The Ethnic Dimension of the Greek Civil War: Conflicting Memories and Political Identities in Western Greek Macedonia

Abstract

The 1940s were a formative and divisive decade in modern Greek history, leaving enduring scars on society. This study explores the ethnic dimension of the Greek Civil War (1946–1949) through the lens of conflicting collective memories and political identities in northern Greece’s Kastoria region. Drawing on oral history interviews conducted with local residents and secondary sources, it examines how two key ethnic groups in the area — the Dopii and the Pontians — developed divergent narratives of the 1940s. The analysis shows how wartime experiences and postwar persecution shaped each group’s memory of occupation and civil conflict, which in turn reinforced distinct ethnic identities and political affiliations. Over time, these narratives of victimhood and blame became central to group identity, although recent generational changes and new social realities began to soften the divisions. The findings underscore the dynamic interplay between memory, identity, and historical trauma in a multiethnic context, illustrating how the civil war’s legacy continues to shape local identities and intergroup relations, albeit with diminishing intensity over time.