Chapter 55. The Spread of Communism
Preamble
With the exception of the first chaotic years following the November 1917 Bolshevik
coup d'état, when an "imminent worldwide Communist Revolution" was preached from Moscow, the official policy of the Soviet Union seemed to have been "Socialism in one country"¹.
1. If we disregard several internationally unrecognized Soviet Puppet States created on Chinese sovereign territory such as Outer Mongolia, East Turkestan and Tannu Tuva (the last one annexed in November 1944).
After nearly 17 years (1922-1939) of seemingly being content to develop inside the internationally recognized borders of the Soviet Union, the plague of Communism started to spread outwards, initially thanks to the Ribbentrop-Molotov Secret Pact and then, after the unsuccessful Axis invasion, helped by the relentless march westwards of the victorious Red Army. That is, until the Berlin Dome was activated and millions of Soviet soldiers became trapped inside it.
Realizing that his plan of conquering Germany and most of Eastern and Central Europe was no longer feasable, the Soviet Dictator Joseph Stalin decided to cut his losses short by consolidating his conquests and further expanding in other directions, especially towards the Mediterranean.
Short Timeline of Previous Soviet Expansion
Before 17 January 1945
- All the internationally recognized territory of the Soviet Union (the interbellum Soviet borders)
- Soviet Puppet States ("People's Republics") in China: Outer Mongolia and East Turkestan
- Northern Iran -- Soviet Puppet States created: South Azerbaidjan and Magadan (Kurdish); ought to be vacated after the end of the War
- Occupied Finnish territory -- annexed to the Russian SFSR
- Occupied Norwegian territory (Finnmark) -- promissed to vacate it before the end of the year
- Occupied Estonia -- annexed as the Estonian SSR (small areas to the Russian SFSR)
- Occupied Latvia (with the exception of the still free Courland Peninsula) -- annexed as the Latvian SSR (small areas to the Russian SFSR)
- Occupied Lithuania -- annexed as the Lithuanian SSR
- Occupied Polish territory -- annexed to the Byelorussian SSR and and the Ukrainian SSR
- Parts of Poland "Proper" -- a Soviet Puppet State (Polish People's Republic) was being set up despite the protests of the internationally recognized Polish Government in exile from London
- Parts of Germany (East Prussia and Memelland) -- unspeakable atrocities commited by the Red Army
- Occupied Eastern Slovakia (officially considered part of Czechoslovakia)
- Occupied Carpatho-Ruthenia (officially considered part of Czechoslovakia) -- annexation to the Ukrainian SSR postponed until the end of the war at the request of the Czechoslovak Government in exile
- Occupied Eastern Hungary -- a Soviet Puppet State (the Hungarian People's Republic) was considered
- Occupied Romania -- parts annexed to the Ukrainian SSR, others made into a "Moldavian" SSR, whatever that may have meant!
- Occupied Bulgaria
- Parts of Yugoslavia -- under the control of the Yugoslav Communists ruled by Iosip Broz Tito
- Italian Zara -- under the control of the Yugoslav Communists
- Albania -- under the control of the Albanian Communists ruled by Enver Hoxha
- Parts of Northern Greece -- Greek Civil War between the Greek Communists and the internationally recognized Greek Government
17 January 1945
- Lost contact with almost three million Red Army men who found themselves trapped inside the Berlin Dome
After 17 January 1945
- Occupied the Outer Courland Peninsula vacated by the Germans -- reannexed to the Latvian SSR
- Lost ground in Inner Hungary and Inner Slovakia
- Continued offensives in Inner Poland and Eastern Germany
- Yugoslav Communist advances in Outer Croatia
February 1945
- Annexed Romania as the Romanian SSR (merged with the "Moldavian" SSR), with a Moldavian ASSR and a Hungarian AR
- Annexed Carpatho-Ruthenia to the Ukrainian SSR
- Annexed Outer Poland "Proper" (three small exclaves) to the Ukrainian SSR
- Annexed Bulgaria as the Bulgarian SSR, with a Macedonian ASSR and a Turkish AR
- Annexed Outer Slovakia (one small sliver of land) to the Ukrainian SSR as a Slovak ASSR
- Completely routed from Inner Hungary, Inner Slovakia, Inner Germany, Inner Latvia and Inner Lithuania
- Lost ground in Inner Poland against the Polish Home Army
- Yugoslav Communist completed conquest of Outer Croatia and Outer Slovenia (with the exception of Krk, under American control)
