For a full, exhaustive, but nonetheless brief account of political contingencies at this time, the detrimental role played by the British Foreign Office and Winston Churchill, personally, and the circumstances that led to the involvement of the United States Department of State and the Truman Doctrine, see Gitlin 1967. Gitlin's more recent and very problematic positions toward not only the role of armed struggle in the context of parliamentary democracy but also the war in Iraq do not (should not) obscure the clarity with which he approached the issue of foreign involvement in Greece between 1941 and 1949, or his positions on the war in Vietnam.
- Chapter 3. 1944–1945: The Battle of Athens
- » Amputated Bodies… Broken Statues, etc. etc.
On December 6, under Scobie's orders, British aircraft bombed Metz, a poor neighborhood by the palace, resulting in numerous civilian casualties. Even after that, McNeill mentions that the Communist leader, Siantos, was “relatively conciliatory.” By December 12, ELAS had gained control of most of Athens and Piraeus. The British, outnumbered, flew in the Fourth Infantry Division from Italy as reinforcements. During the battle with ELAS, “X” fought alongside the British, triggering an open confrontation throughout the greater Athens area. The conflict did not spill over to the rest of the country. It remained an Athenian affair, and it continued through December (hence the term Dekemvrianá), with the British gaining the upper hand at the end.
The outbreak of fighting between the British army and the Resistance groups, while the war was still being fought outside of Greece, created a serious political problem for Churchill and his coalition government, causing much protest in the British and American press and in the House of Commons. To prove himself the peace-maker he wanted to be thought to be, Churchill arrived in Athens on December 25 and presided over a conference to arrive at a settlement, with the participation of Soviet representatives. EAM asked for an appointment with him, but he refused to meet with them. EAM then demanded full participation as a political force in the government, a demand that was considered excessive by the British and was summarily rejected.
This was the first time that Athens had been bombed. Athens was never bombed by the Germans, presumably out of concern for its antiquities, or so the legend goes, although Piraeus was bombed repeatedly and catastrophically.