Blog entry on victims of the Athens Polytechnic uprising, 1973

I recently came across the very interesting blog of Damian Mac Con Uladh, staff journalist at EnetEnglish, the international online edition of the Eleftherotypia daily.

Based on the research of Dr Leonidas Kallivretakis, he compiled a list of the 24 people who were killed in and around the Polytechnic campus on November 16-18 1973.

Excellent work by Damian Mac Con Uladh, who has also created a Google Map showing the location of each fatality.

The British and the 1973 Greek republic referendum

Today marks the 40th anniversary of the 1973 Greek republic referendum.

In this excerpt from my book on Britain and the Colonels, you can see how journalist Mario Modiano, talking to British officials well before the referendum, predicted, with uncanny precision, the exact percentage of the people who would vote 'Yes' to the constitutional changes. 
The fact that both foreign journalists and the British Embassy could so easily provide a accurate estimate of the result well in advance speaks volumes about the genuineness of the referendum.

The last important event of [1973's] ‘pretty gruelling summer’, as far as the domestic scene of Greece was concerned, was the referendum on the amended Greek constitution.

 

The junta had warned the British that they should not judge the referendum by British standards and members of the international press had expressed the certainty that it would be ‘a farce’. Mario Modiano [...] thought that the decision to abolish the monarchy had been taken a long time ago, told the British that the Colonels would not permit a repeat of the results of the 1968 plebiscite, in order to make them appear genuine: ‘If as seems likely they fudged the figures, they were likely to choose a more plausible percentage (like for example 78%)’ (emphasis added).

 

This was also the opinion of some FCO officials who had realized, as early as in June 1973, that there was ‘little doubt as to the outcome of the referendum, although the government, who were believed to be embarrassed by the very high yes-votes in 1968, might prefer a rather smaller percentage in their favour this time’.

The British conceded that it was ‘very easy’ to predict the outcome of the referendum, with the Colonels still controlling the levers of power and not being able to afford to lose.

[...] As [British official J F R] Martin admitted shortly before the referendum, ‘few observers doubt that the figure has been decided in advance to within a few per cent’.

Polling took place on 29 July to approve the new republican constitution and the appointment of Papadopoulos as president (reserving for him exclusive powers over defence, foreign affairs and internal security) and Angelis as vice-president.

The final results showed that ‘yes’ got the 78.4% of the vote, which was considered ‘a respectable looking percentage’ in London.

The British embassy’s own estimate had been 78% (emphasis added).

The British, however, were in no doubt that there had been ‘a good deal of malpractice’, as they were aware that before the referendum the junta had ‘used all its very considerable influence to ensure the desired result’. 

They also did not fail to notice that ‘something perhaps ha[d] changed’, as the regime had been taken by surprise by the strength of feeling against it, and that could result in the toughening of its attitude to palliate the hardliners. 

The British representative concluded his report on the events by writing that ‘one [could] not have much confidence that Greece [was] yet firmly on the road leading back to anything that Western Europe would recognise as democracy’ [pp. 185-186].

Mario Modiano, former Times correspondent in Athens dies

Sad news as former Times correspondent in Athens, Mario Modiano, died at 86.

According to ekathimerini.com:

'Modiano was a well-known chronicler of some of the key moments of Greek history, such as the military dictatorship, the restoration of democracy and the separation of Cyprus'.

He was not loved by the junta because he related in great detail cases of systematic torture of jailed opponents.

You can find an obituary written in The Times, here - and another one, published in the Daily Telegraph, here.

You can read a very interesting interview of his, where he recounts the story of his family's arrival to Greece, as well as his personal experience of the German occupation and the Greek Colonels' regime, here.

A more in depth account of the events immediately after the collapse of the regime can be found in this article he wrote a year ago.

Modiano in Greece - telegraph.co.uk

In this excerpt from my forthcoming book, you can see how Modiano, talking to British officials well before the 1973 Greek republic referendum, predicted, with uncanny precision, the exact percentage of the people who would vote 'Yes' to the constitutional changes.

The fact that both foreign journalists and the British Embassy could so easily provide a accurate estimate of the result well in advance speaks volumes about the genuineness of the referendum.

The last important event of [1973's] ‘pretty gruelling summer’, as far as the domestic scene of Greece was concerned, was the referendum on the amended Greek constitution.

The junta had warned the British that they should not judge the referendum by British standards and members of the international press had expressed the certainty that it would be ‘a farce’. Mario Modiano [...] thought that the decision to abolish the monarchy had been taken a long time ago, told the British that the Colonels would not permit a repeat of the results of the 1968 plebiscite, in order to make them appear genuine: ‘If as seems likely they fudged the figures, they were likely to choose a more plausible percentage (like for example 78%)’ (emphasis added).

