The People’s Liberation Army of Greece ( Greek: Ελληνικός Λαϊκός Απελευθερωτικός Στρατ - ΕΛΑΣ , ELAS ) - the armed forces of the National Liberation Front (EAM) , designed to combat the German, Bulgarian and Italian occupants , aspirant , aspira , as well as the aspirers , as well as the aspirant , as well as the aspirant , as well as the aspirant , as well as the aspirant , as well as the aspirant , aspirant , aspiranty 12/4/1941-12.01.1945. One of the largest and most combat-ready components of the Resistance Movement in World War II throughout Europe. She was able to act completely independently of the help of the allies [2] . It also had the Navy (ELAN) [3] - a unique (along with the Yugoslav partisans ) fact in the European Resistance.
Greek People’s Liberation Army | |
---|---|
Park and memorial to the ELAS partisans in Galati, Athens | |
Years of existence | December 1941 - February 28, 1945 |
A country | Greece |
Subordination | National Liberation Front (EAM) |
Enters into | and |
Type of | Military establishment |
Function | The conduct of hostilities against:
|
Number of | in October 1944: 119,000 officers and soldiers, partisans and partisan reservists [1] , 6000 policemen |
Patron | United Kingdom (1942) |
Participation in | World War II :
|
Commanders | |
Famous Commanders | Aris Veluhiotis Stefanos Sarafis Marcos Vafiadis |
Content
History
The Communist Party of Greece called for a nationwide resistance to the forces of the fascist states even during the Axis invasion of the country in 1940.
After the final occupation of Greece and Hitler’s attack on the Soviet Union, the KPG and a number of other left-wing parties and groups formed the National Liberation Front (EAM), which began to consolidate partisan forces. By the decision of the Central Committee of EAM in December 1941, the left partisan detachments operating in Greece were united into the People’s Liberation Army (ELAS).
The constituent declaration (February 16, 1942) proclaimed that the purpose of the ELAS is to liberate the country from all invaders, to protect the people's gains, their freedoms, justice and democracy [4] .
The beginning of the ELAS armed offensive against the Nazis is considered to be on June 7, 1942, when Aris Veluhiotis headed a small detachment entered the village of Domnist in Evritania, declaring "war on Axis forces and local collaborators" [5] .
In September 1942, a group of officers of the British Special Operations Directorate was transferred to Greece, the task of which was to establish contact with the underground and carry out Operation Harling to sabotage one of the three bridges on the main railway line of the country. The British initially focused on cooperation with the anti-communist partisans from the National Republican Greek League (EDES) of Napoleon Zervas, but on the spot they were forced to make contact with ELAS (it belonged to the first partisans they encountered, in addition, it turned out that anti-fascist forces in Greece were erroneous) and coordinate the actions of these two warring partisan armies. For its part, the national leadership of EAM-ELAS, still calling to concentrate on the underground struggle in the cities, not in the countryside, did not approve the plan of the joint operation, and Aris Veluhiotis with the fighters took part in it at his own peril and risk.
The result of the operation, which was attended by 12 British demolition men, 150 ELAS fighters and 52 EDES fighters [6] , was successful: on the night of November 25, together they managed to destroy the Italian garrison and undermine the bridge over the Gorgopotamos river, causing significant damage to the forces of the Hitler bloc. Rommel's troops, retreating in North Africa after the defeat at El Alamein , were cut off from the necessary supplies of ammunition from Europe by the shortest route. The explosion of the Gorgopotamos bridge , along with the attack on the installation of heavy water in Vemork , is considered the largest single act of the guerrilla war in Europe [7] .
Within a month after this joint operation, armed clashes began between ELAS and EDES [8] .
By the end of 1943 controlled about half of the country. By October 1944, almost the entire territory of the country was liberated as a result of the offensive actions of the ELAS units [8] and the threats for the invaders to be cut off by the Red Army that had entered the Balkans. Meanwhile, British troops that landed meanwhile had little to do with military operations against the outgoing units of the Wehrmacht.
