British Propaganda towards Greece (1940–1944)

Abstract

British propaganda to Second World War Greece had a strenuous task to fulfil. It aimed to encourage the war‐like spirit of the Greeks, as well as to alleviate fears that the British were intending to impose a royal dictatorship after the war with a view to ‘selling’ the King to the Greek people. In this undertaking, it needed to overcome opposition from EAM/ELAS, which obstructed unity in resistance. Yet, by evading promises of territorial rewards and by being unable to construct a coherent discourse on the constitutional question, it failed to detach the ‘patriotic’ rank‐and‐file of ELAS from its Communist ‘head’, and preclude civil strife.

Notes

[1] See the Preface to the Public Record Office guide (PRO 1998: 1). The rest of the files perished in a fire that broke out in Baker Street in early 1946 (Foot 1999: 246, 364).

[2] FO 371/29852: R1206/351/19 (14 February 1941); R2701/351/19, Palairet to Wright (Athens 11 March 1941); Fleischer 1990: 359; Stefanidis 1992: 186, 197–200.

[3] FO 371/29852: R1631/351/19, Stavridis to Leigh Ashton (20 February 1941). BBC Greek Services had started on 28 September 1939 with a 15‐minute weekly broadcast (Garnett 2002: 12; Angeloglou 2003: 21).

[4] HS 5/480: Propaganda activities from the Italian attack to the German occupation, pp. 1–3, 5, 7–8, 16; Mackenzie 2000: 142–143. The so‐called ‘Freedom Stations’ were purported to be secret stations operating in an enemy‐occupied or satellite country with the aim to incite resistance to the Axis (Garnett 2002: 195).

[5] FO 371/29852.

[6] FO 371/29852: R6208/351/19, Final Report on Press and Propaganda Activity in Greece up to the German Occupation by G. M. Young, Director of Publicity, and D. J. Wallace, Press Attaché, submitted to the Ministry of Information, pp. 1, 3 (17 June 1941); Cole 1990: 58, 63–64; Stefanidis 1992: 185–186, 198. The British Expeditionary Force in reality numbered just under 58,000 (Sweet‐Escott 1954: 19; Cruickshank 1976: 151).

[7] (FO 371/29853: R7557/351/19, Stavridis to Warner (7 August 1941), and Warner to Stavridis (14 August 1941).

[8] FO 371/29853: R7557/351/19, Stavridis to Warner (7 August 1941), and Warner to Stavridis (14 August 1941). Emphasis added.

[9] FO 898/153: Comments on BBC Greek bulletins [October 1941].

[10] See for example the Bulgarian case in Ploumidis 2001: 31; FO 898/153: Broadcasting policy to Greece (13 March 1943); Papastratis 1984: 68.

[11] FO 898/152: Factors in Greek political warfare [March 1942]; FO 371/33158, R8096/37/19, PWE weekly directive for BBC Greek Service (18–25 December 1942).

[12] FO 898/153: Kirkpatrick to Sendall (9 December 1941); FO 371/29854: R10846/351/19, Minute by Warner (23 December 1941); Tsouderos 1949: 112; Tsouderos 1990: I, 368 (Eden to Tsouderos, 17 November 1941), 376–377 (Sargent to Tsouderos, December 1941). Michalopoulos’s broadcast was dedicated to the anniversary of the liberation of Korytsa on 22 November 1940, and referred to Korytsa as a ‘Greek town’ and to Northern Epirus as a ‘Greek region’ (Michalopoulos 1943: 107–8; Tsouderos 1949: 177; Tsouderos 1990: I, 369, 374).

[13] FO 371/33158: R8096/37/19, PWE weekly directive for BBC Greek Services (18–25 December 1942); FO 371/37211: R113/13/19, Foreign Office to Washington (3 January 1943).

[14] FO 371/37211: R4303/13/19, Foreign Office to Cairo (9 July 1943, no. 2170).

[15] FO 371/43708: R17191/73/19.

[16] FO 371/37212: R8173/13/19, Foreign Office to Washington (24 September 1943, no. 6415), and PWE weekly directive (24 September–1 October 1943).

[17] FO 371/37213: R10087/13/19, Dilys Powell to D. S. Laskey (11 October 1943).

