to play a resistance role early on than were other groups. Moreover, heir authoritarian and "cellular" internal structure lent itself to effective guerilla occupation under Nazi occupation. This gave the Communists a headstart in organization over other guerilla movements (O'Ballance, 1966: 49). Moreover, as early as 1935, the Greek Communists had moved to organize a "united front" with more moderate elements of the Left, which they were thus able to dominate.
By 1943 44, the German position in the Balkans was beginning to weaken. The British now were in uncontested control of the Mediterranean. The Western Allies were moving up the Italian peninsula. To the north, the Soviets were advancing against the retreating Wehrmacht. As German supply lines in Greece were threatened, the resistance became more active. The bulk of this was organized by the Communists and their leftist popular front allies as the ELAS, or National Popular Liberation Army. More conservative resistance elements, unwilling to operate under Communist auspices,
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