Report on Greece

Among the many nations of Europe struggling to adjust themselves to the realities of peace, none is more unhappy, none more in need of understanding than the ancient tragic land of Greece, cradle of our Western civilization, origin of many of our concepts of liberty under law. To the Greeks, as to no other people, the liberty-loving nations of the world owe their ideals of freedom of speech and of thought. Years of war, years of occupation, and the continuing struggle of resistance left Greece all but prostrate, and many of her 7 million people without shelter or clothing. Living on the borderline between malnutrition and starvation, they have long been dependent for survival on American shipments of food, chiefly from the United States and Canada. Intensifying the misery of the Greeks, a runaway inflation sent prices soaring to fantastic figures. A loaf of bread, when it could be purchased, cost millions of drachmas. Children prowling city rubbish heaps for bits of food learn to disregard repudiated printing press money in their search for something of real value. Tons of worthless currency were destroyed officially to facilitate deflation. But no decree could restore to Greece her 1,400 devastated villages and towns, 900 of them focal centers of resistance to the Germans, completely wiped out. In such communities, patient villagers who saw their homes looted and burned in excess reprisals for underground activity, today are trying to piece together the remnants of their life. The ports and merchant fleet which made Greece one of the world's great maritime nations are wrecked. Of 450 vessels furnished to the Allied wartime shipping pool, at war's end only 74 remained afloat. Sabotage by guerrillas directed by Allied officers and the fury of the departing Germans spelled the doom of the entire Greek transportation system, its railroads and its rolling stock. A freighter scuttled by the enemy blocked the entrance to the Corinth Canal, important waterway linking the Aegean and Ionian Seas. Where the banks were dynamited, years will be needed to clear a channel for ships. >> When in the autumn of 1940, Greece first pitted her meager little army against Italy's invading legions driving down from Albania, the world saw it as a brave but hopeless gesture. But when Greek mountain battalions with their traditional willingness to die for liberty not only stopped the fascists, but hurled them back into Albania, Allied hopes revived. But Hitler, to secure the Balkans as part of his grand strategy against then neutral Russia, invaded Greece from Bulgaria and Yugoslavia. Four British divisions rushed to the help of Greece, failed to save the last Allied base in Europe. But though Greece had fallen, resistance continued as the people began partisan warfare with bitter fury. With the German timetable for the invasion of Russia already upset, Greek guerrillas created new troubles for the enemy. Striking from mountain hideouts, they sabotaged railroads over which supplies were being shipped to the Axis forces in Africa. These operations, following Allied directives, played their part in the collapse of the German plan for a three-pronged offensive against Suez. The whole democratic world learned from secret sources of the continuing struggle and hardships of the Greeks. In the United States, the Greek War Relief Association, working with the Red Cross and the State Department, obtained the aid of Anthony Eden in a dramatic plan for getting help to Greece through the blockade. From US and Canadian ports, 650,000 tons of relief supplies were sent to Greece, saving 3 and 1/2 million lives. Allied hopes ran high for Greece as late 1944 saw Axis power crumbling and the German occupation forces threatened from two sides. As the Germans evacuated Greece, British troops moved in in accordance with prior agreements and to preserve order until the Greeks could establish a government by popular election. With them, the British brought George Papandreou, prime minister of the government which had taken refuge in Cairo with the Greek king. For it was of first importance to the British to counter Russian influence already being strongly felt throughout the Balkans. Symbol of the liberation for which thousands of Greek troops had fought, Papandreou shared with the British a wild ovation from the people of Athens. But among those who had through nearly four years fought an unremitting battle against the German occupation forces, there were many elements which opposed any return of the pre-war monarchy and which had no love for Papandreou or his backers. And when a few weeks later the British ordered all guerrilla forces to disband, the anti-royalist resistance coalition EAM protested that this order was a stratagem to disarm their troops while leaving royalist forces armed. The answer of EAM was to mobilize its members, liberals and communists, in a mass demonstration. Upon the unarmed marchers, Greek police opened fire killing 23 and wounding over 100. Throughout Athens, violence spread beyond the power of Papandreou's police to control and within 24 hours Greece was on the verge of civil war. The resistance veterans of ELAS, fighting branch of EAM, brought out the weapons with which they had fought the Germans throughout the occupation to defend themselves against the royalist police. By the end of the first day of battle, they had seized control of 21 out of the 24 police stations in Athens. As the situation got out of hand, British troops took up positions facing the ELAS forces and with the help of tanks went into action against resistance concentrations in the tenement district below the stadium. Royal Air Force planes joining in the pitched battle strafed this district and ELAS command posts. As the British drove resistance forces out of Athens, the fighting gave way to an uneasy truce. With sporadic sniping still going on, Field Marshal Sir Harold Alexander, Supreme Allied Commander in the Mediterranean area, arrived on the scene. For in London, the Greek uprising had aroused furious criticism among the British people over their government's methods in Greece. Newspaper editorials, public meetings, and protests caused serious embarrassment to the Churchill government. From the late H.G. Wells, historian and social prophet, came a scathing denunciation. Then on Christmas Day 1944, a deeply concerned Prime Minister arrived in Athens accompanied by Foreign Minister Anthony Eden. Churchill was determined, whatever the personal or political risk might be, to find a way to end the bloodshed and at the same time to protect British interests. To British headquarters was summoned the venerable prelate Damaskinos, Archbishop of all Greece, who had