Rebel Governance During the Greek Civil War, 1942–1949

Abstract

I take advantage of political and geographic variation to explore the underlying dynamics of rebel governance during the Greek Civil War. Two key findings emerge from this analysis. First, the political identity of rebel groups appears to have had a clear impact on the form of governance implemented. Communist rebels set up expansive institutions of rule that stressed mass mobilization and were heavily bureaucratized. In contrast, non-communist rebels relied instead on traditional local structures. Whereas communist rebels sought to incorporate local groups and communities into a centralized system, non-communist rebels were content to just collaborate with them. Second, when holding the type of rebel group constant, I find that the temporal and spatial variation in levels of territorial control affected both the depth and character of rebel governance. The more extensive the geographical scope of control exercised by a rebel group, the fuller the expression of its political identity on the institutions of rebel rule. Conversely, limited and tenuous territorial control correlates with more openly coercive practices.