The Provisional Democratic Government (

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

: Προσωρινή Δημοκρατική Κυβέρνηση, ''Prosoriní Dimokratikí Kyvérnisi'') was the name of the administration declared by the

Communist Party of Greece The Communist Party of Greece ( el, Κομμουνιστικό Κόμμα Ελλάδας, ''Kommounistikó Kómma Elládas'', KKE) is a political party in Greece. Founded in 1918 as the Socialist Labour Party of Greece and adopted its curren ...

on 24 December 1947, during the

Greek Civil War The Greek Civil War ( el, ο Eμφύλιος �όλεμος ''o Emfýlios'' 'Pólemos'' "the Civil War") took place from 1946 to 1949. It was mainly fought against the established Kingdom of Greece, which was supported by the United Kingdom ...

. The government controlled various mountainous areas along Greece's northern border, adjoining the communist states of

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yug ...

and

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

, and was seen as the succession of the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

-era " Mountain Government" of the Communist-led

EAM-ELAS The Greek People's Liberation Army ( el, Ελληνικός Λαϊκός Απελευθερωτικός Στρατός (ΕΛΑΣ), ''Ellinikós Laïkós Apeleftherotikós Stratós'' (ELAS) was the military arm of the left-wing National Liberat ...

Resistance movement A resistance movement is an organized effort by some portion of the civil population of a country to withstand the legally established government or an occupying power and to disrupt civil order and stability. It may seek to achieve its objective ...

. Its main allies were the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

and the

Eastern Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...

History

The

had broken out in spring 1946, but it was not until June 1947 that the Greek Communists announced their intention to form a separate government. This move was announced by leading Party member

Miltiadis Porfyrogennis Miltiades or Miltiadis ( el, Μιλτιάδης, short: Miltos) is a Greek masculine given name. The name is derived from the Greek word for "red earth". People with the given name include: * Miltiades the Younger (c. 550–489 BC), tyrant of the ...

at the Congress of the

French Communist Party The French Communist Party (french: Parti communiste français, ''PCF'' ; ) is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, and its MEPs sit in the European Unit ...

, in a move designed to garner publicity and highlight the support of other Communist parties and governments to the Greek Communists' cause. The formation of a separate government was not only a renunciation of any chances of reconciliation with the royal government in Athens, but also implied also a move away from guerrilla warfare towards a more "regular" structure. This was in accordance with the Yugoslav-inspired "Lakes Plan", which envisaged the creation of a regular army of 50,000–60,000 men and the occupation of large parts of northern Greece, ultimately including Greece's second city,

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...

, where the new government would base itself. The new government's formation was announced on 23 December 1947, with

Markos Vafiadis Markos Vafeiadis (also spelled as Vafiadis and Vafiades; el, Μάρκος Βαφειάδης; Tosya, – Athens, ) was a leading figure of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) during the Greek Resistance and the Greek Civil War. Pre-war life Vaf ...

, the leader of the Communists'

Democratic Army of Greece The Democratic Army of Greece (DAG; el, Δημοκρατικός Στρατός Ελλάδας - ΔΣΕ, Dimokratikós Stratós Elládas - DSE) was the army founded by the Communist Party of Greece during the Greek Civil War (1946–1949). At ...

(DSE), as its first chairman. The government was composed exclusively of Party members, with

Giannis Ioannidis Giannis Ioannidis (alternate spellings: Ioannis, Yiannis, Yannis) (Greek: Γιάννης Ιωαννίδης; born 26 February 1945 in Thessaloniki, Greece) is a former Greek basketball player, professional basketball coach, and Greece New Democra ...

serving as Vice Chairman and Foreign minister,

Petros Rousos Petros Rousos ( el, Πέτρος Ρούσος; 1908–1992), born Petros Polychronidis (Πέτρος Πολυχρονίδης), was a Greek communist politician, author and journalist. Born in Eastern Thrace and spending his youth in Russia, on his ...

as Justice Minister, Miltiadis Porfyrogennis as Health and Welfare Minister,

Petros Kokkalis Professor Petros Kokkalis (18.9.1896 - 15.1.1962), a distinguished professor of Medicine in the University of Athens has been one of thleading figures of Medicine in pre WWII Greece introducing pioneering methods ithoracic surgery and neurosurgery ...

as Finance Minister, Vassilis Bartziotas as Agriculture Minister, Dimitris Vlantas as Minister of National Economy and

Leonidas Stringos Leonidas I (; grc-gre, Λεωνίδας; died 19 September 480 BC) was a king of the Greek city-state of Sparta, and the 17th of the Agiad line, a dynasty which claimed descent from the mythological demigod Heracles. Leonidas I was son of King ...

as Minister of Supply. Notably, Party General Secretary

Nikolaos Zachariadis Nikos Zachariadis ( el, Νίκος Ζαχαριάδης; 27 April 1903 – 1 August 1973) was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) from 1931 to 1956, and one of the most important personalities in the Greek Civil War. Ear ...

was not a member of the government. The new government actively tried to present itself as a revival of the ideology and practices

-era National Liberation Front, which had dominated the Greek Resistance movement. It was also notable for its active protection of the minorities living in northern Greece, especially as these tended to support the Communists against the nationalist royal government. On 25 December, the DSE attacked the town of

Konitsa Konitsa ( el, Κόνιτσα; see also names in other languages) is a town of Ioannina in Epirus, Greece. It is located north of the capital Ioannina and near the Albanian border. Northeast of Konitsa lies a group of villages known as the Zagoro ...

, intending to seize the city as the new government's headquarters. According to testimony by Vafiadis, Zachariadis had expressed the hope that if the city fell and became the Communists' capital, the PDG would be recognized by the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

and other

states. The attack lasted until 4 January 1948, but ended in failure. In the end, the PDG was never recognized by any government, because the Soviets feared a widening of the conflict into general warfare between the West and their satellite states in the

Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

. Soviet premier

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...

told Zachariadis in February 1948 that the neighbouring governments would only recognize the PDG after other countries had first done so. As the national government pushed the DSE back in 1948, Vafiadis clashed with Zachariadis over the pursuit of the war. Finally, he was ousted from his position as PDG chairman on 7 February 1949, and Zachariadis himself assumed the position until 3 April 1949, when he was succeeded by

Dimitrios Partsalidis Dimitrios "Mitsos" Partsalidis ( el, Δημήτρης "Μήτσος" Παρτσαλίδης) (1905–1980) was a Greek Communism, communist politician. Biography Partsalidis was a Pontic Greeks, Pontic Greek born in Trabzon in the Trebizond Vi ...

. Following defeat by government forces in the

Battle of Grammos Operation Pyrsos ( el, Επιχείρηση «Πυρσός», "Torch") was the final campaign launched by the National Army of the internationally recognized Greek government against the communist forces during the Greek Civil War. After the suc ...

, the Provisional Democratic Government was defeated in the Civil War and left Greece on 28 August 1949. The PDG survived in exile until they were finally dissolved in October 1950.

References

{{Authority control Greek Civil War Communist Party of Greece 1940s in Greek politics Political history of Greece States and territories established in 1947 1947 establishments in Greece States and territories disestablished in 1949 1949 disestablishments in Greece Former unrecognized countries Former socialist republics