This was also the opinion of some FCO officials who had realized, as early as in June 1973, that there was ‘little doubt as to the outcome of the referendum, although the government, who were believed to be embarrassed by the very high yes-votes in 1968, might prefer a rather smaller percentage in their favour this time’.

The British conceded that it was ‘very easy’ to predict the outcome of the referendum, with the Colonels still controlling the levers of power and not being able to afford to lose.

[...] As [British official J F R] Martin admitted shortly before the referendum, ‘few observers doubt that the figure has been decided in advance to within a few per cent’.

Polling took place on 29 July to approve the new republican constitution and the appointment of Papadopoulos as president (reserving for him exclusive powers over defence, foreign affairs and internal security) and Angelis as vice-president.

The final results showed that ‘yes’ got the 78.4% of the vote, which was considered ‘a respectable looking percentage’ in London.

The British embassy’s own estimate had been 78% (emphasis added).

Greece and the EEC, 38 years ago

I've just started concentrating some primary material from my PhD research, which I think echoes the current situation of Greece and its financial troubles.

Today, EU Economic Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said Greece will only receive further EU and International Monetary Fund aid by sticking firmly to its deficit reduction targets.
His exact words were the following:

'The ball is now in the Greek court in a sense that it is essential that Greece will take the necessary decisions and fully fill the fiscal gap that has emerged in the course of this year.'

Here's a quote by a Foreign Office official on Greece and its relation with the European Economic Community, from almost 40 years ago, when the Greek junta was taking some liberalisation measures:

‘Although we were encouraged by recent developments in Greece it would be wrong to expect any dramatic response from us at this stage. There would probably be some room for improving bilateral relations, particularly as there should be a reduction of hostility in Parliament, but we would need to wait and see for a bit longer before taking any major steps.  […] The only real constraint on EEC/Greek relations had been concern in the EEC about conditions in Greece. An improvement in the latter would in due course lead to improvement in the former. We hoped that it would be possible soon to finalise negotiations on the Protocol; but we understood that the ball was in the Greek court’ (emphasis added).

Source: The National Archives, Foreign and Commonwealth Office files, FCO 1730, ‘Call by Mr Philon’, W107, R F Cornish, Southern European Department, FCO to Baker, 4.10.1973.

Ioannidis, Cyprus, and the irony of history

Dimitrios Ioannidis, one of the instigators of the April 1967 coup that brought the Greek Colonels to power, died early in the morning today.
During the seven-year reign of the 'junta', Brigadier Ioannidis was director of the Greek military police (ΕΣΑ), and he was known as one of the hardliners of the regime.
He rose to prominence in November 1973, when he masterminded, behind the scenes, a new coup that put an end to the liberalising efforts initiated by Georgios Papadopoulos, under the so-called 'Markezinis experiment'.

History showed its ironic face once again, as the 'invisible dictator' (as he was known during 1973-4) passed away on the 50th anniversary of the independence of the Republic of Cyprus.
Ioannidis' fate was tied to the Mediterranean island.

The Cyprus issue, which eventually brought about the demise of the
military junta, was the most predominant foreign policy preoccupation of all the
dictators (and especially of Ioannidis) throughout their tenure of power, for they
thought that, as Coufoudakis has argued, ‘removing this irritant from Greek domestic and foreign policy and interallied
relations, was expected to increase the Colonels' prestige at home and end the
régime’s international isolation’.

The first signs appeared in the summer of 1970, when a crisis was brewing up on the island, also as a consequence of the attempted assassination of President Makarios earlier that year.
Papadopoulos' handling of the situation in Cyprus, in conjunction with
his initiatives in trying to mitigate foreign critics through
pursuing a conciliatory line precipitated cracks within the junta, which appeared
at that time to be far from united. The internal troubles peaked in the summer of 1970
when Papadopoulos (who was already both prime minister and minister of defence)
decided, following Pipinelis’ death, to assume the post of minister of foreign affairs,
as well. Jealously prevailed among Papadopoulos’ critics, with the concentration of
power in his hands being the real issue. The casualties of the acute internal crisis,
which was resolved in September, were the prime minister’s ability to confront the
hardliners and his supposed efforts towards the gradual democratisation of the
régime.

When, in November 1973, a coup overthrew Papadopoulos, the British were quick to identify Ioannidis as the ‘somewhat shadowy figure’ behind the new government.
As a consequence of developments in Greece, however, the British decided to adopt once more a
wait-and-see policy, with greater caution dictated by parliamentary attitudes that were
unfavourable to Ioannidis.

