Ioannis Rallis - Collaboration With The Occupying Forces

Collaboration With The Occupying Forces

Rallis was the first eminent Greek political figure to collaborate politically with the German occupying forces. The Germans hoped that Rallis would gain some support from the pre-war Greek political elites, that he might be able to restore order to the country and that he could form an anticommunist front against the Ethniko Apeleftherotiko Metopo (EAM) and the Ethnikos Laikos Apeleftherotikos Stratos (ELAS).

EAM was the main movement of the Greek Resistance and had been initially formed by an alliance of Communist Party of Greece, the Socialist Party of Greece, the Greek Popular Republic and the Agricultural Party of Greece. ELAS was its military arm. Since anti-communism served as a common ground between the Liberal Party and the People's Party, the idea of a united front seemed plausible.

Rallis changed the ministry council and was instrumental in creating the so-called "Security Battalions"—collaborationist paramilitary groups equipped by the Wehrmacht and dedicated to the persecution of resistance groups (mainly ELAS). Being more experienced in politics than his predecessors, he was more respected by the Germans and proved more effective against the resistance movements.