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Το μήλον της έριδος: Ελλαδα: Η ταραγμενη δεκαετια [1940-1949]
Ο Κρίστοφερ Μ. Γουντχάουζ ήταν είκοσι δύο ετών όταν ξέσπασε ο Β' Παγκόσμιος Πόλεμος. Κατατάχθηκε στο Βασιλικό Πυροβολικό της Βρετανίας τον Οκτώβριο του 1939 και μέχρι το 1944 έφτασε στον βαθμό του συνταγματάρχη. Στην Ελλάδα κατέφθασε για πρώτη φορά ως αξιωματικός της Βρετανικής Στρατιωτικής Αποστολής και συμμετείχε στις επιχειρήσεις που έγιναν μέχρι την εκκένωση της Κρήτης την άνοιξη του 1941. Από την Κρήτη έφυγε μαζί με τον διοικητή του, τον ταξίαρχο Έντι Μάγερς, για τη Στερεά Ελλάδα. Στις 25 Νοεμβρίου 1942 από κοινού με μέλη της Βρετανικής Στρατιωτικής Αποστολής και άνδρες του Άρη Βελουχιώτη και του Ναπολέοντα Ζέρβα ανατίναξαν τη γέφυρα του Γοργοπόταμου, μια ενέργεια που θεωρήθηκε από τις σημαντικότερες αντιστασιακές πράξεις του Β' Παγκοσμίου Πολέμου.
Ο Γουντχάουζ ως γνώστης της ελληνικής ανέπτυξε εκτεταμένη δραστηριότητα στην Ελλάδα, ερχόμενος σε επαφή με πολλούς από τους πρωταγωνιστές των εξελίξεων και διαμορφώνοντας από πρώτο χέρι άποψη για τα γεγονότα και τα κρίσιμα περιστατικά που σημάδεψαν την ιστορία της χώρας. Το 1948, και ενώ μαινόταν ο εμφύλιος πόλεμος, εξέδωσε στα αγγλικά το βιβλίο του "Το μήλον της έριδος", το οποίο έμελλε έκτοτε να αποτελέσει σημείο αναφοράς. Επτά δεκαετίες αργότερα, το βιβλίο παραμένει εξαιρετικά ενδιαφέρον. Από το καθεστώς της 4ης Αυγούστου, το ηρωικό έπος της Αλβανίας, τη γερμανική κατοχή, τις αντιστασιακές οργανώσεις και τη Διάσκεψη του Λιβάνου μέχρι την απελευθέρωση, τα Δεκεμβριανά και όλα όσα οδήγησαν στον αιματηρό εμφύλιο, ο συγγραφέας περιγράφει με λεπτομέρειες τα κρίσιμα για την Ελλάδα γεγονότα μιας ταραχώδους δεκαετίας τις συνέπειες των οποίων διαπιστώνουμε μέχρι σήμερα. (Από την παρουσίαση στο οπισθόφυλλο του βιβλίου)
Ο Γουντχάουζ ως γνώστης της ελληνικής ανέπτυξε εκτεταμένη δραστηριότητα στην Ελλάδα, ερχόμενος σε επαφή με πολλούς από τους πρωταγωνιστές των εξελίξεων και διαμορφώνοντας από πρώτο χέρι άποψη για τα γεγονότα και τα κρίσιμα περιστατικά που σημάδεψαν την ιστορία της χώρας. Το 1948, και ενώ μαινόταν ο εμφύλιος πόλεμος, εξέδωσε στα αγγλικά το βιβλίο του "Το μήλον της έριδος", το οποίο έμελλε έκτοτε να αποτελέσει σημείο αναφοράς. Επτά δεκαετίες αργότερα, το βιβλίο παραμένει εξαιρετικά ενδιαφέρον. Από το καθεστώς της 4ης Αυγούστου, το ηρωικό έπος της Αλβανίας, τη γερμανική κατοχή, τις αντιστασιακές οργανώσεις και τη Διάσκεψη του Λιβάνου μέχρι την απελευθέρωση, τα Δεκεμβριανά και όλα όσα οδήγησαν στον αιματηρό εμφύλιο, ο συγγραφέας περιγράφει με λεπτομέρειες τα κρίσιμα για την Ελλάδα γεγονότα μιας ταραχώδους δεκαετίας τις συνέπειες των οποίων διαπιστώνουμε μέχρι σήμερα. (Από την παρουσίαση στο οπισθόφυλλο του βιβλίου)
464 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1948
4 people are currently reading
72 people want to read
About the author
C.M. Woodhouse
24 books33 followersChristopher Montague "Monty" Woodhouse, 5th Baron Terrington, DSO, OBE (11 May 1917 – 13 February 2001) was a British Conservative politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Oxford from 1959 to 1966 and again from 1970 to 1974. He was also a visiting Fellow at Nuffield College, Oxford, from 1956 to 1964.
