Red Acropolis, black terror: the Greek Civil War and the origins of Soviet-American rivalry, 1943-1949

Abstract

The first full, nonpartisan history of the Greek Civil War, the brutal guerrilla conflict that launched the Cold War. From 1944 to 1949, tens of thousands of Greek soldiers and guerrillas fought and slaughtered each other and thousands of innocents in a civil war of unrelenting and shocking savagery. In the wake of the Allied liberation of Greece, the fighting transformed into a civil war, pitting Soviet-backed Communists against U.S.- and British-backed government forces. As the first proxy war between the superpowers, the Greek Civil War became the first hot zone of the Cold War.In , historian Andre Gerolymatos recounts the full history of this divisive conflict, exposing old wounds that still fester beneath the surface of contemporary Greek society. He tells the stories of ordinary Greek men, women, and children caught up in turbulent times and by powerful foreign forces.In many ways, the Greek Civil War heralded America's future involvement in Vietnam: Not only did it mark the first time the U.S. used napalm, but it convinced U.S. policymakers that counterinsurgency operations were winnable. unflinchingly presents the personal horrors of this brutal war, while exploring the glo