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Was a two-stage conflict (Dec 1944/Jan 1945 and 1946/1949), during which greek communists unsuccessfully tried to gain control of Greece.
The communists accepted defeat and the disbandment of their forces at a conference in February 1945, and a general election was held in Greece in March 1946. The communists and their followers abstained from the voting, however, and a royalist majority was returned. A plebiscite was then held in Sept 1946 which restored the Greek king to the throne. During 1946 a full-scale guerrilla war was reopened by the communists, who had gone underground. The commitment of defending Greece became too much for Great Britain, and it was taken on by the U.S. government, with the announcement of the Truman Doctrine. Massive military and economic aid from the USA was much needed, for by the end of 1947 the communists had proclaimed a provisional government in the northern mountains.
Greek soldiers climbing ropes during training by British officers in the Greek civil war.
This second communist rebellion lasted until 1949, when the U.S.-supplied and strengthened Greek army managed to clear the rebel centres from the mountainous Greek interior. On Oct. 16, 1949, the Greek communist broadcasting station announced the end of open hostilities, and many of the remaining communist fighters fled the country into neighbouring Albania. It is estimated that more than 50,000 combatants died in the conflict, and more than 500,000 Greeks were temporarily displaced from their homes by the fighting.
The communists accepted defeat and the disbandment of their forces at a conference in February 1945, and a general election was held in Greece in March 1946. The communists and their followers abstained from the voting, however, and a royalist majority was returned. A plebiscite was then held in Sept 1946 which restored the Greek king to the throne. During 1946 a full-scale guerrilla war was reopened by the communists, who had gone underground. The commitment of defending Greece became too much for Great Britain, and it was taken on by the U.S. government, with the announcement of the Truman Doctrine. Massive military and economic aid from the USA was much needed, for by the end of 1947 the communists had proclaimed a provisional government in the northern mountains.
Greek soldiers climbing ropes during training by British officers in the Greek civil war.
This second communist rebellion lasted until 1949, when the U.S.-supplied and strengthened Greek army managed to clear the rebel centres from the mountainous Greek interior. On Oct. 16, 1949, the Greek communist broadcasting station announced the end of open hostilities, and many of the remaining communist fighters fled the country into neighbouring Albania. It is estimated that more than 50,000 combatants died in the conflict, and more than 500,000 Greeks were temporarily displaced from their homes by the fighting.
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