Soviet Union Submits “Greek Question” to UN Security Council

Partisan units, set up mainly by Communists, were active in Greece during the German occupation. In 1944, guerrilla forces and British troops liberated Greece, a right-wing national government gained political power, and the British maintained a military presence.

Greece was the only country in the Balkans not to fall under Soviet influence.

On 21 January 1946, Andrey Vyshinsky, the Soviet representative to the United Nations, said: “The presence of British forces after the end of the war constitutes an intervention in the internal affairs of Greece”. Vyshinsky accused the Allies in the anti-Hitler coalition “of supporting the policy of terror carried out in Greece by the fascist clique”.

The British representative, for his part, accused the USSR of raising the "Greek Question" only to divert the UN from reviewing the situation in Romania, Bulgaria, and Poland. The United States supported the British position that the presence of British troops in Greece did not pose a threat to peace and security.

However, despite the gravity of the situation, on 1 February the UN Security Council withdrew the "Greek Question" from its agenda by a majority vote. 

By early 1946, the Greek population was split into two irreconcilable ideological camps, and they were well-armed. In March, Greece would hold elections: the right-wingers would win, and the Communists would not recognise the outcome of the vote. In summer, the right-wing government would unleash terror against the leftists, in autumn the Greek Communists would create a regular guerrilla army, and by the end of 1946, the sides would move to full-scale hostilities.

30,000 people would die over the three years of civil war, and 685,000 people would become refugees. The government would win, the reactionary tendencies in power would increase, and with them the terror against political opponents. In 1967, as a result of a military coup, the Regime of the Colonels would come to power in Athens.

In 1974, the Greek junta would attempt to annex the island republic of Cyprus to Greece. The legitimate president and government of the republic would be ousted, and their place would be taken by nationalists with a military background, supporters of ethnic cleansing of the Turkish minority and the annexation of Cyprus to Greece. In response, Turkey would send its troops to Cyprus and declare the establishment of the Republic of Northern Cyprus. Repeated attempts to resolve the Cyprus issue legally, politically, and socially have been unsuccessful to this day.

 

Source: 

“The United Nations and the 'Greek Question' (1946-1950)” article, by Yulia Zapariy