Greek junta
The Greek military junta of 1967-1974 or alternatively called "The Regime of the Colonels" or in Greece "The Junta" is a collective term to refer to a series of military regimes that ruled modern Greece during 1967-1974.
The rule by the military started in the morning of April 21, 1967 with a coup d'etat lead by a group of colonels of the military of Greece, and ended in August, 1974.
Before the Junta
During the Cold War, Greece was a vital link in the NATO defense arc which extended from the eastern border of Iran to the northmost point in Norway. In 1947, the United States formulated the Truman Doctrine, and began to actively support a series of authoritarian governments in Greece, Turkey and Iran in order to ensure that these states do not fall under Soviet influence. Greece in particular was seen as being in risk, having experienced a communist insurgency from 1945 until 1949.
By the early 1960s, the government was still at the hands of the conservatives, but there were signs of liberalization. In 1963, the Lambrakis affair, the resignation of Constantine Karamanlis and the election of centrist George Papandreou, Sr. as Prime minister were signs of rapid change. The young and inexperienced king Constantine II clashed with the reformers, dismissing Papandreou in 1965 in an bid to gain more control over the country's government than what his limited constitutional powers allowed. The move was followed by 22 months of political instability during which 5 weak governments succeeded each other.
New elections were scheduled (for 28 May 1967), and there were many indications that Papandreou's Center Union Party (EK) would not be able to form a working government by itself. There was a strong possibility that the EK party (or even the conservative ERE party) would be forced into an alliance with socialist EDA (EΔΑ) party, which was suspected by conservatives to be a proxy for the banned Communist Party of Greece (and not totally without cause; while EDA was by no means Communist, the Communist Party had decided to support EDA in the election in hopes of further reforms).
This sense of a "Communist threat", along with a traditionalist right wing nationalistic ideology in the military of Greece, eventualy led to the coup d'etat of April 21 1967.
The coup d'etat of April 21
On April 21, 1967, (just weeks before the scheduled elections), a group of right-wing colonels led by Colonel George Papadopoulos seized power in a coup d'etat. The colonels were able to quickly seize power by using surprise and confusion. They activated an action plan that had been previously drafted as a response for a hypothetical takeover or the parliament by communist guerillas. Most units were ordered to stay in their barracks; the principal implement of the coup was the armored division of the Evelpidon Officer's Academy (commanded by Col. Dimitrios Ioannidis). These young cadets were inexperienced, but were highly disciplined and unlikely to question orders. The next day, with armored vehicles surrounding the parliament, the palace and the king's residence in Tatoi, the king was persuaded to sign an order naming Constantine Kollias, a politician hand-picked by the colonels, as prime minister. This move gave the military rulers a plausible claim to constitutional legitimacy (which was propped up a few months later with a constitutional amendment dismissing the parliament).
Characteristics of the Junta
Ideology
The colonels preferred to the coup d'etat of April 21 a "revolution" to save the nation ("Ethnosotirios Epanastasis"). Their official justification for the breach of the constitution was that a "communist conspiracy" had infiltrated the bureaucracy, the academia, the press, and even the military, to such an extent that drastic action was needed to protect the country from a takeover. Thus, the defining characteristic of the Junta was its staunch anti-Communism and a constant battle against the unseen but ever present agents of communism. The term "anarchokommounistes" (anarcho-communists) was frequently (though incorrectly) used to describe all leftists. Fabrication of evidence and fictional enemies of the state was a common practice. Atheism and pop culture (such as rock music and the hippies) were also seen as parts of this conspiracy. Nationalism and Christian moralism were widely promoted.
Sources of Support
To gain support for his regime, Papadopoulos was able to project an image that appealed to some segments of Greek society. The son of a poor family from a rural area, he had no education other than that of the military academy. He publically stated contempt for the urban, western- educated "elite" in Athens. Modern western music was banned from the airwaves, and folk music and arts were promoted. The poor, conservative, religious farmers widely supported him, seeing in his rough mannerisms, simplistic speaches, even in his name ("Georgios Papadopoulos" is perhaps the most common name in Greece) a "friend of the common man". Further, the regime promoted a policy of economic development in rural areas, which were mostly neglected by the previous governments, that had focused largely in urban industrial development.
Papadopoulos mannerisms were less likely to appeal to the middle class, but the political crisis of 1965-1967 let many ordinary citizens to believe that any stable government, even a military one, was better than the preceding chaos. Overall, the regime had little trouble establishing its control over the land.
