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82-464: In Greek criminal law, an idionymous crime (ιδιώνυμο έγκλημα) is a crime the constituent acts of which are already covered by an existing definition in the Penal Code but which is nonetheless treated as a completely separate criminal offense due to the particularity of the circumstances involved. Idionymous crimes are distinguished from mitigating and aggravating factors that change the penalty for

164-529: A case-by-case basis. Conversely they are not as common in common law jurisdictions. The proposed introduction of a criminal code in England and Wales was a significant project of the Law Commission from 1968 to 2008. Due to the strong tradition of legal precedent in the jurisdiction and consequently the large number of binding legal judgements and ambiguous ' common law offences ', as well as

246-465: A comprehensive strategy towards democracy. The civil society was not prepared to articulate a transition strategy "from below" and the groups of resistance were fragmented, despite their political glamor. Therefore the transition process became a "from above" project, whose weight had to fall on the shoulders of Karamanlis. Karamanlis first legalised the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) that

328-435: A connection to a different criminal act. These include intentional inebriation leading to an illegal act, participation in a quarrel resulting in violence and membership of a criminal organisation. In common and historical discourse, the term 'idionymon' is used in particular to refer to the crime established by Law 4229 of 1929 ("concerning safety measures for the social establishment and protection of freedom"), introduced by

410-530: A counter coup that overthrew Papadopoulos and put an abrupt end to Markezinis's attempt at transition to democratic rule. In fact, his coup was planned months prior to the events at the Polytechnic. Ioannides's involvement in inciting unit commanders of the security forces to commit criminal acts during the Athens Polytechnic uprising, so that he could facilitate his upcoming coup, was noted in

492-401: A crime without turning it into a different crime. Examples of idionymous crimes include assaulting a minor (a separate crime to assault), assisted suicide (a separate crime to homicide) and theft in desperate need (a separate crime to theft). The term can also refer to crimes the constituent acts of which are normally legal but which become criminal in particular circumstances, usually involving

574-560: A mere four months after the collapse of the Régime of the Colonels . In addition, Karamanlis wanted to differentiate between the far-right, which was discredited by its association with the junta, and the legitimate political right. The trials of the junta and the subsequent severe sentences on the principal junta members were a strong sign that the parliamentary right disapproved of power usurpation by using extra-constitutional methods. At

656-503: A period in modern Greek history from the fall of the Ioannides military junta of 1973–74 to the transition period shortly after the 1974 legislative elections . The metapolitefsi was ignited by the liberalisation plan of military dictator Georgios Papadopoulos , which was opposed by prominent politicians such as Panagiotis Kanellopoulos and Stephanos Stephanopoulos , and halted by the massive Athens Polytechnic uprising against

738-480: A quick transition to democratic rule. The Cyprus disaster also empowered the democratic forces, including the democratic officers in the Greek army who contributed to the democratisation of the armed forces post-metapolitefsi. Karamanlis's government nullified the 1968 junta constitution and replaced it with the basic law of 1952 modified with the provision that the appointment of military leaders in strategic positions

820-492: A record in modern Greek history – with catastrophic results for both countries. Immediately after the Turkish invasion of Cyprus the dictators, not expecting such a disastrous outcome, finally decided that Ioannides's approach was catastrophic for the interests of the country. The complete rationale for their subsequent actions, even to this day, is not known. Analysis of their motives can improve with time as new details come to

902-477: A work that criticised the junta, were remanded to EAT/ESA centres, used to intimidate dissidents , and spread fear of dissent. People were held incommunicado without EAT/ESA notifying anyone for weeks or months on end and were only allowed limited communication thereafter with their families through the Greek Red Cross . Loud music blared from the detention centres in order to suppress the screams of

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984-487: A yacht watched over by a naval destroyer for several weeks after his return, Karamanlis moved swiftly to defuse the tension between Greece and Turkey , which came on the brink of war over the Cyprus crisis, and begin the process of transition from military rule to a pluralist democracy. The events that led to metapolitefsi and the traditional weaknesses of the Greek political and social institutions were not conducive to

1066-574: Is an "Arsakeiás", he would never do something like that ". " Arsakeiás ", in Greek, is a female student of the Arsakeio , a strict all-female school in Athens in Papadopoulos's time, and a metaphor for a "quiet, shy girl". Ioannides, a disaffected hardliner and a man with an established anti-democratic record, seized the opportunity. On 25 November 1973 he used the uprising as a pretext to stage