A few months later, and before celebrating fifteen years as an independent state, the Republic of Cyprus would cease to exist in its initial form.
The coup that the Greek junta, under Ioannidis, launched against Makarios triggered a invasion by Turkey, which still occupies the northern third of Cyprus today, thus dividing the island.

The actions of the dictator that precipitated the division of Cyprus came back to haunt him; according to the dictates of historical irony, the 16th of August will from now on mark both the beginning of the Republic of Cyprus and the end of the man who tried to dismantle it.

Photos taken from http://www.tovima.gr/ and http://www.windowoncyprus.com/.

17th November

Since todays marks the 36th anniversary of the Athens Polytechinc uprising (see relevant post), I've decided to upload a small text (in Greek) that I've written on the British connection of the events preceding and following the uprising.

Here it is:

Οι Βρετανοί και η 17η Νοεμβρίου

Του Αλέξανδρου Ναυπλιώτη*

Το φθινόπωρο του 1973 σήμανε την αναγέννηση της καριέρας του Πωλ Μακάρτνεϊ. Η συνεργασία του με τους Γουίνγκς για το τραγούδι της πρώτης ταινίας του Ρότζερ Μουρ ως Τζέιμς Μποντ σημείωνε μεγάλη επιτυχία καθώς οι Βρετανοί επέλεγαν να ακούσουν το «Live and Let Die» ξανά και ξανά.
Την ίδια μέρα που κυκλοφορούσε το τραγούδι ο Γεώργιος Παπαδόπουλος αποφάσιζε να ζήσει και να αφήσει την «Επανάσταση» της 21ης Απριλίου να πεθάνει, ανακοινώνοντας την άρση του στρατιωτικού νόμου και τον σχηματισμό κυβέρνησης πολιτικών. Η εισήγηση του Φόρεϊν Οφις ήταν να δείξει η Βρετανία ότι επικροτούσε «υπό όρους» τον σχηματισμό της κυβέρνησης Μαρκεζίνη, παρουσιάζοντας ένα «πακέτο» προτάσεων, σημαντικότερα μέρη του οποίου ήταν η ανταλλαγή επίσημων επισκέψεων και η προώθηση καλύτερης συνεργασίας στον τομέα της άμυνας (συμπεριλαμβανομένων και πωλήσεων φρεγάτων στο Ελληνικό Ναυτικό).
Η συντηρητική κυβέρνηση του Έντουαρντ Χηθ αποφάσισε να πάει ένα βήμα παραπέρα στην πολιτική της έναντι της Ελλάδας και να ενθαρρύνει την επιστροφή της χώρας στη δημοκρατία, χωρίς ωστόσο να επιμείνει τόσο ώστε να θέσει σε κίνδυνο τα άλλα συμφέροντά της, όπως η αποτελεσματικότητα του ΝΑΤΟ, η Κύπρος, και οι εμπορικές σχέσεις των δύο χωρών. Καταλυτικά για αυτή την απόφαση επέδρασαν η αμοιβαία συμπάθεια Βρετανών-Μαρκεζίνη και, κυρίως, οι έντονες επικρίσεις στη Βουλή των Κοινοτήτων για τη φύση του καθεστώτος των Αθηνών που επηρέαζαν και την ταυτόχρονη συζήτηση για την έγκριση του πρωτοκόλλου σύνδεσης Ελλάδας-ΕΟΚ, καθώς η Βρετανία αποτελούσε πια μέλος της Κοινότητας.
Στις αρχές του Νοεμβρίου η βρετανική διπλωματία ήταν διχασμένη, με το Νοτιοευρωπαϊκό τμήμα του Φόρεϊν Οφις να προωθεί μία ενεργητική πολιτική βελτίωσης σχέσεων και τον Βρετανό Πρέσβη Χούπερ να τηρεί στάση αναμονής. Η εξέγερση του Πολυτεχνείου έθεσε φρένο στις πολιτικές κινήσεις που ετοίμαζε το Λονδίνο και ανέδειξε νικητή της άτυπης μάχης τον Χούπερ, ο οποίος υποστήριζε πως η ακολουθητέα οδός ήταν η συνήθης πολιτική του «wait and see». Η βίαιη καταστολή της εξέγερσης του Πολυτεχνείου συζητήθηκε στο υπουργικό συμβούλιο της Μεγάλης Βρετανίας, όπου ο υπουργός Εξωτερικών Σερ Άλεκ Ντάγκλας-Χιουμ εξέφρασε την απογοήτευση του για τη «σοβαρή οπισθοδρόμηση» στην πορεία της επιστροφής της δημοκρατίας στην Ελλάδα.
Αναφορικά με τα γεγονότα της 16-17ης Νοεμβρίου, ο Βρετανός Πρέσβης πίστευε πως η απουσία κατάλληλου εξοπλισμού ελέγχου ταραχών (ως αποτέλεσμα της άρνησης Δυτικών χωρών να προμηθεύσουν τους Συνταγματάρχες με τέτοιο υλικό) ανάγκασε τον στρατό να «σπάσει ένα καρύδι με μία ατμόσφυρα». Ο Χούπερ έκλεισε την αναφορά του γράφοντας ότι «έξι μήνες είναι μεγάλο διάστημα στην ελληνική πολιτική». Ωστόσο χρειάστηκαν μόλις τρεις ημέρες για να λάβει χώρα ακόμη ένα πραξικόπημα και να καταρρεύσει η κυβέρνηση Μαρκεζίνη.
Περίπου έξι μήνες χρειάστηκαν, όμως, για να γίνει ο επόμενος δίσκος του Πωλ Μακάρτνεϊ ο πλέον επιτυχής από τις προσωπικές δουλειές όλων των πρώην «Σκαθαριών». Το «Band on the Run» κυκλοφόρησε τις πρώτες μέρες της δικτατορίας Ιωαννίδη και έφτασε στην κορυφή των τσαρτς το καλοκαίρι του 1974. Περίπου το ίδιο διάστημα πήρε για να αποδειχθεί ότι η δικτατορία στην Ελλάδα δεν ήταν παντοτινή και οι πρωτεργάτες της να καταλήξουν όπως ο τίτλος του δίσκου που πούλησε περισσότερο από κάθε άλλον στη Μεγάλη Βρετανία το 1974.


