ABSTRACT
The explanation seems to be that in October the Greek communists hoped to obtain power by peaceful infiltration. British troops prevented the Greek communists from seizing power. Without British intervention the anti-communist forces would have been as helpless as were the anti-communist forces in Yugoslavia and Albania. Looking back in 1950 one must be thankful that British intervention took place. A British police mission headed by Sir Charles Wickham was meanwhile facing the herculean task of training a professional, non-political gendarmerie, which was to take over from the National Guard in the autumn. The British government felt the more strongly because at the February session of the United Nations Security Council the Soviet government had accused Britain of threatening peace by the maintenance of troops in Greece. During the sessions of the Security Council in the summer of 1947 the Soviet veto was repeatedly used to block action.
