Political Committee of National Liberation

Free Greece

Ελεύθερη Ελλάδα
Eleftheri Ellada

National Liberation Front and Communist Party of Greece dominated government (unrecognized internationally)

1944


Flag	Coat of arms

Motto
"Eleftheria i Thanatos"
Ελευθερία ή θάνατος
"Freedom or Death"

"Thanatos sto Fasismo"
Θάνατος στο Φασισμό
"Death to Fascism"

Anthem
Ýmnos is tin Eleftherían
Ὕμνος εἰς τὴν Ἐλευθερίαν
"Hymn to Freedom"

Capital

Athens (official), Koryschades (Evrytania) (headquarter of PEEA)

Languages

Greek/Demotic Greek

Religion

Greek Orthodox

Political structure

Provisional government, Democratic republic, Socialist state

Chairman of PEEA

•

March 10, 1944–April 18, 1944

Evripidis Bakirtzis (KKE)

•

18 April 1944–9 October 1944

Alexandros Svolos (SKE)

Legislature

National Council

Historical era

World War II

•

Established

10 March 1944

•

Disestablished

9 October 1944

Currency

Greek drachma (₯)

Preceded by

Succeeded by

Hellenic State (1941-1944)

Kingdom of Greece

The Political Committee of National Liberation (Greek: Πολιτική Επιτροπή Εθνικής Απελευθέρωσης, Politiki Epitropi Ethikis Apeleftherosis, PEEA), commonly known as the "Mountain Government" (Greek: Κυβέρνηση του Βουνού), was a Communist Party-dominated government established in Greece in 1944 in opposition to both the collaborationist German-controlled government at Athens and to the royal government-in-exile in Cairo. It was integrated with the Greek government-in-exile in a national unity government at the Lebanon conference in May 1944.

Background

Further information: Axis Occupation of Greece and Greek Resistance

Establishment

The PEEA was established on 10 March 1944 by the leftist National Liberation Front (EAM)/Greek People's Liberation Army (ELAS) movement, which was then in control of much of the country. Its aims, according to its founding charter, were, "to intensify the struggle against the conquerors ... for full national liberation, for the consolidation of the independence and integrity of our country (...) and for the annihilation of domestic fascism and armed traitor formations".

The PEEA's authority was significantly reinforced after the establishment of the National Council (Greek: Εθνικό Συμβούλιο) in 1944. The National Council was an assembly elected by secret elections organised by the PEEA in late April 1944 in both the liberated parts of Greece and the still-occupied cities, mainly Athens. Approximately one million people took part in these elections, which are notable for the fact that for the first time in Greece, women were allowed to vote. The Council first converged in Koryschades, a mountain village of Evrytania, from 14 to 27 May 1944. Its main act was voting a resolution, an extract of which is quoted:

“

"General clauses

The National Council, composed of representatives of the whole of the Greek people, who converged to declare its inexpugnable will to fight to the bitter end for the liberation of the country, the destruction of fascism and the restoration of its national unity and popular sovereignty, willing to determine the way all authorities are exercised in free Greece, votes:

Article 1: It ratifies the charter establishing Political Committee of National Liberation of March 10, 1944.
Article 2: All powers derive from the people and are exercised by the people. Self-administration and popular judicature are fundamental institutions of the public life of the Greeks.
Article 3: The National Council is the supreme instrument of popular sovereignty. The PEEA possesses all powers determined in this decree.
Article 4: The People's liberties are sacred and inviolable. The struggling nation will protect them from any threats no matter where they are coming from.
Article 5: All Greeks, men and women, have equal political and civil rights.
Article 6: Employment is a fundamental social function and generates rights for the enjoyment of life’s goods.
Article 7: The People's language is the formal language for all manifestations of public life and for all educational grades."

”

The PEEA's first president was Evripidis Bakirtzis, the former leader of National and Social Liberation (EKKA). On April 18 Alexandros Svolos, a prominent professor of constitutional law of the University of Athens, took his position and Bakirtzis became vice-president. Not only communist leaders but also many progressive bourgeois, who had nothing to do with communist ideas, participated in the PEEA.

ELAS not only resisted German and Italian occupation forces but also re-organised life in Free Greece, the mountainous areas (i.e. the biggest part of Greece) it controlled. EAM, with the co-ordination and organization of the PEEA, helped the local people organise schools, hospitalise refugees from the big cities and protect the crops from German looting. Amateur actors and musicians created travelling theatres and bands, something that most rural communities had never seen or heard before. Another achievement of ELAS (due partially to the progressive ideas and partially to the lack of men) was to promote women's rights. Young girls, who until then were working at home or the fields, had the opportunity to educate and express themselves. There were also improvised telecommunications either by telephone lines or by messengers and systems of re-distribution of food-resources, so that no village would starve.

