The Greek Civil War, "a trap from which no one could escape," undoubtedly had a profound impact on the political life of the country and left deep traces in the collective memory.

It created unprecedented schisms, institutionalized political polarization, and caused strong ideological constraints that hindered scientific research for many decades, particularly in the development of social consciousness that this entails.

Today, however, this traumatic period has definitively shifted from the realm of politics to the realm of historiography, and scientific research - some aspects of which are included in this collective volume - no longer aims at seeking culprits and assigning blame, but rather at studying the fundamental issues that marked the evolution of Greek society.

For this reason, the chronological specification, which was deemed appropriate to be included in the title of the book (February 1945 - August 1949), was considered necessary to focus the research effort on that critical period of the 1940s, which has been less studied to date and which differentiates the Greek experience from the corresponding developments in other European countries.

[Excerpt from the text on the back cover of the edition]