- Soviet Puppet State (Hungarian People's Republic) proclaimed in Outer Hungary
- Albanian People's Republic proclaimed in Albania
- People's Federal Republic of Yugoslavia proclaimed in Yugoslavia (territory of Outer Croatia annexed to the Yugoslav Republics of Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovia, Serbia, Montenegro)
- Italian Zara annexed to Yugoslavia
- Continued Greek Communist offensives in Northern Greece
Notes:
- The Soviet Puppet States had no international recognition (Outer Mongolia, East Turkestan, South Azerbaidjan, Magadan, P.R. of Hungary)
- The Soviet annexations had no international recognition (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Outer Poland, Outer Slovakia, Carpatho-Ruthenia, Romania, Bulgaria)
- The Soviet annexation of Finnish territory had not yet been confirmed in a peace treaty
- The Yugoslav annexation of Zara had no international recognition
The Fall of Greece
Just like Yugoslavia and Albania (and unlike Romania and Poland for example), Greece had a large and powerful home grown Communist partisan movement which had fought against the Axis occupation for years.
After the complete evacuation of the Axis occupation forces, the emboldened and heavily armed Greek Communist partisans wanted to gain political power for themselves and their twisted ideology and thus continued their fight, that time against the lawful Greek Government and its rather reluctant British backers.
While the conflict between the Greek Communists (KKE and its military wing, the
Democratic Army of Greece) and the legitimate Government of the Kingdom of Greece began in earnest just after the liberation of Greece in the autumn of 1944, one cannot speak of a
bona fide Civil War until March 1945.
The historians have found several causes for the sudden precipitation of the simmering conflict into a full-fledged Civil War and the rapid success of the Communists:
- the inability of the Western Allies to work out an understanding with the Soviets at Yalta (it had been speculated that Greece was supposed to be in the Western sphere of influence);
- the Soviet desire to counter their setbacks in Central Europe and expand southwards instead, gaining an outlet at the Mediterranean Sea;
- the souring Soviet-Turkish relations culminating in the Soviet promise of "Constantinople, Smyrna and other Greek lands" for a "Socialist Greece";
- the half-hearted British support for the Greek Government due to the Western Allied unwillingness to provoke a war with the Soviet Union while still at war with both Germany and Japan.
26 March 1945
Before the low-level hostilities flared up into the Greek Civil War, the Communists controlled Thrace, most of Macedonia and the Epirus, parts of Thessaly and isolated areas elsewhere in Continental Greece while the Royal Government controlled the rest of the country (helped by small British forces in Athens, Piraeus, Crete and a few other places).
Rhodes and the Dodecanese was an Italian Colony under British occupation and it was understood that it would be transferred to a democratic Greece by the Peace Treaty with Italy. Cyprus was a British Crown Colony which was also promissed to Greece should it remain democratic and Western-alligned.
27 March 1945
The Greek Communists proclaimed a
Hellenic People's Republic (People's Republic of Greece) in Grevena, a city in Macedonia firmly under their control. With the help of Yugoslav, Albanian and Soviet (mostly Bulgarian) "volunteers" the Greek Communists started a massive, coordinated attack against the Royalist forces still holding their ground in Northern Greece.
29-30 March 1945
The Communist forces captured Salonika. The Royalist Army began to rapidly disintegrate all over Continental Greece.
31 March 1945
The Greek Royalist Government asked the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia and Albania to cease the aggression against their country. The Communist powers recognized the Greek Communist Government in Salonika as the legitimate Government of Greece and removed their representatives from Athens.
1 April 1945
King George II of the Hellenes asked the British Ambassador for help. The British answer was evasive.
2-8 April 1945
A Royalist thrust towards Volos ended in disaster. Several thousands Royalist soldiers defected to the Communist side. The Royalist Army regrouped in Attica, leaving the rest of Continental Greece to the Communists.
