On the question of whether the Decembers should have been held, all their sober commentators – of every political shade – clearly state that it was a big mistake. A mistake they attribute to the leadership of the KKE. The theory that the British caused them to win over Greece by crushing the left is – to put it mildly – stupid. The conversation between Churchill and Stalin, in Moscow, on October 9, 1944, has been quoted by the former in his memoirs and has never been disputed by the Soviet side.
OF ELIAS DALOUMI
It is worth seeing:"...At 10 o'clock that night we had our first important meeting in the Kremlin. It was just Stalin, Molotov, Eden and me. Major Beers and Pavlov act as interpreters. The moment was right for serious work. So I said:
– Let's clarify our affairs in the Balkans. Our armies are in Romania and Bulgaria. We have interests, missions and agents there. Let's not get involved over small issues. As for the UK and Russia, how would you feel about having 90% of the influence in Romania and us having 90% of the control in Greece and splitting it in half in Yugoslavia?
While these were translated, I wrote on half a sheet of paper:
ROMANIA:Russia 90% – The other 10%
GREECE:Great Britain (in agreement with USA) 90% – Russia 10%
YUGOSLAVIA:50% – 50%
HUNGARY:50% – 50%
BULGARIA:Russia 75% – The other 25%
I pushed the sheet of paper towards Stalin, who had already heard the translation. There was a short silence. And then he took out his blue pencil, marked his approval, and handed it back to me. Everything was arranged... There was a long silence. The sheet of paper with the pencil note was in the middle of the table.
Then I said:
– Would it seem cynical if it were revealed that we had settled these matters, so fatal to millions of people, in such a cursory manner?
– No, keep it, Stalin said.
Therefore Great Britain had got what it wanted and had no reason to "pull the rope". On the other hand, Stalin - as everything shows - fully respected his agreements. The issue is whether the KKE had been instructed not to proceed. We assume that there were "suggestions" from second-rate officials with whom - and only - the leadership of the KKE was able to communicate. So why did the KKE defy them and proceed to the December elections?
Here only speculations can be made.
The KKE was a Marxist-Leninist party that believed in revolution. He believed – not unfoundedly – that he had the power to dominate Greece. So why let such an opportunity go to waste? And Stalin had made his agreements. But would he have the strength to refuse a socialist Greece? Indeed, after a revolution reminiscent of the October Revolution? Unfortunately they were wrong. Why is it possible that the leadership of the KKE knew "inside and out" the buzzwords of Marx and Lenin, but was ignorant of everything about geopolitics...
And not only! She didn't see what was happening around her! No one "noticed" what happened in Bulgaria. The Soviets conquered it without firing a shot. However, they stopped at the Greek-Bulgarian border and did not step on even a millimeter of Greek territory. Which they could have done without any problem. What would be the result? But - at least - eastern Macedonia and Thrace were under Soviet occupation. And then...
What is left of the Decembers? Nothing at all! The chilling executions by OPLA (Organization for the Protection of the People's Struggle), the dead hostages of the EAM, the prisoners in the "wires" of Egypt, the "purification" of the men of the Security Battalions and everything that happened, are today nothing more than a bad memory for those who lived through them. A bad dream that everyone wants to exorcise.
Some wanted to celebrate the "Battle of Makrygianni". This was also one of the mistakes made afterwards. If we look calmly we will see that the "Battle of Makrygiannis" had no impact on the outcome of the Decembrians. On the contrary, the 3rd EOT was the one that fought and decisively contributed to the end of the Decembers. But no one remembers her...