Why didn't Greece become a part of the Eastern Bloc? (Short Animated Documentary)

After World War 2 most countries in East and South Europe were run by Communist governments. Greece, despite having a large, well-armed Communist resistance and being geographically important managed to stay free from Communist Influence. So how did it do this? How did Greece avoid becoming a part of the Eastern Bloc?

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[StelBoy]

Because James Bissonette made a very large donation to the Greek government to ensure that Greece would not become part of the Eastern Bloc.

[strtsak]

Something that wasn't covered in the video, the civil war that Greece entered after deoccupation was not a certainty. Initially, the communist party that controlled the most part of Greek resistance was split between disarming to participate in the civilian administration with the national government returning from exile, or maintaining its weapons. Political disputes then lead to armed classes between government and communist forces in Athens, which convinced both sides that good faith cooperation was impossible, thus leading to a civil war.

[botatobias]

Romania, with the smallest Communist Party in Europe - less than 1000, mostly minorities - ended up in the Eastern Bloc but not Greece, with a Communist Party big enough to foment a civil war and sustain it for years. Geography's a bitch.

[octapusxft]

As a Greek, I would like to point out that the civil war that ensued between the communists and the anti communists was a really nasty affair that split families and neighborhoods over differences in allegiance. Both sides committed their share of atrocities to each other. Both sides were so eager to fight each other, that they started to fight even during the German occupation
Even now they avoid teaching anything about it in schools because many people consider it a very recent and sore point.
It also became one of the main sources of the "irredentism of the Left" in Greece ( I mean that belief that that the "left" has some moral high ground vs the "right" and that Greece missed out a socialist utopia).

[low-phas]

Here in central Hungary there is a Greek village called Beloiannisz. It was founded in 1950 by fleeing Greek communists who were given refuge by the communist Hungarian government at the time. It was named after their leader Nikos Beloiannis.
While many either moved back to Greece, emigrated to the West or assimilated, to this day Greeks compose the majority of this one thousand strong colorful community with a Greek mayor.
(Also, they are probably no longer communists.)

[szbszig]

'However, there was one problem with this plan.'
'It was insane.'
😂

[justtheilluminativ]

Good video ideas:
- Why didn’t Thailand fall to communism like the rest of its neighbors?
- Why didn’t the Soviet Union annex Poland after WWII?
- Why is Timor divided?

[tomodonoghue_]

I love how this channel answers questions I never thought to ask but am very interested in knowing the answers to.

[slyasleep]

This was covered just a few weeks ago on the WWII in real time channel. Britain was so determined on this issue that it even gave the Nazis a free pass to evacuate all their troops from the Greek islands to the mainland in the hope that they would prove a bulwark against the advancing Red Army. So Stalin‘s paranoia wasn‘t even that unjustified, at least in this particular regard.

[MichalisG]

There’s a point that wasn’t addressed in this video: When the Tito-Stalin split happened, the KKE (Communist Party or Greece) sided with Stalin rather than Tito. This is significant because Tito was the one who was largely running guns and supplies to Communist forces, while Stalin largely refrained from this. While this certainly wasn’t the deciding factor - the Government Army already had access to more manpower and equipment - it is absolutely what sealed the fate of the Civil War.

[Sev_Edts]

it’s crazy how many questions can be answered with “because of Britain”

[dylanbecerra]

I’ll never get tired of the little character running away while getting shot at animation lol
I love this channel. 🎉

[ShengYu]

I thought one of the reasons for the Tito-Stalin split was because Tito provided support to the Greek communists which Stalin did not like. Because it violated the percentages agreement he had with Churchill and Yugoslavia providing aid to Greek Communists would be seen by UK as USSR instructed them to do so even though it is Tito all on his own

[SomebodywithaYouTubeaccount]

Really wonderful video! Some thoughts I’d like to share:
1. 0:17 Really nice transition from Greece to the year! I think you should have that for every video from now on (if it isn’t too much work)
2. 0:39 Seamless long use of the map is perfect! Very easy to follow and helps for comprehension
3. 0:50 You’re forgetting that it wasn’t just insane for the Allies to invade the Balkans, but to even invade Italy to begin with. The Axis fully expected an invasion once the North African theater was lost, so the British had to use Operation Mincemeat to divert their attention to Greece (incidentally enough) to pull it off (which at first went smoothly, given how unprepared and reliably ineffective the Italian army was)

[Brian-----]

The Red Army also invaded Romania and Hungary with overwhelming force, Romania switched sides, and Bulgaria as an Axis power could be intimidated. Yugoslavia liberated itself and Greece was a military detour for the Red Army, whose goal was Berlin. Even the Soviet Union had to prioritize, and did not have the spare strength to be strong everywhere at once.

[ftroop]

Politics can be immensely complicated, and extremely simple, all at the same time

[angelb.]

There is a lot of debate and controversy regarding this issue. Thanks for pointing out key factors that defined Greece's membership on the Western camp.

[ArthurCSchaperMR]

Please do a video on the following subjects:

1. Why did the Revolution of 1848 fail in Spain and in the German states?
2. Why do people drive on different sides of the road in different countries?

[adelkheir]

Also it's important to note that Stalin and Tito were at odds in Greece. Tito was openly supporting the communists in the civil war but Stalin outright threatened Tito over Greece since he knew that the west always considered (until the 1970s) that the communist bloc was a unified entity directed by Moscow which meant that to the west Tito supporting the Greek communists meant that Stalin was supporting the Greek communist and thus he understood that supporting a communist Greece would really push the west into a frenzy against the Soviets.

[angelb.]

One thing that is taught for the Greek communist resistance fighters, in both polarizing camps in Greece, was the fact that betrayal was not only sealed from within Moscow, but also within the communist insurgent Greece during the Greek Civil War. There was a conflict even between the communist leaders of Greece, including Nikos Zachariadis (the General Secretary of KKE/Communist Party of Greece), and Aris Velouchiotis (the field commander of ELAS/the Greek People's Liberation Party/ one of the main military arms of the KKE), primarly for the question of leadership after the demobilization of ELAS following the Varkiza Agreement.