Greek–Yugoslav confederation

Map of the British backed "Balkan Union", with pre-World War II borders on the left, and post-World War II borders on the right.

Initial "Greek-Yugoslav confederation" (step 1)

Expansion of confederation into "Balkan Union" (step 2)

Final stage of expansion, a union of the "Balkan Union" and an expanded "Polish–Czechoslovak confederation" that includes Hungary. (step 3)

Greek-Yugoslav (con)federation^[a] or Balkan Union was a political concept during World War II, sponsored by the United Kingdom, and involving the Yugoslav government-in-exile and Greek government-in-exile. The two governments signed an agreement pushing the proposal ahead, but it never got beyond the planning stage, due to opposition from within certain factions of the Yugoslav and Greek governments, and the real world events (primarily the opposition from the Soviet Union). The proposal envisioned the creation of a confederation of Greece and Yugoslavia.

Background

Greece and Yugoslavia were occupied by Nazi Germany, and formed governments-in-exile in London.^[1]

Establishment of this union was the first step of the British "Eden plan". Its final aim was to create a central-eastern union friendly to the west. The next step was to include Albania, Bulgaria and Romania into a Balkan Union. The last step was planned to be folding of the Balkan Union with a central European federation formed by Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Poland.^[2] The first step was restricted to only Yugoslavia and Greece because those were the only countries that supported the Allies.^[3]

Agreement

The Greek and Yugoslav governments-in-exile negotiated the conditions of the agreement until the end of 1941. The agreement was signed by Slobodan Jovanović and Emmanouil Tsouderos^[4] on the ceremony held in British Foreign Office, presided by the British minister of foreign affairs Anthony Eden. It was explicitly stated in the agreement that both Yugoslav and Greek governments looked forward to accede other countries of the Balkans to the Union.,^[5] quoted in Wheeler (1980, pp. 157–8) Although caution was advised with revealing the hope that Bulgaria and Romania would join this union, on 4 February 1942 Eden stated in the House of Commons that the treaty signed between Yugoslavia and Greece was definitively going to be a basis for the establishment of the Balkan confederation.^[5]

Union

The Greek-Yugoslav Confederation was to have been a first step toward a larger Balkan Union, which would also have included Albania, Romania and Bulgaria.^[1] Encouraged by the British Foreign Office, together with the Polish-Czechoslovak confederation, they were to form a West-aligned organization of states between Germany and the Soviet Union.^[1]^[6]^[7] The Greek and Yugoslavian governments-in-exile signed an agreement on January 1942 in which they agreed to form a political, economic and military union, with the motto "The Balkans for the Balkan People".^[1] Their governments would not be unified, but there would be much coordination between their respective parliaments and executives. Their respective monarchies were to be unified with the marriage of King Peter of Yugoslavia to Princess Alexandra of Greece.^[1] The union was to be finalized after the war.^[1]

The marriage of Peter and Alexandra proved to be a problematic move, and reduced support for the union from their respective governments-in-exile.^[1] On the international scene, the confederation was received favorably by Turkey, but opposed by the Soviet Union, as Joseph Stalin saw no need for a strong and independent federation in Europe that could threaten his designs to expand the Soviet sphere of influence to East and Central Europe.^[1]^[8]^[9]^[10] In 1942 British government decided to support Josip Broz Tito's forces instead of the Chetniks in Yugoslavia and rejected the Eden plan as unworkable.^[11] In 1944 the British withdrew their recognition for the Royal Yugoslav government, and recognized the communist Yugoslav National Committee of Liberation of Ivan Subasic, subordinate to Tito.^[1] As the war ended, Yugoslavia shifted towards the communist camp, and Greece suffered from a civil war.^[1] With little support for the confederation from any existing powers, it was never realized, although it was briefly entertained in the form of a communist federation by some regional communist leaders shortly after the war.^[12]

Alternative plans

By the end of 1944 Yugoslav Communist Party began the development of alternative plans for establishment of a Balkan Federation. Because Churchill and Stalin agreed that Greece would be in the Western sphere of influence such plans had to exclude Greece.^[13]

Notes

a ^{^} As the details of the planned union were never finalized, it is not clear whether it would be a federation or a confederation. Sources use both the term "Greek-Yugoslav federation" and the term "Greek-Yugoslav confederation".

References

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Jonathan Levy (6 June 2007). The Intermarium: Wilson, Madison, & East Central European Federalism. Universal-Publishers. pp. 203–205. ISBN 978-1-58112-369-2. Retrieved 12 August 2011.
↑ Levy 2007, p. 203.
↑ Cahiers de Bruges, n.s. College d'Europe. 1971. p. 69. Retrieved 12 January 2014. Only two countries, Yugoslavia and Greece, were in the Allied camp, which explains why practical plans of a regional Balkan confederation had to be restricted to them. As mentioned earlier, in January 1942 the Greek and Yugoslav
↑ Hidryma Meletōn Chersonēsou tou Haimou. Institute for Balkan Studies. 1964. p. 111. Retrieved 12 January 2014. Negotiations lasting until the end of 1941 led to the conclusion of an agreement, signed on January 15, 1942, by Prime Ministers Tsouderos and Slobodan Jovanovid, concerning the establishment of a Balkan Union whose primary
1 2 Kelly 2004, p. 132.
↑ Klaus Larres (2002). Churchill's Cold War: the politics of personal diplomacy. Yale University Press. p. 58. ISBN 978-0-300-09438-1. Retrieved 12 August 2011.
↑ Antoine Capet; Aïssatou Sy-Wonyu (2003). The "Special Relationship". Publication Univ Rouen Havre. p. 30. ISBN 978-2-87775-341-8. Retrieved 12 August 2011.
↑ Jonathan Levy (6 June 2007). The Intermarium: Wilson, Madison, & East Central European Federalism. Universal-Publishers. p. 201. ISBN 978-1-58112-369-2. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
↑ Walter Lipgens (1985). Documents on the history of European integration: Plans for European union in Great Britain and in exile, 1939–1945 (including 107 documents in their original languages on 3 microfiches). Walter de Gruyter. p. 648. ISBN 978-3-11-009724-5. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
↑ Klaus Larres (2002). Churchill's Cold War: the politics of personal diplomacy. Yale University Press. pp. 64–65. ISBN 978-0-300-09438-1. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
↑ Kola 2003, p. 84.
↑ Geoffrey Roberts (2006). Stalin's wars: from World War to Cold War, 1939–1953. Yale University Press. p. 348. ISBN 978-0-300-11204-7. Retrieved 12 August 2011.
↑ Kola 2003, p. 85.