* Ο Αλέξανδρος Ναυπλιώτης είναι Υποψήφιος Διδάκτωρ Διεθνούς Ιστορίας στο London School of Economics.

House of Commons gaffe

Gordon Brown's slip of the tongue during PM questions, in which he said his government had 'saved the world', is reminiscent of a similar gaffe another British minister had made during the seven years of the junta's reign.

More specifically, the time was June 1973 and, while debating the British recognition of the Papadopoulos republican government, foreign secretary Sir Alec Douglas-Home responded to a relevant question by James Callaghan.
Douglas-Home later in the same session asked to correct his slip of the tongue as he had picked up a phrase of Callaghan referring to the Colonels:

'I think I said he rightly called it "the illegal regime in Greece"'.

The statement was caught by opposition circles in London, with the European-Atlantic Action Committee on Greece publishing a rather mordant bulletin to comment on Whitehall's policy towards the Colonels:

'The indecent haste with which the British government recognised the newly declared Greek Republic on 13th June was a gratuitous favour to Papadopoulos and was rightly the subject of critical questioning in the House of Commons by the Opposition's Shadow Foreign Secretary. That the government felt some embarrasment over the decision was indicated by a revealing 'slip of tongue' made by Sir Alec Douglas-Home in referring to the Greek regime as "illegal"'.

The 25 November 1973 coup d'etat

35 years ago yesterday another coup d'etat took place in Greece.
In the aftermath of the Athens Polytechnic uprising, head of the military police, Brigadier Dimitrios Ioannidis toppled Papadopoulos and installed Lieutenant General Phaedon Gizikis as President of Greece.
Ioannidis came to be known as the 'invisible dictator' because he was the one pulling the strings during the last period of the Colonels' regime which ended with the Cyprus coup d'etat in July 1974 and the Turkish invasion of the island.

Dimitrios Ioannides (right) toasting with George Papadopoulos (middle) and Phaedon Gizikis (left) Ioannides and Gizikis overthrew Papadopoulos in a later coup.

The communique announcing the overthrow of the Markezinis government accused Papadopoulos of 'straying from the ideals of the 1967 revolution and 'pushing the country towards parliamentary rule too quickly'.

Here you can read BBC's report on these events.

The photos on the right are from an article of the London press on the British recognition of Ioannides' regime.

[You can also read an article (in Greek) on Ioannidis, Kissinger and the USA here.]

Athens Polytechnic Uprising

Thirty five years ago today the Athens Polytechnic uprising (info here and video here) ended in bloodshed.

This picture shows the tank that crushed the gates of the Polytechnic, stopped in front of the building. The picture was found at http://www.ahistoryofgreece.com/november17.htm.





This is a copy of the Vradyni Athens daily reporting on the events on the following day. I found this on SKAI.gr website today; it is incorporated in a text commemorating the uprising.











The front page of the 18th November 1973 reminded me of another page of the same newspaper that I had come across in my research.

It is a cartoon published approximately a year before the November '73 events and it comments on Lord Carrington's visit to Athens in September 1972.

Lord Carrington was Defence Secretary at the time and his visit (the first one by a British minister under Heath) was presented to the public as 'unofficial', with his habit of holidaying in Greece used as a pretext.