, without any guarantees for the democrats and members of the Resistance. Indeed, the British arrested a large number of supporters of the EAM and the KKE, according to rough estimates, only in Athens - about 10 thousand people. They were sent to concentration camps in North Africa, where there were already 15 thousand Greek soldiers, supporters of the EAM, from the units of the Greek army disbanded in 1943 in the Middle East.
Together with the prisoners in the Athens area, the total number of prisoners of EAM supporters reached 40 thousand people.

In the most acceptable "loss table" of the opposing sides in the battles of Athens, the British forces lost 210 men killed, 55 missing and 1,100 captured. The "government forces" lost 3480 killed (889 gendarmes and police and 2540 army) and a large number of prisoners. The losses of ELAS are estimated at 2-3 thousand killed and 7-8 thousand prisoners, not including among the last citizens of leftist beliefs and supporters of EAM arrested by the British.

Interpretation of Soviet silence

Researcher Vasilis Kontis writes that while there was a danger of a separate peace between the United States, Britain and defeated Germany, Soviet troops, who entered the Bulgarian-Greek border in the summer of 1944, did not intend to cross it.

According to other Greek historians, on the eve of the Yalta Conference, the Soviet government did not want to upset the British and jeopardize their interests in other regions.

They also write that after these events, Stalin maintained a strange silence and avoided condemning the British, but on the other hand did not create obstacles to the actions of ELAS. Regarding this behavior of Stalin, Churchill noted that while the US condemned the British intervention in Greece, Stalin remained strictly and faithfully faithful to our October agreement and for many weeks of fighting against the communists in the streets of Athens, not a single word of condemnation was noted on the pages " Pravda and Izvestia.
Other historians, commenting on the information that has come out in recent years, believe that, before the armistice, the USSR warned the leadership of the KKE, through the former general secretary of the Communist International, Georgy Dimitrov, that he (the leadership of the KKE) should not expect any help. The Bulgarian historian I. Baev writes that the Bulgarian Communist Party motivated its response by the danger of international complications and the lack of weapons.

Historians about the December events

For a large part of modern historians, the December events are pure imperialist interference in the affairs of an allied state, since in wartime, when Hitler's Germany was not yet defeated, Britain sent almost 100,000 soldiers to Greece to protect its geostrategic interests.

Another part of historians considers the events as the second phase of the civil war (considering the inter-Greek clashes during the years of occupation as the first phase), which later led to the third phase, the large-scale Civil War of 1946-1949.
Supporters of the first concept emphasize the fact that the British forces were 6 times larger than the number of motley formations of the Papandreou government, and with the participation in the battles of British aviation and navy, we are actually talking about foreign intervention. They also believe that under the conditions of ELAS dominance in the country, without British intervention, a military confrontation between the right-wing forces and ELAS had no chance of success and was practically ruled out.

Greek Prime Minister Papandreou lays a wreath at the monument to the unknown
soldier in Syntagma Square, after the liberation of Athens, October 1944

There is a third concept, whose supporters, such as P. Rodakis, agree that the December events were imposed by the British, but on the other hand, they believe that the KKE and EAM got involved in this clash, although they could have avoided it, since all the communist parties did Western Europe.

The outcome of the December events marked the beginning of political instability in the country and bloody terror against the members of the Resistance, which continued until and after the outbreak of the Civil War in 1946.