Greek People's Liberation Army

Greek People's Liberation Army Ελληνικός Λαϊκός Απελευθερωτικός Στρατός
Participant in the Greek Resistance and the Dekemvriana
Monument of ELAS, Galatsi.
Active	1942–1945
Leaders	Aris Velouchiotis (Chief Captain) Major General Stefanos Sarafis (Chief military officer) Political commissar Andreas Tzimas (Chief political supervisor)
Strength	50,000 - max.100,000
Part of	National Liberation Front
Allies	Soviet Union, SNOF, Albanian Partisans, Bulgarian Partisans, Yugoslav Partisans, SOE
Opponents	German Army, Royal Italian Army, Kingdom of Bulgaria, Collaborationist government, Security Battalions, EDES/EOEA, EKKA/5/42 Evzone Regiment, YVE/PAO, Organization X, British Army, Cities Police, Greek Gendarmerie

The Greek People's Liberation Army or ELAS (Greek: Ελληνικός Λαϊκός Απελευθερωτικός Στρατός, translit. Ellinikós Laïkós Apeleftherotikós Stratós, ΕΛΑΣ), often mistakenly called the National People's Liberation Army (Εθνικός Λαϊκός Απελευθερωτικός Στρατός, Ethnikós Laïkós Apeleftherotikós Stratós), was the military arm of the left-wing National Liberation Front (EAM) during the period of the Greek Resistance until February 1945, then during the Greek Civil War.

After Nazi Germany attacked the Soviet Union with the initiation of Operation Barbarossa (June 22, 1941 — with most of Greece having fallen under Axis occupation since April and the Battle of Crete having ended on June 1 — the Greek Communist Party (KKE) called for national resistance. The KKE together with minor parties of the Left formed a political structure called National Liberation Front. They were joined by other, center-left or non-politicised Greek resistance militants.

On February 16, 1942, EAM gave permission to a communist veteran, called Athanasios (Thanasis) Klaras (later known as Aris Velouchiotis) to examine the possibilities of a victorious armed resistance movement. It was the birth of the Greek People's Liberation Army (ELAS). ELAS initiated actions against the German and Italian forces of occupation in Greece on 7 June 1942. Aris Velouchiotis with a small group of 10–15 guerrillas entered the village of Domnista in Evrytania and proclaimed in front of the surprised villagers that they had set off to "start the war against the forces of Axis and their local collaborators". Initially, Velouchiotis collected also the traditional local mountain living bandits, like Karalivanos, in order to create a small group of experts in guerilla fighting.