1148-596: Is believed to have been spontaneous, and not orchestrated by any particular political group in Greece. In fact, a smaller uprising had preceded it two weeks earlier at the Athens Law School and it was still active even as events at the Polytechnic were unfolding. Unlike a previous strike in the Athens law school in February 1973, prior to their liberalisation attempt, where the regime negotiated at length with

1230-636: Is not itself law but which provides the basis for the criminal law of many states. Individual states often choose to make use of criminal codes which are often based, to a varying extent, on the model code. Title 18 of the United States Code is the criminal code for federal crimes. However, Title 18 does not contain many of the general provisions concerning criminal law that are found in the criminal codes of many so-called "civil law" countries. Criminal codes are generally supported for their introduction of consistency to legal systems and for making

1312-474: The Metaxas regime . The establishment of the idionymon resulted from the perceived need to defend the gains of the republican reforms of Venizelos' Liberal party against the growing threat of leftist insurrection. The Second Hellenic Republic was inherently unstable, and furthermore, by the late 1920s, the old political dualism between Venizelists and Royalists was beginning to be threatened by agitation in

1394-564: The Markezinis Experiment , aiming to legitimize his government and rehabilitate its image as an international, and especially European , pariah after six years of dictatorship during which he appointed himself to a multitude of high-echelon government positions including Regent , Prime Minister , Minister for Defence , and Minister for the Interior . These excesses had the effect of further undermining his credibility and

1476-585: The Netherlands , Norway , Pakistan , Poland , Russia , Saudi Arabia , South Africa , Spain , Switzerland , Thailand , Turkey , Ukraine , the United Kingdom and the United States , use different penal codes. Metapolitefsi The Metapolitefsi ( Greek : Μεταπολίτευση , romanized :  Metapolítefsi , IPA: [metapoˈlitefsi] , " regime change ") was

1558-613: The Treaty of Varkiza , which legalised the Communist Party and prohibited persecution of its members. Nonetheless, measures similar to the idionymon were re-introduced by the democratically elected post-war government through Emergency Law 509 of 1947, in the context of the Greek Civil War and remained in effect until their final repeal by Decree-Law 59 of September 1974, introduced by the transitional government following

1640-441: The idionymon was replaced by Emergency Law 117/1936 ("concerning measures to combat communism and the consequences thereof"), which allowed authorities to require people to sign declarations condemning communism, refusal to sign which would be taken as evidence of guilt, and added harsher penalties, including five-year jail terms and internal exile in Greece . These measures remained in effect until 1945, when they were superseded by

1722-541: The indictment presented to the court by the prosecutor during the junta trials and in his subsequent conviction in the Polytechneion trial where he was found to have been morally responsible for the events. During the Ioannides coup the radio broadcasts, following the now familiar coup in progress scenario featuring martial music interspersed with military orders and curfew announcements, kept repeating that

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1804-455: The "operation" so that the life of the "patient" would not be "endangered" during the operation. This analogy aside, Papadopoulos at least indicated his intention of ending military rule once the political system had recovered to his satisfaction and that the treatment would progress on some legal and political basis. In fact Papadopoulos had indicated as early as 1968 that he was eager for a reform process and even tried to contact Markezinis at

1886-434: The "place that made Greece tremble". The EAT/ESA could arrest anyone, even superior officers, which generated the popular saying: "Any ESA man is equal to a major in the army". Even Papadopoulos, who in 1969 signed the law which gave "extraordinary legal powers" to ESA, had them used against him in 1973 during Ioannides's coup. Artists , painters , intellectuals who had publicly expressed anti-junta sentiments or created

1968-492: The Cyprus conflict. In the early hours of the Cyprus crisis, indications of panic and indecision in the junta government were manifestly evident from the reaction of the Greek public as they raided supermarkets and grocery stores all over Greece, fearing an all out war with Turkey and sensing the inability of the junta to govern, as well as the anxious attempts of the junta members to communicate with and surrender power to

2050-508: The Greek Constitution of 1973, the presidential powers were far greater than those of the parliament . Under the condition that Papadopoulos would curtail any military interference that could hinder the process, Spyros Markezinis was the only old guard politician prepared to assist in the controversial mission of helping the transition to some form of parliamentary rule. Having secured quasi-dictatorial presidential powers under

