Red Terror (Greece)
| Red Terror | |
|---|---|
| Part of World War II and Greek Civil War | |
| Location | Kingdom of Greece, Hellenic State, Kingdom of Bulgaria |
| Date | 1941–1949 |
| Target | 1941 - 1944: Italian, Nazi, and Bulgarian Collaborators, EDES, Hellenic Army, and other Greek Anti-Communists, and ethnic minorities 1944 - 1949: Greek Government Workers and their families, British Government Officials, Clergymen, Political Dissidents within KKE, and ethnic minorities |
Attack type | Politicide, mass murder, Kidnapping, forced labour, Political repression, Political violence, Sectarian violence, Genocide, Terrorism, Political Purge |
| Deaths | several thousands of civilians killed (numbers varies) |
| Victims | 28,000 children abducted 50,000 civilians displaced |
| Perpetrators | EAM-ELAS, Communist Party of Greece, and Provisional Democratic Government |
| Motive | Enforcing Communist Ideals, Anti-Fascism, Anti-Monarchism, Party Purge within KKE, Racism |
Red Terror (Greek: Ερυθρά or Κόκκινη Τρομοκρατία) is a term used by some historians to describe incidents of violence against civilians that were considered "traitors" by EAM (which was directed mainly by the KKE), because these civilians allegedly collaborated with groups (occupying forces, militia groups such as EDES, royalists etc) that wanted Greece to be under the political, economic and military influence of other foreign forces; either of Axis powers, from 1943 to 1944 or under British influence, from 1943 to 1949 and during the Greek Civil War. In the countryside, operations were conducted by the ELAS; in cities, by the Organization for the Protection of the People's Struggle (OPLA).
The discourse about "red terrorism" was first formulated during the German Occupation as part of the anti-EAM propaganda of the occupying forces and their Greek collaborators. Later it was adopted by a British commission which mediated between EAM-ELAS and the Greek authorities soon after the end of German occupation. After the Greek Civil War it became a key interpretive scheme in the right-wing historiography.