Axis occupation of Greece in the context of "VE Day"

A commemorative plaque, or simply plaque, or in other places referred to as a historical marker, historic marker, or historic plaque, is a plate of metal, ceramic, stone, wood, or other material, bearing text or an image in relief, or both, to commemorate one or more persons, an event, a former use of the place, or some other thing. Most such plaques are attached to a wall, stone, or other vertical surface.

Many modern plaques and markers are used to associate the location where the plaque or marker is installed with the person, event, or item commemorated as a place worthy of visit. A monumental plaque or tablet commemorating a deceased person or persons, can be a simple form of church monument. Most modern plaques affixed in this way are commemorative of something, but not all. There are also purely religious plaques, and some signify ownership or affiliation of some sort. A plaquette is a small plaque, but in English, unlike many European languages, the term is not typically used for outdoor plaques fixed to walls.

Theodoros Pangalos (Greek: Θεόδωρος Πάγκαλος, romanized: Theódoros Pángalos; 11 January 1878 – 26 February 1952) was a Greek general, politician and dictator. A distinguished staff officer and an ardent Venizelist and anti-royalist, Pangalos played a leading role in the September 1922 revolt that deposed King Constantine I and in the establishment of the Second Hellenic Republic. In June 1925 Pangalos staged a bloodless coup d'état, and his assumption of power was recognized by the National Assembly which named him prime minister. As a "constitutional dictator" he ruled the country until his overthrow in August 1926. From April 1926 until his deposition, he also occupied the office of President of the Republic.

Pangalos withdrew from public life for a while, but remained active in the Venizelist military circles. During the Axis occupation of Greece (1941–1945), Pangalos and military officers close to him played a role in the establishment of the Security Battalions. He was widely suspected of collaboration with the Germans. Cleared by a postwar court, he ran unsuccessfully for political office and died in 1952.

The Greek resistance (Greek: Εθνική Αντίσταση, romanized: Ethnikí Antístasi "National Resistance") involved armed and unarmed groups from across the political spectrum that resisted the Axis occupation of Greece in the period 1941–1944, during World War II. The largest group was the Communist-dominated EAM-ELAS. The Greek Resistance is considered one of the strongest resistance movements in Nazi-occupied Europe, with partisans, men and women known as andartes and andartisses (Greek: αντάρτες, αντάρτισσες, romanized: antártes, antártises, meaning "male and female guerrillas"), controlling much of the countryside prior to the German withdrawal from Greece in late 1944.

The National Liberation Front (Greek: Εθνικό Απελευθερωτικό Μέτωπο, Ethnikó Apeleftherotikó Métopo, EAM) was an alliance of various political parties and organizations which fought to liberate Greece from Axis Occupation. It was the main movement of the Greek Resistance during the occupation of Greece. Its main driving force was the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), but its membership throughout the occupation included several other leftist and republican groups.

ΕΑΜ became the first true mass social movement in modern Greek history. Its military wing, the Greek People's Liberation Army (ELAS), quickly grew into the largest armed guerrilla force in the country, and the only one with nationwide presence. At the same time, from late 1943 onwards, the political enmity between ΕΑΜ and rival resistance groups from the centre and right evolved into a virtual civil war, while its relationship with the British and the British-backed Greek government in exile was characterized by mutual mistrust, leading EAM to establish its own government, the Political Committee of National Liberation, in the areas it had liberated in spring 1944. Tensions were resolved provisionally in the Lebanon Conference in May 1944, when EAM agreed to enter the Greek government in exile under Georgios Papandreou. The organization reached its peak after liberation in late 1944, when it controlled most of the country, before suffering a catastrophic military defeat against the British and the government forces in the Dekemvriana clashes. This marked the beginning of its gradual decline, the disarmament of ELAS, and the open persecution of its members during the "White Terror", leading eventually to the outbreak of the Greek Civil War.

Georgios Papadopoulos (/ˌpæpəˈdɒpələs/ PAP-ə-DOP-əl-əs; Greek: Γεώργιος Παπαδόπουλος [ʝeˈorʝi.os papaˈðopulos]; 5 May 1919 – 27 June 1999) was a Greek military officer and dictator who led a coup d'etat in Greece in 1967 and became the country's Prime Minister from 1967 to 1973. He also was the President of Greece under the junta in 1973, following a referendum. However, after causing a massacre by deploying military riflemen and a tank brigade to attack non-violent protestors to suppress the Athens Polytechnic uprising, he was, in turn, overthrown by hardliner Dimitrios Ioannidis, in a string of events that would culminate in the fall of the regime in 1974. His and the dictatorship's legacy, as well as its methods he constructed and effects on Greek economy and society as a whole, are still fiercely debated.

He joined the Hellenic Army during the Second World War and initially helped resist the Italian invasion of Greece in the Greco-Italian War. He is widely believed to have later collaborated as a member of the Axis-aligned Security Battalions. After the war, he rose to the rank of colonel in the army.

The Great Famine (Greek: Μεγάλος Λιμός, sometimes called the Grand Famine) was a period of mass starvation during the Axis occupation of Greece (1941–1944), during World War II. The local population suffered greatly during this period, while the Axis powers initiated a policy of large-scale plunder. Requisitions, together with a blockade by the Allies, the ruined state of the country's infrastructure after the German invasion of Greece, and the emergence of a powerful and well-connected black market, resulted in the Great Famine, with the mortality rate reaching a peak during the winter of 1941–42.

The resulting human suffering, and the resulting pressure from the Greek diaspora, eventually forced the Royal Navy to partially lift the blockade. Through the end of 1941, Kızılay (the Turkish Red Crescent), and in the summer of 1942, the International Red Cross, were able to distribute supplies in sufficient quantities with the help of several foreign and Greece-based humanitarian organizations helping with financial aid and support. The situation remained grim until the end of the Nazi occupation, and continued on a small scale until the end of the war.