Markos Vafiadis
Encyclopedia
Markos Vafiadis was a leading figure of the Communist Party of Greece
(KKE) during the Greek Civil War
.
of 1922, Vafiadis went to Thessaloniki
and Kavala
as a refugee. From 1928, he worked in Thessaloniki as a member of the Young Communist League of Greece
(OKNE). In 1932, he was imprisoned and sent to internal exile
for his political action. After his release in October 1933, he worked as party instructor in many areas of Greece.
At the beginning of Ioannis Metaxas
' dictatorship (the "4th of August Regime
") he was exiled again to the island of Ai Stratis
, but managed to escape in less than a month. Subsequently he worked in the party's underground organisation in Crete
and was one of the leaders of the Chania
uprising against the dictatorial regime (28 July 1938). After the suppression of the uprising, he went to Athens where he was arrested. He was jailed in Akronafplia and was exiled to the island of Gavdos
.
occupation of Greece, he, along with other communist prisoners, was allowed to leave Gavdos and began what was to become the original underground work against the German occupation
, initially in Crete, later in Athens, Thessaloniki and Macedonia. This was known as a pivitoal milestone in Greek history, as the country and its boundaries were changed to what is now known as modern Greece. In 1942, he was elected into the Central Committee
of the Communist Party of Greece and was named supervisor of the Macedonia
wing of the Greek People's Liberation Army (ELAS). In May 1944, he was elected as a representative of Thessaloniki to the national congress
that took place at the village of Koryschades in Evrytania
, but was unable to attend. In October 1944, after the withdrawal of the German army, he entered in Thessaloniki with his men..
In November 1944, he disagreed with Aris Velouchiotis
, who wanted ELAS to prepare to fight the British
. During the December fighting in Athens, the Macedonian
wing of the ELAS didn't fight against the British troops, concerned primarily of the northern-most residents. In February 1946, Markos Vafiadis again disagreed with Nikolaos Zachariadis
, the general secretary of KKE, who wanted to resume fighting. Once again, Vafiadis, abstained from using force to influence the region and resorted to diplomatic measures.
However, in July 1946, Zachariadis appointed him as leader of the communist guerrilla
formations. In October 1946, when the General Command of the Democratic Army of Greece
(DSE) was founded, Vafiadis assumed its leadership, and in December 1947 he was appointed Prime Minister
and War Minister of the Provisional Democratic Government
.
During the last stages of the Civil War
his disagreement with Zachariadis on issues of military doctrine
lead to his removal from leadership (August 1948) and later from all offices (January 1949). In October 1950, he was ousted from the Communist Party, while he was in exile in the Soviet Union
, where he had fled after the breakup of the DSE.
's era, Markos Vafiadis was restored into KKE and was elected as a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the party. However, new disagreement with the party leadership led to his removal from office in January 1958 and to his second ousting from the KKE in June 1964. After the party split in 1968, the so called "interior" (εσωτερικού) faction of KKE restored him. In March 1983, ending his 23 years long exile in the Soviet Union
, he returned to Greece and Chios. Later on, he published his Memoirs. In November 1989, and in April 1990, he was honorarily elected into the Greek parliament through the nationwide list of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement
. This was denounced by conservative circles, with the journalist Eleni Vlahou
calling it a futile attempt to rehabilitate a "senile criminal".
Communist Party of Greece
Founded in 1918, the Communist Party of Greece , better known by its acronym, ΚΚΕ , is the oldest party on the Greek political scene.- Foundation :...
(KKE) during the Greek Civil War
Greek Civil War
The Greek Civil War was fought from 1946 to 1949 between the Greek governmental army, backed by the United Kingdom and United States, and the Democratic Army of Greece , the military branch of the Greek Communist Party , backed by Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and Albania...
.