The number of ELAS by this time was 119 thousand officers and soldiers, partisans and partisans of the reserve [1] and 6000 people in the national police.
The guerrilla state of the left and EAM Republicans - ELAS
The active partisan movement made it impossible for the invaders to control most of the province.
In the liberated areas, outside of the royalist- controlled Epirus , there was a partisan republic that did not recognize the royal government in exile , which, according to the partisans, lacked democratic legitimacy . In the liberated territories, the popular state EAM-ELAS was organized. Democratically elected local authorities were established [9] , among them the Popular Justice apparatus with people's courts consisting of five judges elected by the people's assembly, residents of the locality [10] . A rule was introduced according to which decisions taken by people's courts in non-military matters had priority over decisions of local ELAS commanders [11] . This led to the fact that the military (partisan) or political (EAM) organizations could play the role of prosecutors, but not the judicial role [12] . The activity of the People’s Courts was based on its Code of Laws [12] .
Economic life received an incentive. The equality of women was implemented in practice [13] . The authorities of the "people's state" conducted an education reform [13] . Linguistic minorities have equal rights. In these matters, the authorities of the “people's state” closely cooperated with the Slavic-speaking population [14] . For the first time in Greece, universal pre-school education was organized, the first public medical service in the province and a well-functioning communication system [15] .
At the beginning of 1944, through a democratic election with the obligatory joining or disconnection of other partisan organizations, a provisional government was formed under the name P.E.E.A. (ΠΕΕΑ) - Political Committee of National Liberation [16] , competing with the emigrant government recognized by Western allies , but had low support in the country. Elections were held for 180 members of the legislative body , in which representatives of the last Greek parliament, which was closed by Ioannis Metaxas in 1936, could also take part [17] .
Leading researchers have noted the high popularity of this program, given the massive support for ELAS in the Greek province [18] . The royalists perceived the state of the rebels as a communist dictatorship . After the war, cooperation with the bodies and institutions of the "Government from the mountains" was regarded by royalist courts as a serious criminal offense . All ELAS military actions carried out without an order from the Western Allies headquarters in Alexandria, Egypt were also considered criminal offenses. [15] .
After the retreat of the German army, British troops and Greek royalist military units landed in Greece. In accordance with the previous treaty, it was they, and not the partisans, who made the triumphal entry into the capital as liberators. The guerrillas and their leaders at that time did not have any information about the secret treaties signed in the Kremlin between Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin [19] . These treaties handed over the fate of Greece and out of door and the fate of the ELAS partisans into the hands of Great Britain [20] [21]
December events in Athens
On December 3 and 4, 1944, a massacre took place at left-wing demonstrations [22] ; they were fired upon by forces of the former collaborationist formations (former permanent, obvious SS officers) [23] [24] [25] . According to some historians, the reasons have not been clarified so far [25] . As a result, rapid 35-day battles broke out in Athens, subsequently called the December events (Greek: Δεεεβββα) [26] [27] . According to some researchers, in December 1944, units of the ELAS conducted military operations against the intervention of the British army, which sought to restore the conservative monarchical regime in the country. According to other estimates, the December events are part of the civil war. The fighting ended with the military defeat of the ELAS forces in Athens.
Disbanding ELAS
On February 28, 1945, ELAS was disbanded according to the terms of the Varkiz Agreement [28] . Her actual successor was the Democratic Army of Greece (October 1946 - August 1949).