2132-639: The airport to greet him. On 23 July 1974 Karamanlis returned to Athens on the French President's Mystère 20 jet made available to him by President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing , a close personal friend. At 4 a.m. on 24 July 1974, Karamanlis was sworn-in as Prime Minister of Greece by Archbishop Seraphim of Athens , with Gizikis attending the ceremony. Subsequently, Gizikis remained temporarily in power for legal continuity reasons. Despite being faced with an inherently unstable and dangerous political situation, which forced him to sleep aboard

2214-464: The armed forces also participated in the meeting. The agenda was to appoint a national unity government with the mandate to lead the country to elections and at the same time to honourably extricate Greece from an armed confrontation with Turkey. Gizikis proposed, at first, that the key ministries of Defence, Public Order, and the Interior be controlled by the military – but this idea was summarily rejected. Former Prime Minister Panagiotis Kanellopoulos

2296-479: The army was taking back the reins of power in order to save the principles of the 1967 revolution and that the overthrow of the Papadopoulos-Markezinis government was supported by the army, navy and air force. At the same time they announced that the new coup was a "continuation of the revolution of 1967" and accused Papadopoulos with "straying from the ideals of the 1967 revolution" and "pushing

2378-580: The better part of the old political elite , including politicians such as Panagiotis Kanellopoulos , Stephanos Stephanopoulos , to participate in his liberalisation attempt. Most old guard politicians could not condone the fact that some of their colleagues were to remain excluded from the political process. Moreover, they were opposed to the concentration of powers delegated to the President, and resented having been demonised by Papadopoulos's junta as palaiokommatistes (meaning antiquated party men ) during

2460-457: The call, further engaged Gizikis. He insisted that Constantine Karamanlis , prime minister of Greece from 1955 to 1963, was the only political personality who could lead a successful transition government, taking into consideration the new circumstances and dangers both inside and outside the country. Gizikis and the heads of the armed forces initially expressed reservations, but they finally became convinced by Averoff's arguments. Admiral Arapakis

2542-435: The cast analogy did not serve his purposes any longer. Ioannides therefore abandoned the patient in a cast analogy that Papadopoulos offered in order to make a political statement that no democratic transition would take place during his tenure in power. This also indicated that Ioannides was not concerned about legal formalities. He was a "ruthless dictator who toppled the [Papadopoulos] junta for being too liberal". Ioannidis

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2624-443: The country towards parliamentary rule too quickly". Ioannides proceeded to arrest Markezinis and Papadopoulos, cancelled the elections that were planned for 1974, reinstated martial law , and appointed a puppet government headed by old junta member General Phaedon Gizikis as the new president, and civilian, and old Papadopoulos junta cabinet member, Adamantios Androutsopoulos as the prime minister. Unlike Papadopoulos, Ioannides

2706-486: The coup backfired as Turkey reacted with Operation Atilla on 20 July; the Turkish invasion of Cyprus had begun. This military and political disaster for Greece and Cyprus led to thousands of dead and hundreds of thousands of Greek-Cypriot refugees, deeply traumatised the Greek body politic for the long term and was the final straw for Ioannides who had already instigated or participated in three coups in seven years –

2788-516: The coup, carefully suppressed during the dictatorship, became much more visible during the regime's attempt at democratisation. In its strident anti-communism, the junta was opposed by large sections of Greek society which wished to overcome the trauma of the Greek Civil War. Papadopoulos had to be divisive and anti-communist from the beginning because otherwise his coup d'état would not have made sense and now his attempt at metapolitefsi

2870-588: The criminal law more accessible to laypeople. A code may help avoid a chilling effect where legislation and case law appears to be either inaccessible or beyond comprehension to non-lawyers. Alternatively critics have argued that codes are too rigid and that they fail to provide enough flexibility for the law to be effective. Jurisdictions of many countries, such as Algeria , Argentina , Australia , Austria , Brazil , Canada , Chile , China , Denmark , Egypt , Finland , France , Germany , India , Iran , Israel , Italy , Japan , South Korea , Mexico ,

