A referendum on maintaining the monarchy was held in Greece on 1 September 1946. [1] The proposal was approved by 68.4% of voters with a turnout of 88.6%. [2]
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 referendum was the fourth since 1920 on the country's monarchy. The 1946 parliamentary elections, in which the right-wing parties achieved a landslide, had just taken place. The new conservative government of Konstantinos Tsaldaris was favorable to George II, but what influenced the result more was the atmosphere of imminent civil war.
Konstantinos Tsaldaris was a Greek politician and twice Prime Minister of Greece.
George II reigned as King of Greece from 1922 to 1924 and from 1935 to 1947.
The civil war convulsed Greece during two main periods: first between 1943 and 1944 between the communist-dominated EAM-ELAS partisans and the right-wing resistance groups and the internationally recognized Greek-Government which had returned from exile in November 1944 and later in 1946–1949. The collaborationist government had collapsed after the Germans left and all its leaders were in custody. EAM/ELAS which controlled much of the countryside and expected to take over when they realized that Stalin had conceded Greece to the British at Yalta. They believed it essential to seize control of the capital and create "facts on the ground." EAM/ELAS heavily outnumbered and outgunned government forces and came with a hair's breadth of success. Churchill moved quickly to transfer two British divisions from Italy and after a month of fighting decisively defeated the communists. EAM/ELAS took up to 15,000 hostages from the Athens bourgeois classes to cover its retreat out of the city and then massacred all of them in the northern suburb of Drosia. This atrocity cost EAM/ELAS the support of the non-communist republican majority in the country. EAM/ELAS also carried out large scale atrocities throughout the country during this period, the so-called "Red Terror." [3]
The referendum took place, after EAM-ELAS had been defeated in the Dekemvriana Although they had agreed to disarm in the Treaty of Varkiza, in January 1945, they surrendered only a few token weapons and withdrew into the mountainous areas of Greece where they had effective control. In retaliation for the Red Terror, right-wing groups, often with the tacit support of the security forces, persecuted communists in areas not under communist control - the White Terror. This deepened the gulf between the Left and the centrist and right-wing parties, and polarized the political spectrum so that the centrist parties (that followed a more moderate but also more ambiguous policy) lost part of their power. The Communist Party of Greece boycotted both the elections and the referendum and instead launched the second phase of the civil war. They prevented any voting in areas they controlled. George II symbolized the unity of the anti-communist forces, which partly explains the percentage of votes in his favour. The conservatives, along with Prime Minister Konstantinos Tsaldaris, supported him, whereas the centrists were divided. While the centrists regarded George II with displeasure, they reacted with disgust at the savagery of the communists.
The Dekemvriana refers to a series of clashes fought during World War II in Athens from 3 December 1944 to 11 January 1945. The conflict was the culmination of months of tension between the communist EAM, some parts of its military wing, the ELAS stationed in Athens, the KKE and the OPLA from one side and from the other side, the Greek Government, some parts of the Hellenic Royal Army, the Hellenic Gendarmerie, the Cities Police, the far-right Organization X, among others and also the British Army.
The Treaty of Varkiza was signed in Varkiza on February 12, 1945 between the Greek Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Secretary of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) for EAM-ELAS, following the latter's defeat during the Dekemvriana clashes. One of the aspects of the accord called for a plebiscite to be held within the year in order to resolve any problems with the Greek Constitution. This plebiscite would help establish elections and thus create a constituent assembly that would draft a new organic law. In another aspect of the treaty, both signatories agreed that the Allies send overseers in order to verify the validity of the elections. The accord also promised that members of the EAM-ELAS would be permitted to participate in political activities if they surrendered their weapons. Moreover, all civil and political liberties would be guaranteed along with the undertaking by the Greek government towards establishing a nonpolitical national army.
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.
The official report of the Allied Mission to Observe the Greek Elections [AMFOGE] acknowledged the existence of voter fraud, despite its vested interest in legitimizing the election, that "There is no doubt in our minds that the party representing the government view exercised undue influence in securing votes in support of the return of the King." They however claimed that without said influence, the monarchy would still have prevailed in the election. [4]
| Choice | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|
| For | 1,136,289 | 68.4 |
| Against | 524,771 | 31.6 |
| Invalid/blank votes | 3,860 | – |
| Total | 1,664,920 | 100 |
| Registered voters/turnout | 1,921,725 | 86.6 |
| Source: Nohlen & Stöver | ||
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.
