Ethnikos Laikos Apeleftherotikos Stratos

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Ethnikos Laikos Apeleftherotikos Stratos (ELAS) (Greek Εθνικός Λαϊκός Απελευθερωτικός Στρατός (ΕΛΑΣ) "National Popular Liberation Army") was the military arm of the communist Ethniko Apeleftherotiko Metopo (EAM) (Εθνικό Απελευθερωτικό Μέτωπο (ΕΑΜ) National Liberation Front) during the period of the Greek Resistance and the Greek Civil War.

Beginnings

ELAS initiated actions against the German and Italian forces of occupation in Greece in 7 June 1942. Aris Velouchiotis with a small group of 10-15 guerillas entered the village Domnista in Evrytania and they proclaimed in front of the surprised villagers that they had set off to "start the war against the forces of Axis and their local collaborators".

Two years later ELAS military strength had grown from the small group of fighters in Domnitsa to more than 50.000 soldiers, almost 50.000 reservists and more than 1.500.000 supporters, being one of the largest resistance groups formed in Europe, similar to the French Maquis and the Yugoslavian Partisans.

Velouchiotis at first was addressed to the traditional "listes" (mountain living bandits, armed against police and state) like Karalivanos, in order to create a small group of experts in guerilla fighting and survival in the harsh mountain conditions. Later, when ELAS (a name that sounds like HELLAS, the name of Greece) grew bigger, was addressing to farmers and village people in a very simple way: an uniformed officer (usually a low-rank officer of the Greek army) visited a villaga, asked for the presence of the village priest an addressing to the people said "ELAS needs you!". People, although they couldn't hear the difference between "ELAS" and "Hellas", could easily understand the difference between the Nazi occupied villages (with all the atrocities and the confiscation of food supplies) and the liberated mountain villages, were life was almost normal and nobody was hungry. So they easily joined ELAS.

Consolidation of strength

Gorgopotamos

The night of September 1942, a small group of British officers fell with parachutes in the mountain og Giona. This group, which has from leader the brigadier Endy Mayers, had as missions the blowing up of the railway Germany-Athens, and the co-ordination of the guerilla's groups. The British must blow up one of the three bridges (Gorgopotamos, Papadia, Asopos), from where the railway passes and finally it is chosen this of Gorgopotamos. But from the success of the two missions, it is important to find the guerillas. The soldier of ELAS, Dimos Karalivanos it's the first guerilla they found. At the end of October a second group of British officials fell to the Greek mountains. Leaders were Themis Marinos and the colonel Chris Woodhouse. Their mission is to find the guerillas of EDES and their leader Napoleon Zervas which is more friendly to British Headquarters of Middle-East. The challenge of the mission was a surprise for the two guerilla's groups, EDES and ELAS, but, finally the two groups accept to collaborate from the success of the mission. British don't prefer the participation of ELAS, because there was a communist group. But, the forces of ELAS, were larger and more organised. If they didn't participate, the mission would certainly be unsuccessful. At November 14, 12 British, the forces of ELAS (150 men) and the forces of EDES (60-65 men) met in the village Viniani of Evrytania and the operation started. Ten days later, the forces were at Gorgopotamos. The night of November 25, at eleven o' clock, the guerillas started the attack against the Italian guards to the bridge. The Italians were startled, and after a little resistance , they heve been defeated. After the defeat of the Italians, the saboteurs put the explosive material. Forces of ELAS have put ambushes towards the bridge, to not come other Italians. The explosion became at 3.00 o' clock. After that, the guerilla's forces returned to Viniani, to celebrate the success of the mission. The blowing up of the bridge of Gorgopotamos was, with the sabotage in the tank of heavy water in Rzoukan of North Norvege, the two biggest guerilla's acts in the occupied Europe. The blowing up of the bridge became the time that the German forces in North Africa, in their retreat after the defeat of El-Alamein, have absolute necessity of the provisions, which came from the Balkans.

From 1942 to 1943: the turning point.

