Greek military junta of 1967–1974 in the context of "Caretaker government"

Play Trivia Questions online!

or

Skip to study material about Greek military junta of 1967–1974 in the context of "Caretaker government"

Ad spacer

⭐ Core Definition: Greek military junta of 1967–1974

The Greek junta or Regime of the Colonels was a right-wing military junta that ruled Greece from 1967 to 1974. On 21 April 1967, a group of colonels overthrew a caretaker government a month before scheduled elections which Georgios Papandreou's Centre Union was favoured to win.

The dictatorship was characterised by policies such as anti-communism, restrictions on civil liberties, and the imprisonment, torture, and exile of political opponents. It was ruled by Georgios Papadopoulos from 1967 to 1973, but an attempt to renew popular support in a 1973 referendum on the monarchy and gradual democratisation by Papadopoulos was ended by another coup by the hardliner Dimitrios Ioannidis. Ioannidis ruled until it fell on 24 July 1974 under the pressure of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, leading to the Metapolitefsi ("regime change"; Greek: Μεταπολίτευση) to democracy and the establishment of the Third Hellenic Republic.
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).

↓ Menu

>>>PUT SHARE BUTTONS HERE<<<
In this Dossier

Greek military junta of 1967–1974 in the context of Northern Cyprus

Northern Cyprus, officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), is a de facto state comprising the northern third of the island of Cyprus. It is recognised only by Turkey, with the international community considering it territory of the Republic of Cyprus under Turkish military occupation. It extends from Cape Apostolos Andreas (the tip of the Karpass Peninsula) in the northeast to Morphou Bay in the northwest, with Cape Kormakitis at its westernmost point and the Kokkina exclave west of the mainland. A buffer zone controlled by the UN forms a barrier between both sides of the island and runs through Nicosia, the island's largest city and the capital of both sides.

After gaining independence from the United Kingdom in 1960, Cyprus was dominated by intercommunal violence between the island's Greek and Turkish populations. Greek Cypriots favoured enosis (union with Greece), while Turkish Cypriots favoured taksim (partition of the island). A coup d'état in 1974, performed as part of the Greek military junta's attempt to annex the island, prompted Turkey to invade Cyprus and capture the northern third of the island. This resulted in the eviction of much of the north's Greek Cypriot population and the flight of Turkish Cypriots from the south; the Turkish-occupied north unilaterally declared independence in 1983. UN Security Council Resolution 541 rejected the declaration as illegal and urged UN members not to recognise it. Attempts to resolve the Cyprus problem have been unsuccessful; Northern Cyprus and Turkey favour a two-state solution, while the Republic of Cyprus, the EU, and the UN favour a federalised Cyprus.

↑ Return to Menu

Greek military junta of 1967–1974 in the context of 1974 Greek republic referendum

A referendum on the constitutional form of the state was held in Greece on 8 December 1974.

After the collapse of the military junta that ruled the country since 1967, the longstanding dispute between republicans and monarchists re-emerged. The junta had already held a referendum of dubious integrity the previous year on the same question, producing a vote in favor of a republic, which Georgios Papadopoulos used as a pretext to have himself declared President. However, after the collapse of the military regime and free elections the previous month, the newly elected government of Prime Minister Constantine Karamanlis decided to re-run the vote, the junta-era referendum being widely considered both electorally and legally questionable.

↑ Return to Menu

Greek military junta of 1967–1974 in the context of Panagiotis Kanellopoulos

Panagiotis Kanellopoulos or Panayotis Kanellopoulos (Greek: Παναγιώτης Κανελλόπουλος; 13 December 1902 – 11 September 1986) was a Greek writer, politician and Prime Minister of Greece. He was the Prime Minister of Greece deposed by the Greek military junta of 1967–1974.

↑ Return to Menu