Mountain Government

Interim Government

	Portfolio	Party	Dates
Evripidis Bakirtzis	President Secretary of Foreign Affairs	Communist Party	10 March 1944 – 10 April 1944
Evripidis Bakirtzis	Secretary of Military Affairs	Independent	10 March 1944 – 10 April 1944
Georgios Siantos	Secretary of the Interior	Communist Party	10 March 1944 – 10 April 1944
Ilias Tsirimokos	Secretary of Justice	Socialist Party	10 March 1944 – 10 April 1944
Kostas Gavriilidis	Secretary of Agriculture	Agricultural Party	10 March 1944 – 10 April 1944

Office	Incumbent	Party	Dates
President of the Cabinet	Alexandros Svolos	Socialist Party of Greece	10 April – 9 October 1944
Deputy President of the Cabinet and Secretary for the Food	Evripidis Bakirtzis	Communist Party of Greece	10 April – 9 October 1944
Secretary for Justice	Ilias Tsirimokos	Socialist Party of Greece	10 April 1944-9 October 1944
Secretary for the Interior	Georgios Siantos	Communist Party of Greece	10 April 1944-9 October 1944
Secretary for Military Affairs	Manolis Mantakas	Independent	10 April – 9 October 1944
Secretary for Transport	Nikolaos Askoutsis	Communist Party of Greece	10 April – 9 October 1944
Secretary for Finance	Angelos Angelopoulos	Independent	10 April – 9 October 1944
Secretary for Social Welfare	Petros Kokkalis	Independent	10 April – 9 October 1944
Secretary for Agriculture	Kostas Gavriilidis	Agricultural Party of Greece	10 April – 9 October 1944
Secretary for National Economy	Stamatis Hatzibeis	Independent	10 April – 9 October 1944

Sources

Clogg, Richard (2013). A Concise History of Modern Greece (Third ed.). Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-10761203-7.
Papastratis, Procopis (2006). "Local Government in Liberated Areas of Occupied Greece". In Bruno De Wever, Herman Van Goethem and Nico Wouters. Local Government in Occupied Europe (1939-1945). Gent: Academia Press. pp. 205–220. ISBN 9038208928.
Skalidakis, Yannis (2015). "From Resistance to Counterstate: The Making of Revolutionary Power in the Liberated Zones of Occupied Greece, 1943–1944". Journal of Modern Greek Studies. 33 (1): 155–184.

Greece during World War II

1940–41 Balkan Campaign	Occupation and Resistance		Greek government-in-exile

Greco-Italian War Battles Pindus Elaia–Kalamas Korytsa/Korcë Saranda Morava–Ivan Himara Klisura Pass Trebeshina Italian Spring Offensive Hill 731 Commanders Greece Ioannis Metaxas Alexander Papagos Charalambos Katsimitros Konstantinos Davakis Ioannis Pitsikas Dimitrios Papadopoulos Georgios Kosmas Italy Benito Mussolini Sebastiano Visconti Prasca Ubaldo Soddu Ugo Cavallero Carlo Geloso German invasion Battles Metaxas Line Vevi Kleisoura Pass Thermopylae Crete Commanders Greece Alexander Papagos Georgios Tsolakoglou British Empire & Commonwealth Henry Maitland Wilson Thomas Blamey Bernard Freyberg Germany Wilhelm List Kurt Student	Occupying powers Authorities/People Germany Günther Altenburg Hermann Neubacher Walter Schimana Alexander Löhr Hellmuth Felmy Friedrich-Wilhelm Müller Alexander Andrae Bruno Bräuer Max Merten Italy Angelico Carta Pellegrino Ghigi Carlo Geloso Piero Parini Bulgaria Andon Kalchev Atrocities Kondomari Kandanos Alikianos Doxato Kommeno Kalavryta Lyngiades Distomo Domenikon Drakeia Cephalonia Mesovouno Pyrgoi Viannos Kedros Kleisoura Haidari concentration camp 200 of Kaisariani Chortiatis The Holocaust in Greece Great Famine Collaborators People Georgios Tsolakoglou K. Logothetopoulos Ioannis Rallis Georgios Poulos George S. Mercouris Ioannis Plytzanopoulos Sotirios Gotzamanis Organizations Collaborationist government Security Battalions ESPO EEE Greek National Socialist Party Secessionists Vlach "Roman Legion" Ohrana Cham collaboration (Këshilla) Atrocities Paramythia Kaisariani Kokkinia	National Liberation Front (EAM) People Aris Velouchiotis Stefanos Sarafis Andreas Tzimas Georgios Siantos Alexandros Svolos Ilias Tsirimokos Markos Vafiades Organizations KKE SKE ELD ELAS ELAN EPON PEEA & National Council E.A. OPLA SNOF Operations Drama Uprising Ryka Mikro Chorio Gorgopotamos Bridge Fardykambos Sarantaporo Porta Pinerolo disarmament Steiri Agorelitsa Atrocities Feneos 5/42 dissolution Meligalas Non-EAM Resistance People Napoleon Zervas Georgios Kartalis Dimitrios Psarros Komninos Pyromaglou Kostas Perrikos Vasileios Sachinis Georgios Petrakis Organizations EDES EKKA YVE/PAO PEAN EOK E.S. MAVI Other Operations ESPO bombing Gorgopotamos Bridge Agia Kyriaki Milia Skala Paramythias Xirovouni Menina Dodona Atrocities Expulsion of Cham Albanians British Mission in Greece (SOE) People Eddie Myers Chris Woodhouse Patrick Leigh Fermor Bill Stanley Moss Jerzy Iwanow-Szajnowicz Operations Operation "Albumen" Gorgopotamos Bridge Operation "Animals" Asopos Bridge Kidnap of Heinrich Kreipe Damasta sabotage	Events El Alamein Dodecanese Campaign April 1944 mutiny Battle of Rimini People King George II Emmanouil Tsouderos Sofoklis Venizelos Panagiotis Kanellopoulos Thrasyvoulos Tsakalotos Pafsanias Katsotas Notable units 3rd Mountain Brigade Sacred Band Vasilissa Olga Adrias Katsonis Papanikolis 13th Squadron 335th Squadron 336th Squadron Toward the Civil War Events National Bands Agreement Plaka agreement Lebanon conference Caserta agreement Percentages agreement Dekemvriana Treaty of Varkiza People Georgios Papandreou Ronald Scobie Archbishop Damaskinos Georgios Grivas Angelos Evert Nikos Zachariadis

