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Children were affected in a number of ways during the Greek Civil War. There were the obvious ways which occur during any conflict. Some children were injured and killed as a result of the fighting. As houses were destoyed, some children lost their homes. Others became refugees and if their parents were killed orphans. If just the father was killed, the mother had difficulty supporting the family. There is a fairly accurate assessment of the casualties, but assessments of the impact on children are more difficult to obtain. We have not yet found any assessments of the children so affected. Children became a major issue in the post-War era, primarily because of the forced removal of children by the Communists in the areas that they controlled. The Communist deny that the children were foricbly removed, but it is clear that this indeed occurred. What we are not sure of is who gave the orders, Moscow or the KKE. Queen Fredericka helped set up camps for abandoned children. They became another post-War issue. Many of the children were taken in by Greek-American families.
Greece was not self sufficent in food production. Before the War, the Greeks imported food. After the occupation, this was no longer possible. Food could be usedto control the population. The NAZI program of plundering the occupied countries, made the situation in Greece even more difficult for the Greek people. Large quantities of food were shipped from Greece to Germany. The result was a mass famine in Greece. The famine in Greece reached Athens in the winter of 1941. The famine was a man-made event resulting from the German ability to contol distribution of food. The Germans viewed Greece and other occupied countries as a source of food and resources that could be used to support the War effort. It should be stressed that not all Germans involved in the occupation behaved crudely. German Occupation officials reported to Berlin that more food was needed for the Greek people. These requests were ignored by NAZI officials in Berlin. NAZI officials in some occupied countries were interested in remaking those societies on the basis of the National Socialist principles implemented in Germany. This seems not to have been a major factor in Greece. The German priorities in Greece were clearly food, raw material, and laborers to support the German War economy. [Mazower] The Occupation was a very difficult period for the Greek people. Actual starvation claimed the most lives.
Children were affected in a number of ways during the Greek Civil War. There were the obvious ways which occur during any conflict. Some children were injured and killed as a result of the fighting. As houses were destoyed, some children lost their homes. Others became refugees and if their parents were killed orphans. If just the father was killed, the mother had difficulty supporting the family. There is a fairly accurate assessment of the casualties, but assessments of the impact on children are more difficult to obtain. We have not yet found any assessments of the children so affected.
Children became a major issue in the post-War era, primarily because of the forced removal of children by the Communists in the areas that they controlled. The Communist deny that the children were foricbly removed, but it is clear that this indeed occurred. What we are not sure of is who gave the orders, Moscow or the KKE. There were substantial numbers of political refugees resulting from the Greek Civil War. These were Communists or sympathisers of the defeated communist insurgency who fled the country (1949). The defeat of the Democratic Army of Greece (DSE) was followed by the evacuation of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) to Tashkent. In the aftermath, thousands of people fled or were evacuated fron northern Greece. Some estimates are substantially higher. There are varying estimates, but probanly more than 0.1 million Greeks left or were removed from the country. This included large numbers of children. The precise number is unknown, but may have exceeded one-third of the total. Some of the children were the relatives of the Communist insurgents. Many others simply lived in Communist controlled villages and were taken over the border as the Greek National Army advanced.
Queen Fredericka helped set up camps for abandoned children. Estimates of the number of children involved vary. We note estimates ranging between 10,000-25,000 children. One source describes 'reform camps' set up on ythe islands for some 12,000 children. [Spencer] Another source describes 30 'child towns'. Many of these children were adopted by Greek-American families. We are not sure why they were not adopted by Greek families. Ther may be a lack of willingness to do so in Greece. Many Greek-American families wanted toi help and this was one way they did. Some authors, mostly with left-wing sympathies, the Greek government pursued a policy of 'displacement' by adopting children of the guerrillas, and placing them in indoctrination camps. [Myrsiades, p. 333.] We are unsure to what extent this actually occurred. We do not know of the Goivrnment taking people's children away. The children in Queen Frederika's Camps as far as we can tell were mostly orphans. We doi not at this time know just what the camp regime was abd if there was indoctrination as opposed to education. Of course in Communist countries, indoctrination is a very important part of education.
