Guerrilla Warfare in the Arta Region (Epirus-Greece) During World War II. The Local Dimensions of Occupation and Civil War

In this paper we examine the role of history and geography in the “Greek entanglement†of the 1940s and in the insurgencies of the period with regards to the development of armed resistance groups in the region of Arta, in Western Greece, during World War II. The Greek “andartiko†i.e. guerrilla movement against the Axis forces (1941-44) was in fact based in a long established tradition of violence, in local and family ties and in certain networks of power (found mostly in the mountainous regions of the country). From this point of view counter-insurgency policies that were adopted by the Germans were based on the assumption that the social base of the insurgents was the typical mountain community (chorio). It was not an easy task fighting andartes under these conditions. The condition of war lasted almost an entire decade and the experience of andartiko and the ensuing civil war between the two main Resistance organizations (EAM-ELAS and EDES) transformed ultimately the region of Arta and Greek society in an unprecedented way. The paper is based on extensive research in the field, in local archives and in books amd articles about the period.