Georgios Grivas

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Georgios Grivas (1967)
Monument by the Sea (2006)

Georgios Grivas , Greek Γεώργιος Γρίβας (* May 23, 1898 in Trikomo ; † January 27, 1974 in Limassol ), also called Digenis ( Διγενής ), was a right-wing resistance fighter in Greece and leader of the "National Organization of Cypriot Fighters" (EOKA) , a nationalist organization that turned as guerrillas , including acts of terrorism, against British colonial rule and finally against the Cypriot Turks .

Life

During the German occupation of Greece in World War II, Grivas founded the organization x . He became famous in Greece during the civil war that followed World War II . Grivas was an anti-communist and a nationalist and firmly convinced that Cyprus had to become part of Greece.

On April 1, 1955, Grivas took up the fight against British colonial rule at the head of EOKA . EOKA advocated the annexation of Cyprus to Greece ( Enosis ). Historical models for Grivas were the so-called old IRA and the Zionist Irgun . From 1955 to 1959, the EOKA waged a guerrilla war against the British occupation forces in Cyprus, in which mainly British facilities were attacked and Greek-Cypriot collaborators were murdered. From 1958 the EOKA directed its attacks against the Turkish Cypriots , who in turn spoke out against Grivas' "Enosis plans", the political association with Greece. The British colonial era on Cyprus finally ended in 1960.

From 1964 to 1967 Grivas was Commander in Chief of the Cypriot National Guard . Then Grivas left Cyprus and secretly returned in 1971 to work with the organization EOKA B (also called EOKA 2) against Cyprus' President Archbishop Makarios , who was against unification with Greece. There were close ties between EOKA B and the Greek officers of the Cypriot National Guard. In 1974 Grivas probably died of a heart attack in Limassol and EOKA B came more and more into the sphere of influence of the Greek military dictatorship .

swell

  • Georgios Grivas-Dighenis: Partisan War Today. Lessons from the Cyprus struggle for freedom. With an introduction by Eugen Weyde: Frankfurt a. M. 1964.
  • Pavlos Tzermias: Modern Greek History: An Introduction. Francke, Tübingen, Basel 1993.
  • Charles W. Thayer : Guerrillas and Partisans. Nature and methodology of irregular warfare. Munich 1964.
  • Keyword Grivas, Gen. George Theodorou (1898–1974) , in: Ian FW Beckett: Encyclopedia of Guerrilla Warfare. New York 2001, pp. 86-88.
  • Lieutenant Colonel BIS Gourlay: Terror in Cyprus. In: Lieutenant Colonel TN Greene (Ed.): The Guerilla - and how to fight him. Selections from the Marine Corps Gazette. New York 1962, pp. 232-248.
  • Doros Alastos: Cyprus Guerilla: Grivas, Makarios and the British. London 1960.
  • Calter Walton: Empire of Secrets . British intelligence, the Cold War and the twilight of empire. Harper Press, London 2013, ISBN 0-00-745796-0 . ISBN 978-0-00-745796-0 .

See also

personal data
SURNAME Grivas, Georgios
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Γρίβας, Γεώργιος; Digenis; Διγενής; (Greek)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Greek Cypriot resistance fighter and leader of the EOKA
DATE OF BIRTH May 23, 1898
PLACE OF BIRTH Trikomo
DATE OF DEATH January 27, 1974
Place of death Limassol