Greek legislative election, 1946

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Greek legislative election, 1946
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←  1936 31 March 1946 1950  →
All 354 seats of the Greek Parliament
178 seats were needed for a majority

 First partySecond party
  Constantine Tsaldaris.jpg Sophoklis Venizelos, 1921.png
Leader Konstantinos Tsaldaris Sofoklis Venizelos
Party NPE EPE
Leader since19461946
Last election72 seats, 22.10%11 seats, 5.01%
Seats won20668
Seat changeIncrease2.svg 134Increase2.svg 57
Popular vote610,995213,721
Percentage55.12%19.28%
SwingIncrease2.svg 33.02%Increase2.svg 14.27%
 Third partyFourth party
  Themistoklis Sofoulis.jpg Napoleon Zervas.JPG
Leader Themistoklis Sofoulis Napoleon Zervas
Party Liberal EKE
Leader since19361946
Last election126 seats, 37.26%New
Seats won4820
Seat changeDecrease2.svg 78New
Popular vote159,52566,027
Percentage14.39%5.96%
SwingDecrease2.svg 22.87%New
Prime Minister before election

Themistoklis Sofoulis
Liberal

Elected Prime Minister

Konstantinos Tsaldaris
People's Party

Hellenic Republic
Coat of Arms of Greece (Monochromatic).svg
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Parliamentary elections were held in Greece on 31 March 1946. [1] The result was a victory for the United Alignment of Nationalists, an alliance that included the People's Party, the National Liberal Party, the Reform Party, [2] which won 206 of the 354 seats in Parliament. [3] As a result Konstantinos Tsaldaris became Prime Minister leading a right-wing coalition. Nonetheless, he soon decided to resign in favor of Themistoklis Sophoulis, who led a government of national unity (conservative and centre-liberal forces) during the entire second phase of the civil war (1946–1949). One of the priorities of the new government was the proclamation of a plebiscite for the restoration of the Greek monarchy.

Greece republic in Southeast Europe

Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, self-identified and historically known as Hellas, is a country located in Southern and Southeast Europe, with a population of approximately 11 million as of 2016. Athens is the nation's capital and largest city, followed by Thessaloniki.

The United Alignment of Nationalists was a right-wing political alliance in Greece formed to contest the 1946 elections. It consisted of the People's Party, the National Liberal Party, the Reformist Party, the Royalist Party, the Panhellenic National Party, the Patriotic Union Party the Forward Political Group, the Party of Reconstruction and the Social Radical Union.

The People's Party was a conservative and pro-monarchist Greek political party founded by Dimitrios Gounaris, the main political rival of Eleftherios Venizelos and his Liberal Party. The party existed from 1920 until 1958.

The elections were marked by the boycott of the Communist Party of Greece claiming in protest against the unfolding, state-tolerated White Terror against the former members of EAM-ELAS. The night before the elections, a communist band attacked a police station in Litochoro. This event is considered the beginning of the three years civil war.

Communist Party of Greece political party in Greece

The Communist Party of Greece is a Marxist–Leninist political party in Greece. Founded in 1918 as the Socialist Labour Party of Greece, it is the oldest political party in modern Greek politics. The party played a significant role in the Greek resistance and its membership peaked in the mid-1940s. It was the instigator of the Greek Civil War, but ended on the losing side and was banned until 1974.

White Terror is the term used in Greece, analogous to similar cases, for the period of persecution of members of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) and other former members of the leftist World War II-era resistance organization National Liberation Front (EAM) in 1945–46, prior to the outbreak of the Greek Civil War.

Litochoro Place in Greece

Litochoro is a town and a former municipality in the southern part of the Pieria regional unit, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it has been part of the Dio-Olympos municipality, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit. It is located at the base of Mount Olympus, on the western shore of the Thermaic Gulf. The first recorded mention of Litochoro is in an account of a visit by Saint Dionysius to Mount Olympus in the 16th century. The town is a popular destination for those wishing to climb Mount Olympus as almost all climbing routes begin to the southwest of the town. A famous son of the town was Christos Kakkalos, who ascended first Mount Olympos in 1913.

One of the reasons for the defeat of the centre-liberal parties was the division of the Liberal Party, founded by Eleftherios Venizelos. One faction remained loyal to the leadership of Themistoklis Sophoulis, while another faction followed Sophoklis Venizelos, who formed a coalition with Georgios Papandreou and Panayiotis Kanellopoulos.

The Liberal Party, also the National Progressive Centre Union since 1952, was a major political party in Greece during the early-to-mid 20th century. It was founded in August 1910 by Eleftherios Venizelos and went on to dominate Greek politics for a considerable number of years until its decline following the Second World War. Among its most well-known members, apart from Venizelos, were Alexandros Papanastasiou, Nikolaos Plastiras, Georgios Papandreou and Konstantinos Mitsotakis.

Eleftherios Venizelos Greek politician

Eleftherios Kyriakou Venizelos was an eminent Greek leader of the Greek national liberation movement and a charismatic statesman of the early 20th century, remembered for his contribution in the expansion of Greece and promotion of liberal-democratic policies. As leader of the Liberal Party, he was elected several times, in total eight, as Prime Minister of Greece, serving from 1910 to 1920 and from 1928 to 1933. Venizelos had such profound influence on the internal and external affairs of Greece that he is credited with being "the maker of modern Greece", and is still widely known as the "Ethnarch".

Results

PartyVotes%Seats
United Alignment of Nationalists [a] 610,99555.12206
National Political Union [b] 213,72119.2868
Liberal Party 159,52514.3948
National Party of Greece 66,0275.9620
Union of Nationalists 32,5382.949
List of Independents 12,0361.082
Union of Agrarian Parties 7,4470.671
Party X 1,8480.170
Civil and Agricultural Party1,1140.100
Parataxis of Orthodox Christian Greeks2980.030
Patriotic Party of Reservists630.010
Party for the National Union150.000
Socialist Party 130.000
Independents2,8330.250
Invalid/blank votes13,223––
Total1,121,696100354
Source: Nohlen & Stöver, Global Elections Database

a Within the United Alignment the People's Party won 156 seats, the National Liberal Party 34, the Reform Party five and others 11.

b Within the National Political Union the Party of Venizelist Liberals won 31 seats, the National Unionist Party 27, the Democratic Socialist Party 7 seats and others three.

National Unionist Party is a former Greek Centre-left political party founded in 1935 by Panagiotis Kanellopoulos and other Venizelist politicians. The party had democratic, progressive and liberal ideas.

The Democratic Socialist Party of Greece was a political party founded by George Papandreou in 1935. It took part in the 1946 elections, but was unsuccessful. The party split from the Liberal Party. It was replaced in 1950 with the formation of the Georgios Papandreou Party.

Popular vote
HPE
 
55.12%
EPE
 
19.28%
KF
 
14.39%
EKE
 
5.96%
EE
 
2.94%
Others
 
2.32%
Parliament seats
HPE
 
58.19%
EPE
 
19.21%
KF
 
13.56%
EKE
 
5.65%
EE
 
2.54%
Others
 
0.85%

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References

  1. ↑ Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p830 ISBN   978-3-8329-5609-7
  2. ↑ Nohlen & Stöver, p843
  3. ↑ Nohlen & Stöver, p859
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