Editing History of modern Greece (section)

==Civil War==
{{Main|Greek civil war}}

German forces withdrew on 12 October 1944,<ref>{{Cite web|last=Team|first=G. C. T.|title=October 12, 1944, German Forces Withdraw From Athens|url=https://greekcitytimes.com/2016/10/12/german-forces/|access-date=2020-12-05|website=Greek City Times|date=12 October 2016 |language=en-US}}</ref> and the government in exile returned to Athens. After the German withdrawal, the EAM-ELAS guerrilla army effectively controlled most of Greece, but its leaders were reluctant to take control of the country, as they knew that Soviet premier [[Joseph Stalin]] had [[percentages agreement|agreed]] that Greece would be in the British sphere of influence after the war. Tensions between the British-backed Papandreou and the EAM, especially over the issue of disarmament of the various armed groups, led to the resignation of the latter's ministers from the government.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2014-11-30|title=Athens 1944: Britain's dirty secret|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/nov/30/athens-1944-britains-dirty-secret|access-date=2020-12-05|website=The Guardian|language=en}}</ref>

A few days later, on 3 December 1944, a large-scale pro-EAM demonstration in Athens ended in violence and ushered an intense, house-to-house struggle with British and monarchist forces (the ''[[Dekemvriana]]'').<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-05-22 |title=The Greek Civil War, 1944-1949 |url=https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/greek-civil-war-1944-1949 |access-date=2025-02-15 |website=The National WWII Museum {{!}} New Orleans |language=en}}</ref> After three weeks, the Communists were defeated: the [[Varkiza agreement]] ended the conflict and disarmed ELAS, and an unstable coalition government was formed. The anti-EAM backlash grew into a full-scale [[White Terror (Greece)|"White Terror"]], which exacerbated tensions.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Siani-Davies |first=Peter |last2=Katsikas |first2=Stefanos |date=2009 |title=National Reconciliation After Civil War: The Case of Greece |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25654436 |journal=Journal of Peace Research |volume=46 |issue=4 |page=562 |issn=0022-3433}}</ref>

[[File:Gde.svg|thumb|Organization and military bases of the "[[Democratic Army of Greece|Democratic Army]]", as well as entry routes to Greece.]]

The Communists boycotted the [[Greek legislative election, 1946|March 1946 elections]],{{Sfn|Koliopoulos|Veremis|2009|p=9}} and on the same day, fighting broke out again. By the end of 1946, the Communist [[Democratic Army of Greece]] had been formed, pitted against the governmental National Army, which was backed first by Britain and after 1947 by the [[United States]].{{Sfn|Koliopoulos|Veremis|2009|p=120}}

Communist successes in 1947–1948 enabled them to move freely over much of mainland Greece, but with extensive reorganization, the deportation of rural populations and American material support, the National Army was slowly able to regain control over most of the countryside. In 1949, the insurgents suffered a major blow, as Yugoslavia closed its borders following the [[Tito–Stalin split|split]] between Marshal [[Josip Broz Tito]] with the [[Soviet Union]]. Finally, in August 1949, the National Army under Marshal [[Alexander Papagos]] launched an offensive that forced the remaining insurgents to surrender or flee across the northern border into the territory of Greece's northern Communist neighbors.

The civil war resulted in 100,000 killed and caused catastrophic economic disruption. In addition, at least 25,000 Greeks and an unspecified number of [[Macedonians (ethnic group)|Macedonian Slavs]] were either voluntarily or forcibly evacuated to [[Eastern bloc]] countries, while 700,000 became displaced persons inside the country. Many more emigrated to [[Australia]] and other countries.{{Sfn|Koliopoulos|Veremis|2009|pp=123–125}}

The postwar settlement ended Greece's territorial expansion, which had begun in 1832. The 1947 [[Paris Peace Treaties, 1947|Treaty of Paris]] required Italy to hand over the [[Dodecanese]] islands to Greece. These were the last majority-Greek-speaking areas to be united with the Greek state, apart from Cyprus which was a British possession until it became independent in 1960. Greece's ethnic homogeneity was increased by the postwar expulsion of 25,000 Albanians from Epirus (see [[Chameria Issue|Cham Albanians]]). The only significant remaining minorities are the [[Muslim minority (Greece)|Muslims in Western Thrace]] (about 100,000) and a small [[Slavic language (Greece)|Slavic-speaking]] minority in the north. Greek nationalists continued to claim southern [[Albania]] (which they called [[Northern Epirus]]), home of a significant Greek population (about 3%-12% in the whole of Albania<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/albania/|title=Albania|date=30 August 2022|publisher=Central Intelligence Agency|via=CIA.gov}}</ref>), and the Turkish-held islands of [[Imvros]] and [[Tenedos]], where there were smaller Greek minorities.