Greece: the colonels' Puritan revolution

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine the present political situation in Greece and the events that took place from the time that Papandreou’s Center Union Party came to power in 1964 to the military coup d’etat in 1967. However, in order to develop a picture of what led to the coup of 1967, it is necessary not only to discuss specific events prior and during the coup, but also to present a brief background of modern Greek politics since Greece’s independence from the Turks in 1821. The paper is divided into five chapters: the first chapter briefly summarizes the events that took place on April 21, 1967; the second traces the events that led to the April 21 coup d’etat; the third indicates what the situation was before April 21, 1967; the fourth discusses the polices and governing methods of the present military regime; the fifth is a concluding statement. There is little data in books or professional journals about recent Greek politics. Consequently, this work was largely dependent on newspapers, news magazines, and the testimony of a number of Greeks for information. The Greek people are presently under the dictatorial rule of a military regime. Resistance against the regime appears to be increasing. As resistance increases, more repressive measures and unrest will develop, until the country erupts into a bloody civil war.