An AMX 30 tank standing in front of the Athens Polytechnic. Eventually, this vehicle would crush the gates of the Polytechnic in November 17 1973, putting a violent end to the student uprising.

The Athens Polytechnic uprising in 1973 was a massive demonstration of popular rejection of the Greek military junta of 1967-1974. The uprising began on November 14, 1973, escalated to nearly an open anti-junta revolt and ended in bloodshed in the early morning of November 17. Tank during the crackdown on 17 November 1973 in Athens File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Tank during the crackdown on 17 November 1973 in Athens File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Overview Perhaps the most successful post-war French armored vehicle design, the AMX-30 main battle tank was designed by GIAT Industries with a focus on good firepower and superior mobility. ... 17 November is also the name of a Marxist group in Greece, coinciding with the anniversary of the Athens Polytechnic uprising. ... 1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday. ... The Phoenix rising from its flames and the silhouette of the soldier bearing a rifle with fixed bayonet was the emblem of the Junta. ... November 14 is the 318th day of the year (319th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 47 days remaining. ... 17 November is also the name of a Marxist group in Greece, coinciding with the anniversary of the Athens Polytechnic uprising. ...

17 November, the date of the event, later became the name of a Greek terrorist group, in reference to the uprising. 17 November logo November 17 (also known as 17N or N17) has been described as a Marxist Greek terrorist group (Greek: Επαναστατική Οργάνωση 17 Νοέμβρη, Epanastatiki Organosi dekaefta Noemvri); it is listed on the U.S. State Department list of designated foreign terrorist organizations, the list of EU designated terrorist organisations, and the...

The causes

Greece had been, since April 21, 1967, under the dictatorial rule of the military, a regime which abolished civil rights, dissolved political parties and exiled, imprisoned and tortured politicians and citizens based on their political beliefs  . April 21 is the 111th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (112th in leap years). ... 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar (the link is to a full 1967 calendar). ... The Phoenix rising from its flames and the silhouette of the soldier bearing a rifle with fixed bayonet was the emblem of the Junta. ... Civil rights or positive rights are those legal rights retained by citizens and protected by the government. ... Political parties Part of the Politics series Politics Portal This box:      A political party is a political organization that seeks to attain political power within a government, usually by participating in electoral campaigns. ... Exile (band) may refer to: Exile - The American country music band Exile - The Japanese pop music band Category: ... Dorchester Penitentiary in New Brunswick, Canada is an institution that is part of Corrections Canada. ... Torture is defined by the United Nations Convention Against Torture as any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he...

1973 found the junta under Papadopoulos having undertaken a "liberalisation" process of the regime, which included the release of political prisoners and the partial lifting of censorship, as well as promises of a new constitution and new elections for a return to civilian rule. Leftist elements were thus given the opportunity to undertake political action against the junta. Augusto Pinochet (sitting) was an army general who led a military coup in Chile in 1973. ... Georgios Papadopoulos in the standard poster issued by the dictatorship government. ... In politics, left-wing, political left, leftism, or simply the left, are terms which refer (with no particular precision) to the segment of the political spectrum typically associated with any of several strains of socialism, social democracy, or liberalism (especially in the American sense of the word), or with opposition...

Picture of students demonstrating on 17 November 1973 in Athens as it appeared in many Greek and International newspapers at the time.

The junta, trying to control every aspect of politics, had interfered with student syndicalism since 1967, by banning student elections in universities, forcefully drafting students and enforcing non-elected student union leaders in the national student's union, EFEE. These actions eventually created a anti-junta sentiments among some students, such as Geology student Kostas Georgakis who committed suicide in 1970 in Genoa, Italy as an act of protest against the junta. With that exception, the first massive public action against the junta came from students on February 21, 1973. Image File history File linksMetadata November17. ... Image File history File linksMetadata November17. ... A students union, student government, student leadership,or student council is a student organization present in many elementary schools, middle schools, high schools, colleges and universities. ... 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar (the link is to a full 1967 calendar). ... For other uses, see Conscript (disambiguation). ... This article includes a list of works cited but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ... Kostas Georgakis is the only known resistance hero to have sacrificed his life as a protest against the junta Kostas Georgakis (Κώστας Γεωργάκης) born in Corfu in 1948 died 19 September 1970. ... Genoa (Genova in Italian - Zena in Genoese) is a city and a seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria. ... February 21 is the 52nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday. ...

