Specific Forms and the Legacies of Class Struggle

Abstract

The formation and development of the working class and the capitalist class in Greece naturally occurred in parallel with the rising level of industrialisation. Greece had very limited industrial activity in the 19th century and failed to make an industrial take-off until 1920 (Close, 2002, p. 5). Migrations from Anatolia in 1922 resulted in significant changes in the economic field that they induced a labour surplus, which marked the beginning of a period of rapid industrialisation and urbanisation (Ioannou, 2007, p. 2). Yet, even the rapid industrialisation was not sufficient for the absorption of the ‘labour surplus’ and workers witnessed a weakening of bargaining power and negative effects on unionisation (Katsanevas, 1985, p. 102). The working class that started to grow and get organised under the influence of the Bolshevik Revolution was overshadowed for years by the surplus population of workers.