Greek Civil War
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| - | The '''Truman Doctrine''' was an American foreign policy whose stated purpose was to contain [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] [[geopolitical]] expansion during the [[Cold War]]. It was announced to [[United States Congress|Congress]] by President [[Harry S. Truman]] on March 12, 1947, and further developed on July 4, 1948, when he pledged to contain the communist uprisings in [[Greece]] and [[Turkey]]. Direct American military force was usually not involved, but Congress appropriated financial aid to support the economies and militaries of Greece and Turkey. More generally, the Truman Doctrine implied American support for other nations thought to be threatened by [[Marxism–Leninism|Soviet communism]]. The Truman Doctrine became the foundation of [[Foreign policy of the United States|American foreign policy]], and led, in 1949, to the formation of [[NATO]], a military alliance that still exists. Historians often use Truman's speech to date the start of the Cold War. | + | The '''Greek Civil War''' was a [[civil war]] in [[Greece]] fought between the [[Hellenic Army|Greek government army]] (supported by the [[United Kingdom]] and the [[United States]]) and the [[Democratic Army of Greece]] (DSE) — the military branch of the [[Communist Party of Greece|Communist Party of Greece (KKE)]] (supported by [[Socialist Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia]], [[Socialist Albania|Albania]] and [[Socialist Bulgaria|Bulgaria]]) from 1946 to 1949. The [[Soviet Union]] [[Percentages agreement|avoided sending aid]]. The fighting resulted in the defeat of the DSE by the Hellenic Army. |
| - | Truman told Congress that "it must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures." Truman contended that because totalitarian regimes coerced free peoples, they automatically represented a threat to international peace and the [[national security of the United States]]. Truman made the plea in the midst of the [[Greek Civil War]] (1946–1949). He argued that if Greece and Turkey did not receive the aid, they would inevitably fall to communism with grave consequences throughout the region. Because Turkey and Greece were historic rivals, it was considered necessary to help both equally even though the crisis in Greece was far more intense. | + | The civil war resulted from a highly polarized struggle between left and right ideologies that started in 1943. From 1944 each side targeted the power vacuum resulting from the end of [[Axis occupation of Greece|Axis occupation]] (1941–1944) during [[World War II]]. The struggle was one of the first conflicts of the [[Cold War]] ({{circa}} 1947 to 1989) and represents the first example of Cold War postwar involvement on the part of the Allies in the internal affairs of a foreign country. |
| - | Critics of the policy have observed that the governments of Greece and Turkey were themselves far from democratic at this time, and neither were facing Soviet subversion in the spring of 1949. Historian [[Eric Foner]] writes that the Doctrine "set a precedent for American assistance to [[Anti-communism|anticommunist]] regimes throughout the world, no matter how undemocratic, and for the creation of a set of global military alliances directed against the Soviet Union." | + | ==See also== |
| - | + | * [[Air operations during the Greek Civil War]] | |
| - | For years, the [[United Kingdom]] had supported Greece, but was now near bankruptcy and was forced to radically reduce its involvement. In February 1947, Britain formally requested for the United States to take over its role in supporting the royalist Greek government. The policy won the support of Republicans who controlled Congress and involved sending $400 million in American money but no military forces to the region. The effect was to end the Greek revolt, and in 1952, both Greece and Turkey joined NATO, a military alliance, to guarantee their stability. | + | * ''[[Eleni (film)]]'' |
| - | + | * [[Nikos Belogiannis]] | |
| - | The Truman Doctrine was informally extended to become the basis of American Cold War policy throughout Europe and around the world. It shifted American foreign policy toward the [[Soviet Union]] from an [[Anti-fascism|anti-fascist]] alliance to a policy of [[containment]] of Soviet expansion as advocated by diplomat [[George F. Kennan|George Kennan]]. It was distinguished from [[rollback]] by implicitly tolerating the previous [[Eastern Bloc|Soviet takeovers in Eastern Europe]]. | + | * [[Nikos Ploumpidis]] |
| - | + | * [[Proxy war]] | |
| - | == See also == | + | * ''[[The Travelling Players]]'' |
| - | * [[Liberal internationalism]] | + | |
| - | * [[Eisenhower Doctrine]] | + | |
| - | * [[Anti-communism]] | + | |
| - | * [[Reverse course]] | + | |
| - | * [[Turkey–United States relations]] | + | |
| - | * [[Greece-United States relations]] | + | |
| - | * [[Containment]] | + | |
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The Greek Civil War was a civil war in Greece fought between the Greek government army (supported by the United Kingdom and the United States) and the Democratic Army of Greece (DSE) — the military branch of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) (supported by Yugoslavia, Albania and Bulgaria) from 1946 to 1949. The Soviet Union avoided sending aid. The fighting resulted in the defeat of the DSE by the Hellenic Army.
The civil war resulted from a highly polarized struggle between left and right ideologies that started in 1943. From 1944 each side targeted the power vacuum resulting from the end of Axis occupation (1941–1944) during World War II. The struggle was one of the first conflicts of the Cold War (Template:Circa 1947 to 1989) and represents the first example of Cold War postwar involvement on the part of the Allies in the internal affairs of a foreign country.
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See also
- Air operations during the Greek Civil War
- Eleni (film)
- Nikos Belogiannis
- Nikos Ploumpidis
- Proxy war
- The Travelling Players
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