Greece before the War was one of the poorest countries in Europe. The basic issue was that the country had a largely nagricuktural rconomy, but there was very limited araes of productive farmmland. Much of the rural populationn struggled with small plots of rocky, low prouctivity land. One authot estimates that the country had about 1.3 acres of arable crop land per farm person, more or less comparable to India. European comparisons would be about 2.5 acres for Romania, more than 5 acres for Britain, 17 acres in America. The average grain crop (the primary food crop) was 13.5 bushels--more or less equal to India. The European comaprisons were very different. It was only half to one-third that of most European countries. [Smothers,et. al. p. 51.] This inevitably meant that in an agricultural society would affect the countrty's standard of living. Grain was the principal food crop needed for bread. Greece was simply incapable of feeding the growing population. It is a mountainous country. The terrain is more appropriare for growing fruits, olives, and tobacco. These crops in nornal times could be sold to finance the importantion of the cereals that the Greeks needed. Greece had to import about half of the food supplies.
The agricultural exports were part of the luxury market which were significantly impacted by both depression and war--both of which dominated the 1930s and 40s. And the situation was aggrevated by German World War II occpation and exploitation (1941-44). German authorities controled the countries and began shipping food to the Reich to support the war effort. The British naval embargo cut off imports. The result was the horific famine (1941-42). Resistance operations in the countryside resulted in significant damage to the farm ecinomy and infrastructure, reducing farm output. The already devestated Greek economy was then faced after World War II with a destructive Civil War as Greek Communists attemoted to seize control of the country. Guerilla operations in the countryside affected agricultural production. It was the major obstacle to economic recovery. Even if peace had followed the War, Greece would have faced serious difficulties. The Civil War meant that significant foreign assisrance would be needed.
We know much more about how Communim operates than the Greeks did after the War. Russia (including Ukraine) and Eastern Eueioe was the the historic bread basket of Europe. After seizing power in Russia, the Communists damaged the agricuktural sector. Soviet agriculture never recovered from Stalinistb collectivization. Stalin actually manufactuted the deadly Ukranian Famine, but manaaged to hide it from the West. Evebtually the Soviets would have to import grain from the capitalist West. After seizing controlmof Eastern Europe, the agricukltural economy in each of those oubtries declined creating food shortages in countries that before Communism had prosperius agricultural economies. What would have voccurred in Greece with a weak agricultural economy is likely to have been a real disaster. Most of the deadly 20th century famines were the work of Communist regimes.
The British were the primary Allied country involved in the liberation of Greece. They prevented a Communist take over after the Germans withdrew (October 1944). And provide food assiatance to feed the Greeks. The economic situation in Britain was, however, deteriorating. The Labour Party won the first General Election since the outbreak of World War II (1945). They instituted a wide range of Socilaist reforms including nationanlization of basic industry. Rather than stimullating economic growth as Labour expected, it actually retarded growth and recovery. The British Gicernment as a result, informed the United States that due to its weakening economy, it could no longer continue to provide military and economic support to Greece (1946). [Bullock, ch. 8.] Britain' inability to maintain a major role was a factor in the formulation of the Truman Doctrine. After the War, the Americans found it imnpossible to work with the Soviets in a joint occupation of Germany abd that the Soviets were not fullfilling their commitment their commitmenbts at Yalta to allow free elections in Easrern Europe, especually Poland. The Truman Doctrine was the first statement of post-War an American foreign policy to counter Soviet geopolitical expansion--essentially the Cold War. President Harry S. Truman abbinced his plans to Congress (March 1947). The initial concerns were Turkey (which the Sovies were pressuring over the straits) and Grrece (where Comminist guerella swere atempting to seizw control). The British Economic Mission, operating under the terms of the London agreement of January 1946 and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization had been attempting to address the food issue in Greece. The American aid mission to Greece was established (June 1947). Dwight P. Griswold, a former governor of agricultural state of Nebraska was chosen as chief of mission. Once the Greek economic program had been consolidated with the overall European Recovery Program (the Marshal Plan), American Ambassador to Greece, Henry F. Grady, became head of the mission. United States Government departments and agencies were drawn on for the Greek aid program. Here the idea was not just to provide food aid. Private groups like CARE played an important role in food shipments. The primary goal was to assist Greece in improving the agricultural sector and increasing productuvity. Here there was considerabkle success. Farmers mamaged to harvest a wheat crop that was 90 per cent of the pre-War average, compared to 30 per cent at the end of the War. The American program included providing seed, fertilizer and farm machinery. And demonstration and training projects were organized to help Greek farmers makie full use of the new equipment and methods.
Bullock, Alan. Ernest Bevin: Foreign Secretary, 1945–1951 (1983).
Myrsiades. Cultural Representation in Historical Resistance.
Spencer, Kenneth. "Greek Children," The New Statesman and Nation Vol. 39 (January 14, 1950), pp. 31-32.
Frank Smothers, William Hardy McNeill, and Elizabeth Darbishire McNeill. Report on the Greeks (New York: Twentieth Century Fund, 1948), 226p.
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