Problems of the initial stage of the Greek Civil War (1946-1949) on the pages of the British press

Malai Vera Vladimirovna ORCID: 0000-0001-5699-4989 Doctor of History Professor of the Department of International Relations, Foreign regional studies and Political Studies, Belgorod State National Research University, Belgorod, Russia 308023, Russia, Belgorod, Pobedy str., 85 malay_v@bsu.edu.ru

Pazhvak Sofiya Bakhramovna Postgraduate student of the Department General History, Belgorod State National Research University 308015, Russia, Belgorod, Pobedy str., 85 pazhvak@bsu.edu.ru

Introduction

Greece has an extremely advantageous geographical position, being at the junction of Europe, Asia and Africa. The first serious regional conflict of the Cold War was the civil war in this country in 1946-1949. It was actively covered in the then information space of Great Britain.

It was not only the UK that paid increased attention to the internal affairs of Athens. By the end of 1946 The United States has outlined its course towards this Balkan country ^[1]. As you know, the US administration, including in connection with the situation in Greece, proclaimed the Truman doctrine (1947), which became one of the key events in the formation of a bipolar system of international relations ^[2]. The United States turned Greece into a western outpost in the Balkans, considering it as a barrier that was supposed to prevent the USSR from breaking through to the Mediterranean Sea ^[3].

In 1946-1949, the British The Times, the Liberal Yorkshire Observer, the Labour newspapers Daily Herald and Daily Mirror and regional publications covered the Greek Civil War with varying frequency and depth. So, the correspondents of the Daily Herald in Athens were F.G. Salusbury and Dudley Barker. The latter revealed the course of the elections in Greece in 1946, and F.G. Salusbury worked in Greece until 1949 ^[4]. And the Daily Mirror published only three articles on the Greek conflict during 1947.

Results and their discussion

During the prelude of the Greek Civil War (September 1945 – summer 1946), which was expressed in sabotage and terrorist struggle of partisan detachments, whose leaders did not agree with the well-known agreement of Varkiz (February 1945) between the left forces and the government on the transfer of power to the latter in the country, the conservative British The Times, which remained highly prestigious, assessed the situation with relative restraint in Greece, stressing that "royalists and Republicans are fiercely opposed to each other on everything related to elections," and the political leadership will use all available means to counteract any attempt to seize power by force, whether from the left or the right ^{[5, 25th Oct. 1945]}. This trend continued in one form or another until the autumn of 1946 .

The newspaper described the political crisis in Greece and the next formation of the government there in early November 1946 quite succinctly and with isolated assessments, it was rightly argued that this reshuffle would not "solve the complex of Greek political problems": it was only a "temporary step" in a "long period of political uncertainty" ^{[5, 5th Nov. 1946]}.

After the news of the nationwide strike (7.11.1946), there were no reports from Greece in The Times for a week, but as the situation in the country became more complicated and the "activity of the rebels", as the publication called the partisans for a long time, information about the expansion of the civil war became regular and expanded: so, on November 16 there were 3 columns on this topic.  One of them attempted a doctrinal analysis of British foreign policy with an eye on Greek events: in the conditions of the growing division of Europe and the world into two blocs, British interests allegedly did not allow any camp to serve: this choice could be "catastrophic for Britain" ^{[5, 7th Nov, 1946; 16th Nov, 1946]}.

Commenting on the efforts of the Greek government to convene the UN Security Council in connection with the growing activity of the "rebels", The Times considered that it "in some cases was attributed to foreign intrigues aimed at causing internal upheavals", emphasizing that "such a possibility is not excluded" ^{[5, 18th Nov. 1946]}. In the future, the problem of internationalization of the Greek internal conflict will become one of the constant ones in The Times.

It is noteworthy that, telling about the visit to London of the former Greek Foreign Minister I. Sofianopoulos, the newspaper distanced itself from the assessments of events (as it often did on international topics), only stating the facts. The Greek politician asked for external help - not to recognize the government, which did not suit him and his party ^{[5, 19th Nov. 1946]}.

 As the Greek conflict escalated, at the end of 1946, The Times published more information about the situation on the fronts: it "requires the most serious consideration," described the fighting with maps, told about the international resonance from this civil war. Typical headlines of that time: "Greek villages on fire", "Turkish garrisons in Thrace", "Activation of partisan actions", "Bandit activity in Laconica" ^{[5, 19th, 21st, 27th, 28th Nov. 1946]}. It is noteworthy that the "rebels" began to be called partisans, as it was already recognized outside Greece.

