Georgios Grivas

2025-03-28T06:01:59Z

80.244.28.173: /* Early life */Fixed typo

{{Short description|Greek Cypriot army officer and resistance fighter}}
{{EngvarB|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox Soldier
| name = Georgios Grivas
| native_name = {{lang|el|Γεώργιος Γρίβας}}
| image = Georgios Grivas 1967.jpg
| caption = Grivas {{circa|1967}}
| birth_date = 6 June 1897
| death_date = 27 January 1974 (aged 76)
| birth_place = [[Trikomo, Cyprus|Trikomo]], [[British Cyprus]] (now [[Republic of Cyprus]])
| death_place = [[Limassol]], [[Republic of Cyprus]]
| placeofburial = Limassol, Republic of Cyprus
| nickname = {{lang|el-Latn|Digenis}} {{small|Διγενής}}
| allegiance = {{flagicon|Greece|royal}} [[Kingdom of Greece]] {{flagicon|Greece|old}} [[Second Hellenic Republic]] [[File:Flag of Cyprus.svg|25px]] [[Republic of Cyprus]]
| branch = {{army|Greece}} [[File:Flag of the Cypriot National Guard General Staff.svg|25px]] [[Cypriot National Guard]]
| serviceyears = 1916-1974
| rank = [[File:Antistratigos Kypros.png|15px]] [[Lieutenant general]]
| unit = [[10th Infantry Division (Greece)|10th Infantry Division]]
| battles = {{tree list}}
*[[Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)]]
**[[Battle of the Sakarya]]
*[[World War II]]
**[[Greco-Italian War]]
**[[Battle of Greece]]
**[[Greek resistance]]
*[[Greek Civil War]]
**[[Dekemvriana]]
*[[Cyprus Emergency]]
**[[1 April Attacks]]
**[[Battle of the Pine]]
**[[Battle of Spilia]]
**[[Battle at Nicosia Hospital]]
**[[Battle of Liopetri]]
*[[Cypriot intercommunal violence]]
**[[Battle of Tylliria]]
{{tree list/end}}
| alma_mater = [[Hellenic Military Academy]] [[École Militaire]]
| signature = Georgios Grivas signature.svg
| module = {{Listen|pos=center|embed=yes|filename=Original Georgios Grivas EOKA begining speech.mp3|title=Georgios Grivas's voice|type=speech|description=The original speech Georgios Grivas (Leader of EOKA) gave to publicly signal the beginning of the campaign against British rule. Recorded 1 April 1955}}
}}

'''Georgios Grivas''' ({{langx|el|Γεώργιος Γρίβας}}; 6 June 1897 – 27 January 1974), also known by his nickname '''Digenis''' ({{langx|el|Διγενής}}), was a [[Greek Cypriot]] officer of the [[Hellenic Army]] and founder and leader of the Greek and Greek Cypriot paramilitary organisations [[Organization X]] (1942–1949), [[EOKA]] (1955–1959) and [[EOKA B]] (1971–1974). He was also the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces in Cyprus, then-known as the Supreme Military Defence Command of Cyprus (ASDAK), which in the event of war would lead the [[Cyprus National Guard]] and the [[Hellenic Force in Cyprus]] (ELDYK).<ref>{{Cite web|title=Georgios Grivas|url=http://www.hellenicaworld.com/Greece/Person/en/GeorgiosGrivas.html|access-date=4 April 2021|website=www.hellenicaworld.com}}</ref>

A specialist of [[Guerrilla warfare|guerrilla]] and [[asymmetric warfare]], he was one of the main actors in the [[Cyprus Emergency|Cypriot War of Independence]], securing the independence of [[Cyprus]] against the [[British Empire]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Chaliand |first=Gérard |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/18559584 |title=Revolution in the Third World |date=1989 |publisher=Penguin Books |others=Diana Johnstone |isbn=0-14-011845-4 |edition= |location=New York, N.Y., U.S.A. |oclc=18559584}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> He died only six months prior to the [[1974 Cypriot coup d'état|1974 Cypriot coup]] and subsequent [[Turkish invasion of Cyprus]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Mallinson |first=William |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/62234729 |title=Cyprus : a modern history |date=2005 |publisher=I.B. Tauris |isbn=1-4237-3157-3 |location=London |oclc=62234729}}</ref>