On February 21, 1973 law students went on strike and barricaded themselves inside the buildings of the Law School of the university of Athens in the centre of Athens, demanding repeal of the law that imposed forceful drafting of "subversive youths", as 88 of their colleagues had been forcefully drafted. The police was ordered to intervene and many students were reportedly subjected to police brutality. The events at the Law School are often cited as the prelude to the Polytechnic uprising. February 21 is the 52nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday. ... The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (Greek: Εθνικόν και Καποδιστριακόν Πανεπιστήμιον Αθηνών), usually referred to simply as the University of Athens, is the oldest university in the region of the eastern Mediterranean and has been in continuous operation since its establishment in 1837. ... Athens (Greek: Αθήνα - Athína) is the largest city and capital of Greece, located in the Attica periphery of central Greece. ... For other uses, see Conscript (disambiguation). ...

The student uprising was also heavily influenced by the youth movements of the sixties, notably the events of May 1968. Students occupying Sheffield town hall over the introduction of higher education fees Student activism is work done by students to effect political, environmental, economic, or social change. ... A May 1968 poster: Be young and shut up, with stereotypical silhouette of General de Gaulle. ...

The events

A tank in the streets of Athens on 17 November 1973.

On November 14, 1973 students at the Athens Polytechnic (Polytechneion) went on strike and started protesting against the military regime (Regime of the Colonels). As the authorities stood by, the students, calling themselves the "Free Besieged" (Greek: Ελεύθεροι Πολιορκημένοι), barricaded themselves in and constructed a radio station using laboratories equipment) that repeatedly broadcast across Athens: "Here is Polytechneion! People of Greece, the Polytechneion is the flag bearer of our struggle and your struggle, our common struggle against τhe dictatorship and for democracy!"^[1] (Greek: Εδώ Πολυτεχνείο! Λαέ της Ελλάδας το Πολυτεχνείο είναι σημαιοφόρος του αγώνα μας, του αγώνα σας, του κοινού αγώνα μας ενάντια στη δικτατορία και για την Δημοκρατία transliterated as: Etho Polytechneio! Lae tis Elladas to Polytechneio einai simaioforos tou agona mas, tou agona sas, tou koinou agona mas enantia sti diktatoria kai gia tin Dimokratia). Leftist, later to be politician, Maria Damanaki was one of the major speakers. Soon thousands of workers and youngsters joined them protesting inside and outside of the "Athens Polytechnic". Image File history File linksMetadata November17-tank2. ... Image File history File linksMetadata November17-tank2. ... November 14 is the 318th day of the year (319th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 47 days remaining. ... 1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday. ... Front entrance of Patission Campus The National Technical University of Athens (Greek: Εθνικό Μετσόβιο Πολυτεχνείο, National Metsovion Polytechnic), sometimes simply known as Athens Polytechnic, is among the oldest and most prestigious higher education institutions of Greece. ... In politics, left-wing, political left, leftism, or simply the left, are terms which refer (with no particular precision) to the segment of the political spectrum typically associated with any of several strains of socialism, social democracy, or liberalism (especially in the American sense of the word), or with opposition... The Politics series Politics Portal This box:      A politician is an individual who is a formally recognized and active member of a government, or a person who influences the way a society is governed through an understanding of political power and group dynamics. ... Maria Damanaki Maria Damanaki (Greek: Μαρία Δαμανάκη) is a Greek politician, former president of the Synaspismos party of the radical left and currently a state member of the Hellenic Parliament within the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK). ...

In the early hours of November 17, 1973, the army intervened to restore public order. Prior to the intervention, the city lights had been shutdown, and the area was only lit by the campus lights, powered by the university generators. An AMX 30 Tank (thought to be kept in an armored unit museum in Avlonas) crashed the rail gate of the Athens Polytechnic at around 03:00am. In unlear footage clandestinely filmed by a Dutch journalist the tank is shown bringing down the main steel entrance to the campus to which people were clinging. Documentary evidence also survives, in recordings of the "Athens Polytechnic" radio transmissions from the occupied premises. In these a young man's voice is heard desperately asking the soldiers (whom he calls 'brothers in arms') surrounding the building complex to disobey the military orders and not to fight 'brothers protesting'. The voice carries on to an emotional outbreak, reciting the lyrics of the Greek National Anthem, until the tank entered the yard, at which time transmission ceased. 17 November is also the name of a Marxist group in Greece, coinciding with the anniversary of the Athens Polytechnic uprising. ... 1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday. ... Overview Perhaps the most successful post-war French armored vehicle design, the AMX-30 main battle tank was designed by GIAT Industries with a focus on good firepower and superior mobility. ... The Hymn to Freedom (Ύμνος εις την Ελευθερίαν, Imnos is tin Eleftherian) is a poem written by Dionýsios Solomós in 1823 that consists of 158 stanzas. ...