survived the German occupation without losing the respect of the resistance. The British envoys maintained that British troops were in Greece to prevent civil war and to help guarantee fair elections. But the real British aim, Churchill's critics claimed, was to safeguard at all costs British interests in the Near East and along the Suez Canal lifeline by establishing in Greece a government impervious to Soviet influence. Such critics were hardly placated by Churchill's next move, which made Archbishop Damaskinos regent of Greece. The Damaskinos regency brought temporary tranquility to a nation passionately divided on how its political future should be shaped. The most extreme adherents of the exiled Greek king are banded together in secret factions called X groups, which the government has ordered dissolved. But less hot-headed than many members of this royalist faction is their military leader, General George Grivas. All royalist parties would like to see George II return to Athens as king with the friendship of the British government. Smaller, but equally vociferous, Greece's Communist Party, once led by George Siantos, presents a strongly disciplined opposition. And although the Communist claim to be Greek patriots first and communist next, the British Labor government considers their present chief, Nicholas Zachariadis, too close to Moscow. Fears they might seize power on behalf of Russia. Between these extremes are some 35 political parties, which draw their strength largely from the resistance forces, and which include almost every shade of democratic and liberal opinion. Crowding Greek jails are thousands of resistance members, communists, and others considered politically dangerous by their government. In jail, political prisoners are allowed freedom in expressing their convictions. And in meetings held at regular intervals, they protest the injustice of their detention. Over the Greek political scene, a succession of prime ministers approved by the British has presided with cabinet following cabinet under the changing pressures of various political and economic groups. Most permanent foreign influence remains that of the British. The British-backed governments have all stressed the maintenance of order. And to this end, the Greek police have been reorganized and their training updated. Recruits picked for the soundness of their political views are trained by British officers who are insistent on drill and discipline traditional with upholders of government. Also under British guidance, the Greek General Staff has begun a complete reorganization of the army which fought so valiantly in the war. Politically unstable elements have been progressively eliminated and modern methods of training introduced to create a military body as a bulwark against invasion or revolution. For Greece, geographically situated where the conflicting interests of many nations cross, has been a battleground since the beginning of recorded history. In the century-old officer school at Athens, which liberals consider a monarchist stronghold, a new core of officers is being created to lead the Greek army of the future. Strictly disciplined and imbued with the traditions of a past which goes back beyond the Battle of Marathon, young Greeks sworn to uphold the government are taking up one of the few careers in Greece which today seems to offer some security. And while the Greek government has been striving toward political stability, its progress toward economic reconstruction has been slow and difficult. Despite the best efforts of Archbishop Damaskinos and the successive governments he has called to power, Greece, after a year of peace, was still almost wholly dependent on UNRRA, the United Nations relief organization, for its very existence. Under Buell Maben, able American administrator for the area, UNRRA made Herculean efforts to help Greece recover from the effects of the war. Within a year after the withdrawal of the Germans, UNRRA supplies totaling close to a million and a half tons of food, clothing, raw materials, machinery, and medicine had been unloaded in the ports of Greece for distribution to centers throughout the land. To replace draft animals lost in the war and to make possible the transport of goods through the mountainous regions, UNRRA imported over 7,000 mules. Trucks and tractors were brought in and made available to peasants who had been without modern means of tilling their soil for almost 5 years. Many of them are learning to operate new farm machinery for the first time. Thousands of bales of raw cotton brought into Greece by UNRRA were sold to textile manufacturers whose mills had been idle since the war began. But it will be years before their output of finished goods will be great enough to put an end to the shortage of clothing materials. To improve Athens' inadequate water system, which suffered both from neglect and from drought, UNRRA delivered miles of water pipe for a new line. Its installation gave employment to many jobless Greeks. But, most important to Greece is the revival of her agriculture. For 60% of all Greeks live by the soil. Her vineyards are once more under cultivation, but it will be many years before they can recover from the ravages and neglect caused by war. The Macedonian tobacco fields, whose crops constituted more than half of the nation's pre-war exports, were also hard hit. Without fertilizer, without skilled labor for proper cultivation, the yield of tobacco fell off drastically and can be restored only over a long period of time. In the gigantic task of reconstruction that lies ahead, an estimated $2 billion will be needed. Though Greece has survived on relief funds and on UNRRA aid, she can permanently recover only by rebuilding and modernizing the economic establishment she sacrificed to the war. This will require the utmost determination and the unremitting toil of the Greek people. It will require raw materials, tools, and machinery. By the new hardships ahead, the Greek people are undaunted. But, in return for their efforts, they want some assurance that tomorrow their land will be a better place to live in than ever in the past, with freedom and education and opportunity for every citizen. And to achieve this end, the Greeks are making every effort. On their record as warriors for the liberty of all men, none have won more surely than the Greeks. A right claimed by all democratic peoples. The right freely to choose their own government. And while in the world of the future, they have no wish to sever completely the century-old ties with Britain. The Greeks, grateful for American aid in their time of need, look forward in hope and confidence to a closer friendship with the United States.