HISTORY
The Greek War of Independence
began in 1821 and concluded in 1830 when England, France, and
Russia forced the Ottoman Empire to grant Greece its independence
under a European monarch, Bavarian prince Otto. He was deposed
30 years later, and the Great Powers chose a prince of the Danish
House of Glucksberg as his successor. He became George I, King
of the Hellenes.
At independence, Greece had
an area of 47,515 square kilometers (18,346 square mi.), and its
northern boundary extended from the Gulf of Volos to the Gulf
of Arta. Under the influence of the "Meagali Idea,"
of expanding the Greek state to include all areas of Greek population,
Greece aquired the Ionian Islands in 1864; Thessaly and part of
Epirus in 1881; Macedonia, Crete, Epirus, and the Aegean Islands
in 1913; Western Thrace in 1918; and the Dodecanese Islands in
1947.
Greece entered World War I
in 1917 on the side of the Allies. After the war, Greece took
part in the Allied occupation of Turkey, where many Greeks still
lived. In 1921, the Greek army marched toward Ankara, but was
defeated by Turkish forces led by Mustafa Kemal (later Ataturk)
and forced to withdraw. In a forced exchange of populations, more
than 1.3 million Christian refugees from Turkey poured into Greece,
creating enormous challenges for the Greek economy and society.
Greek politics, particularly
between the two world wars, involved a struggle for power between
monarchists and republicans. Greece was proclaimed a republic
in 1924, but George II returned to the throne in 1935. A plebiscite
in 1946 upheld the monarchy, which was finally abolished by referendum
on December 8, 1974.
Greece's entry into World
War II was precipitated by the Italian invasion on October 28,
1940. Despite Italian superiority in numbers and equipment, determined
Greek defenders drove the invaders back into Albania. Hitler was
forced to divert German troops to protect his southern flank and
overran Greece in 1941. German forces withdrew in October 1944,
and the government in exile returned to Athens.
After the German withdrawal,
the principal Greek resistance movement, which was controlled
by the communists, refused to disarm. A banned demonstration by
resistance forces in Athens in December 1944 ended in battles
with Greek Government and British forces. Continuing tensions
led to the outbreak of full-fledged civil war in 1946. First the
United Kingdom and later the U.S. gave extensive military and
economic aid to the Greek government. In 1947, Secretary of State
George C. Marshall implemented the Marshall Plan under President
Truman, which focused on the economic recovery and the rebuilding
of Europe. The U.S. contributed millions of dollars to rebuilding
Greece in terms of buildings, agriculture, and industry.
In August 1949, the National
Army forced the remaining insurgents to surrender or flee to Greece's
communist neighbors. The insurgency resulted in 100,000 killed,
700,000 displaced persons inside the country, and catastrophic
economic disruption. This civil war left deep political division
in Greek society between leftist and rightist.
Greece became a member of
NATO in 1952. From 1952 to late 1963, Greece was governed by conservative
parties--the Greek Rally of Marshal Alexandros Papagos and its
successor, the National Radical Union (ERE) of Constantine Karamanlis.
In 1963, the Center Union Party of George Papandreou was elected
and governed until July 1965. It was followed by a succession
of unstable coalition governments.
On April 21, 1967, just before
scheduled elections, a group of colonels led by Col. George Papadopoulos
seized power in a coup d'etat. Civil liberties were suppressed,
special military courts were established, and political parties
were dissolved. Several thousand political opponents were imprisoned
or exiled to remote Greek islands. In November 1973, following
an uprising of students at the Athens Polytechnic University,
Gen. Dimitrios Ioannides replaced Papadopoulos and tried to continue
the dictatorship.
Gen. 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. Senior Greek military
officers then withdrew their support from the junta, which toppled.
Leading citizens persuaded Karamanlis to return 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.
Following the 1974 referendum,
which resulted in the rejection of the monarchy, a new constitution
was approved by parliament on June 19, 1975, and parliament elected
Constantine Tsatsos as president of the republic. In the parliamentary
elections of 1977, New Democracy again won a majority of seats.
In May 1980, Prime Minister Karamanlis was elected to succeed
Tsatsos as president. George Rallis was then chosen party leader
and succeeded Karamanlis as Prime Minister.
On January 1, 1981, Greece became the 10th member of the European Community (now the European Union). In parliamentary elections held on October 18, 1981, Greece elected its first socialist government, the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK), led by Andreas Papandreou. In 1985, Supreme Court Justice Christos Sartzetakis was elected president by the Greek parliament. PASOK under Papandreou was re-elected in 1985.
Greece had two rounds of parliamentary
elections in 1989; both produced weak coalition governments with
limited mandates. In the April 1990 election, ND won 150 seats
and subsequently gained 2 others. After Mitsotakis fired his Foreign
Minister, Andonis Samaras in 1992, the rift led to the collapse
of the ND government and new elections in September 1993 won again
by Andreas Papandreou's PASOK.
On January 17, 1996, following a protracted illness, Prime Minister Papandreou resigned and was replaced by former Minister of Industry Constantine Simitis. In elections held in September 1996, Constantine Simitis was elected Prime Minister. In April 2000, Simitis and PASOK won again, gaining 158 seats to ND's 125. Parliamentary elections were held March 8, 2004, and ND won 165 seats to PASOK's 117; Konstantinos Karamanlis, ND leader and the nephew of the former prime minister, became Prime Minister. Karolos Papoulias was elected President by Parliament in February 2005. Most recently, parliamentary elections were held September 16, 2007. ND won 152 seats to PASOK’s 102; Karamanlis was re-elected Prime Minister.
Greece's exemplary success in hosting a safe and secure 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens has enhanced its international prestige. The 2004 Olympics and Paralympics left an impressive and expensive legacy of new roads, spectacular stadiums, and modern public transportation systems, which the PASOK government began in 1997 and the New Democracy government of Karamanlis completed in 2004.
