Parliamentary elections were held in

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

on 31 March 1946.

Dieter Nohlen Dieter Nohlen (born 6 November 1939) is a German academic and political scientist. He currently holds the position of Emeritus Professor of Political Science in the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences of the University of Heidelberg. An ex ...

& Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p830 The result was a victory for the United Alignment of Nationalists, 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. As a result, Konstantinos Tsaldaris became Prime Minister leading a right-wing coalition. Nonetheless, he soon decided to resign in favor of Themistoklis Sophoulis, who led a government of national unity (conservative and centre-liberal forces) during the entire second phase of the

civil war A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, 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.J ...

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

plebiscite A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a direct vote by the electorate (rather than their representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either binding (resulting in the adoption of a new policy) or adv ...

for the restoration of the Greek monarchy. The elections were marked by the boycott of the

Communist Party of Greece The Communist Party of Greece (, ΚΚΕ; ''Kommounistikó Kómma Elládas'', KKE) is a Marxist–Leninist political party in Greece. It was founded in 1918 as the Socialist Workers' Party of Greece (SEKE) and adopted its current name in Novem ...

claiming in protest against the unfolding, state-tolerated White Terror against the former members of EAM-ELAS. The night before the elections, a communist band attacked a police station in

Litochoro Litochoro (, ''Litóchoro''; Katharevousa: Λιτόχωρον) is a town and a former municipality in the southern part of the Pieria (regional unit), Pieria regional unit, Macedonia (Greece), Macedonia, Greece. Since the 2011 local government re ...

. 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. For example, while the political systems ...

, founded by

Eleftherios Venizelos Eleftherios Kyriakou Venizelos (, ; – 18 March 1936) was a Cretan State, Cretan Greeks, Greek statesman and prominent leader of the Greek national liberation movement. As the leader of the Liberal Party (Greece), Liberal Party, Venizelos ser ...

. One faction remained loyal to the leadership of Themistoklis Sophoulis, while another faction followed

Sophoklis Venizelos Sofoklis Venizelos (; 3 November 1894 – 7 February 1964) was a Greeks, Greek politician who served three times as Prime Minister of Greece: in 1944 (in exile), 1950 and 1950–1951. Life and career Venizelos was born on 3 November 1894 in Ch ...

, 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 the prime minister of Greece (1944–1945, 1963, 1964 ...

and Panayiotis Kanellopoulos. The American, French and British governments sent election monitors to observe the election.

Results

References

{{Greek Civil War Parliamentary elections in Greece

Parliamentary In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

1940s in Greek politics

Greek Civil War

Election and referendum articles with incomplete results