|
Greek Civil War
The Greek Civil War () took place from 1946 to 1949. The conflict, which erupted shortly after the end of World War II, consisted of a Communism, Communist-led uprising against the established government of the Kingdom of Greece. The rebels declared a people's republic, the Provisional Democratic Government, Provisional Democratic Government of Greece, which was governed by the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) and its military branch, the Democratic Army of Greece (DSE). The rebels were supported by People's Socialist Republic of Albania, Albania and Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Yugoslavia. With the support of the United Kingdom and the United States, the Greek government forces ultimately prevailed. The war had its roots in divisions within Greece during World War II between the Communist-dominated Left-wing politics, left-wing Greek Resistance, resistance organisation, the National Liberation Front (Greece), EAM-ELAS, and loosely-allied Anti-communism, anti-communis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cold War
The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. The term ''Cold war (term), cold war'' is used because there was no direct fighting between the two superpowers, though each supported opposing sides in regional conflicts known as proxy wars. In addition to the struggle for ideological and economic influence and an arms race in both conventional and Nuclear arms race, nuclear weapons, the Cold War was expressed through technological rivalries such as the Space Race, espionage, propaganda campaigns, Economic sanctions, embargoes, and sports diplomacy. After the end of World War II in 1945, during which the US and USSR had been allies, the USSR installed satellite state, satellite governments in its occupied territories in Eastern Europe and N ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
People's Civil Guard
The People's Civil Guard (, ) was the security force of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) during the Greek Civil War (1946–49). It was the police counterpart of the Democratic Army of Greece (DSE), KKE's military force. It was actually the successor of the National Civil Guard, which was the successor of the Organization for the Protection of the People's Struggle (OPLA). The People's Civil Guard included both men and women; all of them were volunteers and ideologically dedicated to the Communist Party, a situation different from that of the DSE, which engaged in forced recruitment, especially in the last stages of the Civil War. In June 1948, the KKE leadership published a booklet to be studied by the civil guards, "Lessons of Popular Civil Guard" (, ), where it was emphasized that the Popular Civil Guard was a security force "of a new type", different from the Greek Gendarmerie and the Cities Police of the Greek government, whose aim was to serve the people. Initially th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kostas Karagiorgis
Kostas Karagiorgis () was the alias of Kostas Gyftodimos (Κώστας Γυφτοδήμος), a prominent Greek communist who played an important role in the Greek Resistance and in the Greek Civil War. Early life and career He was born in 1905 in the town of Limni in Euboea. He studied at the Medical School of the University of Athens, where he also became politically active as director of ''Neolaia'', the newspaper of the Central Committee of the Young Communist League of Greece (OKNE), and assistant editor of the Communist Party of Greece's (KKE) official newspaper, ''Rizospastis''. After a time in prison, he left Greece in 1931 and moved to Vienna and thence to Paris in 1933. He worked there as correspondent of ''Rizospastis'', before moving to the Soviet Union. He returned to Greece after the establishment of the dictatorial Metaxas Regime, but was arrested and imprisoned in Aegina. After completing his compulsory military service, he was sent to internal exile to the is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Markos Vafiadis
Markos Vafeiadis (also spelled as Vafiadis and Vafiades; ; – ) was a leading figure of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) during the Greek Resistance and the Greek Civil War. Pre-war life Vafiedis was born in Tosya, Ottoman Empire in 1906 although some sources claim he was born in Şenkaya, Erzurum in present-day Turkey. At the age of 17, after the Population exchange between Greece and Turkey of 1923, Vafeiadis went to Thessaloniki and Kavala as a refugee. From 1928, he worked in Thessaloniki as a member of the Young Communist League of Greece (OKNE). In 1932, he was imprisoned and sent to internal exile for his political action. After his release in October 1933, he worked as party instructor in many areas of Greece. At the beginning of Ioannis Metaxas' dictatorship (the "4th of August Regime") he was exiled again to the island of Ai Stratis, but managed to escape in less than a month. Subsequently, he worked in the party's underground organization in Crete and was one ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nikolaos Zachariadis
Nikos Zachariadis (; 27 April 1903 – 1 August 1973) was General Secretary of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) from 1931 to 1956. He was appointed, by order of Stalin and the Comintern, General Secretary of KKE in 1935. He was arrested by the right-wing Metaxas dictatorship the following year. From prison, he lent his political influence to a united antifascist front following Italy's invasion of Greece on October 28, 1940. Despite his efforts to encourage unity and resistance in the face of fascist aggression, Zachariadis remained imprisoned and when the Nazis ultimately invaded and occupied Greece in 1941, Zachariadis was transferred to Dachau concentration camp, where he remained until the camp was liberated by the US Army in May 1945. Along with Markos Vafiadis, Zachariadis was an integral figure in the formation and operations of the KKE-led Democratic Army of Greece (DSE) during the Greek Civil War of 1946–1949. Following the collapse of the military effort in 194 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ronald Scobie
Lieutenant-General Sir Ronald MacKenzie Scobie, (8 June 1893 – 23 February 1969) was a senior British Army officer who fought in both the First and Second World Wars, where he commanded the 70th Infantry Division and later III Corps. He was also a Scotland international rugby union player. Military career Scobie was educated at Cheltenham College and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. First World War He was commissioned into the Royal Engineers in 1914 and served during the First World War on the Western Front in France and Belgium. He was a General Staff Officer Grade 3 in France in 1918, and a Brigade Major in France from 1918 to 1920. Between the wars After the war, Scobie became Officer, Company of Gentlemen Cadets, Royal Marine Artillery, Woolwich 1920–1924; Staff Captain, Aldershot Command 1927–1929; Brigade Major, Aldershot Command 1929–1931 After attending the Staff College, Camberley from 1925 to 1926, he became Director of Military Artillery at the Roy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Van Fleet
