TIMELINE OF THE
As most of Europe celebrates peace after, Greece descends into a bitter internal conflict, with political control of the country fought over in the streets and hills
DEKEMVRIANA EVENTS 01
3 December 1944 – 11 January 1945
Winston Churchill orders British troops to intervene, stating: “We have to hold and dominate Athens.” It takes three weeks for the British to gain the upper hand. Meanwhile, the Greek government falls apart, delaying the return of King George II, while the anti-communist General Nikolaos Plastiras becomes the new prime minister.
GREEK CIVIL WAR BEGINS 02
31 March 1946
Violence resumes the night of the elections. A group of 30 former resistance fighters, led by Alexandros Rosios, attack a police station in Litochoro, Central Macedonia. Former resistance fighters begin to infiltrate Greece via the mountainous Yugoslav and Albania borders. They form the communist Democratic Army of Greece (DSE), led by General Markos Vafiadis, receiving support from Albania and Yugoslavia, but not the Soviet Union.
US AID ESTABLISHED
March 1947
The Kingdom of Greece begins to receive aid from the US as part of the Truman Doctrine, which pledges to protect independent countries from Soviet expansion. Aiming to sustain Greece and Turkey as a buffer zone in the Mediterranean, the US provides economic and military assistance to counter the communist threat.
LIBERATION FROM AXIS OCCUPATION
October 1944
While exiled for over three years in Egypt, the Greek government has little capability to influence affairs back home. Instead, multiple resistance movements, including communist and monarchist affiliated groups, play a quasigovernmental role in people’s everyday lives. After German forces withdraw in the face of the advancing Red Army, the Greek government is able to return, though left-leaning resistance groups control 90 percent of the country.
ESCALATING TENSIONS
November-December 1944
A force of 6,000 British troops arrives in Athens to keep order alongside police units that collaborated with the Germans. Resistance groups are angered by an order to disarm by 10 November. Resistance representatives resign from the Government of National Unity and the Greek Communist Party (KKE) establishes an office opposite the Greek police headquarters on Syntagma Squa
