Abstract
This article deals with the issue of anti-communism in Greece with a special focus on the anti-communist legislation introduced between 1917 and 1967. These legislative measures were part of a broader anti-communist campaign that aff ected various areas of public life, including the spheres of education, religion, culture, the media, and state propaganda.
Based on the legislative acts as primary sources and some relevant literature, the analysis focuses on the development of the political persecution of the Greek Left and sets it in the contexts of the interwar period (1917-1941), the Greek Civil War (1946-1949), and the post-Civil War era (1949-1967). It attempts to explain the motivations that led Greek political elites to adopt anti-communist legislation and examines the implications for the legal system.
The article follows the anti-communist policies of both liberal and conservative political powers as well as those of two dictators (Theodoros Pangalos and Ioannis Metaxas). Furthermore, it considers the new tendencies that took place under the influence of the Cold War and greater US engagement in Greece.