In early January 1947, F.G. Salusbereri reported that Greek rebels threatened to cut the vital road from Athens to the north at a point between Levadia, just 100 miles from Athens, and Lamia. The road was the only land supply artery between the Athenian military depots and the north, if it had been disrupted, new measures would have had to be taken for delivery by sea through the port of Vobos ^{[4, 2nd Jan. 1947]}. According to the journalist from reliable and impartial sources, the partisans made their way from the border areas into the heart of Greece. Their goal was both to convince the UN commission of inquiry that the civil war was exclusively an internal matter of Greece, there was no foreign support for the parties, and to distract Greek troops from the mountain ranges. It was impossible to estimate the number of partisans, according to F.G. Salusbury, the backbone of those who participated in the fighting in the north can be estimated at 6 thousand people and another 3 thousand people in the rest of the country. The partisans were well armed with rifled and automatic weapons of all kinds, as well as the heaviest weapons. Their military organization was improving. The Daily Herald cited as an example the excellent military equipment of the partisans and the ability to influence logistics routes, the course of military operations. The discussion around possible interference in the internal affairs of Greece could unfold in the UN Security Council ^{[4, 2nd Jan. 1947]}. 

The next publication that year on the Greek question was published in the Yorkshire Observer. It described the activities of British parliamentarians. Their delegation, consisting of representatives of different parties, after visiting Greece (August 1946) in January 1947, published a report with recommendations to use the return of the king to initiate the necessary new policy in the country and form a multi-party government there. The author cited lines from the report, according to which, the Greek people were distinguished by valor, and they deserved a happy, prosperous future, having suffered a lot in recent years. Greece, according to parliamentarians, could achieve this with the help of a wise domestic policy. Although, at the time of writing the report, they saw the country under threat of ruin, resorting to violence and refusing compromises and reconciliation. Also, British parliamentarians imagined the future Greek government to be multiparty, but without the extreme left. One of the recommendations in the report was the cancellation of a special decree on security, according to which some persons were deported to the islands for political reasons. Another proposal was the following: those who surrender their weapons by a certain date should be exempt from penalties for illegal possession of weapons. The authors of the report insisted on the withdrawal of British troops from Greece in the near future. The urgent need to develop a plan to get out of the situation after the termination of UN assistance at the end of 1946 was emphasized. The financial and economic intervention of Great Britain in Greek affairs was described. The economic situation in Greece was assessed as follows: "Most people live in extremely difficult conditions, retail prices are 150 times higher than the pre-war figure, the highest paid full-time official of the state, the chairman of the Supreme Court, receives a salary of about 400 pounds a year, there is an extensive black market in Athens and other cities." There was an urgent need to expand the powers of the mission to achieve success in Greece. The British economic mission has successfully done important work, and Greece, with the help of human and monetary resources, could become a country with a balanced budget and trade within ten years. However, the publication of this document was not without critical assessments. Thus, Deputy Vane stated that he underestimated the fact of close contact between Greek Communists and some leaders of the EAM (Greek National Liberation Front) with foreign countries that organized "left-wing bandits" and were preparing a large-scale revolutionary experiment ^{[6, 6th Jan. 1947]}.

The problems of Greece, British-Greek relations were examined in detail, and a hint was made about the urgent need for Athens to conduct a wise policy. The British parliamentarians cited in the report concrete proposals to improve the situation in the country, advocated the speedy withdrawal of foreign troops. The issues of security, economics and the reorganization of the civil service were reflected in the publications of the Yorkshire Observer ^{[6, 6th Jan. 1947; 11th Jan. 1947; 27th Mar. 1947]}.

The Daily Herald on January 8 carried the phrase in the headline: "Life is worthless when a Greek fights a Greek." The publication reflected expectations that the UN Security Council Commission would present a report on Greece's relations with its neighbors in the Balkans at the end of the month. It was cited as an example that it is almost impossible to get to the border mountainous areas where armed rebels received foreign support until spring, transport is not available for observers. However, the greatest difficulty was extracting the truth from the testimonies of the extreme right and the extreme left, as accusations of false propaganda were voiced on both sides.  The leader of the Greek Communists, Zahariadis, denied any accusations of support from foreign countries. However, British military information indicated that Zahariadis concealed some cases. The author of the Daily Herald wrote that "the cheapest thing in Greece today is human life." From east to west, about 8 thousand partisans fought in Thrace and Macedonia, of which 500, according to estimates, formed the core of the militants, periodically devastated the countryside. Some of them were communists, some were in favor of an autonomous Macedonia. However, they were all against the royalist central government. It was believed that they kept in touch with the headquarters of the KPG in Athens. The author turned to the problem of terrorism on the example of the northwest of Athens, an area that was constantly penetrated by armed gangs from the north of the country. I came to the conclusion that political terrorism persecuted residents of all villages in the surrounding mountains, there were frequent battles. Every night, plainclothes militants could break into the city, just to emphasize their promises that all troubles would stop if people joined them and overthrew the government ^{[4, 8th Jan. 1947]}.

