1941–1945

Greek Resistance and the Dekemvriana

Why did the resistance that liberated Greece end up fighting British troops in Athens?

Greek Resistance and the Dekemvriana was a resistance struggle and power conflict that began with Axis occupation in 1941 and led to the Varkiza Agreement in 1945. Against the occupation by Germany, Italy, and Bulgaria, the Communist-led National Liberation Front (EAM) and its Greek People's Liberation Army (ELAS) became the largest forces through work in the countryside and cities amid famine and collaboration. When German troops withdrew in October 1944, EAM controlled most of Greece, but Britain sought to preserve the monarchy and a non-EAM government, while the Soviet Union effectively accepted Greece as a British sphere of influence. On 1 December, General Ronald Scobie ordered the resistance forces to disarm. EAM ministers resigned, and police fire at a demonstration in Athens on 3 December began 37 days of fighting among British and government forces and ELAS. British reinforcements and firepower forced EAM to withdraw, and on 12 February 1945 the Varkiza Agreement accepted ELAS dissolution and disarmament.

Timeline

  1. 1940.10.28
    Italy invades

    Italy invaded from Albania, but the Greek army repelled the attack, helping bring about German intervention.

  2. 1941.04.06
    German invasion and occupation

    German troops invaded across the northern frontier, and Greece was divided into German, Italian, and Bulgarian occupation zones.

  3. 1941.05.30
    The Acropolis flag

    Apostolos Santas and Manolis Glezos tore down the swastika on the Acropolis, an early symbolic act of resistance to the occupation.

  4. 1941.09.28
    The Drama uprising

    Residents of Drama and nearby villages rose against Bulgarian rule, but the revolt was crushed and followed by retaliatory killings.

  5. 1941.12–1942.02
    The occupation famine

    Plunder and economic collapse brought famine to its peak in Athens and Piraeus, turning urban workers and refugees into a crucial base for resistance.

  6. 1942.02
    EAM and ELAS organized

    The Communist-led EAM developed ELAS as its military arm, transforming resistance from scattered groups into a national political and military movement.

  7. 1942.11.25
    The Gorgopotamos bridge

    Twelve British SOE agents worked with ELAS and EDES to destroy the railway bridge linking northern and southern Greece, effectively their last major joint operation.

  8. 1943.09
    Italy collapses

    After Italy's surrender, resistance groups gained weapons and personnel, while Germany took over the Italian zone and intensified reprisals and massacres.

  9. 1944.03.10
    The Political Committee of National Liberation

    EAM established the Political Committee of National Liberation in Free Greece, institutionalizing the contest over post-occupation authority.

  10. 1944.10.18
    Liberation and the returning government

    After the German withdrawal, Georgios Papandreou's Government of National Unity entered Athens, and EAM and Britain clashed over the relationship between armed forces and the state.

  11. 1944.12.03
    The Athens demonstration and shooting

    Police fired on a demonstration of about 200,000 people in Athens, killing 28 and wounding 148, and full-scale Dekemvriana fighting began.

  12. 1945.02.12
    The Varkiza Agreement

    EAM accepted ELAS dissolution and disarmament in return for promised amnesty and political normalization, but the White Terror against the Left soon began.

Consequences

The Varkiza Agreement promised amnesty and political participation, but ELAS disarmament removed EAM's military leverage. Right-wing state agencies and paramilitary groups soon directed the White Terror against the Left, making the agreement an unstable truce that led toward the Greek Civil War in 1946 rather than reconciliation. British intervention subordinated sovereignty and the political choice of much of the population to an external strategy, while the episode also exposed EAM's failure to convert its military predominance into political transformation. Its international setting connects directly to the adjustment of postwar European spheres of influence addressed in Yalta and Potsdam.

Related people 0

Sources: Menelaos Charalambidis, “The Battle for Athens,” Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung, 2024Ed Lengel, “The Greek Civil War, 1944–1949,” National WWII MuseumWikipedia contributors, “Greek resistance”Wikipedia contributors, “Dekemvriana”

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