Eden in Athens

In Moscow, Joseph Stalin and Winston Churchill had agreed that Greece would be a British sphere of influence. In Parliament, Prime Minister Winston Churchill reported:

"Our wish ... is that when normal conditions of tranquillity have been restored . . . the Greek people shall make, in perfect freedom, their own decision as to the form of government under which they desire to live. Pending such a decision, we naturally preserve our relations with the Greek Royal House and the existing constitutional Government. . . ."

In Athens, whither he had flown from Moscow, British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden was given the keys of the capital, shown the Acropolis (unharmed by the Germans). While crowds were parading in his honor, an Army officer, who disliked being tagged a collaborationist, shot and killed a member of the EAM. To Britain's Foreign Secretary this punctuation mark was a reminder that Britain's Greek sphere of influence is far from tranquil. The week before, Athens' tumultuous liberation outburst had been cut short when the leftist EAM and the rightist EDES fought it out during the celebration. Score: ten dead; no wounded.

Meanwhile moderate Premier George Papandreou, who had arrived with the British troops, reorganized his Cabinet. He refused to grant EAM more than five of the 28 Cabinet portfolios. Reportedly, he won EAM's agreement to a gradual disarming of its military branch, the ELAS. Said Greek leftists sourly: such concessions had "lost the revolution."

Most significant Papandreou gain: he gave a member of his own Democratic Party. Philip Manulidis, the key Interior Ministry which controls the police. As Minister of the Interior, Manulidis would supervise the plebiscite to determine whether or not King George II shall return to Greece.

How these efforts at moderation would be taken by Greek partisans, whose armed bands still roamed the country, would soon be seen. In a half-starved country, with the worst currency inflation in Europe, almost anything could happen.

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