2952-479: The dictatorship. At that point, the transitional government panicked, sending a tank crashing through the gates of the Athens Polytechnic . Soon after that, Markezinis himself had the humiliating task of requesting Papadopoulos to re-impose martial law. The student protests were the first sign that Papadopoulos's attempt at "liberalisation" in Greece had begun to fail. The inherent contradictions of

3034-612: The elections of 1974 by a landslide. Following a rigged referendum in late July 1973 that ratified the Greek Constitution of 1973 by a large majority, under which the Greek monarchy was abolished and Greece became a presidential republic, Georgios Papadopoulos , the head of the military junta that took power in 1967, became President of Greece . Soon after, in September 1973, Papadopoulos initiated an attempt at metapolitefsi or process of liberalisation, also known as

3116-705: The emerging working class. The defeat of the Asia Minor Campaign in 1922, which resulted in the arrival of over 1.5 million refugees , mostly impoverished and living in atrocious conditions, resulted in the emergence, for the first time, of a large urban working class, to whom the radical/communist ideas of the Russian Revolution might appeal. Two of the leaders of the liberal opposition in Parliament, Alexandros Papanastasiou and Georgios Kafantaris , had expressed strong disagreement during

3198-421: The end of 1930, the law had been used to ban and dissolve most worker's organizations affiliated with the far-left. The idionymon was the first of a series of legal measures directed against the Communist Party of Greece , the calls to violent revolution of which were considered a growing threat by the Greek establishment in the inter-war years, culminating in the brutal persecution of communists and socialists by

3280-674: The end of the Regime of the Colonels . Penal Code A criminal code or penal code is a document that compiles all, or a significant amount of, a particular jurisdiction's criminal law . Typically a criminal code will contain offences that are recognised in the jurisdiction, penalties that might be imposed for these offences, and some general provisions (such as definitions and prohibitions on retroactive prosecution ). Criminal codes are relatively common in civil law jurisdictions, which tend to build legal systems around codes and principles which are relatively abstract and apply them on

3362-585: The establishment of the Third Hellenic Republic . In January 1975 the junta members were formally arrested and in early August of the same year the government of Konstantinos Karamanlis brought charges of high treason and mutiny against Georgios Papadopoulos and nineteen other co-conspirators of the military junta. The mass trial, described as "Greece's Nuremberg ", took place at the Korydallos Prison under heavy security and

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3444-519: The fore but it appears that the junta members realised that the Androutsopoulos government could not deal effectively with the dual crises of the Cyprus conflict and the economy. Androutsopoulos, described as a political non-entity, did not have the clout to effectively negotiate an honourable end to the Cyprus crisis. It is reported that President Gizikis finally realised the need for a strong government which could effectively negotiate an end to

3526-554: The harshest ever imposed in Greece, and earning the junta an international reputation as a police state . Ioannides's main instrument of terror, was the Greek Military Police ( EAT/ESA , Greek: ΕΑΤ/ΕΣΑ: Ειδικόν Ανακριτικόν Τμήμα Ελληνικής Στρατιωτικής Αστυνομίας translated as: Special Interrogation Section of the Greek Military Police ). The EAT/ESA torture centre in Athens has been described as

3608-406: The junta government. Reflecting his penchant for secrecy, the press described him as the invisible dictator . Now he ruled Greece from the shadows, and was the de facto leader of a puppet regime composed by members some of whom were rounded up by ESA soldiers in roving jeeps to serve and others that were simply chosen by mistake. Adamantios Androutsopoulos , the new junta prime minister,

3690-568: The junta's decision to relinquish power before the war in Cyprus could spill all over the Aegean. But talks in Athens were going nowhere with Gizikis's offer to Panayiotis Kanellopoulos to form a government. Nonetheless, after all the other politicians departed without reaching a decision, Evangelos Averoff remained in the meeting room. He telephoned Karamanlis in Paris to appraise him of the developments and urge him to return to Greece, and, following

3772-516: The junta. This approach was warmly received by the people, long weary of junta divisive polemics . Following through with his reconciliation theme he also adopted a measured approach to removing collaborators and appointees of the dictatorship from the positions they held in government bureaucracy , and, wanting to officially inaugurate the new democratic era in Greek politics as soon as possible, declared that elections would be held in November 1974,