Mountain Government

Ideas	Socialism Communism Republicanism Anti-fascism Anti-Revisionism Left-wing nationalism

Organizations	National Liberation Front Workers' National Liberation Front Greek People's Liberation Army EPON OPLA National Council

People	Evripidis Bakirtzis (1st Chairman of the PEEA, Deputy President of the Cabinet and Secretary for the Food during Svolos's leadership) Alexandros Svolos (2nd Chairman of the PEEA) Georgios Siantos (Secretary for the Interior and General Secretary of the KKE) Ilias Tsirimokos (Secretary for Justice) Manolis Mantakas (Secretary for Military Affairs) Nikolaos Askoutsis (Secretary for Transport) Angelos Angelopoulos (Secretary for Finance) Petros Kokkalis (Secretary for Social Welfare) Kostas Gavriilidis (Secretary for Agriculture and leader of the Agricultural Party of Greece) Stamatis Hatzibeis (Secretary for National Economy) Major General Stefanos Sarafis (Chief military officer of the ELAS) Aris Velouchiotis (Chief captain of the ELAS) Andreas Tzimas (Chief political supervisor of the ELAS) Dimitris Glinos (Secretary for Education)

Events	Greek Resistance Lebanon conference Caserta agreement

Symbols	Republican flag of Greece Phoenix

Policies	Demotic Greek Gender equality Red Terror

Socialism in Greece

Ideology	Modern Greek Enlightenment Pacifism Democratic socialism Agrarian socialism Marxism–Leninism Anti-imperialism Republicanism Left-wing nationalism

Organizations	Socialist Workers' Federation National Liberation Front Greek People's Liberation Army United Panhellenic Organization of Youth Political Committee of National Liberation Democratic Army of Greece Panhellenic Liberation Movement

Political Parties	Socialist Party of Greece Communist Party of Greece Agricultural and Labour Party Agricultural Party of Greece Democratic Alignment United Democratic Left PASOK Fighting Socialist Party of Greece Greek Left Democratic Social Movement Coalition of Left Movements and Ecology Communist Organization of Greece Coalition of the Radical Left

People	Rigas Feraios Marinos Antypas Avraam Benaroya Ion Dragoumis Pandelis Pouliopoulos Alexandros Papanastasiou Yiannis Ritsos Aris Velouchiotis Stefanos Sarafis Evripidis Bakirtzis Alexandros Svolos Nikos Zachariadis Markos Vafiadis Ilias Tsirimokos Charilaos Florakis Maria Damanaki Manolis Glezos Andreas Papandreou

Historical events	Kileler incident Greek Resistance Dekemvriana Greek Civil War Athens Polytechnic uprising

Policies	Demotic Greek Gender equality Social progressivism

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