Towards a historical sociology of guerrilla warfare in Greece (1941–44)

My main thesis in this paper is that history, geography, culture and political cleavages played a vital role in the ‘Greek entanglement’ of the 1940s and in the insurgencies of the period. Greek ‘Andartiko’, ie the guerrilla movement against the Axis forces (1941–44), was based in a long established tradition of violence, in local and family ties and in certain networks of power (found mostly in the mountainous regions of the country). From this point of view counter-insurgency policies adopted by the Germans, as well as those later in the Civil War of 1946–49 by government forces, were based on the assumption that the social base of the insurgents was the typical mountain community (chorio). It was not an easy task fighting Andartes (Greek resistance fighters) under these conditions. The condition of war lasted almost an entire decade and the experience of Andartiko transformed ultimately Greek society in an unprecedented way.