Rebels and Captains. The National Resistance against the Bulgarian occupation of Eastern Macedonia & Thrace 1942-1944. Third edition

The present book has already become a reference work for many scientific studies that followed, for its scientific validity and its strong documentation in unpublished archival sources (Greek, Bulgarian, American, German, British), in all the available literature, but also in dozens of oral testimonies of living protagonists and witnesses of the events. It was therefore deemed necessary to republish it in a revised form. The central theme of the book is the recording and interpretation of the events concerning the armed action of the Greek resistance groups against the Bulgarian occupation of 1941-1944 in Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, which still remains relatively unknown to the general public. We follow the process of the formation of initially independent and unconnected armed groups into a resistance movement by EAM/ELAS, which in the autumn of 1943 was reinforced by the General Allied Headquarters in the Middle East. In the following, an attempt is made to present the events and interpret the conflict between ELAS and the independent groups in the region, consisting mainly of Turkish-speaking Pontians. The conflict will lead to the formation of a separate resistance organisation by the so-called nationalist guerrillas under the leadership of Antonis Fostiridis, better known as Anton-tsous. The nationalist guerrillas will detach the British Major Miller, Chief of the Allied Military Mission from ELAS, placing their services at the General Allied Headquarters in the Middle East. Thus we have the phenomenon of two parallel competing organizations in Eastern Macedonia and Thrace.

It also examines the more general political and military developments that shed light on the choices made by the protagonists (nationalists, ELAS and the British) at the local level. It also examines the international developments and diplomatic processes that led to the end of the Occupation and the definitive withdrawal of Bulgarian troops from the Greek territories. In this sense, the present book is also a treatise that goes beyond local interest and concerns the study and interpretation of the phenomenon of the National Resistance as a whole.