The National Organization of Crete ( el, Εθνική Οργάνωση Κρήτης, ''Ethnikí Orgánosi Krítis'' (EOK)) was a resistance organization established in the island of

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...

with the cooperation and encouragement of

British Intelligence The Government of the United Kingdom maintains intelligence agencies within three government departments, the Foreign Office, the Home Office and the Ministry of Defence. These agencies are responsible for collecting and analysing foreign and d ...

during the Axis occupation of Greece in

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 ...

Establishment and ideology

EOK was established in June 1943 with the aid of Tom Dunbabin, then SOE Field Commander on Crete. Predominantly

Venizelist Venizelism ( el, Βενιζελισμός) was one of the major political movements in Greece from the 1900s until the mid-1970s. Main ideas Named after Eleftherios Venizelos, the key characteristics of Venizelism were: *Greek irredentism: ...

in sympathy and with members ranging from

centre-left Centre-left politics lean to the left on the left–right political spectrum but are closer to the centre than other left-wing politics. Those on the centre-left believe in working within the established systems to improve social justice. The c ...

right-wing Right-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position on the basis of natural law, economics, authorit ...

, EOK was meant to act as a counterweight to the pro-communist EAM resistance organization. EOK evolved from the secret organization AEAK ( el, Ανώτατη Επιτροπή Αγώνα Κρήτης, " Supreme Committee of Cretan Struggle"), that was established in

Chania Chania ( el, Χανιά ; vec, La Canea), also spelled Hania, is a city in Greece and the capital of the Chania regional unit. It lies along the north west coast of the island Crete, about west of Rethymno and west of Heraklion. The muni ...

on June 15, 1941. AEAK was founded a mere two weeks after the end of the

Battle of Crete The Battle of Crete (german: Luftlandeschlacht um Kreta, el, Μάχη της Κρήτης), codenamed Operation Mercury (german: Unternehmen Merkur), was a major Axis airborne and amphibious operation during World War II to capture the island ...

by patriots Andreas Papadakis, Ioannis Paizis, Andreas Polentas, Titos Georgiadis and Ioannis Ioannidis. It was the first armed resistance group in

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

, intending to organize an intelligence network and perform sabotage against German occupation forces. During the first months following its establishment, AEAK was based at

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

Papadakis' house in Vourvoures, near

Kallikratis Kallikratis ( el, Καλλικράτης) is a small village belonging to the municipality of Sfakia, in southwest Crete, Greece. According to tradition, it was named after the admiral (droungarios) Manoussos Kallikratis, who in March 1453 led ...

.Beevor, Antony. ''Crete: The Battle and the Resistance'', John Murray Ltd, 1991. Penguin Books, 1992. EOK was initially headed by Nikolaos Skoulas, Charidimos Polychronidis, Iosif Voloudakis, Emmanouil Basias and Markos Spanoudakis. Skoulas had joined AEAK shortly after its formation and had closely collaborated with the SOE, supplying it with fake documents while also acting as the German appointed mayor of Chania. Despite their ideological differences, EAM and EOK agreed to sign

non-aggression pact A non-aggression pact or neutrality pact is a treaty between two or more states/countries that includes a promise by the signatories not to engage in military action against each other. Such treaties may be described by other names, such as a tr ...

s during the meetings of

Theriso Theriso ( el, Θέρισο, Δήμος Θερίσου) is a village and former municipality in the Chania regional unit, Crete, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Chania, of which it is a municipal unit. ...

(7/11/1943) and Tromarissa (15/9/1944). These agreements were generally respected and allowed Crete to remain largely unaffected by the

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

between leftists and rightists that broke out in mainland Greece after the withdrawal of German occupation forces.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:National Organization Of Crete Greek Resistance Crete in World War II Military history of Greece during World War II 1943 establishments in Greece