The significance of British influence on the future of Greece in postwar Europe

The significance of British intervention proved crucial for the future of postwar Greece on an international level; and the following incident underlines how this intervention was often unknown even to the Greek political leadership. The British Prime Minister, Churchill, who had signed with the American President, Roosevelt, the Atlantic Charter in 1941 (recognising the right of every people to determine their preferred form of state), decided that the fate of Greece had to be decided on the level of secret diplomacy, unbeknownst to the interest of those involved.

Since May 1944 the British Foreign Minister, Eden, had explored Moscow's intentions regarding a very idiosyncratic quid pro quo: Rumania would be transferred to the Soviet sphere of influence in return for the acknowledgement of British influence on Greece. With Roosevelt's agreement, Churchill visited Stalin in Moscow in October 1944 and formalised the agreement with a document which he himself described as "naughty": 90% British influence on Greece, 90% Soviet influence on Rumania! Britain was willing to sacrifice control of Rumania for the sake of "freedom of action", which Churchill had demanded with regard to Greece. What exactly this British initiative entailed would become clear after the liberation.

However, the insistence of the British Prime Minister on making sure that General Scobie would accompany the Greek government in its return to the free country and would supervise the Greek armed forces (including the resistance organisations) revealed the British ambitions to play a dominant role in Greece's transition to postwar normality.