Men who escaped from villages northwest of Lamia evaded conscription, they described partisans who did not speak Greek and wore "gray-blue" uniforms. They were probably Slavophones (Greek subjects from Macedonia and Thrace who spoke Slavic and Bugar languages). One of the Greek partisans said, almost certainly jokingly, that they were Russians. The author cited this situation in order to emphasize the difficulties that the UN Commission would face to verify the evidence. "The partisans were looking for recruits, sometimes resorting to threats and force. Their behavior is generally correct, and, apparently, is aimed at endearing people to themselves, indicating that paradise and freedom from strife await them only under communism," wrote the correspondent of the Daily Herald. The author considered this state of affairs to be the main horror of Greece at that time: "hatred in the icy wind that swept over the countryside, and a sidelong glance in the eyes of people" ^{[4, 8th Jan. 1947]}.

A vivid assessment of the situation in the country at the beginning of 1947 was given by a correspondent of the Yorkshire Observer: "The situation here is terrible from any point of view, civil war is raging in most of Greece. The guerrilla movement is now in Macedonia, Thrace, Epirus, Peloponnese and even on the islands." The journalist believed that this homegrown and spontaneous movement arose as a reaction to irresponsible right-wing and government terrorism. People had to spend the night in other people's houses, as during the German occupation ^{[6, 11th Jan. 1947]}.

The Daily Herald journalists have repeatedly raised the problem of evidence of the Balkan countries' aid to the Greek Communists, noted the high equipment of the rebels, as well as the authors of the Yorkshire Observer, skeptically mentioned the solution of all problems based on communist principles, described the situation as hatred in the air ^{[4, 2nd Jan. 1947, 8th Jan. 1947; 11, 6th Jan. 1947]}.

H.R.S. Phillipott, parliamentary correspondent of the Daily Herald, describing the debate in Parliament on the Greek question in February 1947. cited MP Warby's accusation that Britain was called to allocate money for "dark-skinned and tanned" Greece, it was refuted on March 14 by Minister of State E. McNeil in the House of Commons. The parliament considered additional assistance to Greece for another $19 million, and some members of parliament objected to this on the grounds that this action would support the right and contribute to mass killings. Warby went so far as to claim that the money was being used by the Greek government to prepare for the spring offensive against the partisans: "We are being asked to take sides and provide money to the country." McNeill asked the House of Commons to think about "ordinary Greeks" on whom, according to him, money would be spent. He believed that any Greek government, left or right, should have had the strength to maintain order. H.R.S. Phillipott wrote that injustice had taken place, but this did not mean that the whole of Greece was in turmoil. A deputy personally familiar with Greece expressed concern that for the British to leave and leave the country in the sphere of influence of the Soviet Union would be the worst alternative. Another option was that Greece could be completely transferred to the United States. And it would be a great tragedy. F.N. Baker believed that Greece should be under the supervision of the UN, this would be the only right decision ^{[4, 15th Mar. 1947]}.

The authors of the Daily Herald showed in sufficient detail the situation in Greece at the beginning of 1947, highlighted the positions of British parliamentarians, their not very different opinions, argued about whether financial assistance to this country was really needed, emphasizing the inaction of the Greek government.

