Conflits et protestations paysannes dans l' histoire d' un village de Macedoine: (1900-1936)

Abstract

In thestudy of the role peasants have played in the political life of the
country too little attention has been payed to regional variation and
its explanation. During the first part of this century peasants in the
Eastern Macedonia participated more in opposition parties, such as
Agrarian and the Communist Party than most peasants in Greece.
This article tries to explore some of the factors which contributed to
peasant protest in Eastern Macedonia, especially in one particular
village.
In the first decade of this century conflicts developed between the
most powerful families in the village and a brotherhood in which mid­
dle peasants had much influence. The internal conflicts, which were
related to developments at other levels, increased during the follow­
ing decades and look on a more ideological character when the
Agrarian and Communist Parties established themselves in the
village. The takeover by Metaxas found part of the village population
in a revolutionary atmosphere.
A number of factors have been considered in order to explain the
political developments during the pre-Metaxas period. Oneof these is
the expansion of tobacco cultivation which made the peasants less
dependent on local powerholders, brought them intocontact with ur
ban laborers and made them more dependent on international
markets. Others include the late incorporation into the Greek state
and the relatively closed character of the village community which
help to explain why the village was not drawn into the dominant
political discourse on the issue of the monarchy.