Relations between the Romanian Communist Party and the Greek Communist Party from 1956 to 1968: from De-Stalinization to the Greek Party Split (1968)

In 1968 and during the 70', the relative independence of Romania from the Soviet side allowed the completion of the split of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE). This is a complicated process, mediated by the multifaceted interventions of the Soviet Union (USSR) within the Greek Party. The split was an increasingly apparent potentiality as soon as the Greek Communists realised the dramatic consequences of the strategic defeat of 1949, following the end of the civil war. On the other hand, this period established the foundation of a vague humanism. In 1968, under the pressure of the progressive changes in the foreign policy of the USSR and the problems of the socialist camp, this mode of humanism split into two: the apologetic mode of humanism aligned itself with the policy of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU); the centrifugal humanist mode tried to cling on to the policy of Nicolae Ceauescu in order to survive politically and economically. In both cases, their dependency was absolute. The Russian axis and the Romanian axis are the proof of the final defeat of the Greek communists in this specific historical conjuncture, polarised by the Cold War.