==Early life==
Grivas was born in [[Chrysaliniotissa]] of [[Nicosia]] on 23 May 1897 [[Julian calendar]],<ref>{{Cite web |last= |title=ο Διγενής |url=https://digenisidrima.gr/%ce%b4%ce%b9%ce%b3%ce%b5%ce%bd%ce%ae%cf%82/ |access-date=2023-09-02 |website=ΓΕΩΡΓΙΟΣ ΓΡΙΒΑΣ – ΔΙΓΕΝΗΣ |language=el-GR}}</ref> was the fourth child of [[Greek Cypriot]] parents Kalomira Hatzimichael and Theodoros Grivas. (Nevertheless later when he enrolled at the Hellenic Military Academy at the age of 19 he stated that his birthday was 23 May 1898 for unknown reasons). He grew up in [[Trikomo, Cyprus|Trikomo]] as a child,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Georgios Grivas – Britannica Academic|url=https://academic-eb-com.eres.qnl.qa/levels/collegiate/article/Georgios-Grivas/38162|access-date=4 April 2021|website=academic-eb-com.eres.qnl.qa}}</ref> after attending his village school, he studied at the [[Pancyprian Gymnasium]] in [[Nicosia]] from 1909 to 1915, living with his grandmother during this time.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Varnavas|first=Andreas|title=A History of the Liberation Struggle of Eoka (1955–1959)|publisher=The Foundation of the Eoka Liberation Struggle|year=2004|isbn=9789963613557|location=Nicosia, Cyprus|pages=407}}</ref>

==Early military career==
In 1916, Grivas moved to Greece; according to his obituary in ''[[The Times]]'' of London, he had left the family home after learning that his father intended him to become a physician. He took Greek citizenship and enrolled at the [[Hellenic Military Academy]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=1964-08-14 |title=Man in the New; Greek Cypriotes' Hero; George Theodorus Grivas |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/08/14/archives/man-in-the-new-greek-cypriotes-hero-george-theodorus-grivas.html |access-date=2023-09-02 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> He completed his military studies at the [[École Militaire]] in [[Paris]].<ref name="Times Obituary"/> He graduated in 1919, and joined the [[Greek Army|Hellenic Army]] with the rank of Sub-Lieutenant and was immediately posted on the Asia Minor front of the [[Greco-Turkish War (1919–22)|Greco-Turkish War]]. He served in the Hellenic Army's 10th Division and participated in its advance from [[İzmir|Smyrna]] to Panormos (today [[Bandirma]]) and [[Eskişehir]], past [[Bursa]] and the [[Battle of Sakarya]]. With the subsequent retreat of the Hellenic Army from Asia Minor in 1922 (because of the [[Treaty of Lausanne]]), he was placed at Redestos in [[Thrace]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Georgios Grivas |url=https://www.hellenicaworld.com/Greece/Person/en/GeorgiosGrivas.html |access-date=2023-09-02 |website=www.hellenicaworld.com}}</ref> He was decorated for his bravery and promoted to Lieutenant. He was later selected to study at the French Military Academy and upon his return to Greece he served in a number of posts, including that of a lecturer at the [[Hellenic Military Academy]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=1974-01-28 |title=Gen. George Grivas Dies; Led Cyprus Underground |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/01/28/archives/gen-george-grivas-dies-led-cyprus-underground-out-of-retirement-in.html |access-date=2023-09-02 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> He was promoted to captain in 1925 and to Major in 1935. In 1938, he married Vasiliki Deka, the daughter of an Athenian pharmacist.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2023-01-26 |title=Ο Διγενής της Κύπρου, Γεώργιος Γρίβας 1898 - 27 Ιανουαρίου 1974 (Ευαγγελία Κ. Λάππα) |url=https://efkozani.gr/o-digenis-tis-kyproy-georgios-grivas-1898-27-ianoyarioy-1974-eyaggelia-k-lappa/ |access-date=2024-10-22 |website=ΕΦΗΜΕΡΙΔΑ KOZANH |language=el}}</ref>

