As southern Europe swelters in an oppressive and seemingly endless heat wave, Greece is marking the 50th anniversary of the restoration of its democracy with official ceremonies, exhibitions, concerts and the issuing of a commemorative €2 coin.

The anniversary is cause for celebration because democracy has never proven so resilient for so long in the country's modern history.

However, it is also a time of reflection because the restoration of democracy in 1974 following the collapse of the Greek military junta is inextricably linked to the partition of Cyprus, which continues to this day.

The partition of Cyprus and the fall of the junta

On July 15, 1974, the group of colonels that had seized power in Greece seven years previously, staged a coup d'etat on the island of Cyprus, overthrowing the government of Archbishop Makarios III, president of Cyprus.

Fearing that Greece intended to extend its rule over the island, Turkey invaded Cyprus, eventually taking control of about 36% of the island and resulting in its ongoing partition. Nicosia, the capital of Cyprus, remains a divided city to this day.

In the wake of the military's failure in Cyprus, the junta in Greece imploded, and navy personnel who were critical for the junta deposed its leader, Dimitrios Ioannidis.

A new democratic beginning

On July 23, 1974, the colonels handed power to a civilian government, and a day later, on July 24, former Prime Minister Konstantine Karamanlis returned from exile in France and presented his new cabinet.

Although it was events in Cyprus that triggered the collapse of the junta in Greece, there had been resistance to the military dictatorship before that.

This resistance reached its peak during the student uprising at Athens Polytechnic, which was brutally shut down by the military dictatorship on November 17, 1973.

Many Greeks left the country and went into exile abroad. Deutsche Welle's Greek Service became a mouthpiece for resistance to the military regime.

Greece: a strong, resilient democracy

This week, Greece remembers the end of military dictatorship and looks back with pride on 50 years of democracy.

For weeks now, politicians, legal experts, historians, political scientists, artists and journalists have been sharing what they view as the country's successes and failures over the past five decades.

People still speak of the "Metapolitefsi," the period of transition, as if the durability of the country's democracy is still in doubt.

But the Third Hellenic Republic is stable, strong and resilient despite numerous political and economic crises over the past 50 years.

For one thing, the military has been permanently ousted from politics. The king was removed from power by the junta in December 1967 and did not return even after its downfall.

Most of the wounds dating from the civil war (1944–1949) have been healed. The parliamentary system has also been working more or less well for half a century.

Change of government as proof of normality

Changes of government as a result of democratic elections are par for the course in modern Greece and an illustration of the strength of its democracy. This became clear for the first time in 1981, when the socialist PASOK party won the elections, and the conservative New Democracy (ND) party conceded defeat.

Greek democracy also remained stable after the country almost went bankrupt in 2010. During the ensuing crisis, Greece was ruled for the first time ever by a national unity government, a grand coalition of archrivals ND and PASOK.

When this government failed to get a grip on the country's sovereign debt and economic crisis, the radical left-wing SYRIZA party was elected to power in 2015. It entered a coalition government with the right-wing populists of Independent Greeks (ANEL).

When the crisis was overcome — the result of a huge national effort, many sacrifices and massive assistance from the EU — Greek voters opted for another change, electing the conservatives to government once again.

Clear commitment to the West

Since the restoration of its democracy, Greece has clearly positioned itself in the West. It has been a member of NATO since 1952, joined the European Economic Community (now the EU) in 1981 and adopted the euro as its currency in 2001.

Throughout the financial crisis, which lasted from 2009 to 2019, and despite many threats from European politicians, Greece remained in the EU.

Domestically, too, the country has moved forward: It got a public education and health system that is open to everyone and introduced very progressive family law in the early 1980s that ensured equal rights for men and women (at least in theory), and even the legalization of abortion.

Just recently, in February 2024, Greece legalized same-sex marriage, the first Christian Orthodox-majority country to do so.

'Homeland, religion, family'

That being said, Greek governments have rarely been able (or willing) to pass laws against the will of the Church. The junta's motto — "Homeland, religion, family" — would still appear to be firmly rooted in the heads of some Greek citizens.

A militant extreme right-wing party entered the political scene in Greece for the first time during the economic crisis: The neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party was elected to parliament in 2012 and was re-elected several times until some of its leaders were convicted in 2020 of running a criminal organization charged with a number of crimes including murder.

A question of quality

Despite its longevity, Greeks do not seem to be satisfied with the quality of their democracy. According to a survey conducted for the Eteron institute, 82.2% believe that there is no better form of government than democracy, but about 70% still say they are unhappy with the way democracy works in Greece.

Only 34% trust the authorities, 31.4% trust the government and 29.4% trust the judiciary. Approval of parliament is as low as 25.9%, but still far ahead of the country's political parties, which have the trust of only 13.6% of the population. Only the media have a worse reputation, with an approval rate of only 6.5%.

Greek citizens complain that government decisions are influenced by the interests of the rich and powerful, and that parties are not fighting for the public interest. The people are outraged by corruption and a lack of accountability among parties and politicians.

Moreover, their view of the future is pessimistic: More than half are of the opinion that the current generation is less well off than the previous one, and two-thirds assume that things will be even worse for the next generation.

Adapted from the German by Aingeal Flanagan