A History of the Greek Resistance in the Second World War : The People’s Armies

This book tells the story of the Greek resistance to Axis occupation during the Second World War and in particular the life of armed guerrillas. Rather than provide a conventional military history it will illuminate for the first time the lives, experiences and thoughts of the resistance fighters during their fight against the Occupation. -- .

A history of the Greek resistance in the Second World War discusses one of the most troubled and fascinating aspects of modern Greek and European history: the anti-axis resistance. It is a pioneering history of the men and women who waged the struggle against the axis and provides a comparative study of the guerrilla armies of ELAS and EDES. Previous studies have either neglected the study of the guerrilla armies altogether or focused on their political and operational activities. As a result we know very little about the lives, experiences and beliefs of the men and women within these groups, their provisioning, leisure and relations with the civilian population. A history of the Greek resistance in the Second World War delves into this unexplored area and provides new insights on the formation of the resistance movements and the experiences of the guerrilla fighters. The book follows the guerrillas from enlistment to the battlefield, examining the rise and origins of the resistance armies and how they governed their territories. It explores how their experiences of hardship, combat and personal loss shaped their self-image and social attitudes, the complex reasons that led partisans to enlist and fight, and relations between the guerrillas and the civilian population.Existing studies have presented the guerrillas as political soldiers and underscored the importance of ideology in motivation and morale. A history of the Greek resistance in the Second World War offers a more complex image and looks at a series of factors that have been neglected by scholars including kinship and group ties, violence, religious beliefs and leadership. The book will appeal to both academics and general readers interested in the Greek resistance, military history and the history of resistance movements during the Second World War.