==World War II and German occupation==
With the beginning of [[World War II]], Grivas was transferred to the operations department of the central headquarters of the Hellenic Army, working on the strategic defensive plans for [[Northern Greece]]. When the [[Greco-Italian War]] broke out, Grivas was deployed to the Albanian front in December 1940, and served as Chief of Staff of the 2nd Division.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |date=2017-01-27 |title=Ο θάνατος του στρατηγού της ΕΟΚΑ, Γεώργιου Γρίβα, Διγενή. Πολέμησε στην Μ. Ασία, στο αλβανικό μέτωπο και στην Κύπρο |url=https://www.mixanitouxronou.com.cy/stiles/sinevi-simera/o-thanatos-tou-stratigou-tis-eoka-georgiou-griva-digenis-polemise-stin-m-asia-sto-alvaniko-metopo-ke-stin-kipro-to-laiko-proskinima/ |access-date=2024-10-22 |website=ΜΗΧΑΝΗ ΤΟΥ ΧΡΟΝΟΥ |language=el}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=47 χρόνια από το θάνατο του Στρατηγού Γεώργιου Γρίβα Διγενή |url=https://simerini.sigmalive.com/article/2021/1/27/47-khronia-apo-to-thanato-tou-strategou-georgiou-griba-digene/ |access-date=2024-10-22 |website=47 χρόνια από το θάνατο του Στρατηγού Γεώργιου Γρίβα Διγενή |language=en}}</ref>

Following the German-Italian-Bulgarian occupation of Greece during World War II, Grivas founded and led the [[Organization X|Organisation ''X'']], a guerrilla organisation made up of officers of the Greek Army, playing a role in the [[Greek Resistance]] to the [[Axis occupation of Greece]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-01-27 |title=Συνταγματάρχης Γεώργιος Γρίβας: Η Οργάνωση “Χ” και η μάχη του Θησείου {{!}} History-point.gr |url=https://www.history-point.gr/syntagmatarchis-georgios-grivas-i-organosi-quot-ch-quot-kai-i-machi-toy-thiseioy |access-date=2024-10-22 |website=www.history-point.gr |language=en-US}}</ref> Its activities included spying for the Allied powers and launching attacks and sabotage operations against the occupiers. During the [[Dekemvriana|events of December 1944]], members of Organisation X, using weapons recovered from the retreating Germans, fought at the Theseon alongside Greek and British monarchist forces to prevent [[National Liberation Front (Greece)|EAM]]/[[Greek People's Liberation Army|ELAS]] fighters to take control of Athens.<ref>{{cite book | last = Kofas | first = Jon | title = Intervention and Underdevelopment: Greece During the Cold War | publisher = Pennsylvania State University Press | date = 31 May 1985 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=R_Glr2QP-RMC&dq=x+elas+nazi&pg=PA40 | isbn = 978-0-271-02647-3| page = 40 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last = Ganser | first = Daniele | title = Nato's Secret Armies: Operation Gladio and Terrorism in Western Europe | publisher = Routledge | date = 12 July 2005 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=VAbkogswOmEC&dq=x+elas+nazi&pg=PA213 | isbn = 978-0-7146-5607-6| page = 213 }}</ref><ref name="The Memoirs of General Grivas">{{cite book |last= Grivas |first= George |author2=Charles Foley |title= The Memoirs of General Grivas |year= 1964 |publisher= Longmans |location= London }}</ref>

In 1946, he retired from the Hellenic Army on his own request with subsequent attempts to enter politics being unsuccessful.<ref>{{Cite web |title=General George Grivas - The Players - Divided Island {{!}} Cyprus Mail |url=https://cyprus-mail.com/divided-island/the-players/general-george-grivas |access-date=2024-10-22 |website=cyprus-mail.com |language=en}}</ref>