Pre-war life
After the Population exchange between Greece and TurkeyPopulation exchange between Greece and Turkey
The 1923 population exchange between Greece and Turkey was based upon religious identity, and involved the Greek Orthodox citizens of Turkey and the Muslim citizens of Greece...
of 1922, Vafiadis went to Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki , historically also known as Thessalonica, Salonika or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the region of Central Macedonia as well as the capital of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace...
and Kavala
Kavala
Kavala , is the second largest city in northern Greece, the principal seaport of eastern Macedonia and the capital of Kavala peripheral unit. It is situated on the Bay of Kavala, across from the island of Thasos...
as a refugee. From 1928, he worked in Thessaloniki as a member of the Young Communist League of Greece
Young Communist League of Greece
Young Communist League of Greece was the youth wing of the Communist Party of Greece. OKNE was founded on November 28, 1922. The journal I Neolaia became the official organ of OKNE. OKNE was a section of the Communist Youth International. Nikolaos Zachariadis became the leader of OKNE in 1924...
(OKNE). In 1932, he was imprisoned and sent to internal exile
Internal Exile
Internal Exile was Fish's second solo album after leaving Marillion in 1988. The album, released 28 October 1991, was inspired by the singer's past, his own personal problems and his troubled experiences with his previous record label EMI.The album's music reflects Fish's indulgence in the vast...
for his political action. After his release in October 1933, he worked as party instructor in many areas of Greece.
At the beginning of Ioannis Metaxas
Ioannis Metaxas
Ioannis Metaxas was a Greek general, politician, and dictator, serving as Prime Minister of Greece from 1936 until his death in 1941...
' dictatorship (the "4th of August Regime
4th of August Regime
The 4th of August Regime , commonly also known as the Metaxas Regime , was an authoritarian regime under the leadership of General Ioannis Metaxas that ruled Greece from 1936 to 1941...
") he was exiled again to the island of Ai Stratis
Agios Efstratios
Agios Efstratios or Saint Eustratius is a small Greek island in the northern Aegean Sea about 30 km southwest of Lemnos and 80 km northwest of Lesbos...
, but managed to escape in less than a month. Subsequently he worked in the party's underground organisation in Crete
Crete
Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...
and was one of the leaders of the Chania
Chania
Chaniá , , also transliterated Chania, Hania, and Xania, older form Chanea and Venetian Canea, Ottoman Turkish خانيه Hanya) is the second largest city of Crete and the capital of the Chania peripheral unit...
uprising against the dictatorial regime (28 July 1938). After the suppression of the uprising, he went to Athens where he was arrested. He was jailed in Akronafplia and was exiled to the island of Gavdos
Gavdos
Gavdos is the southernmost Greek island, located to the south of its much bigger neighbour, Crete, of which it is administratively a part, in the peripheral unit of Chania. It forms a community with surrounding islets and was part of the former Selino Province. It is the southernmost point of...
.
Resistance and Civil War
In May 1941, at the beginning of the Nazi GermanNazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
occupation of Greece, he, along with other communist prisoners, was allowed to leave Gavdos and began what was to become the original underground work against the German occupation
Military occupation
Military occupation occurs when the control and authority over a territory passes to a hostile army. The territory then becomes occupied territory.-Military occupation and the laws of war:...
, initially in Crete, later in Athens, Thessaloniki and Macedonia. This was known as a pivitoal milestone in Greek history, as the country and its boundaries were changed to what is now known as modern Greece. In 1942, he was elected into the Central Committee
Central Committee
Central Committee was the common designation of a standing administrative body of communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, whether ruling or non-ruling in the twentieth century and of the surviving, mostly Trotskyist, states in the early twenty first. In such party organizations the...
of the Communist Party of Greece and was named supervisor of the Macedonia
Macedonia (Greece)
Macedonia is a geographical and historical region of Greece in Southern Europe. Macedonia is the largest and second most populous Greek region...
wing of the Greek People's Liberation Army (ELAS). In May 1944, he was elected as a representative of Thessaloniki to the national congress
Political Committee of National Liberation
The Political Committee of National Liberation , commonly known as the "Mountain Government" was a communist-dominated government established in Greece in 1944 in opposition to both the collaborationist German-controlled government at Athens and to the royal government-in-exile in Cairo...
that took place at the village of Koryschades in Evrytania
Evrytania
Evrytania is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Central Greece. Its capital is Karpenisi .-Geography:...
, but was unable to attend. In October 1944, after the withdrawal of the German army, he entered in Thessaloniki with his men..
