In 1941, Greece had a right wing government and a King but an alliance with Britain. Thus they were invaded by Germany, quickly conquered and the King fled. Most opposition to the Germans was communist. When the Germans decided to pull out the Royal government came back and had a big fight not with fascists but with communists. what an embarrassing mess but leave it to then Greek junta to invoke Athena and make everything smell peachy. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.
I really admire the confidence of the then Greek government in invoking ancient Athena in recognizing Greece’s war experience. The ancient warrior Queen rising up to rid Greece of Italians, Germans, Bulgarians, fascists, communist, and whoever else passed through. Well all of the above were there and then they weren’t, so why not give the credit to Athena. What a miracle!
Todays stamp is issue A275, a 4 Drachma stamp issued by the Kingdom of Greece on October 12th, 1969. It was a three stamp issue celebrating the 25th anniversary of the liberation of Greece from the Germans, Italians, and Bulgarians. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents used.
Greece had intended neutrality in World War II. The government was right wing with ties to Germany but the King was an Anglophile. When Italy annexed Albania in 1939 and threatened Greece, Britain offered to guarantee Greek borders. Italy was quickly beaten back but then the Germans invaded and little resistance was offered. The King was evacuated to Crete and then Egypt and formed a government in exile. Resistance to the Germans was almost entirely communist that had little contact with the government in exile.
When the Germans decided to withdraw intact from Greece in 1944 it got very interesting. The king appointed a national unity government under center left politician Geogios Papandreou. When they arrived with British help they found what an obstacle the Communists partisans were. German puppet Greek Prime Minister Ioannis Rallis had formed Greek units to fight the partisans and it was these units that stood up beside the British to fight the Communists. Unlike under the German occupation, there were street battles in Athens. Even during this fighting, Papandreou resigned from the new government because of the involvement of the fascists and Rallis was put in jail for collaborating with the fascists. A mess and Greece was plagued by civil war for years afterward. Britain had to fight against unexpected foes to retain influence in Greece.
Rallis despite his collaboration was a fairly conventional center right politician. His father was Prime Minister in an earlier time ant though Rallis died in jail his son became another center right Prime Minister in the 1980s. I mentioned the Papandreou resigned when things got tough in 1944. That does not mean he did not have several more terms as Prime Minister. In 1967 there was a coup in Greece lead by right wing Coronels of the Army. Papandreou was opposed to this and placed under house arrest. He soon died in a similar captivity to Rallis. His grandson in the 2000s was also a center left Prime Minister.
Well my drink is empty and I am sure my British readers most have all would have wished Greek neutrality had been honored. That might have still left them to Stalin in 1945, but I bet they would have been a big pain in his neck either way. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.