The Yorkshire Observer newspaper published in mid-March 1947 a short review on the activities of British parliamentarians. So, they questioned the actions of the United States in Greece. Uncertainty about Washington's reliability was caused by a number of points: for example, whether the leaders of the United Kingdom knew about the real plans of the United States in this country, whether the Kingdom would support Truman's plan to finance the armed forces of Greece and Turkey, whether Washington would assume some of London's Mediterranean obligations. The USSR was not left without attention and the statements of its leaders about the hostility of the Truman plan. So, the American Republican senator Taft wondered about the danger of war with the USSR. The journalist in this article was called an analyst in quotation marks. He described Truman's speech as a "declaration of love to undemocratic countries" and a sign of hostility to the countries of Southeastern Europe. In the development of the assessment of Moscow's policy, the commentary of the Soviet official news agency is presented, where the Truman plan was designated as a "potential threat to peace." There were several comments on Britain in the commentary, the Swedish edition of Svenska Dagbladet was quoted about the "bankruptcy of the British Empire". And the Yugoslav communist newspaper Borba said that President Truman's speech was "an unconscionable violation of the UN Charter," and accused the United States of wanting to "enslave the Greek people, as well as other peoples of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East." It is noteworthy to add that the imperialists of the United States used the crisis of British imperialism in every way, depriving it of one position after another. According to Assistant Secretary of State Willard Thorpe, Greece would have received United States government employees in accordance with President Truman's plan to assist it ^{[6, 17 th Mar. 1947]}.

The authors of the Yorkshire Observer did not hide their surprise at the Truman doctrine, identified a number of issues in US-British relations, the interaction of countries in the Mediterranean. The journalists presented in detail the USSR's position on the document, the assessments of Soviet and Yugoslav journalists, without hiding their harsh formulations.

The Labour Daily Mirror devoted only seven publications to the Civil War in Greece during the conflict, three of them in 1947. The Truman doctrine is also reflected in the pages of this newspaper. In the publication of the end of March 1947, the words of the American president were quoted, describing the situation as a "Soviet war of nerves against Greece," emphasizing the hostile attitude of the USSR to the Greek government in force at that time and expressing the opinion that the Soviet Union was delaying the resolution of the Greek issue at the UN. Also, according to the American administration, only the presence of British troops in Greece kept Albania, Yugoslavia and Bulgaria from seizing some parts of the country. The newspaper made an assumption about the possibility of an early complete withdrawal of British troops ^{[7, 24thMar. 1947]}.

On the same days, the diplomatic correspondent of the Shanghai Observer transmitted information about Britain's aid of 40 million pounds, directed both to the needs of the Greek army and for civilian purposes. However, the journalist noted the position of the British government that it cannot continue to bear the burden of maintaining and equipping the Greek armed forces and maintaining the Greek economy. At the same time, negotiations continued with the American government on possible future aid to Greece. At the same time, Britain would have taken little part in further assistance. The Kingdom allocated 18 million pounds for the Greek army in 1946 and in the first half of 1947 Negotiations with Washington on the transfer of the main burden to Greece continued ^{[6, 27th Mar. 1947]}. 

Meanwhile, there have been changes in the ruling circles of Greece, they were not reflected in the British publications under consideration. On April 24, 1947, the government of D. Maximos came to power, replacing the government of K. Tsaldaris, who was unable to resist the partisans. The death of King Georgios on April 1 and the coronation of his brother Pavlos I, a resolute man, made certain adjustments to the balance of power in the highest echelons of power. The Greek government has begun the implementation of the military operation "Terminus", aimed against the partisans and aimed at encircling and destroying the Democratic Army of Greece (DAG) in the central part of the country ^[8].

In April 1947, a small note appeared in the Daily Mirror that large-scale fighting was expected by the Greek army, which surrounded numerous partisan forces in the Pindus Mountains. Government troops were advancing towards the enemy strongholds.  The government forces were represented by the liberators of the country ^{[7, 12th April 1947]}.

By mid-April, the plans of the leaders of the KKE had become significantly radicalized and consisted in the fact that the DAGH established in the country, "despite the difficulties, a people's democratic system and national independence" by giving Macedonia, the northern region, the role of a military-political springboard and declaring it a rebel state. The newspaper considered the presence of British troops in Greece an extremely important factor in deterring the enemy, its authors expressed hopes for successful negotiations with Washington, bearing in mind the division of spheres of responsibility in the country. The American-Greek agreement on aid to Greece, signed on June 20, 1947, was not reflected in the pages of the Daily Herald, Yorkshire Observer and Daily Mirror. It implied a payment of $300 million ^[9].

At the end of June 1947, the Yorkshire Observer published a note dedicated to the birthday of the UN Charter, signed two years earlier in San Francisco by fifty states. The functioning of the UN in its broadest aspects was disappointing. The author described the division of the world by different views of the West and the East. Examples of this clash were reflected in the report of the UN Commission on the Balkans. While the majority of the Commission members believed that Yugoslavia, Albania and Bulgaria were fomenting a guerrilla war in Greece, representatives of the USSR and Poland stated that the charges had not been proven, and that it was the Greek government that was responsible for the fact that the country was in a state of civil war ^{[6, 26th Jun. 1947]}.

