Varkiza Agreement

agreement concluded on Feb. 12, 1945, in Varkiza, near Athens, by the National Liberation Front of Greece (EAM) and the government of N. Plastiras following the 50-day armed resistance by Greek patriots to the English interventionists and their henchmen in Greece. The agreement provided for the abolition of martial law, amnesty for all political prisoners, the freeing of hostages, and the establishment in the country of trade unions and of freedom of speech, the press, and assembly. The government was obligated to purge the state apparatus of people who had collaborated with the German fascist occupiers, to disarm all armed detachments, and to establish a regular army. The agreement provided for a plebiscite on the country’s governmental system, to be followed by free, general parliamentary elections. On these conditions, the leadership of the EAM agreed to disarm the National Popular Liberation Army of Greece (ELAS). EAM carried out its obligations: ELAS troops were disbanded and their weapons surrendered to government bodies. The government not only failed to fulfill its obligations, it armed new detachments with the weapons surrendered by ELAS units. After the counterfeit “plebiscite” (Sept. 1, 1946), the monarchy was reestablished in the country.