==The EOKA guerrilla campaign==
{{Quote box|
width=30%
|align=right
|quote=One does not use a tank to catch field mice—a cat will do the job better.
|source=– Grivas discussing British military strategies in his book ''Guerrilla Warfare and EOKA's Struggle: A Politicomilitary Study''<ref>{{cite book | last = Grivas | first = George | title = Guerrilla Warfare and Eoka's Struggle | publisher = Longman | year = 1964 | location = London }}</ref>
|}}
Following his retirement, Grivas focused on the idea of ridding Cyprus of British colonial rule and eventually uniting it with Greece ([[Enosis]]).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Varnavas |first=Andreas |title=A HISTORY OF THE LIBERATION STRUGGLE OF EOKA (1955 - 1959) |publisher=C. Epiphaniou Publications |year=2004 |isbn=9963-613-55-1 |location=Nicosia |translator-last=Stylianou |translator-first=Philippos |trans-title=Greek army retired Cypriot colonel George Grivas... to promote the union of Cyprus with Greece through the use of force.}}</ref> As a member of the secret Committee for the Cyprus Struggle he took the oath of Enosis together with the newly elected [[Archbishop of Cyprus|Archbishop]] [[Makarios III]], with whom he collaborated for preparing the armed struggle.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Varnavas |first=Andreas |title=A HISTORY OF THE LIBERATION STRUGGLE OF EOKA (1955 - 1959) |publisher=C. Epiphaniou Publications |year=2004 |isbn=9963-613-55-1 |location=Nicosia |quote=The idea for an armed struggle originated roughly during the same period from the Ethnarch Makarios, the Greek army retired Cypriot colonel George Grivas and some other prominent personalities in Cyprus and Greece. Subsequently, a twelve-member Committee was formed in Athens in 1953, to promote the union of Cyprus with Greece through the use of force}}</ref> He arrived secretly in Cyprus in October 1954 and began immediately the formation of his guerrilla organisation EOKA.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Martin |first=Ian |title=The "Cyprus Troubles" 1955-1960 |publisher=University College, London |quote=...in October 1954 Grivas finally left his home in Athens, entering Cyprus illicitly and moving to a secret address in the outskirts of Nicosia.}}</ref> On 1 April 1955 with a declaration that he signed as DIGENIS and a number of bombings against various targets in the four major cities and military installations, he announced the beginning of his campaign for Self Determination – Union with Greece.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Σήμερα .gr |first=Σαν |title=Ο Απελευθερωτικός Αγώνας της Κύπρου |url=https://www.sansimera.gr/articles/612 |access-date=2024-10-22 |website=Σαν Σήμερα .gr |language=el}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=1 April 2023 |title=H 1η Απριλίου 1955 όπως βιώθηκε στην Κύπρο |trans-title=April 1 1955, as experienced in Cyprus |url=https://www.pemptousia.gr/2023/04/h-1i-apriliou-1955-opos-viothike-stin-kipro/ |website=pemptousia.gr |quote="Την ευθύνη για τις βόμβες ανέλαβε με προκηρύξεις της η ΕΟΚΑ («Εθνική Οργάνωσις Κυπρίων Αγωνιστών»), με την υπογραφή του «Αρχηγού Διγενή»." |trans-quote="EOKA took the responsibility for the bombs with proclamations and the signature of 'Chief Digenis'."}}</ref>

He directed the first EOKA operations from his hideout in Nicosia but soon after he moved to the Troodos mountains to lead his guerrilla teams.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mayes |first=Stanley |title=Makarios: A Biography |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan London |year=1981 |isbn=978-1-349-16502-5 |edition=1st |chapter=By Force Alone |doi=10.1007/978-1-349-16500-1 |quote=Grivas left Nicosia on 6 July to train guerrilla groups on Troodos.}}</ref> At the time he wanted only British soldiers and their Greek collaborators to be targeted and prohibited attacks on the [[Turkish Cypriots]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Ağır|first=Ülkü|title=Pogrom in Istanbul, 6./7. September 1955: Die Rolle der türkischen Presse in einer kollektiven Plünderungs- und Vernichtungshysterie|publisher=Klaus Schwarz Verlag|year=2014|isbn=978-3-87997-439-9|edition=1|location=Berlin|pages=161|language=de}}</ref> He recruited [[Grigoris Afxentiou]] as one of the team leaders, initially of the Famagusta district.<ref name="The Memoirs of General Grivas"/> Grivas escaped capture twice after he was surrounded by British forces at Spilia in December 1955, leading to the [[Battle of Spilia]], and at Kykkos in May 1956. A month later, chased by the British forces, he was secretly transferred from the mountains by the car of a passionate EOKA fighter, Kostis Efstathiou, also known as "Pachykostis", and found refuge in a hideout at Limassol from where he directed not only the military activities but also the political campaign, since Archbishop Makarios in March 1956 was exiled by the authorities.