10 April 1945
The People's Republic of Greece entered a military alliance with the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia and Albania and asked for military help against the Royalist forces.
12 April 1945
The Albanian People's Army entered Communist Greece, followed shortly by the Yugoslav People's Army. The Soviet Union declined to send the Red Army in Greece but allowed more Communist "volunteers" to cross the border and offered a considerable cache of weapons and ammunition as a gift to the new "brotherly Socialist state".
14 April 1945
The Kingdom of Greece declared war on Albania and Yugoslavia. The Communists seized Corfu.
19 April 1945
A Communist insurection flared up in Athens. Thousands of people were killed and more Greek troops defected, leaving the front lines in a precarious state.
22-25 April 1945
With the start of the Soviet-Turkish War², the geopolitical situation took a turn to the worse. Communist Greece declared war on Turkey and sent a token force into Turkish Thrace.
The Turkish Navy of the Aegean invaded Communist-held Lesbos and other minor islands of the Northern Aegean. That backfired horribly as the remaining loyalist Greek troops felt compelled to choose between two enemies: their fellow compatriots, the Greek Communists, and the eternal archenemy, the hated Turks. Most of them found the choice to be an easy one and the Greek Royalist Army started to fall apart.
2. The Soviet-Turkish War belongs in a dedicated chapter. You may speculate about it but I will not provide any more spoilers at this time.
26 April 1945
Although the Athens uprising was under control and the Capital was mostly secure, the Greek Government and the Royal Family decided to evacuate the besieged city. They relocated to the safety of Crete, followed by the small British units from Athens and Piraeus.
28 April 1945
King George II abdicated his throne under unclear circumstances and his brother Paul was crowned
King of the Hellenes in Heraklion.
29-30 April 1945
King Paul asked the Greeks to stop the fratricide war and fight together against the Turks in order to liberate not only Lesbos but also Ionia and Constantinople. Afterwards, the King dismissed the Government and asked the Greek Communists to come to Athens to form a legitimate Government of National Union together with the other National forces.
The British seized the King in an unsuccessful attempt to limit the damage already done but it quickly became apparent that it was too late. A few hours later, Athens fell without a shot being fired.
An impromptu group of people declared the Independence of Crete and asked for British Protection, despite the non-existent popular support.
1-7 May 1945
The short Greek Civil War was virtually over. The Communists controlled all of Mainland Greece, the Peloponnese and most Greek Islands.
While the Greek Communists claimed the British held Crete, the still theoretically Italian Rhodes and Dodecanese and even British Cyprus, those islands were left alone for the time being, while they were still at war with Turkey.
The Aftermath
Nobody recognized the independence of the Cretan Republic, not even Great Britain itself.
The Communists included four representatives of the Greek democratic parties in their Government and allowed King Paul to remain on the throne with a referendum scheduled for October to decide upon the future form of Government.
The fall of Greece and the Soviet invasion of Turkey represented the beginning of the
Second Red Scare in the Occident. The powerful Communist Parties of Italy and France were suddenly the public enemy number one as the Western Powers had no intention to allow any Western country to fall pray to Communism. The Communist partisans were hunted down, disarmed and sometimes arrested while powerful anticommunist propaganda was commonplace and the known Communists were kept under heavy police surveillance.
The odd war-time honeymoon between the Western Powers and the Soviet Union was over. Just like Fascism, Communism was the ideological enemy. Maybe even more then Fascism, as "moderate" Fascist (and rabidly anticommunist) States such as Franco's Spain began to be seen as somehow "acceptable" by the Western Leaders and the maleable public opinion.
The British Prime Minister Winston Churchil uttered an iconic phrase: the
Cold War. Yes, the Free World was engaged in a new kind of war with the Soviet behemoth, a new strange ideological struggle devoid of direct military confrontation. A Cold War.
Should the situation in Germany have been different, Hitler would have been delighted.³
3. Another spoiler, duh. Well, this will have to wait a little. I will have to cover both other countries and Germany during parts of March and April until we finally get to May...
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