The National Liberation Front, commonly known by its acronym EAM, was the main movement of the Greek Resistance during the Axis occupation of Greece. Its main driving force was the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), but its membership throughout the occupation included several other leftist and republican groups. ΕΑΜ became the first true mass social movement in modern Greek history. Its military wing, the Greek People's Liberation Army (ELAS), quickly grew into the largest armed guerrilla force in the country, and the only one with nation-wide presence. At the same time, from late 1943 onwards, the political enmity between ΕΑΜ and rival resistance groups from the centre and right evolved into a virtual civil war, while its relationship with the British and the British-backed Greek government in exile was characterized by mutual mistrust, leading EAM to establish its own government, the Political Committee of National Liberation, in the areas it had liberated in spring 1944. Tensions were resolved provisionally in the Lebanon Conference in May 1944, when EAM agreed to enter the Greek government in exile under Georgios Papandreou. The organisation reached its peak after liberation in late 1944, when it controlled most of the country, before suffering a catastrophic military defeat against the British and the government forces in the Dekemvriana clashes. This marked the beginning of its gradual decline, the disarmament of ELAS, and the open persecution of its members during the "White Terror", leading eventually to the outbreak of the Greek Civil War.
The Greek Resistance is the blanket term for a number of armed and unarmed groups from across the political spectrum that resisted the Axis occupation of Greece in the period 1941–1944, during World War II. It is considered as one of the strongest resistance movements in Nazi-occupied Europe.
The National Republican Greek League or EDES was one of the major resistance groups formed during the Axis Occupation of Greece during World War II.
Parliamentary elections were held in Greece on 17 November 1974. They were the first after the end of the Greek military junta of 1967–1974 and took place during the metapolitefsi era. The winner was Konstantinos Karamanlis and his newly formed conservative party, ND. Karamanlis had already formed a government of national unity just after the fall of the dictatorship. The second biggest party was the centrist Center Union - New Forces. Third power in the Parliament became the newly formed PASOK, a radical socialist party led by Andreas Papandreou, son of the former prime minister Georgios Papandreou.
A referendum on restoring the monarchy was held in Greece on 3 November 1935. The proposal was approved by 97.9% of voters.
Ioannis Rallis was the third and last collaborationist prime minister of Greece during the Axis occupation of Greece during World War II, holding office from 7 April 1943 to 12 October 1944, succeeding Konstantinos Logothetopoulos in the Nazi-controlled Greek puppet government in Athens.
Parliamentary elections were held in Greece on 31 March 1946. 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, which won 206 of the 354 seats in Parliament. 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 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.
Themistoklis Sofoulis or Sophoulis was a prominent centrist Greek politician from Samos Island, who served three times as Prime Minister of Greece, belonging to the centre-left wing of the Liberal Party, which he led for many years.
The Security Battalions (Greek: Τάγματα Ασφαλείας, translit. Tagmata Asfaleias, derisively known as Germanotsoliades or Tagmatasfalites were Greek collaborationist military groups, formed during the Axis occupation of Greece during World War II in order to support the German occupation troops.
Napoleon Zervas was a Greek general and resistance leader during World War II. He organized and led the National Republican Greek League (EDES), the second most significant, in terms of size and activity, resistance organization against the Axis Occupation of Greece.
The Organization X was a fighting force and resistance organization with a firm right-wing and royalist ideology right set up during the Axis occupation of Greece, in June 1941 as a resistance organization. Initially, the group's name was Grivas Military Organization and in March 1943 it was renamed, adopting George's II royal monogram of two crossed gammas which resembled the Greek alphabet chi (X). X was heavily involved in battles against EAM and its secret police, OPLA, after the Axis occupation and during the civil war, considered communism to be its principal enemy.
Georgios Kartalis was a Greek politician.
Τhe Greek Civil War was fought in Greece from 1946 to 1949 between the Greek government army — backed by the United Kingdom and the United States — and the Democratic Army of Greece (DSE) — the military branch of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) — backed by Yugoslavia and Albania as well as by Bulgaria. It is often considered the first proxy war of the Cold War, although the Soviet Union avoided sending aid. The fighting resulted in the defeat of the DSE by the Hellenic Army. Founded by the Communist Party of Greece and supported by neighboring and newly founded Socialist States such as Yugoslavia, Albania and Bulgaria, the Democratic Army of Greece included many personnel who had fought as partisans against German, Italian and Bulgarian occupation forces during the Second World War of 1939–1945.
The Feneos Executions is the name given to a series of killings committed by the Greek People's Liberation Army (ELAS) resistance group, and especially by its secret police OPLA, in the Feneos area of Corinthia, Greece, during the very first stages of the Greek Civil War, while the country was still occupied by the Axis Powers.
The Lebanon conference was held on May 17–20, 1944, between representatives of the Greek government in exile, the pre-war Greek political parties, and the major Greek Resistance organizations, with the British ambassador Reginald Leeper in attendance. The conference occurred after an anti-monarchist mutiny among the Greek military the previous month. Prime Minister Georgios Papandreou was unable to reconcile communist and anti-communist political factions.
The Panhellenic Liberation Organization, was a Greek undercover resistance organization against the Axis occupation of Greece. It was founded in 1941 by a group of Greek army officers, under the name Defenders of Northern Greece, employing methods of non violent resistance. In 1943, YVE was renamed as the Panhellenic Liberation Organization (PAO), shifting its focus towards armed struggle. In the August of the same year it came into conflict with Greek People's Liberation Army (ELAS), a communist-led resistance organization. PAO was defeated in the ensuing civil war and its remnants turned towards collaboration with the Germans.
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