What happen after the Greek Civil War ended (1949)?

[Ivy]

I have a school project on Greek Civil War, so I was wandering what happen after the Greek Civil War ended. Like, what happen to the soldiers and the refugees children? Did the children able to go back to Greece/original home? What happen after 10 years, did life returns back to normal? So yeah, it would be better if someone could share their personal stories too!

[Mir Quasem]

The Civil War left Greece in ruins, and in even greater economic distress than it had been following the end of German occupation. Additionally, it divided the Greek people for ensuing decades, with both sides vilifying their opponents. Thousands languished in prison for many years, or were sent into exile on the islands of Gyaros and Makronisos. Many others sought refuge in communist countries or emigrated to Australia, Germany, the USA, UK, Canada and elsewhere.

The polarization and instability of Greek politics in the mid-1960s was a direct result of the Civil War and the deep divide between the leftist and rightist sections of Greek society. A major crisis as a result was the murder of the left-wing politician Gregoris Lambrakis in 1963 (the inspiration for the Costa Gavras political thriller, Z). The crisis of the Apostasia followed in 1965, together with the "ASPIDA affair", which involved an alleged coup plot by a left-wing group of officers; the group's alleged leader was Andreas Papandreou, son of George Papandreou, the leader of the Center Union political party and the country's prime minister at the time.

On April 21, 1967, a group of rightist and anti-communist army officers executed a coup d'état and seized power from the government, using the political instability and tension of the time as a pretext. The leader of the coup, George Papadopoulos, was a member of the right-wing military organization IDEA ("Sacred Bond of Greek Officers"), and the subsequent military regime (later referred to as the Regime of the Colonels) lasted until 1974.

After the collapse of the military junta, a conservative government under Constantine Karamanlis led to the abolition of monarchy, the legalization of the KKE and a new constitution, which guaranteed political freedoms, individual rights and free elections. In 1981, in a major turning point in Greek history, the centre-left government of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) allowed a number of DSE veterans who had taken refuge in communist countries to return to Greece and reestablish their former estates ; this greatly helped to diminish the consequences of the Civil War in Greek society. The PASOK administration also offered state pensions to former partisans of the anti-Nazi resistance; Markos Vafiadis was honorarily elected as member of the Greek Parliament under PASOK's flag.

In 1989, the coalition government between Nea Dimokratia and the Coalition of Left and Progress (SYNASPISMOS) – in which the KKE was for a period the major force – suggested a law that was passed unanimously by the Greek Parliament, formally recognizing the 1946–1949 war as a civil war and not merely as a communist insurgency. Under the terms of this law, the war of 1946–1949 was recognized as a Greek Civil War between the National Army and the Democratic Army of Greece, for the first time in Greek postwar history. Under the aforementioned law, the term "communist bandits" , wherever it had occurred in Greek law, was replaced by the term "Fighters of the DSE".

In a 2008 Gallup poll, Greeks were asked "whether it was better that the right wing won the Civil War". 43% responded that it was better for Greece that the right wing won, 13% responded that it would have been better if the left had won, 20% responded "neither" and 24% did not respond. When asked "which side they would have supported had they lived in that era", 39% responded "neither side", 14% responded "the right wing", 23% "the left wing" ; while 24% did not respond.[60]
List of abbreviations
Abbrev. Expansion Translation
DSE Δημοκρατικός Στρατός Ελλάδας Democratic Army of Greece
EAM Εθνικό Απελευθερωτικό Μέτωπο National Liberation Front
EDES Εθνικός Δημοκρατικός Ελληνικός Σύνδεσμος National Republican Greek League
EKKA Εθνική και Κοινωνική Απελευθέρωσις National and Social Liberation
ELAN Ελληνικό Λαϊκό Απελευθερωτικό Ναυτικό Greek People's Liberation Navy
ELAS Ελληνικός Λαϊκός Απελευθερωτικός Στρατός Greek People's Liberation Army
HQ Headquarters
KKE Κομμουνιστικό Κόμμα Ελλάδας Communist Party of Greece
NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Nazi National-Socialist; National Socialist German Workers' Party
NOF Народно Ослободителен Фронт National Liberation Front (Macedonia)
OPLA Οργάνωση Προστασίας Λαϊκού Αγώνα Organization for the Protection of the People's Struggle
PASOK Πανελλήνιο Σοσιαλιστικό Κίνημα Panhellenic Socialist Movement
PEEA Πολιτική Επιτροπή Εθνικής Απελευθέρωσης Political Committee of National Liberation
UN United Nations
USSR Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
YVE Υπερασπισταί Βορείου Ελλάδος Defenders of Northern Greece

[Maud]

The Greek civil war had two main phases: 1946/48 and 1948/49. In the first phase Yugoslavia gave great support to the Greek revolutionaries in ELAS-EAM (in Yugoslavia/Macedonia known as Greek Democratic Army). It meant arms, ammunition, logistic and hospital care.
After the breakup with Stalin in 1948 ("the Informbiro Resolution") Yugoslavia closed the borders to Greece (the territory of Peoples Republic of Macedonia) and stopped the support.
All Greek left-winged soldiers, including Macedonian minority fighters of NOF, SNOF, The Goce Battalion etc. had to fight alone with Royalists, supported by USA and Great Britain forces.Those Macedonians who entered Yugoslavian border in PR Macedonia had to disarmed and demobilized.
The rest of the Left winged soldiers of Greece (Greeks and Macedonians) retreated threw Albania and Bulgaria, and after they had been dispersed around whole eastern block-countries up to 1975.

http://www.facebook.com/notes/alexander-...7589103545

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCYfwhvfyhg

http://www.balcanicaucaso.org/eng/Region...sary-42415

http://www.macedoniantruth.org/forum/sho...37&page=12

[Reka]

All refugees can return back IF THEY DECLARE THEMSELVES GREEK BY GENE ONLY. So, Macedonian refugees are not welcomed on their real estates in Greece.

http://www.newbalkanpolitics.org.mk/item...uO28JM1htQ

[Cat]

25-30,000 children of Macedonian ethnic origin were exiled from northern Greece in the later phase of 1945-1949 civil war., After having been exiled from Greece, some of these children were brought back in the last phases of the war - as child soldiers. Once they became a little older, many of the refugee children scattered to the migrant-friendly lands of America, Canada, and Australia.When they fled, they were told they would return shortly, immediately after the victory. Alas, they never did.In the post-war years, their Greek citizenship was revoked and their family's properties in Greece were confiscated. For half a century, they could not enter Greece. Those who attempted were turned back at the border. In the 1980s, Greece passed legislation allowing the return only of those who are "Greek by origin". Legal experts further state that the provision in Greek law that only "Greeks by origin" are entitled to restitution of property is not in accordance with international standards.

[GIO C]

The communists were defeated.