πλήρης τίτλος:
Panagioula Koutsopanagou,
The
British press and Greek politics, 1943-1949, PhD thesis, London
School of Economics and Political Science, United Kingdom 1997
===
πηγή: LSE
===
Abstract
This thesis is a study of British attitudes
towards Greece, during the period 1943-1949 through the eyes and voices of the
British daily and weekly press. This study seeks to examine these attitudes
within a period which started, in Europe and in Greece, with the best of hopes
and expectations for world peace, democracy and social justice and ended
finding Greece exhausted by a four-year civil war and the world separated into
two opposed ideological and political blocks. It, therefore, observes the
fluctuation of attitudes and opinions as they correspond to the changing world
situation. It is also a study of Labour and Liberal opinion in Britain. The
decisive four years (1944-1947) for the fate of the Greek crisis found Britain
deeply involved in Greece. The conduct of British policy towards that country,
since July 1945, as pursued by a Labour government, represented a real
challenge for Labour and Liberal opinion concerning its ideological principles
and morals. The nature of the Greek crisis and the strategic location of the
country made it an important episode during the height of the Cold War, further
complicating the country's already acute internal differences. Thus, this
thesis is also a study of the press reactions to the hardening Cold War
attitudes. The aim has been to discover whether the Greek developments
themselves were faced on their merits or whether they were related to the Cold
War climate; whether the attitudes towards Greece were kept with the general
political and philosophical outlooks. Misconceptions, misinterpretations,
deceptions and illusions will be also considered and, in particular how, if at
all, these features are related to Cold War propaganda. A significant part of
this study will be given on the issue of the relationship between government
and press. Freedom of information and governmental pressure on the press,
either direct or indirect, are issues under consideration. Papers will also
examined as much for their attitudes and opinions they espoused as for how they
went about their business, e.g. ownership, staff, finance, circulation figures,
readership. Finally this thesis, it is hoped, will contribute some valuable
first-hand evidence to the overall study of the Greek civil war as it will
attempt to portray the prevailing psychological and political atmosphere at the
time.
===
