Lancaster University Associate Lecturer and CWD member, Dr Spyros Tsoutsoumpis has published an article on the experience of national army soldiers during the Greek Civil War, 1946-1949 in the International Journal of Military History and Historiography.

This article analyses the experience of national army soldiers during the Greek Civil War (1946–1949) concentrating on the following questions: Why do soldiers fight? How do they deal with the exigencies of warfare? What methods are used by military establishments to control their rank and file and motivate them?. Research on the Greek National Army has been dominated by top-down studies that focus on issues such as tactics, logistics and the role of senior military leaders. Accordingly, the perspective and experiences of ordinary soldiers have been largely overlooked. As a result, we know very little about the factors that led soldiers to take an active part in combat, their understanding of the war and how they tried to cope with the exigencies of warfare. Spyros' article shifts the focus to the rank and file of the Greek National Army to fill this historiographical gap. It explores their everyday lives, discusses the methods used by the army to shore up morale and motivate the rank and file and analyse the soldiers’ responses to these efforts. In doing so, the article contributes new insights into the experiences of soldiers and the conduct of the Civil War.

You can read Spyros' article here The Will to Fight: Combat, Morale, and the Experience of National Army Soldiers during the Greek Civil War, 1946–1949 in: International Journal of Military History and Historiography - Ahead of print (brill.com)