EN
During the Bulgarian-Italian-German occupation of Greece, the anti-communist National Liberation Front (EAM) allowed creation of a special branch responsible for northern Greece Slav population called Slavomakedonski narodno-osvoboditelen front - SNOF. Guerrilla troops belonging to this organisation, however, came under Tito's control and the leaders started promoting unification of Greek Macedonia with Yugoslav (Vardar) Macedonia. The Slav Macedonian formations were thus either dissolved under the pressure of the Greek guerrilla army (ELAS), or retreated to Yugoslavia. After liberation of Greece in spring 1945, a new organisation of Greek Slav Macedonians (Narodno-osvobotelen front - NOF) was created at Tito's urge. The Greek communist party initially promoted a Greek character of the Slav Macedonians and accused the organisation of separatism. When the second phase of the civil war broke out, however, it changed its standpoint and started collaborating with NOF. Enforcement of the Slav Macedonians into the leadership of the Greek communist army (DSE) and the so-called 'Mountain Government' was not welcomed by the communist opponents or even the communists themselves. This fact, together with a dispute between Tito and Stalin, resulted in decrease of power of the Greek communist party and contributed to the final defeat of the guerrilla army in August 1949. The defeat of DSE had a serious impact on the Slav population of northern Greece. Most of the people were forced to immigrate together with the communist partisans to the People's Democratic States, including Czechoslovakia, where the Slav Macedonians made up about one third of Greek emigration.