The Greek military junta of 1967–74, commonly known as the Regime of the Colonels (Greek: καθεστώς των Συνταγματαρχών, kathestós ton Syntagmatarchón), or in Greece simply The Junta (/ˈdʒʌntə/ or /ˈhʊntə/; Greek: Χούντα, [ˈxunda]), The Dictatorship (Η Δικτατορία, I Diktatoría) and The Seven Years (Η Επταετία, I eptaetía), was a series of right-wing military juntas that ruled Greece following the 1967 Greek coup d'état led by a group of colonels on 21 April 1967. The dictatorship ended on 24 July 1974 under the pressure of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus.

Contents [hide]

1 Background

1.1 American influence in Greece

1.2 The Apostasia and political instability

1.3 A "Generals' Coup"

2 The coup d'état of 21 April

2.1 The role of the King

2.2 The King's counter-coup

2.3 The Regency

3 Characteristics of the Junta

3.1 Ideology

3.2 "Patient in a cast" and other metaphors

3.3 Civil rights

3.4 External relations

3.5 Sociocultural policies

3.5.1 Western music and film

3.5.2 Greek rock

3.5.3 Tourism

3.5.4 Agriculture

3.5.5 Urban classes

3.6 Economic policies

3.7 Financial scandals

4 The Italian connection

5 Anti-Junta movement

5.1 Assassination attempt by Panagoulis

5.2 Broadening of the movement

5.3 International protest

5.4 The Velos mutiny

6 Collapse

6.1 Normalization and attempts at liberalization

6.2 The uprising at the Polytechnic

6.3 The Ioannidis Regime

6.4 Cypriot coup d'état, Turkish invasion and fall of the Junta

7 The trials of the junta (1975)

8 Legacy and Greek public opinion

9 See also

10 References

11 Citations and notes

12 External links

Background[edit]

See also: Greek Civil War

The 1967 coup and the following seven years of military rule were the culmination of 30 years of national division between the forces of the Left and the Right that can be traced to the time of the resistance against Axis occupation of Greece during World War II. After the liberation in 1944, Greece descended into a civil war, fought between the communist forces and the now-returned government-in-exile.

American influence in Greece[edit]

Main article: Operation Gladio § Greece

The Phoenix rising from its flames and the silhouette of the soldier bearing a rifle with fixed bayonet was the emblem of the Junta. On the header the word Greece (Ελλας) and on the footer 21 April 1967, the date of the coup d'état, can be seen in Greek.

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 did not fall under Soviet influence.[1] With American and British aid, the civil war ended with the military defeat of the communists in 1949. The Communist Party of Greece (KKE) was outlawed, and many Communists either fled the country or faced persecution.[citation needed] The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Greek military began to work closely, especially after Greece joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 1952. This included notable CIA officers Gust Avrakotos and Clair George. Avrakotos maintained a close relationship with the colonels who would figure in the later coup.[2]

Greece was a vital link in the NATO defense arc which extended from the eastern border of Iran to the northernmost point in Norway. Greece in particular was seen as being at risk, having experienced a communist insurgency. In particular, the newly founded Hellenic National Intelligence Service (EYP) and the Mountain Raiding Companies (LOK) maintained a very close liaison with their American counterparts. In addition to preparing for a Soviet invasion, they agreed to guard against a left-wing coup. The LOK in particular were integrated into the Gladio European stay-behind network.[3] Although there have been persistent rumors about an active support of the coup by the U.S. government, there is no evidence to support such claims.[4][5] The timing of the coup apparently caught the CIA by surprise.[6]

The Apostasia and political instability[edit]

Main article: Apostasia of 1965

After many years of conservative rule, the election of the Center Union's Georgios Papandreou, Sr. as Prime Minister was a sign of change. In a bid to gain more control over the country's government than his limited constitutional powers allowed, the young and inexperienced King Constantine II clashed with liberal reformers, dismissing Papandreou in 1965 and causing a constitutional crisis known as the "Apostasia of 1965".

After making several attempts to form governments, relying on dissident Centre Union and conservative MPs, Constantine II appointed an interim government under Ioannis Paraskevopoulos, and new elections were called for 28 May 1967. There were many indications that Papandreou's Centre Union would emerge as the largest party, but would not be able to form a single-party government and would be forced into an alliance with the United Democratic Left, which was suspected by conservatives of being a proxy for the banned KKE. This possibility was used as a pretext for the coup.

A "Generals' Coup"[edit]

Greek historiography and journalists have hypothesized about a "Generals' Coup",[7] a coup that would have been deployed at Constantine's behest under the pretext of combating communist subversion.[8][9]

Before the elections that were scheduled for 28 May 1967, with expectations of a wide Center Union victory, a number of conservative National Radical Union politicians feared that the policies of left-wing Centrists, including Andreas Papandreou (the son of Georgios Papandreou, Sr.), would lead to a constitutional crisis. One such politician, George Rallis, proposed that, in case of such an "anomaly", the King should declare martial law as the monarchist constitution permitted him. According to Rallis, Constantine was receptive to the idea.[10]

According to U.S. diplomat John Day, Washington also worried that Andreas Papandreou would have a very powerful role in the next government, because of his father's old age. According to Robert Keely and John Owens, American diplomats present in Athens at the time, Constantine asked U.S. Ambassador William Phillips Talbot what the American attitude would be to an extra-parliamentary solution to the problem. To this the embassy responded negatively in principle — adding, however, that, "U.S. reaction to such move cannot be determined in advance but would depend on circumstances at time." Constantine denies this.[11] According to Talbot, Constantine met the army generals, who promised him that they would not take any action before the coming elections. However, the proclamations of Andreas Papandreou made them nervous, and they resolved to re-examine their decision after seeing the results of the elections.[11]

In 1966, Constantine sent his envoy, Demetrios Bitsios, to Paris on a mission to persuade former prime minister Constantine Karamanlis to return to Greece and resume his prior role in politics. According to uncorroborated claims made by the former monarch, Karamanlis replied to Bitsios that he would only return if the King imposed martial law, as was his constitutional prerogative.[12] According to New York Times correspondent Cyrus L. Sulzberger, Karamanlis flew to New York City to meet with USAF General Lauris Norstad to lobby for a conservative coup that would establish himself as Greece's leader; Sulzberger alleges that Norstad declined to involve himself in such affairs.[9] Sulzberger's account rests solely on the authority of his and Norstad's word. When, in 1997, the former King reiterated Sulzberger's allegations, Karamanlis stated that he "will not deal with the former king's statements because both their content and attitude are unworthy of comment".[13]

The deposed King's adoption of Sulzberger's claims against Karamanlis was castigated by Greece's left-leaning media, which denounced Karamanlis as "shameless" and "brazen".[13] It bears noting that, at the time, Constantine referred exclusively to Sulzberger's account to support the theory of a planned coup by Karamanlis, and made no mention of the alleged 1966 meeting with Bitsios, which he would refer to only after both participants had died and could not respond.

As it turned out, the constitutional crisis did not originate either from the political parties, or from the Palace, but from middle-rank army putschists.