Dimitiris Vlantas (; 1908 – 1985) was the secretary 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 ...

(KKE) in Crete from 1944 to 1946, and general in charge of the communist-led

Democratic Army of Greece The Democratic Army of Greece (DAG; , ΔΣΕ; ''Dimokratikós Stratós Elládas'', DSE) was the army founded by the Communist Party of Greece during the Greek Civil War (1946–1949). At its height, it had a strength of around 50,000 men and w ...

during the Grammos and Vitsi battles at the end of the

Greek Civil War The Greek Civil War () took place from 1946 to 1949. The conflict, which erupted shortly after the end of World War II, consisted of a Communism, Communist-led uprising against the established government of the Kingdom of Greece. The rebels decl ...

Early life

Dimitris Vlantas, aka Dimitris Vlandas, was born in 1908 in Marathos, Crete. From a young age, he joined the

Communist Youth of Greece The Communist Youth of Greece (; , KNE) is the youth organization of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE). It is a Marxist-Leninist organization which mainly seeks to familiarize the Greek youth with the policies of the KKE. It publishes the month ...

(OKNE).In 1924 he entered the central committee of the OKNE and in 1932 enters its politburo.

Political activity in Greece

Having been spotted by

Nikos Zachariadis Nikos Zachariadis (; 27 April 1903 – 1 August 1973) was General Secretary of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) from 1931 to 1956. He was appointed, by order of Stalin and the Comintern, General Secretary of KKE in 1935. He was arrested by th ...

he joined a select number of high potential officials. In 1936, the

Ioannis Metaxas Ioannis Metaxas (; 12 April 187129 January 1941) was a Greek military officer and politician who was dictator of Greece from 1936 until his death in 1941. He governed constitutionally for the first four months of his tenure, and thereafter as th ...

regime outlawed the

and Dimitris Vlantas was imprisoned at

Nafplio Nafplio or Nauplio () is a coastal city located in the Peloponnese in Greece. It is the capital of the regional unit of Argolis and an important tourist destination. Founded in antiquity, the city became an important seaport in the Middle Ages du ...

. He escaped jail in 1940. In 1947 he became a member of the

's Politburo. In January 1948 he was named Agriculture minister in the communist-led

Provisional Democratic Government The Provisional Democratic Government () was the name of the administration declared by the Communist Party of Greece on 24 December 1947, during the Greek Civil War. The government controlled various mountainous areas along Greece's northern borde ...

during the

Civil War

During the last phase of the civil war, Zachariadis and Vlantas regrouped the remaining forces in the strongholds of Grammos and Vitsi, commanded by Dimitris Vlantas. This strategy was negatively viewed by Enver Hoxha as he tells in his 4th Meeting with

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

where he mentions: "Comrade Vlantas held that the enemy would direct the main blow against Gramos and not against Vitsi, because 'Gramos is less fortified, as it is situated on the border with Albania, and the enemy, after defeating us there, will turn back to attack us at Vitsi, because it thinks it can annihilate us there, since it borders on Yugoslavia. After fighting at Gramos and inflicting great losses on the enemy, we shall manoeuvre with our forces from Grammos in order to attack the enemy forces at Vitsi from the rear." Indeed the battle of Grammos, known as

Operation Pyrsos Operation Pyrsos (, "Torch") was the final campaign launched by the National Army of the internationally recognized Greek government against the communist forces during the Greek Civil War. After the success of the preceding Operation Pyravlos ...

proved to defeat.

Post-war

After the war, he went in exile in Romania, first in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

then in Rimnicu Vilcea. He lived there with his wife Eleni, his daughter Eugenia and his son Georges Vlandas, who is President of the European Commission Trade Union ' Union for Unity' (U4U) and lives in Brussels. His grandsons, Alexis Vlandas and Tim Vlandas, are both academics in France and the UK, respectively. He fled Romania for France in 1967 where he was joined by his family in 1968. In 1983, he donated his archives to the Bibliothèque d'Histoire Contemporaine of the

University of Nanterre Paris Nanterre University (), formerly University of Paris West, Paris-X and commonly referred to as Nanterre, is a public research university based in Nanterre, Hauts-de-Seine, France, in the Paris metropolitan area. It is one of the most prest ...

. They can be accessed through the Bibliothèque Nationale website.Unknown
/ref>

References

External links

*War diaries 1947-194

*Vlandas Archive at the Bibliothèque Nationale website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vlantas, Dimitris 1908 births 1985 deaths People from Heraklion (regional unit) International Lenin School alumni Democratic Army of Greece personnel Exiles of the Greek Civil War Politicians from Heraklion Communist Party of Greece politicians Prisoners and detainees of Greece Escapees from Greek detention National Liberation Front (Greece) members Greek expatriates in Romania Greek expatriates in France Crete in World War II