Terrington was an expert on Greek affairs after he first got involved with the resistance forces in Greece against the Germans during World War II, and then having served in the British Embassy.
Terrington was an expert on Greek affairs after he first got involved with the resistance forces in Greece against the Germans during World War II, and then having served in the British Embassy.
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September 26, 2024Ένα από τα πιο ενδιαφέροντα βιβλία για την τραγική για την Ελλάδα δεκαετία '40-'49, μια πλήρης πολιτική ανάλυση που απαντά πολλά ερωτήματα για τις απαρχές αλλά και την εξέλιξη των θεμάτων που οδήγησαν στον Εμφύλιο, για μένα είναι μια βάση απαραίτητη για την κατανόηση της εποχής και των δυνάμεων που πρωταγωνίστησαν.
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February 25, 2020
Even though, in C.M. Woodhouse’s own words, this book “does not approach the dignity of history”, it nevertheless constitutes a very thorough and systematic examination of Greek history from 1941 until 1947, that is during the German occupation and the civil war that followed. During that time, CMW served in Greece as Military Liaison Officer and eventually as Commander of the Allied Military Mission and therefore had first-hand knowledge for the events he recounts.
After a conveniently detailed introduction in which he explains the situation that prevailed in Greece at the outbreak of WWII and introduces the dramatis personae, CMW sets out to expose the sequence of events during the period under examination.
CMW describes himself as a “philhellene” but it is obvious that his love and understanding of things Greek do not blind him to their shortcomings (“The chief impediment to Greek political stability is the Greek politician”). He is equally not ignorant of the shortcomings of the main foreign power during that period in Greece, namely Great Britain (“The tragedy was not that the policy was not implemented but that there was no policy”). Although he is resolutely against the main resistance organization, the communist-controlled EAM/ELAS, one feels that his is not the rabid anti-communism of, say, the Americans but rather his distaste for the expansionist vision of the URSS and their refusal to play fairly. One can sense his sense of even-handedness from his less than flattering description of the EDES center-right resistance organization and of the “thugs” and “bandits” of the extreme right Security Brigades and Grivas’s “X” organization. On the other hand, after explaining that, before the war, “there have been Greek statesmen, but there had been no Greek state”, he recognizes that “EAM/ELAS […] gave […] the country things that it had never known before. […] [It] set the pace in the creation of something that Governments of Greece had neglected; an organized state in the Greek mountains.”
Prophetic reading of any book is a notoriously dangerous exercise. One, however, cannot but be impressed by the clear-sightedness concerning a future federal organization of the Balkans (for slightly different reasons, it happened in Western Europe but CMW’s argument holds), the future relation between Britain and the United States which “would resemble that between Austria and Germany’s Third Reich”, the impeding “religious wars” between capitalism and communism in which the Kremlin, like the Vatican before it, could “carry the parallel to the point of war on its own fellow-worshippers”.
I grew up in Greece at a time when the official narrative was the brutal and fanatical anticommunism described in this book whereas the unofficial, clandestine picture was the sanctification of EAM/ELAS. How refreshing, after all these years, to come across a book that presents in a clear-sighted way that troubled period of my youth.
A couple of (really) minor complaints: Although they are explained in the Introduction, an alphabetical index of the acronyms and abbreviations liberally used throughout the book would have been useful. Also, a map of Greece would help readers with a limited knowledge of Greek geography.
After a conveniently detailed introduction in which he explains the situation that prevailed in Greece at the outbreak of WWII and introduces the dramatis personae, CMW sets out to expose the sequence of events during the period under examination.
