Event Title
Communist Civilian Resistance Movements in Greece and Yugoslavia during World War 2
Location
Diamond 153
Start Date
30-4-2015 10:30 AM
End Date
30-4-2015 11:55 AM
Project Type
Presentation
Description
During World War II, both Greece and Yugoslavia sustained heavy civilian losses during the Italian and Nazi occupations. The Jewish population in Greece was almost entirely eradicated. Despite the horror of their situations, they both had powerful resistance movements headed by prominent Communist leaders, who were supported through dubious and complicated ties with Stalin and the Allies. The civilian insurgence served to unite and divide the different socio-political factions that had existed in both countries (usually split along ethnic lines, as Greece and Yugoslavia had significant communities of diverse ethnic minorities) at different points in the war and at different places in the region. However, after the war, the countries paths diverged; the Greek civil wars ensued in the immediate postwar period and the communists were defeated. Greece was led by the reactionary Royalists. In Yugoslavia, Tito and the communist party led an increasingly totalitarian state, which didn't break up until the Yugoslav wars of the l990s. During my talk, I will examine these two Communist resistance movements in an effort to explain why power was distributed so differently in the two nations after the war.
Faculty Sponsor
Raffael Scheck
Sponsoring Department
Colby College. History Dept.
CLAS Field of Study
Social Sciences
Event Website
http://www.colby.edu/clas
ID
1567
Communist Civilian Resistance Movements in Greece and Yugoslavia during World War 2
Diamond 153
During World War II, both Greece and Yugoslavia sustained heavy civilian losses during the Italian and Nazi occupations. The Jewish population in Greece was almost entirely eradicated. Despite the horror of their situations, they both had powerful resistance movements headed by prominent Communist leaders, who were supported through dubious and complicated ties with Stalin and the Allies. The civilian insurgence served to unite and divide the different socio-political factions that had existed in both countries (usually split along ethnic lines, as Greece and Yugoslavia had significant communities of diverse ethnic minorities) at different points in the war and at different places in the region. However, after the war, the countries paths diverged; the Greek civil wars ensued in the immediate postwar period and the communists were defeated. Greece was led by the reactionary Royalists. In Yugoslavia, Tito and the communist party led an increasingly totalitarian state, which didn't break up until the Yugoslav wars of the l990s. During my talk, I will examine these two Communist resistance movements in an effort to explain why power was distributed so differently in the two nations after the war.
https://digitalcommons.colby.edu/clas/2015/program/328