Bevin Enthrones Greek King¶
Core Argument¶
Here the author argues that the restoration of King George II to the Greek throne in 1946 was not an expression of popular will but the product of systematic terror and direct British military intervention. The plebiscite is dismissed as a complete mockery, comparable to the 1935 Royalist vote that returned 97.5 per cent in favour under the bayonets of General Kondylis. The author points out that three months after that farce, a genuine parliamentary election produced a majority for Republican and working-class parties, demonstrating the real balance of opinion.
The chapter draws on contemporary reports from the British capitalist press itself, which daily carried accounts of attacks on trade unions and workers’ organisations. Terror and murder, particularly in the countryside, were carried out by Royalist bands. The workers’ press was suppressed, and tens of thousands of militant workers and peasants were forced to flee to the mountains, where conditions bordered on civil war, especially in Macedonia. The author notes that nearly half the officers of the Regular Army had served in the Security Battalions—the Greek SS under Hitler. The Deputy Prime Minister, Gonatas, openly told an EAM delegation that he could not guarantee their lives if they campaigned in the provinces.
Since the result was announced, the terror has intensified. Emergency security measures, akin to martial law, have been proclaimed across the mainland. The Stalinist headquarters were raided and twenty-five leaders of the Communist Party arrested. Unions are being forced into a government-controlled labour front, and genuine workers’ leaders live in fear.
The polemic is directed squarely at the British Labour Government and its Foreign Secretary, Ernest Bevin. The author argues that the Greek masses cannot achieve liberation while the Labour Government backs Greek reaction with the armed might of British imperialism. This is presented as a stain on the British labour movement that must be wiped away. The call to action is direct: British workers must force their leaders to end the war of intervention against the Greek people, withdraw the troops, and end the betrayal.