CMW describes himself as a “philhellene” but it is obvious that his love and understanding of things Greek do not blind him to their shortcomings (“The chief impediment to Greek political stability is the Greek politician”). He is equally not ignorant of the shortcomings of the main foreign power during that period in Greece, namely Great Britain (“The tragedy was not that the policy was not implemented but that there was no policy”). Although he is resolutely against the main resistance organization, the communist-controlled EAM/ELAS, one feels that his is not the rabid anti-communism of, say, the Americans but rather his distaste for the expansionist vision of the URSS and their refusal to play fairly. One can sense his sense of even-handedness from his less than flattering description of the EDES center-right resistance organization and of the “thugs” and “bandits” of the extreme right Security Brigades and Grivas’s “X” organization. On the other hand, after explaining that, before the war, “there have been Greek statesmen, but there had been no Greek state”, he recognizes that “EAM/ELAS […] gave […] the country things that it had never known before. […] [It] set the pace in the creation of something that Governments of Greece had neglected; an organized state in the Greek mountains.”
Prophetic reading of any book is a notoriously dangerous exercise. One, however, cannot but be impressed by the clear-sightedness concerning a future federal organization of the Balkans (for slightly different reasons, it happened in Western Europe but CMW’s argument holds), the future relation between Britain and the United States which “would resemble that between Austria and Germany’s Third Reich”, the impeding “religious wars” between capitalism and communism in which the Kremlin, like the Vatican before it, could “carry the parallel to the point of war on its own fellow-worshippers”.
I grew up in Greece at a time when the official narrative was the brutal and fanatical anticommunism described in this book whereas the unofficial, clandestine picture was the sanctification of EAM/ELAS. How refreshing, after all these years, to come across a book that presents in a clear-sighted way that troubled period of my youth.
A couple of (really) minor complaints: Although they are explained in the Introduction, an alphabetical index of the acronyms and abbreviations liberally used throughout the book would have been useful. Also, a map of Greece would help readers with a limited knowledge of Greek geography.
October 10, 2024
Boy, was this intriguing.
Woodhouse isn't a bad guy. He clearly tried very hard to understand Greece, was extremely knowledgeable on the historical and political progress of the 1940s, and was, undoubtedly, a philhellene. But he was also a classicist, who excused the behaviour of the British in Greece as entirely "well-meaning" and "beneficent", when, flatly, one cannot call it that. Of course, perhaps this can be partially put down to the fact of the secrecy of Churchill's actions surrounding Greece, most notorious of which is the Percentages Agreement with Stalin, but I'm not sure. I'm not sure I can court someone in my own discipline who, like so many, seems to fail to see the Greeks as anything other than a Type.
Woodhouse isn't a bad guy. He clearly tried very hard to understand Greece, was extremely knowledgeable on the historical and political progress of the 1940s, and was, undoubtedly, a philhellene. But he was also a classicist, who excused the behaviour of the British in Greece as entirely "well-meaning" and "beneficent", when, flatly, one cannot call it that. Of course, perhaps this can be partially put down to the fact of the secrecy of Churchill's actions surrounding Greece, most notorious of which is the Percentages Agreement with Stalin, but I'm not sure. I'm not sure I can court someone in my own discipline who, like so many, seems to fail to see the Greeks as anything other than a Type.
November 7, 2022
Ο Γκουντχάους αγάπησε πολύ την Ελλάδα και προσέφερε πολλά κατά τη διάρκεια της Κατοχής με αποκορύφωμα την ανατίναξη της γέφυρας του Γοργοποτάμου. Οι γνώσεις του για τους πολιτικούς, τους απλούς ανθρώπους, τους αντιστασιακούς, τους εξόριστους, τους συνεργάτες κλπ είναι εντυπωσιακές και μαρτυρούν έναν άνθρωπο που αφιέρωσε σημαντικό κομμάτι της ζωής του στην Ελλάδα - για αυτό λέγεται πως πριν πεθάνει το 2001 ζήτησε από την κόρη του να του διαβάσει ένα ποίημα του Λόρδου Βύρωνα (''Τα νησιά της Ελλάδας''). Θα ήθελα πάντως να επισημάνω πως ο τρόπος γραφής είναι κουραστικός και η ροή του βιβλίου δεν ομαλή, τουλάχιστον κατά την προσωπική μου γνώμη.
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