1971-1990
After the fall of the military government within Greece in 1974, the government needed to be restructured and organized in a way to suit the needs of its people. Citizen revolts were seen in the fall of 1973 when the Athens Polytechnic uprising occurred as a result of the junta. This party was aimed for complete control and wanted to strip the Greek citizens of their basic rights and persecute those who have opposing political beliefs. This was the first time that citizens had the opportunity to protest and revolt since they were not at a time of war. This was a voilent protest that resulted in bloodshed and death, but shows that the people were not going to stand by and let the junta succeed. The next Prime Minister to follow brought Greece on the brink of war with Turkey until a new democratic leader arrived on scene. During this time period, the Monarchy institution was abolished and a constitution was established in 1975. The Greek Parliament was born a gave the country a chance to put their past behind them and rebuild internally. Different parties in power wanted to monitor the citizens, especially in terms of unions and movements. During this time period, the main source of work was in agriculture, tourism and/or public sector jobs. These three industries account for more than a third of total GDP during the late 1960’s and through the 1970’s. This was an issue because workers were limited to what they can do and the economy is based around this. During the 1970’s, countries in Europe were growing and employment rates were on the rise, except for Greece. Similar issues carried over into the 1980’s and is considered one of the worst decades for the economy and state. The oil crisis of 1973 and 1980 directly affected Greece, causing inflation that roughly doubled the price of goods. With high inflation and rising national debt, the state implemented programs to stabilize the economy. But with high interest rate and already high debt, problems just continued to stockpile and can relate to the issues in the 1990’s and today.
Video provides background and photos of the Polytechnic uprising, which was the turning point and destruction of the junta military government. Uploaded to Youtube on 12 01, 2011.
1973: Massive protest that was staged by students who attended Polytechnic, or the National Technical University of Athens. The protest attracted thousands of people, even those who were not students because they were fighting for their freedom and rights. It started peaceful, but as the popularity grew, the military was sent it to put an end to the protest. Tension was high and as a result, violence broke out and the campus was damaged and lives were lost
1974: The New Democracy was created which was organized by Konstantinos G. Karamanlis, which established a national unity government until elections. This new party became one of the most popular and still exist today. First time that leaders were elected and the Monarchy was abolished. Panhellenic Socialist Movement, PASOK, was created
1975: Greek parliament is officially created with the establishment of the constitution. Also, the junta trial began and those colonels involved were prosecuted
1970’s: Industrialization dominated the country and the middle class began to emerge. Even though there were wide gaps in income equality, this new economy gave way to narrow it
1977: Passage of Laws 1264 and 1982 gave the citizens of Greece the right to protest/strike publicly and gave more rights to the workers
1980: Greece joins the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
1981: PASOK won the parliament election. More importantly, it was the first democratic socialist party to win this office. Greece joined the European Economic Community or known as the European Union (EU)
The image shows the additions to the European Community, or now known as the European Union. As seen, Greece joined in 1981. Provided by Wikipedia.
1980’s: The decade before, Greece was seeing progress and substantial growth. But now, the country is in a decline and serious issues are arising. Key statistics, provided by Nikos Tsafos, that relate to the decline in Greece follows:
- Real per capita GDP growth was 0.23% a year in the 1980s, versus 7.9% in the 1960s and 4.64% in the 1970s.
- In 1980, the average Greek had a standard of living that was 7% below their European peers; by 1989, the gap was 24% below
- Unemployment rose from 2.7% in 1980 to 6.7% in 1989
- Real compensation per employee was flat in the 1980s, while it had grown 4% in the 1970s
- Public debt climbed from 22.3% of GDP in 1980 to 64.2% in 1989
- Total factor productivity, an admittedly nebulous measure of how efficiency an economy combines inputs to generate output, fell by 0.85% a year in the 1980s versus a 6% average annual growth in the 1960s and 2.53% growth in the 1970s
- Net fixed capital formation, a measure of how much fixed capital was invested in the economy after depreciation of existing assets is taken into account, declined by an annual average of 0.17% in the 1980s, while it had grown by 16% on average in the 1970s
- Industrial production grew by a mere 1.3% a year in the 1980s while it had grown by 10% a year in the 1970s
- Average inflation in the 1980s was 19.5% versus 2% in the 1960s and 12.3% in the 1970
1983: Legislation passed that allowed women to purchase, inherit and own land. Also, there was a push for human rights which resulted in bills being passed to protect children out of wedlock. If this occurs, the child is now entitled to equal share from mother and father, where in the past it would be frowned upon and be at a disadvantage
1985-1986: Amendments made and added to the constitution, which gave more power to the people and took away power from the state. Some changes seen were the increase in local government power, reforms to laws and creation of a foreign policy
Key actors during this time:
-Konstantinos G. Karamanlis: On the brink of war with Turkey, he returned to Greece from his exile in France. Organizer of the New Democracy party, he was seen as a visionary that wanted to rid the country of absolute rulers. Karamanlis was first elected Prime Minister in 1974, but re-elected and held office until 1981
-Andreas G. Papandreou: Greek politician who served as Prime Minister from 1981-1989 and founder of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement. He wanted to express Greek national pride and mix that with democratic socialism. Among his many political success’ is the work he did in terms of the labor force and for the citizens; National Health Care and the creation of Supreme Council for Personnel Selection (ASEP), which is an independent body that selects workers for public sector jobs. The laws and changes described above can be traced back and connected to this man
Google image of Karamanlis.
Google image of Papandreou.
Economic Crisis in Greece 
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