LE SYMPOSIUM INTERNATIONAL LE LIVRE. LA ROUMANIE. L ...

61 Years since the End of the civil War in Greece (1946–1949) 279
At the beginning of 1944, england began to engage more intensively in
the political life of Greece, wanting to exercise a decisive influence in this
area after the war. Churchill feared that the national people’s liberation
Army (elAS) would try to fill the void created by the German withdrawal,
if the British did not send military units in the country. to achieve this
goal, Churchill went to Moscow on the 9 th of october 1944, proposing to
Stalin, who accepted, an agreement concerning the spheres of influence in
the Balkans, according to which Greece would enter the english area in a
proportion of 90%, and romania into the Soviet sphere of interest, in the
same proportion. this high-level understanding remained largely unknown
to the Greek political leaders.
Following this agreement, in mid-october, after the withdrawal of
the German troops from Attica, British military units (not too many) were
landed in Athens, while the national people’s liberation Army (elAS)
had the control in most of the country.
the most serious problem faced by Georgiou papandreou’s government,
which had returned from exile on the 12 th of october, was elAS, which,
as long as it remained an independent army corps, constituted a permanent
threat for the government. the national people’s liberation Army (elAS)
controlled two thirds of the country, the Communist party had over 400,000
members the liberation Front had millions of supporters. the government
had in fact no army, relying only on different armed groups, paramilitary
troops and gendarmerie. the government wanted to disarm the independent
military corpses and create a new national army. the Communist party
didn’t agree with this initiative because it wanted this armed arm to exert
pressure on the government, in order to impose the party’s program.
In november, the British military brought new military units, in order
to consolidate their positions and to support the government. Although
the Communist party had repeatedly requested assistance from the Soviet
union, it did not obtain any results. that is why the Communist party
began to organize different actions with the purpose of changing the
situation, which was moving against the party’s aims. thus, it decided not
to hangover the weapons to the english and, if necessary, to bring about
even a clash of arms.
on the 3 rd of December, the national liberation Front (eAM) protested
peacefully in central Athens against the Government’s and the British’s
wish to demobilize the national liberation Army. the police opened
fire on the civilians, who were protesting against British interference in
the internal affairs of the state, killing 15 persons and injuring about a
hundred. Street fighting in Athens and piraeus became generalized and