In mid-1947, F.G. Salusbury wrote in the Daily Herald about the Greek government's declaration of open war between the KKE and the EAM: 2,500 Communists and sympathizers were arrested in Athens and Piraeus, including D. Parsalidis, the General Secretary of the EAM and his wife. The government claimed to have nipped in the bud the revolution in the country, which was supposed to begin the next day. Of course, this killed any hope of negotiations between the parties or compromise. The decision to launch such a strike was made at the highest level, by the Military Council. Among the information on which the government's actions were based was an alleged order from the headquarters of the partisan army addressed to the 14 ELAS battalions in Athens, ordering them to arm themselves and begin a "campaign of sabotage, murder and violation of civilian life at one o'clock in the morning on July 10." The average strength of these battalions ranged from 80 to 100 people. In its statement, the EAM condemned the government's actions as "monarcho-fascist oppression carried out with foreign tolerance"^{[4, 10th Jul. 1947]}.

Four days later, the Daily Herald continued to describe the Greek war. Units of the so-called "International Brigade" of Albanians entered Greece, according to the Greek government, there was a battle in Konitsa. All government troops in and around Athens were alerted on the afternoon of July 13 when news of the fighting reached the capital. It was reported that as part of the forces attacking Konitsa, a city with a population of about 1 thousand people in the valley of the Sarantaporos River, where fighting between partisans and government troops had been going on for two weeks, there were more than 2 thousand people. A communique published on July 13 in the evening by the press service of the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs said: "Greek bandits, including Albanians, invaded Greek territory from Albania this morning in the direction of Konitsa. The city is resisting. The invasion forces number more than 1 thousand people. According to accurate reports, there are large contingents in the Albanian territory near the border, including parts of the international brigade." Sources in Athens reported that these hostilities could be the first step towards the proclamation of a "provisional government under the leadership of communists." The Greek Government has asked the Balkan Sub-Commission to immediately conduct an on-site investigation. Meanwhile, the Greek High Command was transferring reinforcements to Konitsa, where the attack began on July 13 at dawn ^{[4, 14th Jul. 1947]}. The defeat of the DAG near Konitsa did not affect the optimistic tone of the forecasts of the Secretary General of the KPG N. Zahariadis ^[10]. A correspondent of the Daily Herald, describing active military operations in Greece, mentioned the possibility of creating a provisional communist government in the country ^{[4, 14th Jul. 1947]}.

A month later, the Yorkshire Observer published a note "Greece. The United States will ignore the Soviet veto", which highlighted the statement of the United States that they would find other measures to preserve the freedom of Greece, since it seemed that it was impossible to reach a compromise with the USSR at the UN. Moreover, there were more harsh statements from the United States, for example, the representative of the United States, Mr. H. Johnson accused communists all over the world of being responsible for the Greek problems. Johnson proposed a new UN resolution asking the Security Council to find Albania, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia guilty of supporting Greek partisans, which posed a threat to peace. The resolution called on these three Balkan countries to stop helping the partisans and ordered the United States Commission to monitor events. The UN Security Council postponed the debate on the Greek question until the next day ^{[6, 13thAug. 1947]}.

The demands of the Greek Prime Minister in the early autumn of 1947 were tough: the disarmament of the DAGH, the cessation of any insurgent activity. After these conditions were fulfilled, amnesty and reconciliation in the country were guaranteed. On September 9, 1947, the commander-in-chief of the Democratic Army of Greece, M. Vafiadis, refused to comply with the government's demands, but declared his readiness to participate in the government of "national reconciliation", consisting of all parties involved in the conflict. Thus, once again, but this time in a veiled form, the KKE's claims to power were declared. The next Plenum of the Central Committee of the KKE, held in September 1947, decided to create its own rebel government in the north of the country in Thessaloniki and expand the guerrilla struggle in order to inflict final defeat on the central government ^[10].

