Parliamentary elections were held in

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

on 31 March 1946. Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p830 The result was a victory for the

United Alignment of Nationalists The United Alignment of Nationalists ( el, Ηνωμένη Παράταξις Εθνικοφρόνων) was a right-wing political alliance in Greece formed to contest the 1946 elections. It consisted of the People's Party, the National Liberal ...

, an alliance that included the People's Party, the National Liberal Party, and the Reform Party, which won 206 of the 354 seats in Parliament.Nohlen & Stöver, p859 As a result Konstantinos Tsaldaris became Prime Minister leading a right-wing coalition. Nonetheless, he soon decided to resign in favor of

Themistoklis Sophoulis Themistoklis Sofoulis or Sophoulis (; 24 November 1860 – 24 June 1949) was a prominent centrist and liberal Greek politician from Samos Island, who served three times as Prime Minister of Greece, with the Liberal Party, which he led for many y ...

, who led a government of national unity (conservative and centre-liberal forces) during the entire second phase of the

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

(1946–1949). One of the priorities of the new government was the proclamation of a

plebiscite A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of ...

for the restoration of the Greek monarchy. The elections were marked by the boycott of the Communist Party of Greece claiming in protest against the unfolding, state-tolerated

White Terror White Terror is the name of several episodes of mass violence in history, carried out against anarchists, communists, socialists, liberals, revolutionaries, or other opponents by conservative or nationalist groups. It is sometimes contrasted wit ...

against the former members of

EAM-ELAS The Greek People's Liberation Army ( el, Ελληνικός Λαϊκός Απελευθερωτικός Στρατός (ΕΛΑΣ), ''Ellinikós Laïkós Apeleftherotikós Stratós'' (ELAS) was the military arm of the left-wing National Liberat ...

. The night before the elections, a communist band attacked a police station in

Litochoro Litochoro ( el, Λιτόχωρο, ''Litóchoro''; Katharevousa: Λιτόχωρον) is a town and a former municipality in the southern part of the Pieria regional unit, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it has been part of the Dio-O ...

. This event is considered the beginning of the three years civil war. One of the reasons for the defeat of the centre-liberal parties was the division of the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

, founded by Eleftherios Venizelos. One faction remained loyal to the leadership of

, while another faction followed

Sophoklis Venizelos Sofoklis Venizelos (, also transliterated as Sophocles Venizelos) (3 November 1894 – 7 February 1964) was a Greek politician, who three times served as Prime Minister of Greece – in 1944 (in exile), 1950 and 1950–1951. Life and career Ve ...

, who formed a coalition with

Georgios Papandreou Georgios Papandreou ( ''Geórgios Papandréou''; 13 February 1888 – 1 November 1968) was a Greek politician, the founder of the Papandreou political dynasty. He served three terms as prime minister of Greece (1944–1945, 1963, 1964–196 ...

and Panayiotis Kanellopoulos.

Results

References

{{Greek Civil War Parliamentary elections in Greece

Legislative election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

1940s in Greek politics

Greek Civil War

Election and referendum articles with incomplete results Legl