During the struggle, the British colonial administration had offered a reward of 10,000 British pounds plus passage to anywhere in the world for information leading to the arrest of Colonel Grivas.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Revolutionary Guerrilla Warfare & the Decolonization Movement|journal=Polity|date=Winter 1971|first=Joseph S. |last=Kraemer|volume=4|issue=2|pages=137–158 |jstor=3234160|publisher=Polity, Vol. 4, No. 2|doi=10.2307/3234160 |s2cid=155657462 }}</ref>

==Return to Greece==
With the signing of the [[Zürich and London Agreement|Zurich-London agreements]] in early 1959 and the declaration of Cyprus as an independent state Grivas reluctantly ordered cease-fire. His views were at odds with those of Makarios who had accepted the above agreements on behalf of the Greek Cypriot population. In March 1959, Grivas came out of his hideout and departed (in exile, requested by the UK as part of the cease fire agreement) for Athens where he received a hero's welcome as the liberator of the Greek Cypriots and was subsequently decorated with the highest honours by the [[Greek Parliament]] and the Athens Academy and promoted to the rank of General. Not long after his return, Grivas was persuaded to enter politics as head of a coalition party but soon abandoned this route after the disappointing percentage his party obtained in the general election of 1963.

Grivas returned to Cyprus in 1964 after the outbreak of intercommunal violence between Turkish Cypriots and [[Greek Cypriots]] to take over the Supreme Command of the Greek Cypriot forces organised under the National Guard as well as the Greek military division sent to Cyprus by the government of [[George Papandreou (senior)|George Papandreou]] to assist in the island's defence against a possible Turkish attack.<ref>{{Cite web |last=DITS |title=Κέντρο Συντονισμού Έρευνας και Διάσωσης |url=http://www.mod.gov.cy/cjrcc.nsf/index_gr/index_gr?opendocument |access-date=2023-09-02 |website=www.mod.gov.cy |language=en}}</ref> He directed the construction of defence forts and complexes aiming at withstanding a Turkish invasion.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-07-18 |title=Η αντίσταση των κυπριακών δυνάμεων: Τα σχέδια «Αφροδίτη» |url=https://www.offlinepost.gr/2021/07/18/h-antistash-twn-kypriakwn-dynamewn-ta-sxedia-afroditi/ |access-date=2023-09-02 |website=OffLine Post |language=el}}</ref> On 15 November 1967, Greek Cypriot National Guard under his direct command overran two small villages on the critical Larnaca, Limassol, Nicosia intersection, resulting in the deaths of 27 people, mostly armed Turkish Cypriots as well as Turkish Cypriot paramilitaries at [[Kofinou]] and [[Agios Theodoros, Larnaca|Agios Theodoros]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Στεργιόπουλος |first=Νίκος |date=2022-11-15 |title=Ζήτημα της Κοφίνου: Ο προάγγελος της τουρκικής εισβολής {{!}} Αφιερώματα |url=https://www.maxmag.gr/afieromata/zhthma-tis-kofinou/ |access-date=2023-09-02 |website=MAXMAG {{!}} Πολιτισμός, Τέχνες, Διασκέδαση, Ομορφιά |language=el}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last= |date=2017-11-13 |title=Η αιματηρή σύγκρουση της Εθνικής Φρουράς και Τουρκοκυπρίων στο χωριό Κοφίνου που άνοιξε τον δρόμο στον Αττίλα. Η παρέμβαση των Αμερικανών |url=https://www.mixanitouxronou.com.cy/stiles/sinevi-simera/i-ematiri-sigkrousi-tis-ethnikis-frouras-ke-tourkokiprion-sto-chorio-kofinou-pou-anixe-to-dromo-ston-attila-i-paremvasi-ton-amerikanon-ke-i-apofasi-tis-ellinikis-chountas-na-aposiri-tin-elliniki-mer/ |access-date=2023-09-02 |website=ΜΗΧΑΝΗ ΤΟΥ ΧΡΟΝΟΥ |language=el}}</ref> The immediate result of this event was Turkey's ultimatum, which prompted the Greek military government to recall both the Greek Division and General Grivas to Athens.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Η απόσυρση της Ελληνικής Μεραρχίας από την Κύπρο |url=https://www.eleftheria.gr/m/%CE%B1%CF%80%CF%8C%CF%88%CE%B5%CE%B9%CF%82/item/280562.html |access-date=2023-09-02 |website=www.eleftheria.gr |language=el-gr}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Η απόσυρση της Ελληνικής Μεραρχίας από την Κύπρο |url=https://simerini.sigmalive.com/article/2020/12/15/e-aposurse-tes-ellenikes-merarkhias-apo-ten-kupro/ |access-date=2023-09-02 |website=simerini.sigmalive.com |language=en}}</ref>

