On July 1974, 1967, the Athenian military junta, which took power in XNUMX, staged a coup against the legal government of the Cypriot president, Archbishop Makarios III. Turkey feared that Greece wanted to expand its rule over Cyprus and sent troops to the island. The Greek army could not resist them. Since then, part of Cyprus has been occupied by the Turkish army, and Nicosia is the last divided capital of Europe.
The military failure in Cyprus led to the fall of the junta in Greece. The anti-regime units of the navy deposed the leader Dimitrios Janidis. On July 23, 1974, the coup plotters handed over power to the civilian government. A day later, on July 24, former Prime Minister Konstantin Karamanlis returned from French exile and soon after presented his new cabinet. Well-known figures from cultural life such as Mikis Teodorakis and Melina Merkuri also returned from exile.
Of course, there was already resistance against the dictatorship before that. The climax of the revolt was the student uprising at the Polytechnic Faculty in Athens, which was bloodily suppressed by the military dictatorship on November 17, 1973. Thousands of Greeks left their homeland and went into exile. The Greek newsroom of Deutsche Welle became the voice of resistance against the junta. However, the cause of the fall of the dictatorship was the events in Cyprus.
The first resilient democracy
These days, Greece remembers the end of the dictatorship and proudly looks back on 50 years of democracy. For weeks now, politicians, lawyers, historians, political scientists, artists and journalists have been expressing their opinions about the country's successes and failures in the past five decades. But it is interesting that many people still talk about the "metapolitefsa", the transformation period, as if it is not yet certain that democracy will survive.
However, the third Greek republic is stable and resilient, despite numerous political and economic crises. The army was kicked out of politics, the king, who was deposed by the putschists back in 1967, did not return. The communist party, early from the time of the civil war 1944-1949, was legalized again. are healed. Parliamentarism has been working more or less well for 50 years.
Changes of governments as normality
Government changes have become normal. This was first evident in 1981 when the socialists from PASOK won the elections and the conservatives from Neo Dimokratia (ND) accepted their defeat. Even after it nearly went bankrupt in 2010, democracy remained stable. For the first time, the country was led by a large coalition of former rivals - ND and PASOK.
And when that government failed to solve the debt and economic crisis, in 2015 the radical left Syriza came to power in a coalition with right-wing populists. After the crisis was overcome, with a lot of effort and sacrifices, and with the help of the European Union, the Greeks again decided for the conservatives.
A clear commitment to the West
The modern Greek Republic has decided to belong to the West: in NATO since 1952, a member of the EU since 1981, and in 2001 a member of the Eurozone.
Even during the financial crisis of 2009-2019. despite threats from European politicians, Greece remained in the EU. And within the country, the situation has strengthened.
A public education and health system was introduced, and already in the early 1980s very advanced family law: equal rights for men and women (at least in theory), even legal abortions. Recently, the law on the introduction of "homosexual marriages" was adopted. Greece thus became the first Orthodox country to legalize same-sex marriages.
Greek governments were rarely able (and willing) to pass laws against the will of the Church. The motto of the military junta, "Homeland, religion, family", is still in the minds of a part of the population. During the economic crisis, for the first time after the dictatorship, a militant extreme right appeared on the political scene. In 2012, the neo-Nazi party "Golden Dawn" managed to enter to the parliament and was continuously elected until some of its members were convicted as murderers in 2020, and the party was banned as a criminal organization.
A pessimistic view of the future
But despite all the achievements, the Greeks are not satisfied with the quality of their democracy. According to a survey (for the Eteron Institute), 82,2 percent believe that there is no better form of government than democracy. However, around 70 percent are dissatisfied with the functioning of democracy in Greece. Only 34 percent trust the institutions of the state, 31 percent the government, and 29 percent the judiciary.
There is great mistrust of the parties, which are trusted by only 13 percent of the population. And the worst is the media, with support of only 6,5 percent. Many believe that the government's decisions are influenced by the interests of the powerful and the rich, and that the parties do not work for the public interest. They are angry about corruption and the lack of responsibility of parties and politicians.
They are also pessimistic when it comes to the future: more than half of citizens think that the current generation lives worse than their parents, and two-thirds believe that the next generation will live even worse.
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