| National Republican Greek League Εθνικός Δημοκρατικός Ελληνικός Σύνδεσμος Ethnikós Dimokratikós Ellinikós Sýndesmos | |
|---|---|
 Napoleon Zervas (2nd from left) with fellow EDES officers Fotios Zambaras (1st from left) | |
| Leaders | Napoleon Zervas Komninos Pyromaglou |
| Dates of operation | 1941–1944 |
| Active regions | Epirus Aetolia-Acarnania |
| Ideology | Greek nationalism Republicanism(until1943) Venizelism(until1943) Monarchism (after1943)Anti-communism |
| Size | ca.12,000 (October 1944) |
| Allies | EKKA PAO PEAN EOK MAVI Organization Bouboulina [el] Organization X SOE Greek government in exile |
| Opponents |  Royal Italian Army Kingdom of Bulgaria Collaborationist governmentSecurity Battalions  Këshilla Balli KombëtarEAM/ELAS |
TheNational Republican Greek League (Greek:Εθνικός Δημοκρατικός Ελληνικός Σύνδεσμος (ΕΔΕΣ),Ethnikós Dimokratikós Ellinikós Sýndesmos (EDES)) was a major anti-Naziresistance group formed during theAxis occupation of Greece duringWorld War II.
The largest of the non-communist resistance groups, its military wing, theNational Groups of Greek Guerrillas (Εθνικές Ομάδες Ελλήνων Ανταρτών,Ethnikés Omádes Ellínon Antartón (ΕΟΕΑ)) concentrated its military activities inEpirus. From 1943 onwards, EDES came into confrontation with thecommunist-ledNational Liberation Front, beginning a series of civil conflicts that would lead to theGreek Civil War.
The National Republican Greek League was founded on 9 September 1941 by a former army officer, ColonelNapoleon Zervas, aVenizelist who had been expelled from the army after the failedcoup d'état of 1935, and two companions, Leonidas Spais and Ilias Stamatopoulos.[1]
Like many other resistance movements founded during that time, the political orientation of the National Republican Greek League was Republican, with a strongly stated opposition towards the exiled king,George II, and general leftist-socialist proclamations. In the aftermath of the four-year right-wing widely rejected in the country, while social ideals for "social fairness" became the vogue among the various resistance groups.[citation needed]
The founding charter of EDES explicitly demanded the "establishment in Greece of a Republican regime, of Socialist form", the "revelation [...] of the treason of former King George II and the gang of the so-called4th of August Dictatorship", calling for a thorough cleansing of the state and Greek social and public life from anyone "who has not proven through actions [to be] a National Republican [and have a] socialist conscience". The charter acknowledged the prominent exiledVenizelist generalNikolaos Plastiras as its nominal political head, although, due to his exile in France, they'd failed to obtain his consent beforehand.[1] At that time, yet, no explicit reference to armed opposition against the occupying forces was made in the text.[1]
On the same day,Komninos Pyromaglou, a friend and assistant of Plastiras, leftNice, where Plastiras resided, for Greece. He was authorize by the general to form, on his behalf, a republican organization with socialist content", and prepare to turn both "against the Occupier" and against a return of the monarchy.[2] After his arrival in Athens on 23 September, Pyromaglou came into contact with Republican circles, and after contacting Zervas took EDES' command. In October, a five-member Executive Committee was founded, with Pyromaglou as General Secretary, representing Plastiras, and Zervas as a member.[3]
As the organization grew, it succeeded in establishing links with the British Headquarters inCairo, and receiving funds, weapons, and guidance. Under British pressure, in support of the Greek monarchy, Zervas sent a statement of loyalty to King George II in March 1942.[4] This marked a silent breach with the anti-monarchist attacks of the past months, and marked EDES's turn towards a pro-monarchist stance.
The organization supportedirredentism, arguing that Greece should be allowed to annex parts of Albania and Bulgaria after the war.[5] In 1944 and 1945, following the retreat of Axis forces and their evacuation of Greece, EDES participated in theexpulsion of the Cham Albanians community, on account of theircollaborationist actions during the Occupation, which included atrocities and acts ofethnic cleansing against the local population.[6]: 469–471 [7][8] The expulsion was approved by the Middle East Allied Command, in a directive to "push [the Chams] out of Greece and into Albania."[9]: 218 ThePeople's Republic of Albania subsequently accused Greece of having perpetrated, through EDES,war crimes by attacking Cham villages and murdering civilians.[10] The issue of the Cham minority remains open from the Albanian side, after the communist regime fell.