[18] FO 898/153: Murray to Kirkpatrick (26 November 1941); Tsouderos 1949: 186.

[19] FO 371/37211: R113/13/19, PWE weekly directive for BBC Greek Services, pp. 49–50 (5–12 February 1943).

[20] HS 5/470: PWE weekly directive for all propaganda media (5–12 October 1941).

[21] FO 371/37211: R1318/13/19, Foreign Office to Cairo (19 March 1943); HS 5/470: HV/GR/224, Letter to Murray (26 June 1944).

[22] The document that carries Baker’s suggested talk was dated 8 August 1941, but the exact date of the transmission is not indicated.

[23] FO 371/29853.

[24] See e.g. FO 371/29584: R9153/351/19 (9–16, 16–23 November 1941, 19 December 1941–2 January 1942).

[25] FO 898/437.

[26] FO 371/37213: R12188/13/19 (21 November 1943).

[27] FO371/43708: R16336/73/19.

[28] Leeper 1950: 3; Stavrianos 1952: 95; Sweet‐Escott 1954: 24; Woodward 1971: III, 383, 389; Barker 1976: 148, 152, 166; Papastratis 1984: 130; Yanoulopoulos 1992: 207–210; Baerentzen and Close 1993: 73; Foot 1999: 216.

[29] See above, n. 11.

[30] FO 371/29854: R9369/351/19, BBC Greek Service policy: The King of Hellenes.

[31] HS 5/470: D/HA to SO2 (Cairo 3 July 1941). Tsouderos 1990: I, 385 (Kapsalis to Tsouderos, Cairo 27 November 1941); FO 371/37213: R8419/3/G19, Report by Major D. J. Wallace on his visit to Greece, 14 July–9 August 1943, pp. 10–11. Leeper 1950: 29; Young 1969: 225; Woodward 1971: III, 388; Papastratis 1984: 218.

[32] FO 371/29854: R9369/351/19, BBC Greek Service policy: The King of Hellenes; Murray to Dixon (25 October 1941); Minute by Warner (31 October and 1 November 1941); Minute by Dixon (3 November 1941). Cf. Papastratis 1984: 62.

[33] FO 898/437.

[34] Tsouderos 1945: 60; Leeper 1950: 30; Woodward 1971: III, 393; Tsouderos 1990: III1, 123–125. Leaflets carrying the King’s declaration (GR/51r) were dropped on 9–11, 13 and 15 September 1943 (FO 898/120: PWE Middle East situation report no. 32).

[35] Papastratis 1984: 97; Tsouderos 1990: III1, 127 (Caphantaris to Tsouderos, July 1943).

[36] Myers 1955: 261–262; Papastratis 1984: 104–111; cf. FO 898/120: PWE Middle East situation reports (May–September 1943).

[37] FO 898/152: Casey to Foreign Office (2 November 1943, no. 2467).

[38] Tsouderos 1945: 73; McNeill 1947: 122; Woodward 1971: III, 402; Papastratis 1984: 149, 151; Tsouderos 1990: III1, 560–561.

[39] FO 371/37213: R12188/13/19.

[40] Tsouderos 1990: III1, 614 (memorandum by the British Embassy, Cairo 31 January 1944).

[41] Christidis 1971: 394–5, 521; Kremos 1994: 215, 338. Eden maintained that EAM had turned at least 80% of the Greek people against the King (Woodward 1971: III, 399–400).

[42] FO 371/37211: R1318/13/19.

[43] HS 5/466: Rough scheme of propaganda for ‘National Bands of Greece’ (18 March 1943); HS 5/468: Memorandum by J. S. A. Pearson (11 May 1943); FO 371/37211: R2626/13/G19, Cairo to Foreign Office (26 May 1943, no. 1266); FO 371/37211: R4303/13/19, Foreign Office to Cairo (9 July 1943, no. 2170); HS 5/468: Directive B6/3/96/35R (30 July 1943).

[44] HS 5/470: Letter to Murray (13 August 1941, no. 249); FO 898/52, p. 105. SO1 was a special unit for fabricating black propaganda. By 1941 it had been merged with the PWE (Beevor 1981: 12–13; Foot 1995: 1019).

