Markos Vafeiadis (also spelled as Vafiadis and Vafiades; el, Μάρκος Βαφειάδης;

Tosya Tosya ( ota, طوسيه), previously called Theodosia (Greek: Θεοδοσία) or Doceia (Greek: Δοκεία) under the Byzantine Empire, is a town and district of Kastamonu Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey. According to the 2000 census ...

, – Athens, ) was a leading figure of the

Communist Party of Greece The Communist Party of Greece ( el, Κομμουνιστικό Κόμμα Ελλάδας, ''Kommounistikó Kómma Elládas'', KKE) is a political party in Greece. Founded in 1918 as the Socialist Labour Party of Greece and adopted its curren ...

(KKE) during the Greek Resistance and the

Greek Civil War The Greek Civil War ( el, ο Eμφύλιος �όλεμος ''o Emfýlios'' 'Pólemos'' "the Civil War") took place from 1946 to 1949. It was mainly fought against the established Kingdom of Greece, which was supported by the United Kingdom ...

Pre-war life

Vafiedis was born in

, Ottoman Empire in

1906 Events January–February * January 12 – Persian Constitutional Revolution: A nationalistic coalition of merchants, religious leaders and intellectuals in Persia forces the shah Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar to grant a constitution, ...

although some sources claim he was born in

Şenkaya Şenkaya is a town and district of Erzurum Province in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey. The mayor is Görbil Özcan ( AKP). The population is 2,803 (as of 2010). Villages * Akşar * Aktaş * Alıcık * Aşağıbakraçlı * Atyolu * Ay ...

, Erzurum in present-day Turkey. At the age of 17, after the Population exchange between Greece and Turkey of 1923, Vafeiadis went to Thessaloniki and Kavala as a refugee. From 1928, he worked in Thessaloniki as a member of the

Young Communist League of Greece Young Communist League of Greece ( el, Oμοσπονδία Kομμουνιστικών Nεολαιών Eλλάδας; OKNE) was the youth wing of the Communist Party of Greece. OKNE was founded on November 28, 1922. The journal ''I Neolaia'' (Η Ν ...

(OKNE). In 1932, he was imprisoned and sent to internal exile for his political action. After his release in October 1933, he worked as party instructor in many areas of Greece. At the beginning of Ioannis Metaxas' dictatorship (the "

4th of August Regime The 4th of August Regime ( el, Καθεστώς της 4ης Αυγούστου, Kathestós tis tetártis Avgoústou), commonly also known as the Metaxas regime (, ''Kathestós Metaxá''), was a totalitarian regime under the leadership of Gener ...

") he was exiled again to the island of Ai Stratis, but managed to escape in less than a month. Subsequently, he worked in the party's underground organization in Crete and was one of the leaders of the Chania uprising against the dictatorial regime (July 28, 1938). After the suppression of the uprising, he went to Athens where he was arrested. He was jailed in Akronafplia and was exiled to the island of Gavdos.

Resistance and Civil War

In May 1941, at the beginning of the Nazi German occupation of Greece, he, along with other Greek military prisoners, escaped from the island of Gavdos and began what was to become the original underground work against the German occupation, initially in Crete, later in Athens, Thessaloniki and eventually all of

Macedonia Macedonia most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a traditional geographic reg ...

. In 1942, he was elected into the

Central Committee Central committee is the common designation of a standing administrative body of Communist party, communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, of both ruling and nonruling parties of former and existing socialist states. In such party org ...

of the Communist Party of Greece and was named supervisor of the Macedonia wing of the Greek People's Liberation Army (ELAS). In May 1944, he was elected as a representative of Thessaloniki to the

national congress ''National Congress'' is a term used in the names of various political parties and legislatures . Political parties *Ethiopia: Oromo National Congress *Guyana: People's National Congress (Guyana) *India: Indian National Congress *Iraq: Iraqi Nati ...

that took place at the village of Koryschades in Evrytania, but was unable to attend. On 30 October 1944, after the withdrawal of the German army, and following battles against the Security Battalions, he entered as liberator in Thessaloniki with his men of ELAS. In November 1944, his forces liberated Central Macedonia and helped save thousands of Greek Jews from imminent peril from the exiting Nazi regime. In February 1946, Markos Vafeiadis disagreed with

Nikos Zachariadis Nikos Zachariadis ( el, Νίκος Ζαχαριάδης; 27 April 1903 – 1 August 1973) was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) from 1931 to 1956, and one of the most important personalities in the Greek Civil War. E ...

, the general secretary of KKE, who wanted to create a standing communist army. Vafeiadis believed that the forces of the Greek government were too strong, and the best option for the KKE was a guerrilla struggle. However, in July 1946, Zachariadis appointed him as leader of the communist guerrilla formations. In October 1946, when the General Command of the Democratic Army of Greece (DSE) was founded, Vafeiadis assumed its leadership, and in December 1947 he was appointed Prime Minister and War Minister of the Provisional Democratic Government. During the last stages of the Civil War his disagreement with Zachariadis on issues of

military doctrine Military doctrine is the expression of how military forces contribute to campaigns, major operations, battles, and engagements. It is a guide to action, rather than being hard and fast rules. Doctrine provides a common frame of reference across ...

led to his removal from leadership (August 1948) and later from all offices (January 1949). In October 1950, he was ousted from the Communist Party, while he was in exile in the Soviet Union, where he had fled after the breakup of the DSE.

Post-Civil War

After the end of Joseph Stalin's era, Markos Vafeiadis was restored into KKE and was elected as a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the party. However, new disagreement with the party leadership led to his removal from office in January 1958 and to his second ousting from the KKE in June 1964. After the party split in 1968, the so-called "interior" (εσωτερικού) faction of KKE restored him. In March 1983, ending his 33-year exile in the Soviet Union, he returned to Greece and the island of Chios where he later published his ''Memoirs''. Ηe became a political supporter of Andreas Papandreou and in November 1989 and April 1990, he was honorarily elected into the Greek parliament through the nationwide list of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK). In 1984 he was awarded the rank of the General of the Hellenic army.

Bibliography

* Dominique Eude, ''Les Kapetanios'' (in French, Greek and English), Artheme Fayard, 1970

References

External links

Interview with Markos Vafiades, 1983
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vafeiadis, Markos 1906 births 1992 deaths 20th-century prime ministers of Greece People from Erzurum People from Erzurum vilayet Pontic Greeks Communist Party of Greece politicians Greek MPs 1990–1993 National Liberation Front (Greece) members Greek People's Liberation Army personnel Greek Macedonia in World War II Modern history of Thessaloniki Democratic Army of Greece personnel Exiles of the Greek Civil War in the Soviet Union People from Tosya Emigrants from the Ottoman Empire to Greece