In November 1944, he disagreed with Aris Velouchiotis
Aris Velouchiotis
Aris Velouchiotis , the nom de guerre of Athanasios Klaras , was the most prominent leader and chief instigator of the Greek People's Liberation Army , the military branch of the National Liberation Front , which was the major resistance organization in occupied Greece from 1942 to 1945...
, who wanted ELAS to prepare to fight the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. During the December fighting in Athens, the Macedonian
Macedonia (Greece)
Macedonia is a geographical and historical region of Greece in Southern Europe. Macedonia is the largest and second most populous Greek region...
wing of the ELAS didn't fight against the British troops, concerned primarily of the northern-most residents. In February 1946, Markos Vafiadis again disagreed with Nikolaos Zachariadis
Nikolaos Zachariadis
Nikolaos Zachariadis was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Greece from 1931 to 1956.-Early life:Born in Adrianopole in 1903, the son of an employee of the Ottoman tobacco monopoly. He worked as a seaman on the Black Sea, where he came under the influence of the Bolshevik Revolution...
, the general secretary of KKE, who wanted to resume fighting. Once again, Vafiadis, abstained from using force to influence the region and resorted to diplomatic measures.
However, in July 1946, Zachariadis appointed him as leader of the communist guerrilla
Guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare and refers to conflicts in which a small group of combatants including, but not limited to, armed civilians use military tactics, such as ambushes, sabotage, raids, the element of surprise, and extraordinary mobility to harass a larger and...
formations. In October 1946, when the General Command of the Democratic Army of Greece
Democratic Army of Greece
This article is based on a translation of an article from the Greek Wikipedia.The Democratic Army of Greece , often simply abbreviated to its initials DSE , was the army founded by the Communist Party of Greece during the Greek Civil War, 1946–1949...
(DSE) was founded, Vafiadis assumed its leadership, and in December 1947 he was appointed Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Greece
The Prime Minister of Greece , officially the Prime Minister of the Hellenic Republic , is the head of government of the Hellenic Republic and the leader of the Greek cabinet. The current interim Prime Minister is Lucas Papademos, a former Vice President of the European Central Bank, following...
and War Minister of the Provisional Democratic Government
Provisional Democratic Government
The Provisional Democratic Government was the name of the administration declared by the Communist Party of Greece in December 1947.The Provisional Democratic Government was defeated in the Greek Civil War and left Greece on 28 August 1949....
.
During the last stages of the Civil War
Greek Civil War
The Greek Civil War was fought from 1946 to 1949 between the Greek governmental army, backed by the United Kingdom and United States, and the Democratic Army of Greece , the military branch of the Greek Communist Party , backed by Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and Albania...
his disagreement with Zachariadis on issues of military doctrine
Military doctrine
Military doctrine is the concise expression of how military forces contribute to campaigns, major operations, battles, and engagements.It is a guide to action, not hard and fast rules. Doctrine provides a common frame of reference across the military...
lead to his removal from leadership (August 1948) and later from all offices (January 1949). In October 1950, he was ousted from the Communist Party, while he was in exile in the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, where he had fled after the breakup of the DSE.
Post-Civil War
After the end of Joseph StalinJoseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
's era, Markos Vafiadis was restored into KKE and was elected as a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the party. However, new disagreement with the party leadership led to his removal from office in January 1958 and to his second ousting from the KKE in June 1964. After the party split in 1968, the so called "interior" (εσωτερικού) faction of KKE restored him. In March 1983, ending his 23 years long exile in the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, he returned to Greece and Chios. Later on, he published his Memoirs. In November 1989, and in April 1990, he was honorarily elected into the Greek parliament through the nationwide list of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement
Panhellenic Socialist Movement
The Panhellenic Socialist Movement , known mostly by its acronym PASOK , is one of the two major political parties in Greece. Founded on 3 September 1974 by Andreas Papandreou, in 1981 PASOK became Greece's first social democratic party to win a majority in parliament.The party is a socialist party...
. This was denounced by conservative circles, with the journalist Eleni Vlahou
Kathimerini
I Kathimerini is a daily morning newspaper published in Athens. It is published in the Greek language, as well as in an abridged English-language edition. The English edition is sold separately in the United States and as a supplement to the International Herald Tribune in Greece and Cyprus. On 2...
calling it a futile attempt to rehabilitate a "senile criminal".