The blowing up of the bridge favoured ELAS. Soon lots of the inhabitants of the villages of Roumeli became members of ELAS. Furthermore, people sympathised the ELAS guerillas because they weren't helped by the British in contrast with EDES. When 25 guerillas deserted from ELAS, Aris Velouchiotis went to Epirus to threaten Napoleon Zervas not to have contact with ELAS. Later, the 25 deserters were arrested and executed in the village of Sperhiada. The winter of 1942, ELAS groups were formed in other Greek regions, like Thessaly and Macedonia. In Roumeli, Aris Velouchiotis succeeded to form a powerful group which could attack German and Italian forces. Aris became a legendary figure who imposed an iron discipline in ELAS. At the same time, some members of ELAS (Periklis, Tasos Leuterias, Diamantis, Nikiforos, Thiseas, Dimos Karalivanos, Belis) have been discerned during the battles. Aris Velouchiotis formed a group of 30-35 men, "Mavroscoufides"(those who wear black berets), who were his own guards. The winter of 1942-1943 in lot of regions of Greece new units of ELAS were composed. Soon ELAS had lot of soldiers and started to liberate lot of villages in Greece. In the mountains of Roumeli started to exist the "free Greece", some regions where there weren't forces of Axis.

The same period the leadership of KKE told Aris to come in Athens to speak from the future of ELAS. In fact this was a plan to isolate ELAS from his captain, because the leaders of KKE this period didn't feel with Aris, because Aris in the past, due to lot of tortures in the prison, he had recanted KKE. KKE wanted to put in the leadership of ELAS the communist general Stephanos Sarafis, but this didn't happen. Finally the leadeship of ELAS had this form: leader (captain) of ELAS was Aris Velouchiotis, military leader was Stephanos Sarafis and political leader was Andreas Tzimas (Vasilis Samariniotis).

This period two events of great importance became. KKE after passing great difficulties, succeded in reorganize its unions which were destroyed by the dictatorship of Metaxas. Lot of members were recruited and with the help of ELAS, which became the greatest partisan army in Greece, KKE became the greatest political organization in Greece with almost 100.000 members and supporters. Until the liberation in 1944, ELAS had 100.000 soldiers and over a million supporters and EAM almost 3.000.000 members and supporters . The second great event was the foundation of United Pan-hellenical Organization of Youth/ EPON-( Greek Ενιαία Παννελαδική Οργάνωση Νέων).

The "Mountain Government"

In 10 March 1944 the EAM-ELAS, now in control of most of the country, established the Political Committee of National Liberation (Politiki Epitropi Ethnikis Apelevtherosis, or PEEA), widely known as the "Mountain Government" (Greek “Η κυβέρνηση του βουνού”), in effect a third Greek government to rival the collaborationist one in Athens and the exiled one in Cairo. Its aims were, "to intensify the struggle against the conquerors... for full national liberation, for the consolidation of the independence and integrity of our country... and for the annihilation of domestic Fascism and armed traitor formations."

PEEA's authority was significantly reinforced after the support, given by the National Congress, Ethniko Symvoulio. The National Congress was an assembly elected with the secret elections held by the PEEA in late April 1944 in free Greece and in cities of occupied Greece, mainly Athens. Approximately 1 million people took part in the elections electing its representatives for the Ethniko Symvoulio that first converged in Koryschades a mountain village of Evrytania from 14-27 May 1944. Its main act was voting a resolution, an extract of which is quoted:

"General clauses The National Congress, composed of representatives of the whole of Greek people, who converged to declare its inexpugnable will to fight to the bitter end for the liberation of the country, the smashup of Fascism and the restoration of its national unity and popular sovereignty, willing to determine the way all authorities are exercised in free Greece, Votes:

Article 1: It ratifies the establishing PEEA act of March 10, 1944.

Article 2: All powers spring from the people and are exercised by the people. Self-administration and popular judicature are fundamental institutions of Greeks’ public life.

Article 3: The National Council is the supper instrument of popular sovereignty. The PEEA possesses all powers determined in this decree.

Article 4: People’s liberties are holy and inviolable. The struggling nation will protect them from any threat no matter where they are coming from.

Article 5: All Greeks, men and women, have equal political and civil rights.

Article 6: Employment is a fundamental social function and generates rights for the enjoyment of life’s goods.

