196721st of AprilOn the night of the 20th-21st of April, Army units under the command of George Papadopoulos, Stylianos Pattakos and Nikolaos Makarezos, with tanks and armoured vehicles, move toward the centre of Athens, occupying the Parliament and other public buildings. At the same time, King Constantine, cut off and isolated, agrees to cooperating while attempting to maintain some degree of control over the situation. On the morning of the 21st of April, having forged the King’s signature, and with the apparent concurrence of an indeterminate “council of ministers”, the coup leaders announce over the radio the assumption “of the governing of the nation by the Army, for the salvation of the homeland”.

The blatant dissolution of constitutional order will continue with the publication of a series of royal decrees “declaring the nation under a state of siege and the suspension of Articles of the Constitution”. In particular, the circulation of vehicles and pedestrians on the streets of Athens is banned, along with withdrawals from banks and the purchase of gold sovereigns. At the same time, the Athens Stock Exchange is temporarily closed. The swearing in by King Constantine of the new ‘government’ under the presidency of Constantine Kollias, the prosecutor of the Supreme Court, gives the regime a semblance of legitimacy, despite the participation of the coup leaders in key ministerial positions, which will prove especially valuable for the consolidation of its dictatorial powers in the days to follow.

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Armoured vehicles in front of the Kallimarmaro Stadium21 April 1967Constantine K Mitsotakis Foundation –Archives of Constantine Mitsotakis

Soldiers on the roof of the Hellenic Navy General Staff Headquarters21 April 1967 Flippress/ Vassilis Karageorgou Photography Archives

The PressOf primary concern to the dictatorship is the control of the media and censorship of the press. From the first days of the coup, publishers and editors are faced with the dilemma of whether or not to continue their activities. The publication of a newspaper could contribute to keeping the public informed, even if under some restrictions, but outright censorship would in effect cancel out its function. The Avgi, as the mouthpiece of the Greek Democratic Left (EDA), is shut down as of the 21st of April and the issue already in print is destroyed by the regime. Of the newspapers of the centre, Eleutheria ceases its operations immediately following the coup by decision of its publisher Panos Kokkas. From the conservative press, the same course will be followed by the publisher of Kathimerini and Mesimvrini, Eleni Vlachou, who refuses to continue their publication despite intense pressure by the regime.

Item in the press regarding the coup in the late edition of Kathimerini21 April 1967Library of the Hellenic Parliament

King Constantine with ‘Prime Minister’ Constantine Kollias and the members of the government of the coup 26 April 1967Public Radio Television Archives

Organisations of the Resistance On the initiative of Mikis Theodorakis, members of the Lambrakis Democratic Youth and leaders of the Greek Democratic Left (EDA) form, at the end of April, the first cell of the Patriotic Front, which, a short time later, will be renamed the Patriotic Anti-dictatorship Front (PAM). In May, academicians and scientists, members of the Centre Union Party and the ‘Alexandros Papanastasiou’ Group, establish the Democratic Defence, while in December of the same year, the organisation Rigas Feraios is founded by members of the Lambrakis Youth.

In the years that follow, these three organisations will be at the forefront of the resistance against the dictatorship. Dozens of their members will be arrested, jailed and tortured. At the same time, the trials of those arrested by the extraordinary military tribunals will play a role in awakening Greek society and galvanising international opinion against the regime of the colonels.

Aerial photograph of the concentration camp for political prisoners on Gyaros IslandLibrary of the Hellenic Parliament

Inter-departmental memo from the department for the censorship of public enter-tainment concerning the continuation the ban of the film, My Daughter, the Socialist27 November 1967State General Archives

ArrestsDuring the early morning hours of the 21st of April, the junta arrests the Prime Minister Panayiotis Kanellopoulos, the former Prime Minister George Papandreou, and other ministers and leading political figures, such as Andreas Papandreou, Constantine Mitsotakis, Ioannis Passalides, Manolis Glezos, Elias Eliou and Leonidas Kyrkos. At the same time, thousands of citizens are detained and herded into the Phaliron Racecourse and the Karaïskaki Stadium. At the Racecourse, in front of hundreds of their fellow detainees, Panayiotis Elis is murdered and Elias Eliou is brutally beaten. In the days that follow, thousands of those arrested will either be exiled to a detention camp on Gyaros Island or scattered in prisons throughout the country.

Front page appeal by Eleni Vlachou to the world pressThe Observer, 8 October 1967Maria Karavia Collection

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Statements by Constantine Karamanlis against the dictatorship, ParisLe Monde, 9 November 1967National Bank of Greece Cultural Foundation/ Hellenic Literary and Historical Archive – Eleni Vlachou Archives

Declaration of acceptance of office of “regent” George Zoitakis 13 December 1967Library of the Hellenic Parliament

Constantine Karamanlis in Paris during his period of absence from GreeceConstantinos G Karamanlis Foundation – Constantine Karamanlis Archives

The Countercoup of ConstantineIn an attempt to overthrow the leadership of the coup, King Constantine travels to Kavala and orders the military command of Macedonia to refuse henceforth to follow orders from anyone but himself. But his plan has already been compromised, and as a result, the regime is prepared for it. Many of the officers involved are arrested and all airports are shut down. Isolated and without sufficient military support, Constantine decides to leave the country and that same night arrives in Rome where he will remain for the years to follow.

Meanwhile, the regime hurries to swear in General Georgios Zoïtakis as ‘regent’ due to the ”unwarranted absence of the King from the exercise of his duties”, with George Papadopoulos as ‘prime minister’. The regime attempts to avoid a complete break with the Crown. Even if only superficially, the swearing-in in the name of the King following the coup on April 1967 continues to be the only legitimising basis invocable by a dictatorial regime that, in the meantime, has abolished any vestige of constitutional legitimacy.

Excerpt from King Constantine’s proclamation14 December 1967

«Today I am putting an end to anomaly and violence. I ask the whole of the Greek people to help me restore in our county the ethical values that were born in this county and from

which all civilized people derive their moral and spiritual power. Freedom and democracy are words that we have endowed with eternal meaning. With this glorious heritage, let us move forward to the creation of a national life worthy of a modern state, fighting with the

motto of rebirth on a social, economic and spiritual level..»