The "junta" was given at least tacit support by the United States as a Cold War ally, due to its proximity to the Eastern European Soviet bloc, and the fact that the previous Truman administration had given the country millions of dollars in economic aid to discourage Communism. U.S. support for the regime is claimed to be the cause of rising anti-Americanism in Greece during and following the junta's harsh rule.
Civil Rights
Civil liberties were suppressed, special military courts were established, and political parties were dissolved. Several thousand suspected communists and political opponents were imprisoned or exiled to remote Greek islands. Amnesty International sent observers to Greece at the time and reported that under Papadopoulos' regime torture was a deliberate practice carried out by both Security Police and the Military Police.
James Becket, an American attorney sent to Greece by Amnesty International, wrote In December 1969 that "a conservative estimate would place at not less than two thousand" the number of people tortured. In his report he describes how some torturers had told prisoners about the US origin of some of their torture devices.
Furthermore, an Amnesty International delegation described a variety or tortures routinely carried out against critics of the regime which included the following:
- Phalanx torture (beating the toes of the feet with a stick or pipe).
- Sexually-oriented torture: shoving or an object into the vagina and twisting and tearing brutally; also done with a tube inserted into the anus; or a tube is inserted into the anus and water driven in under very high pressure.
- Techniques of gagging: the throat is grasped in such a way that the windpipe is cut off, or a filthy rag, often soaked in urine, and sometimes excrement, is shoved down the throat.
- Tearing out the hair from the head and the pubic region.
- Jumping on the victim's stomach.
- Pulling out toe nails and finger nails.
The King's Counter-Coup
From the outset, the relationship between king Constantine II of Greece and the Colonels was an uneasy one. The colonels wanted no oversight from the palace; the young, western-educated, playboy king was the total antithesis to Papadopoulos' old country ways. The United States showed no trust for the king, and preferred to bypass him altogether and deal directly with the colonels. On December 13, 1967 the king attempted a counter coup. The action ended in a fiasco. The Navy and some Air Force units did support Constantine, but the Army stayed firm in its support for the Colonels. Orders given by Army generals loyal to the king were simply ignored by lower ranking officers down the line. Constantine hastily boarded a plane and fled to Rome, Italy; he was never to return to Greece as a king again.
The Regency
From December 1967 on, Greece was in a constitutional limbo. The official head of state was in exile, even as coins with his portrait continued to be minted. Regents took over his role, but their authority was in question, especially overseas. During this period, resistance against the colonel's rule became better organized among exiles in Europe and the United States. In addition to the expected opposition from the left, the colonels found themselves under attack by constituencies that had traditionally supported past right-wing regimes: pro-monarchists supporting Constantine; businessmen concerned over international isolation; the middle class facing an economic downturn after 1971. There was also considerable political infighting within the junta.
The "Republic"
To resolve the constitutional issue and cement his hold on power over his opponents (both inside and outside the regime), Papadopoulos introduced a new constitution which abolished the monarchy and made Greece a republic. The referendum for the new regime was held in early 1973 and was approved by an "almost unanimous" vote, thanks to widespread election fraud. After the election, Papadopoulos became President of the Republic on June 1, 1973.
The Ioannidis Regime
On November 25, 1973, following the bloody suppresion of Athens Polytechnic uprising on the 17th of November, General Dimitrios Ioannides ousted Papadopoulos and tried to continue the dictatorship despite the popular unrest the uprising had triggered. Ioannides' attempt in July 1974 to overthrow Archbishop Makarios, the President of Cyprus, brought Greece to the brink of war with Turkey, which invaded Cyprus and occupied part of the island.
Restoration of Democracy
After the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, there was well founded fear that an all out war with Turkey was imminent. Senior Greek military officers realized that it would be impossible to defend the country given the situation: The Navy and Air Force leadership had been ousted after the king's counter-coup; there were constant intrigues in the Army, and popular animosity for the regime could not be contained. After a brief meeting with representatives of ERE in Athens, the coloners agreed to resign.
Karamanlis returned from exile in France to establish a government of national unity until elections could be held. Karamanlis' newly organized party, New Democracy (ND), won elections held in November 1974, and he became prime minister. The cause of the downfall of the dictatorship formally was the invasion by Turkey of Cyprus, which was seen as a military and political failure of the junta; however, since then, historians and other people have regarded the uprising at the Polytechnic University (Greek: Η εξέγερση του Πολυτεχνείου) as the event that most discredited the military government.
See Also
External Links
- Fairly well-balanced and illustrated account of the junta years up to Athens Polytechnic uprising.
- Article in the same site about the Polytechnich uprising, the Cyprus troubles, and the fall of the junta.
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