page_title: Kingdom of Greece
section_title: Postwar Greece and the fall of the monarchy (1950–1973)
hierarchical_section_title: Kingdom of Greece / History / Postwar Greece and the fall of the monarchy (1950–1973)
caption_attribution_description: English: The official portrait ofCrown Prince (later king) Paul of Greece and Crown Princess (later queen) Frederica of Greece
context_page_description: The Kingdom of Greece was a state established in 1832 at the Convention of London by the Great Powers. It was internationally recognised by the Treaty of Constantinople, where it also secured full independence from the Ottoman Empire. This event also marked the birth of the first fully independent Greek state since the fall of the Byzantine Empire to the Ottomans in the mid-15th century.
  The Kingdom succeeded from the Greek provisional governments after the Greek War of Independence, and lasted until 1924. In 1924 the monarchy was abolished, and the Second Hellenic Republic was established, after Greece's defeat by Turkey in the Asia Minor Campaign. It lasted until 1935, when it was overthrown by a military coup d'état which restored the monarchy. The restored Kingdom of Greece lasted from 1935 to 1973. The Kingdom was again dissolved in the aftermath of the seven-year military dictatorship, and the Third Republic, the current Greek state, came to be, after a popular referendum.
context_section_description: During the Civil war (1946–49) but even more after that, the parties in the parliament were divided into three political concentrations. The political formation Right-Centre-Left, given the exacerbation of political animosity that had preceded dividing the country in the 1940s, tended to turn the concurrence of parties into ideological positions.
  At the beginning of the 1950s, the forces of the Centre (EPEK) succeeded in gaining the power and under the leadership of the aged general Nikolaos Plastiras they governed for about half a four-year term. These were a series of governments having limited manoeuvre ability and inadequate influence in the political arena. This government, as well as those that followed, was constantly under the American auspices. The defeat of EPEK in the elections of 1952, apart from increasing the repressive measures that concerned the defeated of the Civil war, also marked the end of the general political position that it represented, namely political consensus and social reconciliation.
  The Left, which had been ostracised from the political life of the country, found a way of expression through the constitution of EDA (United Democratic Left) in 1951, which turned out to be a significant pole, yet steadily excluded from the decision making centres. After the disbandment of the Centre as an autonomous political institution, EDA practically expanded its electoral influence to a significant part of the EAM-based Centre-Left.
  The 1960s are part of the period 1953–72, during which Greek economy developed rapidly and was structured within the scope of European and worldwide economic developments. One of the key features of that period was the major political event of the country's accession to the EEC, in an attempt to create a common market. The relevant treaty was contracted in 1962.
  The developmental strategy adopted by the country was embodied in centrally organised five-year plans; yet their orientation was indistinct. The average annual emigration, which absorbed the excess workforce and contributed to extremely high growth rates, exceeded the annual natural increase in population. The influx of large amounts of foreign private capital was being facilitated, and consumption was expanded. These, associated with the rise of tourism, the expansion of shipping activity and with the migrant remittances, had a positive effect on the balance of payments.
  The peak of development was registered principally in manufacture, mainly in the textile and chemical industry and in the sector of metallurgy, the growth rate of which tended to reach 11% during 1965–70. The other large branch where distinct economic and social consequences were brought about, was that of construction. Consideration, a Greek invention, favoured the creation of a class of small-medium contractors on the one hand and settled the housing system and property status on the other.
  During that decade, youth came forth in society as a distinct social power with the autonomous presence (creation of a new culture in music, fashion, etc.) and displaying dynamism in the assertion of their social rights. The independence granted to Cyprus, which was mined from the very beginning, constituted the primary focus of young activist mobilisations, along with struggles aiming at reforms in education, which were provisionally realised to a certain extent through the educational reform of 1964. The country reckoned on and was influenced by Europe – usually behind time – and by the current trends like never before. Thus, in a sense, the imposition of the military junta conflicted with the social and cultural occurrences.
  The country descended into a prolonged political crisis, and elections were scheduled for late April 1967. On 21 April 1967 however, a group of right-wing colonels led by Colonel Georgios Papadopoulos seized power in a coup d'état establishing the Regime of the Colonels. Civil liberties were suppressed, special military courts were established, and political parties were dissolved. Several thousand suspected communists and political oppon
caption: Paul of Greece with his wife Frederica
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