The
Greek People's Liberation Army or
ELAS (), often mistakenly called the
National People's Liberation Army (Εθνικός Λαϊκός Απελευθερωτικός Στρατός,
Ethnikós Laïkós Apeleftherotikós Stratós), was the military arm of the
left-wing National Liberation Front (EAM) during the period of the
Greek Resistance until February 1945.
Birth of ELAS
After
Nazi Germany attacked the
Soviet Union with the initiation of
Operation Barbarossa (June 22, 1941 — with most of Greece having fallen under
Axis occupation since April and the
Battle of Crete having ended on June 1 — the
Greek Communist Party (KKE) was the first communist party to call for national resistance (documented in two letters by
Nikolaos Zachariadis and Central Committee decisions) in 1940. The duty was heavier from the moment that Hitler invaded the USSR. The KKE together with minor parties of the Left formed a political structure called the National Liberation Front. They were joined by other, center-left or non-politicised Greek resistance militants.
ELAS initiated actions against the
German and
Italian forces of occupation in Greece on 7 June 1942.
Aris Velouchiotis with a small group of 10–15
guerrillas entered the village of
Domnista in
Evrytania and proclaimed in front of the surprised villagers that they had set off to "
start the war against the forces of Axis and their local collaborators". Velouchiotis at first was addressing the traditional...
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