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Greece’s OstpolitikGreece and Eastern Europe in the 1950s and 1960s

Greece’s Ostpolitik: Greece and Eastern Europe in the 1950s and 1960s [From the mid of 1950s onwards, Greece initiated a policy of rapprochement, a quasi-Ostpolitik, towards the Communist countries, aimed at promoting simultaneously several goals: economic, geopolitical and security-oriented ones. Despite serious security concerns, Athens decided to adhere to the primacy of diplomacy, meaning placing more emphasis on political and diplomatic dialogue than on military deterrence. This was necessitated by the inferiority of the Greek armed forces compared to these of the Soviet Bloc, and the belief that it was not absolutely certain that Greece’s Western allies would come to its aid in the event of a coordinated attack by the Warsaw Pact. Another important driver for change of the foreign policy paradigm was the economy, and especially trade. Until the late 1960s, Greek exports consisted almost exclusively of agricultural products and raw materials, with tobacco and raisins covering almost half of their total value. Demand for these products in Western markets was usually weak and competition strong. This left Greece with huge surpluses in the agricultural sector, further straining the trade deficit. So, trade with the Eastern Europe was a vital outlet: agricultural products were bartered for oil, wood, meat and capital equipment. On the other hand, Greece was ascribed enhanced strategic value in the framework of the 1956 Soviet “peace offensive” towards the West. This course, coordinated with other Communist countries’ policy in the Eastern Mediterranean, aimed at loosening Greece’s, Turkey’s and Yugoslavia’s ties to the West. Against this background, Greece’s relations with most of Soviet Bloc countries improved rapidly, mainly at the economic level, heralding a full normalisation of the strained political relations. In the late 1950s, however, when Athens decided to give its consent to the deployment of nuclear weapons on Greek territory, the Soviet “peace offensive” was transformed into a real offensive. The Soviet Bloc staged an aggressive political offensive against Greece threatening to resort to serious reprisals should the Greek government go ahead with the installation of the US nuclear missiles. The Greek government stood its ground, but a lack of confidence was entrenched in Greece’s relations with the Soviet Bloc, that remained strong until the late 1960s, despite some progress in the economic and cultural fields.] http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png

Greece’s OstpolitikGreece and Eastern Europe in the 1950s and 1960s

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References (11)

Publisher
Springer International Publishing
Copyright
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
ISBN
978-3-030-61128-6
Pages
45 –68
DOI
10.1007/978-3-030-61129-3_3
Publisher site
See Chapter on Publisher Site

Abstract

[From the mid of 1950s onwards, Greece initiated a policy of rapprochement, a quasi-Ostpolitik, towards the Communist countries, aimed at promoting simultaneously several goals: economic, geopolitical and security-oriented ones. Despite serious security concerns, Athens decided to adhere to the primacy of diplomacy, meaning placing more emphasis on political and diplomatic dialogue than on military deterrence. This was necessitated by the inferiority of the Greek armed forces compared to these of the Soviet Bloc, and the belief that it was not absolutely certain that Greece’s Western allies would come to its aid in the event of a coordinated attack by the Warsaw Pact. Another important driver for change of the foreign policy paradigm was the economy, and especially trade. Until the late 1960s, Greek exports consisted almost exclusively of agricultural products and raw materials, with tobacco and raisins covering almost half of their total value. Demand for these products in Western markets was usually weak and competition strong. This left Greece with huge surpluses in the agricultural sector, further straining the trade deficit. So, trade with the Eastern Europe was a vital outlet: agricultural products were bartered for oil, wood, meat and capital equipment. On the other hand, Greece was ascribed enhanced strategic value in the framework of the 1956 Soviet “peace offensive” towards the West. This course, coordinated with other Communist countries’ policy in the Eastern Mediterranean, aimed at loosening Greece’s, Turkey’s and Yugoslavia’s ties to the West. Against this background, Greece’s relations with most of Soviet Bloc countries improved rapidly, mainly at the economic level, heralding a full normalisation of the strained political relations. In the late 1950s, however, when Athens decided to give its consent to the deployment of nuclear weapons on Greek territory, the Soviet “peace offensive” was transformed into a real offensive. The Soviet Bloc staged an aggressive political offensive against Greece threatening to resort to serious reprisals should the Greek government go ahead with the installation of the US nuclear missiles. The Greek government stood its ground, but a lack of confidence was entrenched in Greece’s relations with the Soviet Bloc, that remained strong until the late 1960s, despite some progress in the economic and cultural fields.]

Published: Feb 1, 2021

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