[45] Birkenhead 1969: 189; cf. FO 898/119: Murray to Lockhart (26 July 1942).

[46] FO 898/115: C. in C. Middle East to War Office (11 August 1941, no. 90693); FO 898/54: Greek RU – Draft Memorandum (7 September 1941); Noel‐Baker to Murray (10 December 1941); minute by Murray (11 December 1941); Murray to Leeper (6 January 1942); FO 371/33157: R1523/37/19 (6 March 1942); FO 898/119: Murray to Lockhart (26 July 1942); HS 5/472: cypher telegram from Cairo (18 September 1942, no. 628); Cruickshank 1981: 82–83; Garnett 2002: 181. The RUs were simply a cover for ‘black’ and ‘freedom’ clandestine stations (Delmer 1962: 37; Balfour 1979: 466, fn. 159).

[47] FO 898/54: Progress report for the week ending 14 June 1941; FO 898/152: Murray to Lockhart (9 February 1942); HS 5/466: Rough scheme of propaganda for ‘National Bands of Greece’ (18 March 1943); Zalokostas 1949: 204; Tsouderos 1990: I, 580 (Foreign Office to Tsouderos, 10 March 1942).

[48] Tsouderos 1990: I, 552–3 (Capsalis to Tsouderos, Cairo 10 and 12 February 1942).

[49] FO 898/54: The transmissions of the ‘Free Voice of Greece’ (25–31 January and 8–14 February 1942); Noel‐Baker to Murray (11 February 1942).

[50] FO 371/33157: R1523/37/19 (6 March 1942); FO 371/37211: R407/13/19: Cairo to Foreign Office (13 January 1943, no. 77); FO 898/152: Foreign Office to Cairo (10 February 1943, no. 75). Francis Noel‐Baker (1946: 37, 43, 52) argued that, by urging democratic, yet non‐communist, elements to join EAM, moderates would finally outnumber extremists in the resistance movement, and thus the Left would come to trust British political intentions.

[51] FO 371/33157: R1523/37/19 (6 March 1942); Tsouderos 1990: I, 552 (Capsalis to Tsouderos, 19 February 1942).

[52] Tsouderos 1990: II, 71 (Papaligouras to Tsouderos, 31 July 1942), 75–77 (Tsouderos to Sargent, 3 August 1942), 134 (Tsouderos to Canellopoulos, 27 August 1942), 347–349 (Tsouderos to Canellopoulos, 6 December 1942).

[53] HS 5/472: D/H 207 to Sedgwick (2 September 1942); Sedgwick to D/H207 (4 September 1942); AD3 to D/H205 (9 October 1942); Tsouderos 1990: II, 160–163 (Sedgwick to Canellopoulos, Jerusalem 10 September 1942).

[54] HS 5/472: Office Note by Halkias (Jerusalem 5 September 1942).

[55] FO 371/37211: R407/13/19, Minister of State, Cairo to Foreign Office (13 January 1943).

[56] HS 5/471: DH/131/14, Greek covert propaganda: preliminary memorandum (1 December 1942); Tsouderos 1990: IV, 348–350 (Daskalakis to Tsouderos, January 1943).

[57] FO 371/37211: R3032/13/G19, Cairo to Foreign Office (2 April 1943, no. 811); FO 898/152: ‘Free Voice of Greece’, report by Dilys Powell (24 July 1943); Tsouderos 1990: II, 663–664 (Murray to Tsouderos, 31 March 1943). Tsouderos knew about the ‘Free Voice of Greece’ at the earliest since February 1942; Tsouderos 1990: I, 548 (Tsouderos to Eden, 13 February 1942).

[58] FO 898/54.

[59] From May to September 1943, ‘Radio Matteotti’ was broadcasting from Jerusalem to the Italian occupying troops in Greece. It was supposedly run by three Italian deserters, and its signature tune was the ‘Bandiera Rossa’; FO 898/52, pp. 105, 143.

[60] FO 371/33157: R2263/37/19, Minutes by Warner, Dixon and Sargent (2, 4, 9 April 1942); cf. Noel‐Baker 1946: 42; Angeloglou 2003: 126–7.

