Treaty of Varkiza

The Treaty of Varkiza (also known as the Varkiza Pact or the Varkiza Peace Agreement) was signed in Varkiza (near Athens) on February 12, 1945 between the Greek Minister of Foreign Affairs (supported by the British) and the Secretary of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) for EAM-ELAS. One of the aspects of the accord (Article IX) called for a plebiscite to be held within the year in order to resolve any problems with the Greek Constitution. This plebiscite would help establish elections and thus create a constituent assembly that would draft a new organic law. In another aspect of the treaty, both signatories agreed that the Allies send overseers in order to verify the validity of the elections. [Xydis, pp. 7-8. "After a truce on January 11, 1945, between the commander of the British forces and the Communist leader of ELAS (the military arm of EAM, the National Liberation Front), a "peace treaty" was finally concluded at Varkiza, near Athens, on February 12, 1945. It was signed on the one hand by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of a new, British-bolstered Greek government headed by a former general with an indubitably anti-dynastic and republican background, and the Secretary of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) for EAM-ELAS, on the other. Article IX of this agreement provided for a plebiscite within the year to decide upon the constitutional problem, with elections to follow for a constituent assembly that would draft a new organic law. Both parties, moreover, agreed to ask the Allied powers to send observers to these elections to verify the genuineness of the expression of the popular will".] The accord also promised that members of EAM-ELAS would be permitted to participate in political activities if they surrendered their weapons. Moreover, all civil and political liberties would be guaranteed along with the undertaking by the Greek government towards establishing a nonpolitical national army. Ultimately, the promises enshrined in the Treaty of Varkiza were not upheld and the events that followed entailed widespread right-wing persecution of leftist elements. [Stavrianos and Panagopoulos, p. 156. "The December hostilities were terminated with the signing of the Varkiza peace agreement on February 12, 1945. In return for surrendering its arms, the E.A.M. was promised freedom to engage in political activities, and the government guaranteed civil and political liberties and undertook to organize a nonpolitical national army. These commitments were not fulfilled, and the Varkiza pact was followed by a rightist reaction and widespread persecution of leftist elements".] Even though the Treaty of Varkiza was not enforced, it was nevertheless a diplomatic attempt towards officially ending the Greek Civil War.

References

ee also

*List of treaties

ources

*Xydis, Stephen G. "Greece and the Yalta Declaration." "American Slavic and East European Review". Vol. 20, No. 1, (February 1961), pp. 6-24.
*Stavrianos, L. S. and Panagopoulos, E. P. "Present-Day Greece." "The Journal of Modern History". Vol. 20, No. 2, (June 1948), pp. 149-158.