3854-414: The junta. His action served to demonstrate the depth of the resistance and resentment against the regime. Student activism in Greece was traditionally strong and, unlike in some dictatorships where democracy was a distant dream, had a long and established record of action in democratic times and, more important, it possessed the memory of past democratic action. In addition, the stiff constraints imposed by

3936-411: The liberal government of Eleftherios Venizelos , which established a penalty of six months imprisonment for anyone "who attempts to apply ideas that have as an obvious target the violent overthrow of the current social system, or who acts in propagandizing their application". The law was directed against communists and anarchists and was used to enforce repression against the trade union movement . By

4018-404: The liberalisation to start their uprising, which forced the Papadopoulos regime to clamp-down hard on the protests, a move that discredited the very liberalisation Papadopoulos was trying to implement. In failing to negotiate, the junta made martyrs out of the Polytechnic students. This in turn gave the student protest momentum and it eventually evolved into a near-universal demonstration against

4100-481: The military junta. The counter coup of Dimitrios Ioannides , and his coup d'etat against President of Cyprus Makarios III , which led to the Turkish invasion of Cyprus , brought the dictatorship down. The appointment of the interim " national unity government ", led by former prime minister Konstantinos Karamanlis , saw Karamanlis legalise the Communist Party (KKE) and found the center-right but still parliamentary (non-military) New Democracy party , which won

4182-458: The morale of the army, and thus weaken the military, at a time of crisis with Turkey. Following the Cyprus invasion by the Turks, the dictators ultimately abandoned Ioannides and his policies. On 23 July 1974, President Gizikis called a meeting of old guard politicians, including Panagiotis Kanellopoulos , Spyros Markezinis , Stephanos Stephanopoulos , Evangelos Averoff and others. The heads of

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4264-408: The most significant works of historical and contemporary Marxist, anarchist, and Bourgeois radical thought". Ostensibly free elections were announced soon after to be held in 1974, in which political formations including part of the traditional left, but not the Communist Party of Greece (which was banned during the Greek Civil War ), were expected to participate. Papadopoulos failed to convince

4346-425: The new constitution, Papadopoulos not only acquiesced but ordered a wide range of liberalisation measures, including the abolition of martial law , the easing of censorship and the release of all political prisoners. Even the long banned music of Mikis Theodorakis was allowed back in the airwaves. The lifting of censorship, "created a positive political and cultural climate that allowed comfortable margins for

4428-490: The often inconsistent nature of English law, the creation of a satisfactory code became very difficult. The project was officially abandoned in 2008 although as of 2009 it has been revived. A statutory Criminal Law Codification Advisory Committee for Irish criminal law met from 2007 to 2010 and its Draft Criminal Code and Commentary was published in 2011. In the United States, a Model Penal Code exists which

4510-419: The old party system and its politicians. Now they were ready to relinquish this vision to that same old guard they had maligned as obsolete old party system men . This paradox is at the centre of the phenomenon known as Metapolitefsi. There are two possible considerations which could assist in resolving this paradox. First, due to the risk of imminent war with Turkey there was no room for negotiations during

4592-660: The pluralistic circulation of ideas". Scores of new publications were produced that covered a wide ideological spectrum, and the main issues of the era such as the Vietnam War , the Cultural Revolution , the Sino-Soviet split , the death of Che Guevara , and the 1968 student protests in France and Italy were widely covered. This had the effect of bringing a wide segment of the Greek youth "into contact with

4674-401: The population, the "junta nova" tried to realise its foreign policy ambitions by launching a military coup against President Makarios III of Cyprus . Gizikis, as usual, obliged by issuing the order for the coup on Ioannides's behalf. Makarios was at the time both Archbishop and President of Cyprus . He was deposed by military coup on 15 July 1974 and replaced by Nikos Sampson . However

4756-400: The press by referring to the patient analogy in a humorous and jovial manner. He used to say that he put the patient (Greece) in a cast (" ασθενή στον γύψο " literally: patient in gypsum ) so that he could fix her skeletal (implying political ) structure. Typically the "doctor" had to operate on the "patient" by putting restraints on the "patient", tying him on a surgical bed to perform

4838-439: The previous six years. In fact Kanellopoulos, who was Prime Minister of Greece when deposed by the 1967 junta, remained vehemently opposed to any form of cooperation with the regime throughout the dictatorship years. A transition from one form of government to another, especially from dictatorship to democracy, is typically difficult and fraught with uncertainty and anxiety for the country that undertakes it. Greece's transition

