Political Uses of Sports During the Greek Civil War: The Period After the Truman Doctrine and Beyond, 1947-1949

During the Greek Civil War (1946-1949), the issue of political initiative was contested between the Greek urban governments, allied with the USA following the proclamation of the Truman Doctrine, and the Communist Party of Greece (CPG), supported by the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia. In this initial Cold War phase, sports were instrumentalised by the Greek government according to the developments in military operations. Three battles were pivotal for the outcome of the Civil War: the Battle of Konitsa, the Battle of Grammos, and the Battle of Mali Madi. During the first two, the government side, under the guise of social contribution through sports, aimed either at preventing the flow of citizens towards enlistment with the Democratic Army controlled by the CPG or at the ‘national-patriotic’ and anti-communist homogenization of the Greek population. In the Battle of Mali Madi, sports were used, as openly stated, to economically support the government's military efforts against the CPG. Article visualizations: