1941?1944 client state of the Axis Powers
The
Hellenic State
(
Greek
:
Ελληνικ? Πολιτε?α
,
romanized
:
Elliniki Politeia
, also translated as
Greek State
[2]
) was the
collaborationist
government of
Greece
during the
country's occupation
by the
Axis powers
in the
Second World War
.
History
[
edit
]
Establishment
[
edit
]
Georgios Tsolakoglou
with
Wehrmacht
officers arrives at Macedonia Hall of
Anatolia College
in Thessaloniki, to sign the surrender (April 1941)
After the
fall of Greece
, the puppet government of General
Georgios Tsolakoglou
was appointed Prime minister of the new Greek government on April 30, 1941. His main qualification for the position was that he surrendered to the Wehrmacht the week before 20 April 1941, against the express orders of his commanding officer
Alexandros Papagos
.
[3]
As
King George II
with the legitimate
Greek government-in-exile
were stationed in Crete, the new regime avoided all reference to the
Greek monarchy
and used
Hellenic State
as the country's official, generic, name. The collaborationist regime lacked a precise political definition, although Tsolakoglou, a
republican
officer, considered the Axis occupation as an opportunity to abolish the monarchy, and announced its end upon taking office.
[4]
The existence of a native Greek government was considered necessary by the Axis powers, in order to give some appearance of legitimacy to their occupation, although it was never given more than an ancillary role. The country's infrastructure had been ruined by the war. Raw materials and foodstuffs were requisitioned, and the government was forced to pay the cost of the occupation, giving rise to inflation, further exacerbated by a "war loan" Greece was forced to grant to Nazi Germany. Requisitions, together with the Allied
blockade
of Greece, resulted in the
Great Famine
(Greek: Μεγ?λο? Λιμ??) during the winter of 1941?42, which caused the deaths of an estimated 300,000 people.
Government and politics
[
edit
]
The regime was first led by
Georgios Tsolakoglou
, the general who signed the unconditional surrender of the Hellenic Army to the Germans. However, he was sacked a year later and replaced by
Konstantinos Logothetopoulos
, who himself was sacked in 1943. The last prime minister of the Hellenic State was
Ioannis Rallis
, who led the collaborationist regime until its dissolution in 1944.
Georgios Bakos
, a
Greek Army
major general
, served as the minister of national defense, a position which Rallis had previously held in the regime. The Hellenic State was widely viewed as a
puppet government
and was unpopular with the Greek people.
Administrative divisions
[
edit
]
Administratively, the Hellenic State was divided into a number of prefectures.
Map showing the prefectures of Greece and the Bulgarian annexation of Eastern Macedonia and Western Thrace
Temporary ID issued in occupied Athens by the Hellenic State, 1942.
Decline and fall
[
edit
]
The
Hellenic State
lacked the infrastructure and latitude for action to face the great difficulties of the Occupation period; it was also devoid of any political legitimacy, and was widely considered a puppet government. Tsolakoglou demanded greater political rights for his government, and soon threatened to resign.
[4]
The proclamation of a mandatory work service in Germany for Greek citizens proved widely unpopular and hastened the fall of Tsolakoglou; on 17 November 1942, he was sacked and replaced by his deputy,
Konstantinos Logothetopoulos
. The new government announced that 80,000 Greek citizens were to be sent to Germany. This led to widespread demonstrations and strikes, and the decision was eventually revoked.
[
citation needed
]
Logothetopoulos, who had protested against the measures taken by the Axis occupation authorities, was himself sacked on 6 April 1943. Against the wishes of the Italians, who favored Finance Minister
Sotirios Gotzamanis
, he was replaced by
Ioannis Rallis
, a monarchist politician. Rallis, who was looking beyond the German withdrawal from Greece to the restoration of the post-war political order, and who was alarmed by the growth of the mostly
Communist
-dominated
Greek resistance
, obtained German consent for the creation of the
Security Battalions
, armed formations that were used in anti-partisan offensives.
Military
[
edit
]
The collaborationist regime under Rallis set up
Security Battalions
, units of soldiers that aided the
German Army
in fighting the resistance. They are known for committing atrocities against the civilian population. An officer named
Georgios Bakos
served as the minister of national defense.
Exile and trial
[
edit
]
In September 1944, a new collaborationist government was established at
Vienna
, formed by former collaborationist ministers. It was headed by
Ektor Tsironikos
. It ceased to exist after the withdrawal of German forces and the
liberation of the country
in October 1944. Tsolakoglou, Rallis and Logothetopoulos (in Germany, where he had escaped to) were all arrested, along with hundreds of other collaborationists. The restored government set up the Trials of Collaborationists (I Diki ton Dosilogon) to judge collaborators.
[5]
During 1945, Tsironikos was tried and sentenced to death. On 10 May 1945, he was arrested in Vienna by
Allied
forces and sent to Greece, where he was imprisoned.
[6]
[7]
[8]
The government did not fulfil its promise to make major efforts to punish collaborators; this contributed to the escalation of political enmities in Greece, which in turn played a part in the outbreak of the
Greek civil war
.
[9]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Hubert de Vries (2017).
"HELLAS"
.
heraldica civica et militara De Rode Leeuw een site over heraldiek en verwante onderwerpen Hubert de Vries
. Archived from
the original
on 2023-06-29
. Retrieved
2023-10-13
.
- ^
Durand, Yves (1990).
Le Nouvel ordre europeen nazi: la collaboration dans l'Europe allemande (1938?1945)
(in French). Editions Complexe.
ISBN
978-2-87027-358-6
.
- ^
Bitunjac, Martina; Schoeps, Julius H., eds. (2021).
Complicated complicity: European collaboration with Nazi Germany during World War II
. Berlin: De Gruyter Oldenbourg. p. 215.
ISBN
978-3-11-067108-7
.
- ^
a
b
Bernhard R. Kroener,
Germany and the Second World War Volume V/II
, Oxford University Press, 2003, p. 44
- ^
Markos Vallianatos, The untold history of Greek collaboration with Nazi Germany (1941?1944)
- ^
Οι Τσιρον?κο? και Ταβουλ?ρη? συνελ?φθησαν
, Εφημερ?δα ≪Ελευθερ?α≫, Παρασκευ? 11 Μα?ου 1945, σελ?δα 2.
- ^
Ο Τσιρον?κο? παρεδ?θη χθε? ει? τα? Ελληνικ?? Αρχ??
, Εφημερ?δα ≪Εμπρ??≫, Τρ?τη 27 Αυγο?στου 1946, σελ?δα 5.
- ^
Ο Ε.Τσιρον?κο? υπ?βαλε α?τηση χ?ριτο?
, Εφημερ?δα ≪Εμπρ??≫, Τρ?τη 27 Αυγο?στου 1946, σελ?δα 5.
- ^
Charles R. Schrader,
The withered vine: logistics and the communist insurgency in Greece, 1945?1949
, Greenwood Press, 1999, p. 38
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