National Union of Greece
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National Union of Greece Εθνική Ένωσις Ελλάδος | |
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| Founder | Georgios Kosmidis |
| Founded | 1927 |
| Dissolved | 1944 |
| Ideology | Nazism Greek nationalism Fascism Antisemitism Venizelism Anti-communism Collaborationism |
| Political position | Far-right |
| Religion | Greek Orthodox |
| Party flag | |
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The National Union of Greece (Greek: Εθνική Ένωσις Ελλάδος, ΕΕΕ; Ethniki Enosis Ellados, EEE) was a far-right political party established in Thessaloniki, Greece, in 1927.
Registered as a mutual aid society, the EEE was founded by Asia Minor refugee businesspeople. According to the organisation's constitution, only Christians could join. Its members were in political and, especially, commercial antagonism with Thessaloniki's substantial Jewish population.
Its founder, Georgios Kosmidis, was an illiterate Turkish-speaking merchant and tailor.[1] Kosmidis claimed to be a Venizelist, and so did his party even though it was opposed to most Venizelist principles.[citation needed] He came from Constantinople but worked as a tailor in Thessaloniki.[2] He was antisemitic and anticommunist; according to him, Jewish people "crucified Christ" and took customers away from his business, and communists were treacherous to Greek society and culture. Despite having founded the E. E. E. he did not often directly participate in it until he was elected its president in 1929. During the 1930s he sewed its members' khaki uniforms.[3]
Owing to its military uniforms and organisation, the party was commonly referred to as "The Three Epsilons" (τα Τρία Εψιλον) or "The Steelhelmets" (οι Χαλυβδόκρανοι), in allusion to the German paramilitary Der Stahlhelm.
The EEE was dissolved upon the establishment of the Metaxas Regime in 1936, but was revived in 1941 by Georgios Poulos with German support after the fall of Thessaloniki. Shortly after, Poulos renamed the party to "Εθνική Σοσιαλιστική Ένωση Ελλάδος " (National Socialist Union of Greece).
References
[edit]- ^ Mazower, Mark (2006). Salonica, city of ghosts : Christians, Muslims, and Jews, 1430-1950. New York : Vintage. p. 386. ISBN 978-0-375-72738-2.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link) - ^ Παπαδημητρίου, Δέσποινα Ι (2006). Από τον λαό των νομιμοφρόνων στο έθνος των εθνικοφρόνων: η συντηρητική σκέψη στην Ελλάδα, 1922-1967 (in Greek). Ekdoseis Savvalas. p. 101. ISBN 978-960-449-071-4.
- ^ "Η φασιστική οργάνωση του Μεσοπολέμου". Εφημερίδα Συντακτών. Retrieved 2024-10-14.
- History of the EEE (in Greek)
Further reading
[edit]- Mark Mazower, Salonica, City of Ghosts: Christians, Muslims and Jews, 1430-1950, London: HarperCollins, 2004. ISBN 0-00-712023-0
- Defunct nationalist parties in Greece
- Antisemitism in Greece
- Fascism in Greece
- Greek collaborators with Nazi Germany
- Thessaloniki in World War II
- Politics of Thessaloniki
- 20th century in Thessaloniki
- 1920s in Greece
- 1930s in Greece
- 1940s in Greek politics
- Political parties established in 1927
- Political parties disestablished in 1944
- 1927 establishments in Greece
- 1944 disestablishments in Greece
- Nazi parties
- German occupation of Thessaloniki
- Eastern Orthodox political parties