From 1968 to 1969, under strict surveillance, Grivas participated in a resistance movement aiming at deposing the ruling military junta and restoring democracy in Greece, along with a number of Greek Army officers including Colonel [[Dimitrios Opropoulos]] and Majors [[Spyros Moustaklis]], [[Nikolaos Lytras (military officer)|Nikolaos Lytras]] and [[George Karousos]] as well as Greek Cypriot students and professionals many of them former EOKA fighters. Grivas began the formation of armed resistance cells in a number of neighbourhoods in Athens which were armed with guns and explosives that were brought in secretly from Cyprus. The organisation, however, was discovered by the authorities and many of its members were arrested.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20071222173601/http://tovima.dolnet.gr/print_article.php?e=B&f=12519&m=A30&aa=1 Letter of General Karousos to the Greek Newspaper "To Vima"]. Published on 7 February 1999</ref><ref>Speeches by General Nikolaos Lytras and Lawyer Panikos Sotiriou at the Symposium "The life and work of Georgios Grivas Digenis", Nicosia Conference Center, Sunday 4th Iouniou 1995 {{ISBN|9963-8210-1-4}}</ref><ref>Andreas Athanasiou, O Agnostos Polemos Athinon Lefkosias, p.179</ref><ref>Makarios Drousiotis, EOKA B & CIA, To ellinotourkiko parakratos stin Kipro, Alfadi, Nicosia 2003 pp 80–81</ref>
[[File:Monument Georgius Grivas Paphos fd.jpg|thumb|A monument to Georgios Grivas in [[Paphos]]]]

==Later life and death==
After the discovery of Grivas' plans by the authorities, he secretly returned to Cyprus on 31 August 1971, where he formed the armed organisation [[EOKA B]], which he used as leverage in his attempts to persuade or force Makarios to change his policy and adopt the line of "Self Determination – Union" with Greece.<ref>{{cite magazine | title=The Survivor | date= 28 February 1972 | url =http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,905841,00.html | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20100503184827/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,905841,00.html | url-status =dead | archive-date =3 May 2010 | magazine =[[Time (magazine)|Time]] | access-date = 24 April 2008 }}</ref> EOKA B didn't overthrow Makarios but the armed struggle led to a vicious circle of violence and anti-violence that amounted to civil war among the Greek-Cypriot Community from 1971 to 1974.<ref name="ReferenceA">H Tragiki Anametrisi kai i Prodosia tis Kyprou-Marios Adamides-2011, p. ?</ref>

While hiding at a house in [[Limassol]] on 27 January 1974, Grivas died of heart failure at the age of 76.<ref name="Times Obituary">{{cite news | title=Gen George Grivas (Obituaries) | date= 29 January 1974 | url =http://archive.timesonline.co.uk/ | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20081006085903/http://archive.timesonline.co.uk/ | url-status =dead | archive-date =6 October 2008 | work =[[The Times]] Digital Archive | pages =14; Issue 59000; col E | access-date = 24 June 2008 | location=London | first1=Roland | last1=Watson | first2=Francis | last2=Elliott | first3=Sam | last3=Coates}}</ref> The post-Grivas EOKA B then signed a secret agreement with Brigadier [[Dimitrios Ioannidis]], the "invisible dictator" of Greece, and was controlled directly from Athens. Grivas' funeral and burial was held on 29 January 1974, in the garden of the house that had been Grivas' last hideout during the EOKA struggle (1955–1959) and was attended by tens of thousands of Greek Cypriots. Upon his death, the Cypriot Government declared a three-day official mourning and three days later, the [[Parliament of Cyprus]] declared General Grivas "A worthy son of the motherland". The government of Makarios, the target of Grivas' campaign for enosis, formally boycotted the event.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Bitter Lessons: How We Failed in Cyprus|journal=Foreign Policy|date=Summer 1975|first=Laurence|last=Stern|volume=19|issue=19|pages=34–78 |doi=10.2307/1147991 |jstor=1147991}}</ref>

