The Socialist Party of Greece ( el, Σοσιαλιστικό Κόμμα Ελλάδας, ΣΚΕ) was a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

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 wi ...

. The party was formed in 1920, as an anti-

Comintern The Communist International (Comintern), also known as the Third International, was a Soviet-controlled international organization founded in 1919 that advocated world communism. The Comintern resolved at its Second Congress to "struggle by ...

minority split away at the second congress of the

Socialist Labour 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 ...

. The group that founded the Greek Socialist Party was led by A. Sideris. The party was active in

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ...

s, and in 1931 the leading party member Dimitris Stratis was elected General Secretary of the

General Confederation of Greek Workers The General Confederation of Greek Workers (GSEE), in Greek Γ.Σ.Ε.Ε, is the highest, tertiary trade union body in Greece. It was founded in 1918 and is affiliated with the International Trade Union Confederation. GSEE is made up of 83 w ...

(G.S.E.E.).Braunthal, Julius (ed). ''Yearbook of the International Socialist Labour Movement''. Vol. I. London: Lincolns-Prager International Yearbook Pub. Co, 1957. p. 259. The party was a member of the

Labour and Socialist International The Labour and Socialist International (LSI; german: Sozialistische Arbeiter-Internationale, label=German, SAI) was an international organization of socialist and labour parties, active between 1923 and 1940. The group was established through a me ...

between 1923 and 1931, and again in 1933. In 1931 a group broke away from the party and founded the Independent Socialist Party. Stratis was the leader of the splinter party. The Independent Socialist Party was very short-lived, though, and the following year Stratis returned to the Socialist Party and became a member of its

Central Committee Central committee is the common designation of a standing administrative body of communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, of both ruling and nonruling parties of former and existing socialist states. In such party organizations, the ...

. During the

Second World War 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 opposi ...

, the party launched the Union of People's Democracy (E.L.D.) as a front for resistance activities. E.L.D. was a minor resistance group compared to the communist-led National Liberation Front (E.A.M.). The Socialist Party member Professor

Alexandros Svolos Alexandros Svolos ( el, Αλέξανδρος Σβώλος; 1892, Kruševo, Manastir Vilayet, Ottoman Empire – 22 February 1956, Athens, Greece) was a prominent Greeks, Greek legal expert, who also served as president of the Political Committee o ...

became appointed President in the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government i ...

formed by the Greek resistance in 1944. In February 1949, the Socialist Party broke its links with the Communist Party of Greece. In the 1952 elections, however, it suffered a defeat.Braunthal, Julius (ed). ''Yearbook of the International Socialist Labour Movement''. Vol. I. London: Lincolns-Prager International Yearbook Pub. Co, 1957. p. 260 In September 1953 the party merged with the Democratic Party, forming the

Democratic Party of Working People Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

. Two months later, socialists founded the

Greek Socialist League The Greek Socialist League was a socialist organization in Greece. The Socialist Party of Greece had merged with the Democratic Party, forming the Democratic Party of Working People, in September 1953. The Socialist League was founded on December ...

as a platform for socialist politics within the new party.

References

{{Socialism in Greece Defunct socialist parties in Greece Political parties established in 1920 National Liberation Front (Greece) Members of the Labour and Socialist International 1920 establishments in Greece Political parties disestablished in 1953