Deputy Prime Minister of Greece Tsaldaris claimed on September 29 that Albania, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia committed acts of aggression against Greece, while the UN was looking for a solution to the Balkan problem. He stated that representatives of the Soviet bloc did not deny sending aid to the Greek partisans and resorted to evasion and delaying tactics in an attempt to hush up the problem. Greece was ready to promise cooperation in the implementation of any recommendations that the Assembly could make, and believed that a similar promise should be demanded from its northern neighbors, and the assistance that Greece received from the United States and Great Britain in no way threatened Greece's independence, as the USSR claimed. And Greece could refute M. Vyshinsky's accusations that the Greek government was trying to "provoke a new war between East and West." The Yorkshire Observer article noted that the French representative to the UN AND. Delbos proposed to the United States to change its resolution on Greece: to avoid any direct accusations of Albania, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia in helping the Greek partisans. E. McNeil, the British representative, in turn, called on the UN to take "immediate measures" in support of the United States resolution. In the document, after the statement about the support of Albania, Yugoslavia and Bulgaria for the rebels fighting against the Greek government, and the demands to them to refrain from further actions of this kind, they urged these states and official Greece to settle the dispute by peaceful means ^{[6, 30thSep. 1947]}.

Another article in this newspaper (30.09.1947) touched upon Soviet-American relations in connection with the Greek issue. Thus, the protest of the United States against the "gratuitously slanderous" personal attacks on President Truman in the Literary Gazette was rejected by the Kremlin, the US State Department said. On September 29, the Department published an exchange of letters between Bedell Smith, the United States envoy to Moscow, and M. Molotov, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR. The American diplomat noted that although Smith's letter to M. Molotov dated September 25 was handed over to the foreign press on September 27, it was not published outside of Russia, which indicated its complete secrecy. Mr. Smith wrote to M. Molotov that during his 18-month stay in Russia, he was forced to witness a growing stream of "half-truths, distortions and absolute lies in the Soviet press about the United States and its government." He tried not to pay attention to this "inflammatory" campaign, but Gorbatov's article in Literaturnaya Gazeta could not pass without a strong protest because of its "shocking nature".: "I cannot believe that Gorbatov's article reflects the opinion of the Soviet government, and therefore I ask you to officially declare your disagreement with it, and if, contrary to my belief, it has received the approval of the Soviet government, I would be grateful for a statement in this regard." However, M. Molotov, refusing to accept the protest, said that it was impossible to enter into a discussion with Smith on Gorbatov's article, since the Soviet government could not be held responsible for it ^{[6, 30th Sep. 1947]}.

In November 1947, the British press again raised the question of the intervention of Albania, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia in the internal affairs of Greece by providing assistance to pro-communist forces. It is noteworthy that the Soviet representatives did not deny this fact. The British accused the Soviet Union of distorting information about the internal situation in Greece. The attention of the British Foreign Office was drawn to the information about the atrocities on the Greek front in a Daily Mirror article (November 10) under the heading "What we Brits are doing". The newspaper published photos of Greek soldiers in British military uniforms riding horses carrying the heads of Greek partisans ^{[7, 10th Nov. 1947]}. This publication undoubtedly caused strong emotions of readers in the information field of Britain, no matter what forces they sympathized with in the Greek civil war.

Thus, The Times, The Daily Herald and The Yorkshire Observer, being publications of different directions, "neutral", Labor and liberal, respectively, at the central and regional level addressed the problems of the civil war in Greece at its initial stage. The Times tried, without expressing sympathy, to first submit information in a statement-event form. However, as events unfolded in Greece, it was not possible to get away from anti-Soviet sentiments. The Daily Mirror casually touched on the Greek issue. The authors of the Daily Mirror considered the presence of British troops in Greece to be extremely necessary. The role of the UN in regulating the military conflict was also analyzed.

The Daily Herald raised the problem of having strong arguments in favor of the thesis about the support of the Balkan countries for the partisans of Greece, the attitude of the UN to this issue, discussed the topic of Britain's financial assistance to Greece and the lack of initiative of the government of this country. Correspondents of the Daily Herald described the military operations in Greece, noting the excellent equipment and training of the partisans.

The Yorkshire Observer considered the security problems of the Greek population, food shortages, lack of housing, inability to peacefully express their point of view. This publication also reflected the views of British parliamentarians on the Greek issue, their discussions and proposals. The response to the Truman plan is shown, the journalistic community of this publication raised a number of questions about American-British, American-Soviet relations, the balance of power in the Balkans and Eastern Europe.

In fact, the newspapers in question, except for The Times, did not reflect the changes in the ruling circles of Greece at the initial stage of the civil war. The activities of KPG and DAG are covered in passing. In the international aspect, special attention of these publications was paid to the discussion of the Greek issue at the UN and the role played by the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Balkan countries in this country.

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