Composition of ELAS combat units
- The general staff (Γενικό Επιτελεο) total 500 people:
- General Staff battalion
- The division group of medium Greece (Ομάς Μεραρχιών Στερεάς Ελλάδος) - a total of 9000 people:
- separate staff company (200 people)
- Division II (Attica) (4,000 people)
- XIII Division (middle Greece) (5000 people)
- group of divisions of Macedonia - a total of 16200 people:
- separate staff company (200 people)
- IX Division (Western Macedonia) (5,500 people)
- XI Division (Thessaloniki) (3,000 people)
- X Division (Central Macedonia) (4,500 people)
- VI Division (Eastern Macedonia) (3,000 people)
- individual connections - only 22,100 people:
- Division I ( Thessaly ) (8,000 people)
- III division ( Peloponnese ) (6000 people)
- VIII Division ( Epirus ) (5000 people)
- V Division ( Crete ) (2000 people)
- Cavalry brigade ELAS (1100 people)
- additionally:
- ELAN Navy (over one hundred armed ships with a total displacement of 4,000 tons.
- First Corps (22,000 to 25,000 active fighters, of whom over 5,000 fought with arms)
- fighters reserve ELAS (probably up to 45,000 people)
The data of Grigoriadis as a result show that there were 49,000 partisans in the regular units, including 700 pre-war personnel officers, 1600 reserve officers, 1270 ELAS officers graduates, 1270 leaders [29] of the partisan detachments, 600 officers under the provisional government [30] .
Elas Construction
S. N. Grigoriadis wrote: On February 28, 1945, a British general acknowledged that the ELAS handed over the following weapons to British troops:
- guns of different calibers - 100 pcs.
- large-caliber mortars - 81 pcs.
- small and medium caliber mortars - 138 pcs.
- 419 heavy machine guns
- 1412 light machine guns.
- submachine guns - 1412 pcs.
- self-loading rifles - 713 pcs.
- Rifles and pistols - 48973 pcs.
- anti-tank handguns - 57 pcs.
- radio stations - 17 pcs. [31]
This document suggests that some of the personal weapons were not handed over by the partisans during the action. And it should be noted that at that moment it was a normal (natural) phenomenon for the Greek province [28] .
Famous ELAS fighters
- Yannis Xenakis , one of the leaders of modernism and conceptualism in music and architecture
- Al Demi , the People's Hero of Albania
- Yannis Ritsos , poet
See also
- Disarming the Pinerolo Division
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 Solon Neokosmou Grigoriadis (SN Grigoriadis). Στορία της σύγχρονης Ελλάδας 1941—1974. - Athens: Polaris, 2009. - T. 1. - p. 632-633. - ISBN 978-960-6829-10-9 .
- Ower Mazower M .: Στην Ελλάδα του Χίτλερ. Η εμπειρία της Κατοχής. Athens: ΕΚΔΟΣΕΙΣ ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΕΙΑ ,, 1994, s. 24
- ↑ ΕΛΑΝ - Ελληνικό Λαϊκό Απελευθερωτικό Ναυτικό, see Grigoriadis SN: Ιστορία της σύγχρονης Ελλάδας 1941–1974. TI Athens: Polaris, 2009, s. 630 and 633. ISBN 978-960-6829-10-9 . and Glezos M .: Εθνιική Αντίσταση 1940–1945. T. ii. Athens: ΣΤΟΧΑΣΤΗΣ, 2006, s. 727-729. ISBN 960-303-147-X .
- ↑ Glezos M .: Εθνιιήή Αντίσταση 1940-1945. T. ii. Ateny: ΣΤΟΧΑΣΤΗΣ, 2006, s. 725. ISBN 960-303-147-X .
- ↑ Grigoriadis SN: Ιστορία της σύγχρονης Ελλάδας 1941-1974. TI Athens: Polaris, 2009, s. 157. ISBN 978-960-6829-10-9 .
- ↑ Tanty M .: Bałkany w XX wieku. Warszawa: Książka i Wiedza, 2003, s. 251-252. ISBN 83-05-13311-7 .
- ↑ Clogg R .: “Historia Grecji nowożytnej”. Kraków: Książka i Wiedza, 2006, s. 312-313. ISBN 83-05-13465-2
- 2 1 2 Clogg R .: Historia Grecji nowożytnej. Kraków: Książka i Wiedza, 2006, s. 154-157. ISBN 83-05-13465-2 .