4920-400: The regime had done with the law students some weeks before. However, this student protest happened in the middle of the uncertain political experiment of transition from dictatorship to democracy. Given that the main engineer of the transition, Papadopoulos, did not have much experience in democratic transitions, his liberalisation plan was derailed as students, and, later, workers, used

5002-407: The rigid and artificial Papadopoulos transition upon the democratic body politic of Greece antagonised not only the politicians but also the intelligentsia , whose primary exponents were the students. Not unexpectedly, in November 1973 the Athens Polytechnic uprising broke out starting with the usual student protest tactics such as building occupations and radio broadcasts. The student uprising

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5084-418: The same time, Karamanlis withdrew from the military portion of NATO and raised questions about the military bases of the United States in Greece, sending a strong signal that Greece's hitherto strongly pro-Western-alliance orientation should not be assumed as a given any longer, and to indicate Greece's displeasure with the inaction of its allies during the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. Karamanlis also signaled

5166-411: The seriousness of his regime both at home and abroad. Feeling confident of his grasp on power, he requested the resignation of the 13 military men in his cabinet, dissolved the "revolutionary council" which had ruled Greece since the beginning of the coup, and appointed Spyros Markezinis as Prime Minister of Greece , entrusting him with the task of leading Greece to parliamentary rule. However, under

5248-537: The students and bloodshed was avoided, in November 1973 the regime made no attempt to negotiate with the students. At the same time the students taking part in the smaller law school demonstration moved into the Polytechnic, as the events there gathered momentum. In normal (democratic) times, such a protest might have been defused using tactics based on usual historical precedents such as negotiations with student leaders, and failing that, resorting to using normal crowd control methods followed by more negotiations, as

5330-461: The time. He then repeatedly attempted to initiate reforms in 1969 and 1970, only to be thwarted by the hardliners including Ioannides. In fact subsequent to his 1970 failed attempt at reform, he threatened to resign and was dissuaded only after the hardliners renewed their personal allegiance to him. In contrast, Ioannides did not talk to the press and did not offer any analogies for his proposed treatment. But through his actions one can determine that

5412-408: The transition from military to political rule. Second reason was that since the military failed in the one area they were supposed to be competent by showing inadequate organisation during war preparations and ultimately failing to protect Cyprus from the invasion, they also lost what remained of their political clout and thus they were unable to resist the demands of the politicians. The second paradox

5494-490: The very same members of the democratic Establishment of Greece that they had demonised and maligned as palaiokommatistes (meaning old party system men ) throughout the dictatorship. They had also worked hard during their seven years in power to create a New Greece (Νέα Ελλάδα) under the slogan of Ellas Ellinon Christianon (translated as Greece of the Christian Greeks) completely devoid of any link with

5576-437: The victims." Torture techniques included sleep deprivation , starvation , beatings , and psychological blackmail involving family members. The intensity of violence was such that brain injuries could result after the torture sessions, as experienced by Greek Army Major Spyros Moustaklis , who partially paralyzed and unable to speak for the rest of his life after 47 days of torture. Having successfully terrorised

5658-438: The vote. It is notable that Eleftherios Venizelos rejected Papanastasiou's proposal to use the idionymon against fascists as well as communists, although it is perhaps understandable in light of the far-right's low political presence in Greece at the time (relative to socialists) and Venizelos' ongoing diplomatic rapprochement with Fascist Italy. Following the establishment of the dictatorial " 4th of August Regime " in 1936,

5740-601: The weakening of Greece's dependence on the US by prioritising the ascension of Greece to the European Union, which was frozen during the junta years, and succeeding. His slogan during his campaign to promote Greece's membership in the European Union was "Greece belongs to the West". The relatively short duration of the Greek dictatorship compared to its Spanish and Portuguese counterparts which had lasted for decades, facilitated

5822-404: Was Karamanlis's slow response in cleansing the military from the junta elements. Although the army was politically very weak at the time, Karamalis proceeded with great caution in eliminating junta supporters still remaining within the military. The second paradox can be explained by the fact that at the time, due to the Cyprus crisis, Karamanlis did not want to proceed with measures that would lower

