Ellinikós Laïkós Apeleftherotikós Stratós

  • Greek People's Liberation Army
  • ELAS
Identifier
518
Type of Entity
Corporate Body

Dates of Existence

1942/1945-02

History

The military branch of the communist-dominated Ethniko Apelefterotiko Metopo in Greece. Ellinikós Laïkós Apeleftherotikós Stratós was launched in the summer of 1942 and gradually spread from the central regions of the country into Thessaly and Aegean Macedonia. By 1944, it controlled most of the mountainous areas in Greece. At its peak, it had about 70,000 fighters, including several thousand Slavic Macedonians who formed the so-called Slavo-Macedonian People's Liberation Front. ELAS was disbanded in 1945-02, following the Varkiza agreements. After 1946, it reappeared as the Democratic Army of Greece.

Places

  • Founded in Greece.

Sources

  • Historical dictionary of the Republic of Macedonia / D. Bechev. - Lanham 2009. - p.70, 71