Sources

Briggs, A.; Meyer, E.; Thomson, David (2013). Patterns of Peacemaking. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-136-23257-2. Retrieved 12 January 2014.
Kelly, George (2004). The Psychology of Personal Constructs: Volume One: Theory and Personality. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-48878-0. Retrieved 12 January 2014.
Kola, Paulin (2003). The Search for Greater Albania. C. Hurst & Co. Publishers. ISBN 978-1-85065-596-1. Retrieved 12 January 2014.
Levy, Jonathan (2007). The Intermarium: Wilson, Madison, and East Central European Federalism. Universal-Publishers. ISBN 978-1-58112-369-2. Retrieved 12 January 2014.
Wheeler, Mark C. (1980). Britain and the war for Yugoslavia, 1940-1943. East European Monographs. ISBN 978-0-914710-57-8.

Greece during World War II

1940–41 Balkan Campaign	Occupation and Resistance		Greek government-in-exile

Greco-Italian War Battles Pindus Elaia–Kalamas Korytsa/Korcë Saranda Morava–Ivan Himara Klisura Pass Trebeshina Italian Spring Offensive Hill 731 Commanders Greece Ioannis Metaxas Alexander Papagos Charalambos Katsimitros Konstantinos Davakis Ioannis Pitsikas Dimitrios Papadopoulos Georgios Kosmas Italy Benito Mussolini Sebastiano Visconti Prasca Ubaldo Soddu Ugo Cavallero Carlo Geloso German invasion Battles Metaxas Line Vevi Kleisoura Pass Thermopylae Crete Commanders Greece Alexander Papagos Georgios Tsolakoglou British Empire & Commonwealth Henry Maitland Wilson Thomas Blamey Bernard Freyberg Germany Wilhelm List Kurt Student	Occupying powers Authorities/People Germany Günther Altenburg Hermann Neubacher Walter Schimana Alexander Löhr Hellmuth Felmy Friedrich-Wilhelm Müller Alexander Andrae Bruno Bräuer Max Merten Italy Angelico Carta Pellegrino Ghigi Carlo Geloso Piero Parini Bulgaria Andon Kalchev Atrocities Kondomari Kandanos Alikianos Doxato Kommeno Kalavryta Lyngiades Distomo Domenikon Drakeia Cephalonia Mesovouno Pyrgoi Viannos Kedros Kleisoura Haidari concentration camp 200 of Kaisariani Chortiatis The Holocaust in Greece Great Famine Collaborators People Georgios Tsolakoglou K. Logothetopoulos Ioannis Rallis Georgios Poulos George S. Mercouris Ioannis Plytzanopoulos Sotirios Gotzamanis Organizations Collaborationist government Security Battalions ESPO EEE Greek National Socialist Party Secessionists Vlach "Roman Legion" Ohrana Cham collaboration (Këshilla) Atrocities Paramythia Kaisariani Kokkinia	National Liberation Front (EAM) People Aris Velouchiotis Stefanos Sarafis Andreas Tzimas Georgios Siantos Alexandros Svolos Ilias Tsirimokos Markos Vafiades Organizations KKE SKE ELD ELAS ELAN EPON PEEA & National Council E.A. OPLA SNOF Operations Drama Uprising Ryka Mikro Chorio Gorgopotamos Bridge Fardykambos Sarantaporo Porta Pinerolo disarmament Steiri Agorelitsa Atrocities Feneos 5/42 dissolution Meligalas Non-EAM Resistance People Napoleon Zervas Georgios Kartalis Dimitrios Psarros Komninos Pyromaglou Kostas Perrikos Vasileios Sachinis Georgios Petrakis Organizations EDES EKKA YVE/PAO PEAN EOK E.S. MAVI Other Operations ESPO bombing Gorgopotamos Bridge Agia Kyriaki Milia Skala Paramythias Xirovouni Menina Dodona Atrocities Expulsion of Cham Albanians British Mission in Greece (SOE) People Eddie Myers Chris Woodhouse Patrick Leigh Fermor Bill Stanley Moss Jerzy Iwanow-Szajnowicz Operations Operation "Albumen" Gorgopotamos Bridge Operation "Animals" Asopos Bridge Kidnap of Heinrich Kreipe Damasta sabotage	Events El Alamein Dodecanese Campaign April 1944 mutiny Battle of Rimini People King George II Emmanouil Tsouderos Sofoklis Venizelos Panagiotis Kanellopoulos Thrasyvoulos Tsakalotos Pafsanias Katsotas Notable units 3rd Mountain Brigade Sacred Band Vasilissa Olga Adrias Katsonis Papanikolis 13th Squadron 335th Squadron 336th Squadron Toward the Civil War Events National Bands Agreement Plaka agreement Lebanon conference Caserta agreement Percentages agreement Dekemvriana Treaty of Varkiza People Georgios Papandreou Ronald Scobie Archbishop Damaskinos Georgios Grivas Angelos Evert Nikos Zachariadis

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