Mark Mazower (ed.) After the War Was Over, 2000

After the War Was Over

1'KlNC:ETON M O D E R N GIIEEK STUDIES This serles is sponsol-ed by the Princeton University Prograul in Hellenic Studies under thc auspices of the Stanley J. Seeger I lellenic Fund. 1:ircwalking and Religious Healing: The Anastenaria of Greece and the Amer~can Firewalking hlovenier~tb y Lornrg A4. l l a n f o r f h

RECONSTRUCTING THE FAMILY, N A T I O N , A N D STATE

1)ance and the IJocly I'olitic in Northern Greece b y Jarre K. Cor48all Yannis Ritsos: Repetitions, Testimonies, Parentheses edrted artci trarzsla~edb y Ecllnrrtrtl Keclcy Contested Iclentitics: Gentler and Kinship in Modern (;reece edited by Peter. Loizos o l d Evthyrtlius I'i~pcitnsinrcbis

A I'lace in Ilistury: Social and Monumental 7i1ne in a Cretan Town

/73?

Micl~oelH ~ r i f e l t i

I N GREECE, 1943-1960

Mark Mazower, Editor

Lle~nonsdud tllc Devil: Moral Imagination in Modern Greek Culture b y Chorlcs Steruort The Enlightenment as Social rofcsso~-s \v110 had left i\thcns during 1944 t o join PItllh (I'olitiki l i ~ i t l - o f 7fit/~rzikis 1 A l ~ r ~ l r f t l ~ e r o sI'olitical is, Cornlriittcc for National I.il)e~-ation)in the mo~tntains."' It is w o r t h noting that t\vo of these llad I ~ c c o n ~rllinistcrs c in tlie wartime C;overnmcnt of National I!rlily; they werc highly rcsl~ectedacademics, and niost were sociulists. Otily n ~ o n t h seal-licr, the govel-n~cnthat1 officially restored the EAM l>r-ofesso~-s t o their chairs in appreciation of their participatiori in the ~rc.sista~lce." \While thc Scnatc ancl thc genet-a1 meeting of the professors concentl-atctl their \v~-ath0 1 1 tlie EAM professors, they wet-c exceedingly relt~ctant t o ;mist the Ministry of Erlt~catiotli r t its attcrnpt to purge the fac~ ~ l tofy acatle~nicstaff appointee1 d ~ ~ r i nthe g occupation. It was only attcr the Minister of Fducatioll (until rcce~ltlythe vice-I-ectol-of the Univet-sity of Athens) personally interfered that the Senate fornled a conl~ n i t t c ct o look into the matter. At the encl o f June 194.5, the Senate ~ x ~ s t p any ~ ~ eclccision d o n this issue, as none of the university f;lc~rltics llacl a1is'11:crcd tlie docunlclits the Millistry of E d ~ ~ c a t i oli;~cl n sent thctll. This sequence of events showed tliat the delay in complying witli the rlli~iistcr'sinstructions - far from heing another example of burea~~cl-atic iucrtia - was based o n clelil~eratecalculations of i~lstitutionaland indiviclual self-interest. A few days later a law abolishing all posts cstahlished in the pulIlic sector during the occupation took care t o exclude the u~iiversitpprofessors, along with other selectively choscri functional-ics, fro111 its i~nplcmcntation.'L T h e case of the sacked E A M professors d e ~ n o n s t r a t e sa Inore general phenomcnoll, \vhich large sections of the Greek society experiencecl within a vcl-y short time-nn~nely, a n allrtlpt and total reversal of the political situation. Its long-term I-epcrcussions were not discer~~illle at tllc time. T h e hal-shness of the occupation a n d the several forms of resistance ng;~instit wcrc cornhincd in the collcctivc rnclnory of the Greek pul~licwitli a n optil~listllthat, having survived this ordeal, better days undol11,teclly lay ahead. At t l ~ csame time, however, it w a s 1,ccoming increasingly evident that the governnierlt, apart fl-on1 its inal3ility t o face the clcspcratc ecouornic situation, was unable to carry o u t its promise rcg;irding a n issue th:lt ciirectly affected the self-respect and dignity of a ~ x ~ ) pw l ch o had suffered greatly. As has already been mentioned, the purge of the ~ ~ ~ i i v c r s i twi cass atte~npteclwith thc help of three Constitut-ional Acts that \\,ere published in the C~ovcr.;~;rzc;rtC;uzc~te in a period of little mol-e than six nlo~iths.This in~prcssivearray of laws provrtl unable to survive the spirited resistance o f the universities themselves. A fo~rt-tll;ltld 1110s~deterrni~iedatternpt hy the government w a s cut short I,y t l ~ cregent, Arcllhishop D;~nlasl