Democratic Army of Greece in the context of "Communist Party of Greece"

During and after the Greek Civil War of 1946–1949, members and or supporters of the defeated Communist forces fled Greece as political refugees. The collapse of the Democratic Army of Greece (DSE) and subsequent evacuation of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) to Tashkent in 1949 led thousands of people to leave the country. It has been estimated that by 1949, over 100,000 people had left Greece for Yugoslavia and the Eastern Bloc, particularly the USSR and Czechoslovakia. These included tens of thousands of child refugees who had been forcefully evacuated by the KKE. The war wrought widespread devastation right across Greece and particularly in the regions of Macedonia and Epirus, causing many people to continue to leave the country even after it had ended.

The Greek Civil War (Greek: Εμφύλιος Πόλεμος, romanized: Emfýlios Pólemos, lit. 'Civil War') took place from 1946 to 1949. The conflict, which erupted shortly after the end of World War II, consisted of a Communist-led uprising against the established government of the Kingdom of Greece. The rebels declared a people's republic, the Provisional Democratic Government of Greece, which was governed by the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) and its military branch, the Democratic Army of Greece (DSE). The rebels were supported by Albania and Yugoslavia. With the support of the United Kingdom and the United States, the Greek government forces ultimately prevailed.

The war had its roots in divisions within Greece during World War II between the left-wing Communist-dominated resistance organisation, the EAM-ELAS, and loosely-allied anti-communist resistance forces. It later escalated into a major civil war between the Greek state and the Communists. The DSE was defeated by the Hellenic Army.

The People's Civil Guard (Greek: Λαϊκή Πολιτοφυλακή, ΛΠ, Laïkí Politofylakí), founded in 1947, was the security force of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) during the Greek Civil War (1946–49). It was the police counterpart of the Democratic Army of Greece (DSE), KKE's military force. It was actually the successor of the National Civil Guard, which was the successor of the Organization for the Protection of the People's Struggle (OPLA).

The People's Civil Guard included both men and women; all of them were volunteers and ideologically dedicated to the Communist Party, a situation different from that of the DSE, which engaged in forced recruitment, especially in the last stages of the Civil War.