Step 1 : Introduction to the question "1. What event disrupted Greece immediately after the end of World War II and lasted until 1950?"
...1. Return of King George II 2. Civil War 3. British and Russian mililtary governorships 4. Nothing: a new Parliament was elected In October 1944 during the waning days of the Nazi government, occupying German forces in Greece were pulled out of the country. The strong Greek opposition to the Germans immediately began to squabble and position for the post war power vacuum. The German occupation had been resisted by two main Greek forces, the communist-controlled EAM-ELAS ("National Liberation Front-National-Popular Liberation Army") and the EDES ("Greek Democratic National Army"). The two groups did not act jointly but did manage to coexist during the war. In addition a Greek government in exile lead by King George II tried to maintain some semblance of relevancy from outside the country. In early 1944, EAM-ELAS set up a provisional government in the Greek mountains disowning the King and his parliament in exile. When the German's left Greece both the communists and royalist factions were brought together by the British to form a coalition government. This government disintegrated a few weeks later when the communists refused to demilitarize. Both sides took to the streets and a bitter war raged between the groups for two years. Only the presence of British military forces managed to suppress the in-fighting. The royalists were better equipped and financed and the communists accepted defeat and disbarmament at a conference in February 1945. A general election was held in Greece in March 1946. The communists and their followers abstained from the voting, however, and a royalist majority was returned. After a popular vote in September 1946 the Greek king was restored to the throne. The return of the monarchy became the scapegoat for the resurgent communists to refuse to participate in the government and instead launch a full-scale revolt. Royalist aid had shifted from Britain to the US in the interim. The US, deep in the throes of the Cold War was immediately concerned about the effect on Western Europe and NATO should Greece "fall" to the communists. The US supplied both military and economic aid to Greece to match aid to the communist forces from The USSR and its Eastern Bloc allies. This second phase of the Civil War ended in October 1949, when the U.S.-supplied (and possibly augmented) Greek army managed to harass the rebels so that many of the remaining communist fighters fled the country into neighboring Albania. The truncated Greek Civil War cost an estimated 100,000 lives and displaced nearly a million Greeks from their homes due to the fighting.
