Koutsopanagou, Panagioula
(1997)
The British press and Greek politics, 1943-1949.
PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.
Abstract
This thesis is a study of British attitudes towards Greece, during the period 1943-1949 through the eyes and voices of the British daily and weekly press. This study seeks to examine these attitudes within a period which started, in Europe and in Greece, with the best of hopes and expectations for world peace, democracy and social justice and ended finding Greece exhausted by a four-year civil war and the world separated into two opposed ideological and political blocks. It, therefore, observes the fluctuation of attitudes and opinions as they correspond to the changing world situation. It is also a study of Labour and Liberal opinion in Britain. The decisive four years (1944-1947) for the fate of the Greek crisis found Britain deeply involved in Greece. The conduct of British policy towards that country, since July 1945, as pursued by a Labour government, represented a real challenge for Labour and Liberal opinion concerning its ideological principles and morals. The nature of the Greek crisis and the strategic location of the country made it an important episode during the height of the Cold War, further complicating the country's already acute internal differences. Thus, this thesis is also a study of the press reactions to the hardening Cold War attitudes. The aim has been to discover whether the Greek developments themselves were faced on their merits or whether they were related to the Cold War climate; whether the attitudes towards Greece were kept with the general political and philosophical outlooks. Misconceptions, misinterpretations, deceptions and illusions will be also considered and, in particular how, if at all, these features are related to Cold War propaganda. A significant part of this study will be given on the issue of the relationship between government and press. Freedom of information and governmental pressure on the press, either direct or indirect, are issues under consideration. Papers will also examined as much for their attitudes and opinions they espoused as for how they went about their business, e.g. ownership, staff, finance, circulation figures, readership. Finally this thesis, it is hoped, will contribute some valuable first-hand evidence to the overall study of the Greek civil war as it will attempt to portray the prevailing psychological and political atmosphere at the time.
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