==Aftermath==
The Second Junta of Greece, under Ioannidis, overthrew Makarios just six months after Grivas' death.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-07-15 |title=Πενήντα χρόνια από το πραξικόπημα της 15ης Ιουλίου 1974 στην Κύπρο - Η κερκόπορτα για τον «Αττίλα» |url=https://www.protothema.gr/stories/article/1519899/penida-hronia-apo-to-praxikopima-tis-15is-iouliou-1974-stin-kupro-i-kerkoporta-gia-ton-attila/ |access-date=2025-03-16 |website=ProtoThema |language=el}}</ref> Ioannidis had been planning to overthrow Makarios in spring 1974, but the final decision to act was made on 2 July 1974 after Makarios decided to directly oppose the Ioannidis regime by expelling from the Cypriot National Guard 550 Greek officers. That meant the loss of military control of Cyprus for Greece as well as the humiliation of Ioannidis.<ref>See secret minutes of a conversation between Makarios and British Prime Minister-London 17 July 1974.</ref> The [[1974 Cypriot coup d'état|coup d'état]] of 15 July 1974 that overthrew Makarios was executed by forces of the [[Cypriot National Guard]] under direct instructions from Greece. The National Guard was led by Greek officers and consisted of Greek-Cypriot conscripts. The EOKA B members and other pro-enosis forces joined the National Guard in the afternoon of Monday 15 July 1974 in the fight against Makarios' forces. The coup was swiftly followed by the [[Turkish invasion of Cyprus]] on 20 July. This invasion took Ioannides by surprise, who failed to prepare Cyprus for a Turkish invasion and failed to coerce the Greek generals whom he had appointed to apply "Plan K" and provide military assistance to Cyprus. That marked the downfall of Ioannidis.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

== References ==
{{Reflist|2}}

==Sources==

* Grivas-Digenis Georgios, Apomnimoneumata Agonos E.O.K.A. 1955–59, Athina 1961. third publishing, Athina 2013.
* Grivas-Digenis Georgios, Chronikon Agonos E.O.K.A. 1955–1959, Lefkosia 1971. second publishing, Lefkosia 1997
* Grivas George, General Grivas on Guerrilla Warfare. Translated by A. A. Palis, New York, N.Y., USA, Praeger, 1965
* Grivas George, Guerrilla warfare and EOKA's struggle: a politico-military study. (Translated by A. A. Pallis). London, G.B.: Longmans, Green, 1964
* Grivas George, The Memoirs of General Grivas. Edited by Charles Foley, New York, Frederick A. Praeger, 1965
* Papageorgiou Spyros, O Grivas kai i "X", To Chameno Archeio, Athens 2004
* Woodhouse, Christopher Montague (1948). Apple of Discord: A Survey of Recent Greek Politics in their International Setting. London
* H Tragiki Anametrisi kai i Prodosia tis Kyprou-Marios Adamides-Nicosia-2011-E-Book.

{{Greece during World War II|state=collapsed}}
{{Megali Idea}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grivas, Georgios}}
[[Category:1897 births]]
[[Category:1974 deaths]]
[[Category:Cypriot biographers]]
[[Category:Cypriot military personnel]]
[[Category:Cypriot political writers]]
[[Category:Hellenic Army lieutenant generals]]
[[Category:Greek nationalists]]
[[Category:Greek anti-communists]]
[[Category:Greek Resistance members]]
[[Category:Greek monarchists]]
[[Category:Greek memoirists]]
[[Category:Cypriot people of the EOKA]]
[[Category:Guerrilla warfare theorists]]
[[Category:EOKA B]]
[[Category:People educated at Pancyprian Gymnasium]]
[[Category:20th-century Cypriot writers]]
[[Category:20th-century memoirists]]
[[Category:People from Nicosia]]
[[Category:People from Famagusta District]]
[[Category:People of the Greco-Italian War]]

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Georgios Grivas