Like most similar groups, EDES was initially limited to Athens. Having the support of many prominent Venizelist and Republican military figures, EDES came into contact withEAM and tried to establish some form of cooperation. The negotiations failed over the demands of the Communists for a merger of EDES with EAM and their distrust of Zervas' pro-British attitudes.[11]
On 23 July 1942, after intense British pressure and more than a month after the official appearance of the military wing of EAM, theGreek People's Liberation Army (ELAS), Zervas, accompanied by Pyromaglou and a handful of companions, set out for theValtos Mountains inAetolia-Acarnania, an area with long traditions ofguerrilla warfare stretching back to theOttoman period.[12] From then and until the end of the Occupation,Epirus would be the primary area of operations of the EDESandartes.
Supported by British parachute drops, EDES quickly gathered some 100 fighters. The first major operation of EDES was "Operation Harling", the destruction of theGorgopotamos viaduct by a joint force of BritishSOE commandos, and EDES and ELAS forces. While the successful operation, one of the greatestsabotage acts in occupied Europe, greatly boosted the prestige of the nascent Resistance, it also caused a significant rift between EDES and ELAS: the British loudly proclaimed and lauded Zervas' role in the operation, while ignoring the contribution – numerically far greater – of the leftist ELAS forces.[13] While the rift was healed by British mediation, it presaged the problems that would appear in the future.
On 24 February 1943, Zervas addressed his friend Antonis Petsakis in a letter, urging him to create a branch of EDES inPeloponnese, before ELAS establishes full control of the region. A branch of the National Groups of Greek Guerrillas (ΕΟΕΑ) was then founded inPatras and by the summer of 1943 a small armed guerilla group was formed by E. Sevastakis. The Peloponnesean branch of EDES struggled with finding weapons and ammunition, prompting Zervas to request for a British airdrop of supplies inAchaea. The airdrop did not materialize and Sevastakis' group disbanded in late July, numbering some 70 men at the time.[14]
1942
1943
1944
Following large scale clashes between ELAS and EDES in October 1943, Zervas entered into contact with the Germans and began discussing the possibility of collaboration against ELAS. In February 1944, Zervas andXXII Mountain Corps commanderHubert Lanz reached a "gentlemen's agreement". Under its terms the two sides were to enter a truce, exchange limited information on ELAS prior to each side's military operations against the communists and enter full on collaboration in case EDES found itself on the brink of collapse. According to1st Mountain Division officer Karl Heinz Rotfuchs, the agreement remained a secret from the absolute majority of EDES members. It was also kept secret from the British, so that EDES would continue to receive material support from the former. Upon their departure from Epirus, the Germans ensured that leftover materiel would reach the hands of EDES rather than ELAS.[16]
The left wingGreek People's Liberation Army on various occasions accused its rival organizations, and particularly EDES, of collaboration with the occupying Nazi forces.[17][18][19] During the armed conflicts between ELAS and EDES inAthens, a propaganda war was launched with ELAS accusing EDES of collaboration, mainly due to gaining plausibility from the explicit exemption of EDES from German propaganda attacks.[19][20]
On the other hand,Stylianos Gonatas, initially a political leader of EDES in Athens, won the peculiar enmity of the organization because he supported the collaborationistSecurity Battalions and encouraged young officers to join their ranks, which led to hostility of the EAM groups towards him.[21][22] The12th Army of Nazi Germany attempted for a short time to coopt the EDES forces, and to use them against theELAS, but this attempt failed and in July 1944 the EDES launched new attacks.[23][24]
In August 1944, members of collaborationist organizations such as theEEE andSecurity Battalions began enlisting into Organization X and EDES en-masse in order to avoid persecution as liberation seemed imminent.[25]
These internal conflicts caused rivalry between resistance groups and eventually escalated into civil war. In October 1943,ELAS launched an attack on EDES. These attacks triggered a civil war that would last until February 1944. After that, a fragile truce was established, which lasted until December, two months after the Liberation. Then, while the ELAS of Athens attempted to overthrow the government, other units stormed the EDES positions inEpirus. The latter was defeated and the remaining forces were evacuated to Corfu. After the defeat of the ELAS in Athens (January 1945), EDES forces returned to Epirus, where part of them got involved to the expulsion of theCham Albanians.
A short-lived attempt to coopt EDES forces, and use them against ELAS partisans, also failed, and by July 1944, EDES was attacking the Germans again.
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