Immediately after the end of the Second World War, civil war erupts in Greece and leads to British troops being deployed on the streets of Athens.

In January 1945, British troops, backed up by tanks, take up strategic positions in the city of Athens to help the Greek police maintain order.

On 28 September 1946, King George II returns to Greece from exile in Egypt, causing a civil war to break out with the communist opposition.

On 22 February 1947, the German weekly news magazine Der Spiegel describes the events of the civil war in Greece on the eve of the British troops’ departure from the country.

On 27 February 1947, the most eminent figures in the US Congress are called to the White House to be briefed on Britain’s inability to continue to support the Greek and Turkish Governments in their resistance to Communist pressure.

On 7 March 1947, US President Harry S. Truman asks Congress to approve his plan to provide aid to Greece and Turkey with the aim of preventing the Communists from taking power.

On 31 October 1947, the German daily newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung gives an account of the Greek civil war.

‘Civil war, third costume’. On 9 January 1948, cartoonist Woop criticises Moscow’s role in the civil war in Greece and warns against the political designs of the Soviet Union in France and Italy. On the right, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin dresses the god of war in the ceremonial uniform of the Greek army.

On 3 March 1948, Belgian Prime Minister Paul-Henri Spaak delivers an address to the Belgian Lower House in which he gives his opinion on the current conflict in Greece.

On 17 October 1949, Dean Acheson, US Secretary of State, welcomes the ceasefire in Greece and comments on the military situation in the Balkans and on the activities being carried out by the Greek guerrilla forces.

As a result of the considerable destruction suffered by Greece during its civil war between 1946 and 1949, the Greek economy takes time to recover and a large part of the population lives in poverty.

Dans ses Mémoires, Harry S. Truman, ancien président des États-Unis, rappelle le rôle joué par les Américains dans l'écrasement de la révolte communiste en Grèce au lendemain de la Seconde Guerre mondiale.