General (United States), General James Alward Van Fleet (19 March 1892 – 23 September 1992) was a United States Army officer who served during World War I, World War II and the Korean War. Van Fleet was a native of New Jersey, who was raised in Florida and graduated from the United States Military Academy. He served as a regimental, division (military), divisional and corps commander during World War II and as the commanding General officer, general of United States Army and other United Nations forces during the Korean War. Early life and education James Van Fleet was born in the Coytesville section of Fort Lee, New Jersey. His family then moved to Florida while he was an infant, and he grew up there. Van Fleet received his high school education at the Bartow High School, Summerlin Institute in Bartow, Florida. After graduating from Summerlin in 1911, Van Fleet received an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. While he was a cadet at W ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dimitrios Giatzis
Dimitrios Giatzis (, 1891–1964) was a senior Hellenic Army officer who held senior commands during the Greek Civil War of 1946–49, serving as commander of First Army and Chief of the Hellenic Army General Staff in 1947–49. Life Dimitrios Giatzis was born in Lamia in 1891, and enlisted in the Hellenic Army as a volunteer on 12 March 1910. Promoted to NCO, he took part in the Balkan Wars of 1912–13, and after studies at the NCO School was commissioned as an Infantry Second Lieutenant on 27 December 1914. He subsequently fought on the Macedonian front during World War I and in the Asia Minor Campaign, first as a company commander and later as a staff officer, being promoted to Lieutenant in 1917 and to Captain in 1920. In the interwar period he served successively as battalion commander, chief of staff of the 3rd Infantry Division, in the staff of II Army Corps, in the Administrative Directorate of the Ministry for Military Affairs, commander of VI Border Sector (1938– ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thrasyvoulos Tsakalotos
Thrasyvoulos Tsakalotos (; 3 April 1897 – 15 August 1989) was a distinguished Hellenic Army Lieutenant General who served in World War I, the Greco-Turkish War of 1919–1922, World War II and the Greek Civil War, rising to become Chief of the Hellenic Army General Staff. He also served as Greece's Ambassador to Yugoslavia. Early life Tsakalotos was born in Preveza in 1897, at a time when it was still a province of the Ottoman Empire. At the age of thirteen, he went to Alexandria, to make the acquaintance of a cousin who lived there. Military career He entered the Hellenic Military Academy in 1913 and graduated from it as an Infantry 2nd Lieutenant on 1 October 1916. He fought at the Macedonian front of World War I, being promoted to Lieutenant in 1917, as well as in the Asia Minor Campaign, being promoted to Captain in 1920. In the interwar period he held various staff appointments and commands, as well as a teaching post in the Superior War Academy. He was promoted to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Konstantinos Ventiris
Konstantinos Ventiris (, 1892–1960) was a Hellenic Army officer who rose to the rank of lieutenant general. He served twice as Chief of the Hellenic Army General Staff and was one of the senior government commanders during the Greek Civil War. He is also one of the few recipients the country's highest wartime decoration, the Commander's Cross of the Cross of Valour. Life He was born in Kalamata in 1892, the second of seven children. His brothers became journalists, and the eldest, Georgios, was an associate of the Liberal leader Eleftherios Venizelos. After completing his school studies, he joined the Hellenic Army as a volunteer on 1 April 1910, and fought in the Balkan Wars of 1912–1913. He entered the NCO Academy and graduated in March 1914 as an Infantry Second Lieutenant. During World War I, he served in the Macedonian front, being promoted to lieutenant in 1917 and acting as a company commander during the 1918 Allied offensive. In 1919 he was promoted to major, and foug ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Themistoklis Sofoulis
Themistoklis Sofoulis or Sophoulis (; 24 November 1860 – 24 June 1949) was a prominent centrist and liberal Greek politician from Samos Island, who served three times as Prime Minister of Greece, with the Liberal Party, which he led for many years. Early life Sofoulis was born in 1860 in Vathy of Samos, then an autonomous principality under Ottoman suzerainty. His father was Panagiotis Sofoulis, who had fought for the autonomy of the island. Sofoulis studied in the faculty of philosophy of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and then in Germany, where he specialised in archaeology. As an archaeologist he published certain insightful surveys and he participated actively in various excavations around Greece. Entering Samian politics In 1900 he abandoned archaeological excavations and he was elected a deputy for Samos, being the leader of his own radical faction, which was fighting for the political freedoms of Samos, as stipulated by the Treaty of Autonomy of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alexandros Papagos
Alexandros Papagos (; 9 December 1883 – 4 October 1955) was a Greek military officer who led the Hellenic Army in World War II and the later stages of the subsequent Greek Civil War. The only Greek army career officer to rise to the rank of Field Marshal, Papagos became the first Chief of the Hellenic National Defence General Staff from 1950 until his resignation the following year. He then entered politics, founding the nationalist Greek Rally party and becoming the country's Prime Minister after his victory in the 1952 elections. His premiership was shaped by the Cold War and the aftermath of the Greek Civil War, and was defined by several key events, including Greece becoming a member of NATO; U.S. military bases being allowed on Greek territory and the formation of a powerful and vehemently anti-communist security apparatus. Papagos' tenure also saw the start of the Greek economic miracle, and rising tensions with Britain and Turkey during the Cyprus Emergency over the C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
