The most complete information guide about Athens, Greece
HISTORY OF ATHENS
The
Greek Military Junta
(Regime of the Colonels)
Anti-junta Movement
Civil liberties were suppressed, special military courts were
established, and political parties were dissolved. Several thousand
suspected communists and political opponents were imprisoned or
exiled to remote Greek islands. Under Papadopoulos' regime torture
was a deliberate practice carried out by both Security Police
and the Military Police.
As
early as 1968, many militant groups promoting democratic rule
were formed both in exile and in Greece. These included, among
others, PAK, Democratic Defence, the Socialist Democratic
Union as well as groups from the entire left wing of the Greek
political spectrum, large parts of which (such as the KKE)
had been outlawed even before the junta. The first hands-on
action against the junta was the failed assassination attempt
against Papadopoulos by Alexandros Panagoulis.
Assassination Attempt
The
events took place in the morning of 13 August 1968 when Papadopoulos,
escorted by his personal security motorcycles and cars, went from
his summer residence in Lagonisi to Athens. At a point of the
coastal road where the limousine carrying Papadopoulos would have
to slow down, Alexandros Panagoullis ignited a bomb but it did
not harm Papadopoulos. In an interview held after his liberation,
Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci quoted Panagoulis as saying:
“I didn’t want to kill a man. I’m not capable
of killing a man. I wanted to kill a tyrant.”.
Panagoulis
was captured a few hours later in a nearby sea cave as the boat
that would let him escape the scene of the attack had not shown
up. Panagoulis was arrested and transferred to the military police
(EAT-ESA) offices were he was questioned, beaten and tortured.
Panagoulis
was put on trial by the Military Court on 3 November 1968, condemned
to death with other members of National Resistance on 17 November
1968 and subsequently transported to the island of Aegina for
the sentence to be carried out. As a result of political pressure
from the international community, the junta refrained from executing
him and instead incarcerated him at the Military Prisons of Bogiati
(S.F.B.) on 25 November 1968.
Alexandros
Panagoulis refused to cooperate with the junta and was subjected
to physical and psychological torture. He escaped from prison
on 5 June 1969 but was soon arrested and sent temporarily to the
camp of Goudi. He was eventually placed in solitary confinement
at Bogiati from which he unsuccessfully attempted to escape on
several occasions.
He
reportedly refused amnesty offers from the junta. In August 1973,
after four and a half year in jail, he benefited from a general
amnesty that the military regime granted to all political prisoners
during a failed attempt by Papadopoulos to liberalize his regime.
Panagoulis went into self-exile in Florence, Italy, in order to
continue the resistance. There he was hosted by Oriana Fallaci,
his companion who was to become his biographer. Later, after the
restoration of Democracy, Panagoulis was elected a member of Parliament.
He was regarded upon as an emblematic figure for the struggle
to restore Democracy.
Broadening of the Movement
The
funeral of George Papandreou, Sr. on 1 November 1968 spontaneously
turned into a massive demonstration against the junta. Thousands
of Athenians disobeyed the military's orders and followed the
casket to the cemetery. The government reacted by arresting 41
people.
On
28 March 1969, after two years marked by widespread censorship,
political detentions and torture, Giorgos Seferis (who had been
awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1963) took a stand against
the junta. He made a statement on the BBC World Service, with
copies simultaneously distributed to every newspaper in Athens.
In a speech against the colonels he passionately stated that "This
anomaly must end.". Seferis did not live to see the end of
the junta. His funeral though, 0n 20 September 1972, was turned
into a massive demonstration against the military government.
Also
in 1969, Costa Gavras released the film Z, based on a book by
celebrated left-wing writer Vassilis Vassilikos. The banned film
presented a (barely) fictionalized account of the events surrounding
the assassination of EDA politician Gregoris Lambrakis in 1963.
The film was made to capture a sense of outrage about the junta.
The soundtrack of the film was made by the junta-imprisoned Mikis
Theodorakis and was smuggled into the country to be added to the
other inspirational, underground Theodorakis tracks.
International Protest
The
junta exiled thousands on the grounds that they were communists
and/or "enemies of the country". Most of them were subjected
to internal exile on Greek deserted islands like Makronisos, Yaros,
Youra or inhabited islands like Leros, Agios Eustratios or Trikeri.
The
most famous were in exile abroad. Most of them were involved in
resistance, organizing protests in European capital cities or
helping and hiding refugees from Greece. Melina Merkouri, actor-singer
(after 1981, minister of culture); Mikis Theodorakis, composer
of resistance songs; Costas Simitis, Prime Minister from 1996
to 2004 and Andreas Papandreou, Prime Minister from 1981 to 1989
and again from 1993 to 1996, were among them. Some chose exile,
unable to stand life under the junta. Melina Merkouri for instance,
was allowed to enter Greece but stayed away on her own accord.
Kostas
Georgakis
In
the early hours of 19 of September 1970 on Matteoti square
in Genoa, Italy, geology student Kostas Georgakis set
himself ablaze in protest against the dictatorship government
of George Papadopoulos. The junta delayed the arrival
of his remains on Corfu for four months fearing public
reaction and protests. At the time, his death caused a
sensation in Greece and abroad as it was the first tangible
manifestation of the depth of resistance against the junta.
Kostas
Georgakis is the only known resistance hero to the junta
to have protested by ending his life and he is considered
the precursor of later student protest such as the Polytechnic
uprising. The Municipality of Corfu has dedicated a memorial
in his honor near his home in Corfu City.
The
Velos Mutiny
On
23 May 1973, while participating in a NATO exercise and in
order to protest against the junta, the HNS (Hellenic Navy
Service) Velos, under the command of Commander Nicholaos Pappas,
anchored at Fiumicino in Italy, refusing to return to Greece.
When on patrol with other NATO vessels between Italy and Sardinia,
the captain and the officers heard from a radio station that
naval officers had been arrested in Greece.
Commander
Pappas was involved in a group of democratic officers loyal to
their oath to obey the constitution and planning to act against
the junta. Pappas believed that since his fellow anti-junta officers
had been arrested, there was no more hope for a movement inside
Greece. He decided to act alone in order to motivate global public
opinion. He mustered all the crew to the stern and announced his
decision, which was received with enthusiasm by the crew.
Pappas
signalled the commander of the squadron and NATO Headquarters
of his intentions quoting the preamble of the North Atlantic
Treaty (founding treaty for NATO) which declares that "all
governments ...are determined to safeguard the freedom, common
heritage and civilization of their peoples, founded on the
principles of democracy, individual liberty and the rule of
law". He then left the
formation and sailed for Rome.
He
anchored about 3.5 nautical miles away from the coast of Fiumicino.
Three ensigns went ashore with a whaleboat and went to the airport
of Fiumicino. From there they called the international press agencies
notifying them of the situation in Greece, the presence of the
destroyer and that the captain would hold a press conference the
next day.
This
action caused international interest in the situation in Greece.
The captain, six officers, and twenty five petty officers remained
abroad as political refugees. The whole crew wished to follow
their captain but was advised by the officers to remain onboard
and return to Greece to inform families and friends about what
happened.
One
month later the HNS Velos returned to Greece with a replacement
crew. After the fall of junta, all officers and petty officers
returned to Greece and to the Navy. The liberal Greek politician
Evangelos Averoff also participated in the Velos mutiny. He was
arrested as an "instigator" for doing so. The HNS Velos
now is a naval museum anchored in the Park of Maritime Tradition
in the Gulf of Faliro in Athens.