- ↑ Manolis Glezos - National Resistance, p. 813 "Η ΑΥΤΟΔΙΟΙΚΗΣΗ" - Self-government, p. 821 "ΕΚΛΟΓΕΣ ΑΥΤΟΔΣΗΣ" - self-governing elections
- ↑ Manolis Glezos, pp. 823-827 "Η ΛΑΙΚΉ ΔΙΚΑΙΟΣΥΝΗ"
- ↑ Precedent of the founder and high-ranking commander of ELAS Aris Velihiotis, who succumbed when the local People’s Court decided otherwise (M. Glezos, pp. 823-827)
- ↑ 1 2 M. Glezos, p. 825
- ↑ 1 2 Mark Mazower, pp. 293—294
- ↑ The multifaceted issues of the people's state of EAM-ELAS and the points of view of various parties are raised by the university teamwork “Εμείς οι Έλληνες”, Σκαϊ ιβλίο, Athens 2008, part of which is the documentary recording in the form of interviews on DVD with witnesses who are participants of these events, today's major Greek figures politics, science, culture.
- ↑ 1 2 university collective work Εμείς οι Έλληνες, Σκαϊ ιβλίο, Athens 2008.
- ↑ Manolis Glezos - National Resistance, p. 813 “Η ΑΥΤΟΔΙΟΙΚΗΣΗ” - Self-government, p. 821 “ΕΚΛΟΓΕΣ ΑΥΤΟΔΣΗΣ” - self-governing elections.
- ↑ 54 ↑ S. N. Grigoriis t.1 p. 467 "το θνηκό Συμβούλιο" - National Council.
- ↑ Richard Clogg, Historia Grecji nowożytnej, Kraków, Książka i Wiedza, 2006, pp. 149-152. ISBN 83-05-13465-2 .
- ↑ Only on December 19, 1944, the CC of the KKE received the first news that the international situation of Greece became extremely unfavorable for the left. The information was submitted as “the concern of comrade Georgy Dimitrov living in Moscow,” mentioned in a letter sent to Athens by comrades from Sofia
- ↑ Andrzej Kastory "Winston Churchill", chapter "Konferencja w Moskwie", Ossolineum 2004, Wroclaw.
- ↑ Conference in Moscow - Marcos Vafiadis, the commander of the Macedonian Division of the ELAS, subsequently the founder and first Commander-in-Chief of the Democratic Army of Greece (ΔΣ прожив), who lived in Moscow from 1949 to 1983, noticed that the implementation of the Soviet and British influence was 90% / 10 in Poland and 10% / 90% in Greece, stipulated by the Kremlin Treaty (December 9-10, 1944 between Winston Cherchel, Anthony Eden, Stalin and Molotov), in these two countries inevitably led to civil wars, although the participants in the negotiations about this silent and in the written text of the contract. - The source of the information transmitted by Vafiadis is the full text of the interview for the Greek national television "ERT" in 1984, the permanent program "Ρεπορτάζ Χωρίς Σύνορα", ERT archive, Athens.
- ↑ Archive articles from the press: in the Greek daily Καθημερινή Archived July 22, 2015. , illustrated with photographs of Dimitri Kessel (Dimitri Kessel) - a visual witness and documentary of Massacres on December 3 and 4, 1944. Approximately photograph No. 7 captured the moment when the former collaboration formations of the Greek police were preparing to open fire on the demonstrators peacefully behaving. This photograph was archived on November 30, 2011. Wikipedia documents the Greek edition, documents that these 3 civilian demonstrators were shot on December 3, 1944 because they carried a plaque with text that was unreliable for former Hitler politicians in Greece, and now royalists.