[61] HS 5/472: Notes on the Type of Propaganda Most Suitable for Greece; HS 5/468: Memorandum by Paul E. Vellacott (8 April 1943); FO 898/152: Selborne to Cadogan (28 September 1943).

[62] FO 371/29583: R8541/351/19, Minute by Warner (31 August 1941); Stefanidis 1992: 202; Angeloglou 2003: 21, 23. Warner rejected such talks as Miss Sideropoulou’s as mere ‘rubbish’ (op. cit.). Listeners to the BBC had the volume of the radio turned down as low as possible and ‘muffled’ themselves with blankets over their heads; HS 5/472: D/H98 to D/HY (5 October 1941).

[63] FO 371/29583: R8541/351/19, Minute by Lockhart (2 September 1941).

[64] FO 371/29854: R9369/351/19, Minute by Dixon (3 November 1941); R10394/351/19, Minutes by Warner, Dixon and Palairet (13, 14, 17 November 1941).

[65] FO 371/29854: R10847/351/19, Minutes of a meeting on 24 December 1941; FO 898/153: R10847/351/19: Propaganda to Greece; FO 371/33157: R2263/37/19: Sargent to Lockhart (9 April 1942); Angeloglou 2003: 115, 139–141. The bulletin of the Greek government was inaugurated with a speech by Tsouderos on 19 July 1942; Tsouderos 1946: 33.

[66] FO 898/121: leaflet GR/155; PWE Middle East situation reports nos 37, 38 (23, 30 October 1943); Woodhouse 1948: 168; Tsouderos 1990: III1, 485–486.

[67] FO 371/37213: R12519/13/G19; Woodward 1971: III, 399; Papastratis 1984: 148.

[68] FO 898/121: leaflet GR/161.

[69] FO 898/122: leaflet GR/190; PWE Middle East situation report no. 44 (11 December 1943).

[70] FO 371/37213: R13588/13/19, Talk by Kenneth Matthews and Tsouderos (21 December 1943); FO 371/43706: R493/73/19, Proposed Talk by Philip Noel‐Baker (9 January 1944).

[71] FO 898/122: GR/201.

[72] FO 371/43706: R5782/73/19; see also original telegram from Churchill to Lord Moyne (23 April 1944, no. T925/4); FO 898/155: Leeper to Foreign Office (16 April 1944, no. 257); PWE special directive on ELAS and EAM by Director General (1 May 1944).

[73] FO 371/43707: R9100/73/19, Leeper to Douglas Howard (3 June 1944, no. 7(2)44); R10717/73/19, PWE weekly directive for 18–25 August 1944.

[74] FO 898/123: I Epithesis 78 (21 May 1944): 2–3.

[75] FO 371/43706: R9042/73/G13.

[76] FO 898/123: leaflets C/GK/201, 213, 217. These findings partly contradict Hondros’s (1990: 265–267) argument that the stance of British propaganda towards the Security Battalions was ‘mild’ and ‘ambiguous’.

[77] FO 898/152: Moyne to Foreign Office (14 June 1944, no. 1449); FO 371/43706: R8041/73/19, PWE weekly directives for the BBC Greek Services (2–9, 16–23 and 23–30 June 1944); Papastratis 1984: 210.

[78] FO 371/43706: R8633/73/G19, Sargent to General Hollis (2 June 1944); C.O.S.(44)491(o) (5 June 1944).

[79] FO 371/43707: R11881/73/G19, Leeper to Foreign Office (30 July 1944, no. 554); R12403/73/G19.

[80] HS 5/466: D.A. Affleck‐Graves to London (17 June 1944). The ‘eight points’, the Papandreou government’s platform, were published in leaflet C/GK/219 (FO 898/123).

[81] HS 5/466: GSO/43/234, Appendix H (27 June 1944); GSOE/43/295, Plan for reorganising distribution of propaganda in Greece (15 July 1944).

[82] FO 371/43708: R17131/73/19.

[83] FO 371/43709: R20692; cf. FO 898/153: European News Bulletin (8 December 1944), pp. 5, 8; cf. Hansard 1945: 944, 999, 1010.