5904-405: Was a thorn at the side of the junta because he possessed the credibility and popularity they lacked both in Greece and abroad and he also criticised them often. Upon news of his impending arrival cheering Athenian crowds took to the streets chanting: "Ερχεται! Ερχεται!" " Here he comes! Here he comes! " Similar celebrations broke out all over Greece. Athenians in the tens of thousands also went to

5986-680: Was being derailed, partially, because of that. The events at Athens Polytechnic unfolded precisely as the dictatorship's more staunch members had hoped. Brigadier Dimitrios Ioannides , leader of a junta within the junta, was disdainful of Papadopoulos, his perceived move to democracy, and his pursuit of a foreign policy more independent of the United States . The conditions for Papadopoulos's overthrow by Ioannides became easier because Papadopoulos would not believe Markezinis and others in his circle when warned about Ioannides's plans to overthrow him. In fact Papadopoulos's reply to Markezinis was: " Mimis [nickname for Dimitrios, Ioannides's first name]

6068-535: Was considered a "purist and a moralist, a type of Greek Gaddafi". At the time, Time magazine had described Ioannides as "a rigid, puritanical xenophobe – he has never been outside Greece or Cyprus – who might try to turn Greece into a European equivalent of Muammar Gaddafi's Libya." He who enters here exits friend or cripple. Ioannides's junta moved quickly to stifle any dissent, re-instituting and accelerating repressive measures such as censorship , expulsions, arbitrary detentions and torture , described as among

6150-459: Was constantly demonised by the junta, using this political move as a differentiator between the junta rigidity on the matter that betrayed its totalitarianism and his own realpolitik approach honed by years of practicing democracy. The legalization of the Communist Party was also meant as a gesture of political inclusionism and rapprochement . At the same time Karamanlis also freed all political prisoners and pardoned all political crimes against

6232-496: Was described as a political non-entity by the New York Times . Despite its doubtful origins, the new junta pursued an aggressive internal crackdown and an expansionist foreign policy. At his frequent press conferences during his rule, Papadopoulos often used the patient in a cast analogy to describe his assault on the body politic of Greece. He usually answered questions on the topic of democratic transition from

6314-510: Was no different as the military, political elites and students sought to affirm their respective positions in society. In particular, the student movement in Greece had been repressed by the dictatorship and student activists were marginalised and suppressed in the name of anti-communism . Early student activism during the dictatorship included the self-immolation in 1970 of Geology student Kostas Georgakis in Genoa , Italy , in protest against

6396-413: Was not particularly concerned with legal or democratic processes. He was prepared for a dictatorship of thirty or more years. Being a more orthodox dictator and thinking in simpler terms than Papadopoulos, he solved the dilemma on how to achieve a democratic transition by dropping the plan completely. Prior to seizing power, Ioannides preferred to work in the background and never held any formal office in

6478-475: Was originally suggested as the head of the new interim government. He was the legitimate Prime Minister originally deposed by the dictatorship and a distinguished veteran politician who had repeatedly criticised Papadopoulos and his successor. Raging battles were still taking place in Cyprus' north and Greece's border with Turkey in Thrace was tense when Greeks took to the streets in all the major cities, celebrating

6560-507: Was televised. One thousand soldiers armed with submachine guns provided security. The roads leading to the jail were patrolled by tanks . Papadopoulos and Ioannides were sentenced to death for high treason. These sentences were later commuted to life imprisonment by the Karamanlis government. This trial was followed by a second trial which centered around the events of the Athens Polytechnic uprising . A plan to grant amnesty to

6642-498: Was the first, among the participating military leaders, to express his support for Karamanlis. After Averoff's decisive intervention, Gizikis phoned Karamanlis at his Paris apartment and begged him to return. Karamanlis initially hesitated but Gizikis pledged to him that the military would no longer interfere in the political affairs of Greece. Other junta members joined Gizikis in his pledge. Throughout his stay in France , Karamanlis

6724-472: Was to be carried-out by civilian rule. In the legislative election of November 1974 , Karamanlis with his newly formed conservative party, not coincidentally named New Democracy (Νέα Δημοκρατία, transliterated in English as Nea Demokratia ) obtained a massive parliamentary majority and was elected Prime Minister. The elections were soon followed by the 1974 plebiscite on the abolition of the monarchy and

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