Greek republic referendum, 1973

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Illuminated "YES" sign on Mount Lycabettus, installed by the junta as part of its all-pervasive "YES" campaign before the referendum Lukabettos NAI 1973.jpg
Illuminated "YES" sign on Mount Lycabettus, installed by the junta as part of its all-pervasive "YES" campaign before the referendum

A constitutional referendum was held in Greece on 29 July 1973. [1] The amendments would abolish the monarchy and establish a republic. The proposal was approved by 78.6% of voters with a turnout of 75.0%. [2] This initiated the first period of the Metapolitefsi .

The Metapolitefsi was a period in modern Greek history after the fall of the military junta of 1967–74 that includes the transitional period from the fall of the dictatorship to the 1974 legislative elections and the democratic period immediately after these elections.

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Background

The military junta had ruled Greece since a group of middle-ranking officers, under the leadership of Colonel Georgios Papadopoulos, staged a coup on 21 April 1967. King Constantine II reluctantly endorsed the coup, but started preparing for a counter-coup by elements of the armed forces loyal to him. This counter-coup was launched on 13 December 1967 and failed, forcing the King and most of the Royal Family to flee to Italy. Greece remained a Kingdom, and the King's functions were exercised by a Regent, a post held until 1972 by General Georgios Zoitakis, and then assumed by an increasingly dominant Papadopoulos, who also held the position of Prime Minister and several ministerial posts.

Greek military junta of 1967–1974 authoritarian rightist military regime in Greece

The Greek military junta of 1967–1974, commonly known as the Regime of the Colonels, or in Greece simply The Junta, The Dictatorship and The Seven Years, was a series of far-right military juntas that ruled Greece following the 1967 Greek coup d'état led by a group of colonels on 21 April 1967. The dictatorship ended on 24 July 1974 under the pressure of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. The fall of the junta was followed by the Metapolitefsi, and the establishment of the current Third Hellenic Republic.

Georgios Papadopoulos Greek soldier and junta leader

Georgios Papadopoulos was the head of the military coup d'état that took place in Greece on 21 April 1967, and leader of the junta that ruled the country from 1967 to 1974. He held his dictatorial power until 1973, when he was himself overthrown by his co-conspirator Dimitrios Ioannidis.

Constantine II of Greece former King of Greece

Constantine II reigned as the King of Greece, from 1964 until the abolition of the monarchy in 1973.

In May 1973, however, a wide-ranging anti-junta movement was discovered and suppressed, just before its outbreak, among the ranks of the mostly royalist Navy. One ship, however, the destroyer Velos did actually mutiny, and upon reaching Italy, the captain Nikolaos Pappas and 31 officers and crew disembarked and asked for political asylum, creating worldwide interest. The failed Navy revolt demonstrated that even after six years of junta "normality", the opposition had not died off, and that it existed even amongst large parts of the armed forces, which were the regime's main internal supporter. This revelation created a major crisis for the junta leadership.

Hellenic Navy maritime warfare branch of Greeces military

The Hellenic Navy is the naval force of Greece, part of the Hellenic Armed Forces. The modern Greek navy has its roots in the naval forces of various Aegean Islands, which fought in the Greek War of Independence. During the periods of monarchy it was known as the Royal Hellenic Navy.

Nikolaos Pappas Greek admiral

Nikolaos Pappas was a Hellenic Navy admiral who, as commander of the destroyer Velos, played a major part in the abortive rebellion of the Navy in May 1973 against the ruling military junta. After the restoration of democracy he served as chief of the Hellenic Navy General Staff in 1982–1986 and Minister for Mercantile Marine in 1989–1990.

Papadopoulos was thus forced to act, in a move which would bolster his own authority, get rid of the King, and appear as moving into the direction of genuine reforms. On 1 June, a Constituent Act was proclaimed, which declared Greece a presidential republic, with Papadopoulos as President. The Act was to be confirmed by a plebiscite, which was held on 29 July 1973. The defunct political parties and their leaders urged for a "No" as a sign of opposition to the regime, but the vote was tightly controlled by the junta, and the results were predictably favourable to the regime.

Results

ChoiceVotes%
Yes3.843.31878.6
No1,048,30821.4
Invalid/blank votes64,293–
Total4,955,919100
Registered voters/turnout6,610,09475.0
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

Aftermath

General Papadopoulos promised a return to democratic and parliamentary rule, based on the provisions of the new Constitution, and appointed Spyros Markezinis as Prime Minister. His attempt at controlled democratisation failed after the Athens Polytechnic uprising and the hardliners' coup under Dimitrios Ioannides that followed. The forms of the Republic were maintained until the final collapse of the junta in August 1974, and on 8 December 1974, another plebiscite was held, in which the Greek people confirmed the abolition of the monarchy, and the establishment of the current Third Hellenic Republic.

The Greek Constitution of 1973 was an amended version of the Greek Constitution of 1968 by Greek dictator Georgios Papadopoulos, with the aim of abolishing the Greek monarchy. Papadopoulos's rewrite of the 1968 constitution replaced the terms "parliamentary monarchy" and "king" with "republican democracy" and "president of Greece". The constitution was never enacted due to Papadopoulos's failed attempt at liberalisation of his regime.

Spyros Markezinis Greek politician

Spyridon Markezinis or Markesinis was a Greek politician, longtime member of the Hellenic Parliament, and briefly the 169th Prime Minister of Greece during the aborted attempt at democratization of the Greek military regime in 1973.

Athens Polytechnic uprising massive demonstration of popular rejection of the Greek military junta of 1967-1974

The Athens Polytechnic uprising occurred in November 1973 as a massive demonstration of popular rejection of the Greek military junta of 1967–1974. The uprising began on November 14, 1973, escalated to an open anti-junta revolt, and ended in bloodshed in the early morning of November 17 after a series of events starting with a tank crashing through the gates of the Polytechnic.

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References

  1. ↑ Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p830 ISBN   978-3-8329-5609-7
  2. ↑ Nohlen & Stöver, p838
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