Communist Party of Greece

The Communist Party of Greece (Greek: Κομμουνιστικό Κόμμα Ελλάδας, Kommounistikó Kómma Elládas, KKE) is a Marxist–Leninist political party in Greece. Founded in 1918 as the Socialist Labour Party of Greece, it is the oldest party in the Greek political scene. It is one of the most influential communist parties in the Western world and at the same time one of the most hardline.

History

Foundation

The October Revolution of the Bolsheviks in Russia in 1917 gave impetus for the foundation of Communist parties in many countries all over the globe. ΚΚΕ was founded on 4 November 1918 as the Socialist Labour Party of Greece (Greek: Σοσιαλιστικό Εργατικό Κόμμα Ελλάδας, Sosialistikó Ergatikó Kómma Elládas; acronym: ΣΕΚΕ, SEKE) by Avraam Benaroya, a Sephardic Jewish teacher and Socialist Workers' Federation leader in Thessaloniki. The party was run by a five-member central committee which consisted of Nikos Dimitratos, D. Ligdopoulos, M. Sideris, A. Arvanitis and S. Kokkinos.

KKE (disambiguation)

KKE stands for Κομμουνιστικό Κόμμα Ελλάδας (Kommounistikó Kómma Elládas), the Communist Party of Greece.

KKE may also refer to:

Communist Party of Greece (Interior)

The Communist Party of Greece, Interior (Greek: Κομμουνιστικό Κόμμα Ελλάδας Εσωτερικού), usually abbreviated as KKE Interior (Greek: ΚΚΕ Εσωτερικού), was a eurocommunist party existing between 1968 and 1987 in Greece.

The party was formed after the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) suffered a major split following the 1968 Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia throwing down the Prague Spring. KKE Interior essentially broke ties with KKE's ideological supervision by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and later established bonds with parties such as the Italian Communist Party (PCI), adopting a Eurocommunist perspective. The party also opted for a "Renewal of the Left" and embraced the concept of Socialism with a human face.

KKE Interior was greatly active in the struggle against the Regime of the Colonels that ruled Greece from 1967 to 1974 through the Panhellenic Antidictatorial Front (abbrev. ΠΑΜ) and its youth wing, the Greek Communist Youth – Rigas Feraios. During the period that followed the collapse of the Regime of the Colonels, known as the Metapolitefsi, the party remained electorally active, either on its own or in broader leftist coalitions. KKE Interior was dissolved some months after its 4th Congress in 1986, splitting into two: the Communist Party of Greece (Interior)-Renewing Left and the Greek Left.