Article 7: People’s language is the formal language for all public life’s manifestations and for all educational grades."

PEEA's first president was Euripides Bakirtzis, the military leader of EKKA. On April 18 Alexandros Svolos, a prominent constructionist in Athens University, took his position and Bakirtzis became vice-president. Not only communist leaders but also many progressive bourgeois, that had nothing to do with communist ideas, participated in the PEEA.

So, ELAS not only resisted German and Italian occupation forces but also re-organised life in the mountainus areas (i.e. the biggest part of Greece) that controlled. The political groups of EAM, with the co-ordination and organization of the PEEA, helped the local people organise schools, hospitalise refugees from the big cities and protect the crops from the German looting. Amateur actors and musicians created travelling theaters and bands, something that most rural communities had never seen or heard before. Another achievement of ELAS (due partially to the progressive ideas and partially to the lack of men) was to promote women liberties. Young girls, who till then were closed at home or working at the fields, had the opportunity to education and exress their own opinions. There were also improvised telecommunications either by telephone lines or by messengers and there were systems of re-distribution of food-resources, so that no village wound starve.

Antagonism with other resistance groups

After the German attack against the Soviet Union and while Greece was under occupation, the Greek Communists together with other parts of the Left formed a resistance group called the National People's Liberation Army (in Greek the Ethnikos Laikos Apeleftherotikos Stratos or ELAS). They were joined by other, center-left or non-politicised Greek resistance fighters and by 1944 they controlled three-fifths of the country. As the outcome of the war was becoming inevitable, ELAS and other non-communist resistance groups, including the republican Greek National Democratic Union or (EDES), fought increasingly bitter battles against each other to secure post-war dominance. In a rare instance, ELAS and EDES-EOEA joined forces on November 25, 1942, and blew up the Gorgopotamos bridge in Phokis. This action disrupted the German transportation of ammunition via Greece to Rommel.

Transformation to Democratic Army and the Civil War

At the end of the war, fighting broke out between ELAS and the Greek government. ELAS forces were backed by Greece's communist neighbors, whereas the Greek government was backed by the British army. Following a cease fire agreement known as Varkiza pact, ELAS laid down arms with the idea of a political process. However, alleging percecutions of leftists after the Varkiza accord, ELAS reversed its stance and restarted armed fighting in 1946. The war was extremely violent, with heavy casualties on both sides. The Greek Civil War was to last until 1949, with the defeat of the communists.

List of important ELAS battles

ELAS fighted against the occupation forces in many battles, which include:

The battle of Ryka (40 Italians killed),
The battle of Mikro Horio (70 Italians killed),
The battle of Gorgopotamos,
The battle of Fardycambos.
The battle of Saradaporo (155 Germans killed)
The battle of Porta (many Italians killed)

List of famous ELAS soldiers

Famous soldiers of ELAS were:

Aris Velouchiotis (Thanassis Klaras)
Stefanos Sarafis
Markos Vafiadis
Charilaos Florakis
Kostoulas Agrafiotis (Nikos Kavretzos)
Nikiforos (Dimitrios Dimitriou)
Periklis (Giorgos Houliaras)
Thanos (Fotis Mastrokostas)
Pelopidas (Pandelis Laskos)
Diamantis (Yannis Alexandrou)
Ahilleas (Lambros Koubouras)
Leuteris (Leuteris Tsiliyannis)
Lambros (Spiros Bekios)
Nakos Belis
Dimos Karalivanos
Boukouvalas (Dimitrios Tasos)
Kozakas (Thomas Pallas)
Smolikas (Nikos Xinos)
Tasos Leuterias (Vangelis Papadakis)
Javellas (Yannis Aggeletos)
Ermis (Vasilis Priovolos)
Papa-Holevas
Pater-Anypomonos (Germanos Dimakos)
Gerasimos Augeropoulos
Evripidis Mbakirtzis
Vasilis Samariniotis (Andreas Tzimas)
Ektoras (Theodoros Makridis)
Thomas (Yannis Hatzipanagiotou)
Armatolos (Christos Margaritis)
Kavalaris (Yorgos Zaroyannis)

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