- ↑ university teamwork Εμείς οι Έλληνες, Σκαϊ ιβλίο, Athens 2008
- ↑ http://www.athensguide.com/syntagma.html - The page contains, among other things, a description of the largest massacre of demonstrators
- ↑ 1 2 Mark Mazower: Στην Ελλάδα του Ηίτλερ. Η εμπειρία της Κατοχής, p.400, Athens: ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΕΙΑ, 1994, ISBN 960-221-096-6
- ↑ Clogg R .: Historia Grecji nowożytnej. Kraków: Książka i Wiedza, 2006, s. 161-165. ISBN 83-05-13465-2 .
- ↑ Grigoriadis SN: Ιστορία της σύγχρονης Ελλάδας 1941-1974. TI Athens: Polaris, 2009, s. 667–669. ISBN 978-960-6829-10-9 .
- ↑ 1 2 Tanty M .: Bałkany w XX wieku. Warszawa: Książka i Wiedza, 2003, s. 265-266. ISBN 83-05-13311-7 .
- ↑ The leader ( Greek καπετάνιος was called an authoritative charismatic person who, despite his title, was essentially the soul of the detachment, a real spiritual leader. Usually he was the creator of the partisan detachment he later led. The tactical commander was often a professional officer pre-war army sticking to republican views.
- ↑ Solon Neokosmou Grigoriadis (SNGrigoriadis). Στορία της σύγχρονης Ελλάδας 1941—1974. - Athens: Polaris, 2009. - Vol. 1. - p. 630-631, 633. - ISBN 978-960-6829-10-9 .
- ↑ Grigoriadis SN Ιστορία της σύγχρονης λλάδας 1941-1974. T. ii. Athens: Polaris, 2009, s. 23. ISBN 978-960-6829-10-9 .
Literature
- Solon Neokosmou Grigoriadis (SNGrigoriadis). Στορία της σύγχρονης Ελλάδας 1941—1974. - Athens: Polaris, 2009. - T. 1. - ISBN 978-960-6829-10-9 .
- Grigoriadis Solon N .: Ιστορία της σύγχρονης Ελλάδας 1941-1974. T. ii. Athens: Polaris, 2009, ISBN 978-960-6829-18-5
- Woodhouse CM The Struggle for Greece 1941–1949. - London: Hurst & Company, 2002. - Vol. 1. - ISBN 978-1-85065-487-2 .
- Glezos Manolis: Εθνιική Αντίσταση 1940-1945. TI Athens: ΣΤΟΧΑΣΤΗΣ, 2006, ISBN 960-303-145-3
- Glezos Manolis: Εθνιική Αντίσταση 1940-1945. T. ii. Athens: ΣΤΟΧΑΣΤΗΣ, 2006, ISBN 960-303-146-1
- Mazower Mark: Στην Ελλάδα του Ηίτλερ. Η εμπειρία της Κατοχής. Athens: ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΕΙΑ, 1994, ISBN 960-221-096-6
- Kastory Andrzej: Winston Spencer Churchill. Wrocław: OSSOLINEUM, 2004, ISBN 83-04-04693-8
- Close David: The Greek Civil War - Studies of Polarization. London: Routledge, an imprint of Taylor & Francis Books Lt, 1993.
- Clogg Richard: Historia Grecji nowożytnej. Kraków: Książka i Wiedza, 2006, ISBN 83-05-13465-2 .
- Clogg Richard: Greece, 1940-1949: occupation, resistance, civil war: a documentary history. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2002, ISBN 83-05-13465-2 .
- Tanty Mieczysław: Bałkany w XX wieku. Warszawa: Książka i Wiedza, 2003, s. 265-266. ISBN 83-05-13311-7 .
- The teamwork of teachers from three universities and the military academy: Εμείς οι Έλληνες, Πολεμική Ιστορία της Σύγχρονης Ελλάδας. Πό την Μικρασιατική Καταστροφή στον Β'Παγκόσμ λεμο και την Κατοχή. T. ii. Athens: Skai Biblio, 2008, ISBN 978-960-6845-16-1