According to a contested^{[citation needed]} official investigation undertaken after the fall of the Junta, no students of Athens Polytechnic were killed during the incident. Total recorded casualties amount to 24 civilians killed outside Athens Polytechnic campus. These include 19-year old Michael Mirogiannis, reportedly shot to death by officer G. Dertilis, high-school student Diomedes Komnenos, and a five-year old boy caught in the crossfire in the suburb of Zografou. The records of the trials held following the collapse of the Junta document the circumstances of the deaths of many civilians during the uprising, and although the number of dead has not been contested by historical research, it remains a subject of political controversy. In addition, several civilians were left severely injured during the events.^{[citation needed]} Front entrance The National Technical University of Athens (Greek: Εθνικό Μετσόβιο Πολυτεχνείο, National Metsovion Polytechnic), sometimes simply known as Athens Polytechnic, is among the oldest higher education institutions... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Diomedes Komnenos was one of the first victims of the Athens Polytechnic uprising,in November 1973. ...

Aftermath of the uprising

Kostas Georgakis set himself ablaze as a protest against the junta in 1970

On November 14 The uprising triggered a series of events that put an abrupt end to the regime's attempted "liberalisation" process under Spiros Markezinis. Papadopoulos, during his liberalization process and even during the dictatorship, attempted to re-engineer the Greek political landscape and failed repeatedly. Ironically, in his biographical notes published as a booklet by supporters in 1980 it is mentioned that he attended Polytechneion, the prime Engineering School in the country, but did not graduate. Image File history File links KostasGeorgakis. ... Image File history File links KostasGeorgakis. ... Kostas Georgakis is the only known resistance hero to have sacrificed his life as a protest against the junta Kostas Georgakis (Κώστας Γεωργάκης) born in Corfu in 1948 died 19 September 1970. ... November 14 is the 318th day of the year (319th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 47 days remaining. ... Spiros Markezinis (1909 - January 4, 2000) was a Greek politician, longtime member of the Vouli (Greeces parliament), and briefly Prime Minister. ... Political engineering is a concept in political science that deals with the designing of political institutions in a society. ... 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday. ...

Taxiarkhos Dimitrios Ioannides, a disgruntled^{[citation needed]} Junta hardliner^{[citation needed]}, used the uprising as a pretext to re-establish public order, and staged a counter-coup that overthrew George Papadopoulos and Spiros Markezinis on November 25 the same year. Military law was reinstated, and the new Junta appointed General Phaedon Gizikis as President, and economist Adamantios Androutsopoulos as Prime Minister, although Ioannides remained the behind-the-scenes strongman. Taxiarhos is used in the Greek language to mean Brigadier. In Ancient Greece the title/rank was held by a number of officers in the armies of several but not all city-states. ... Dimitrios Ioannides (also Dimitris Ioannidis) (March 13, 1923) was a Greek military officer who was involved in the Greek military junta of 1967-1974. ... Georgios Papadopoulos in the standard poster issued by the dictatorship government. ... Spiros Markezinis (1909 - January 4, 2000) was a Greek politician, longtime member of the Vouli (Greeces parliament), and briefly Prime Minister. ... November 25 is the 329th (in leap years the 330th) day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Phaedon Gizikis (Greek: Φαίδων Γκιζίκης). Army officer and president of Greece (1973-1974) Born in 1917, Phaedon Gizikis was a career Greek army officer. ... Adamantios Androutsopoulos (1919 - 10 November 2000) was a lawyer, professor, and the Prime Minister of Greece from 1973 to 1974. ...

Ioannides' abortive coup attempt on June 14, 1974 against Archbishop Makarios III, then President of Cyprus, was met by an invasion of Cyprus by Turkey. These events caused the military regime to implode and ushered in the era of metapolitefsi. Constantine Karamanlis was invited from self-exile in France, and was appointed Prime Minister of Greece alongside President Phaedon Gizikis. Parliamentary democracy was thus restored, and the Greek legislative elections of 1974 were the first free elections held in a decade. June 14 is the 165th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (166th in leap years), with 200 days remaining. ... 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... Makarios (born Mihalis Christodoulou Mouskos, August 13, 1913—August 3, 1977) was archbishop and primate of the autocephalous Cypriot Orthodox Church (1950-1977) and first President of the Republic of Cyprus (1960-1977). ... The President of Cyprus is the countrys head of state. ... Combatants  Turkey  Cyprus Greek military junta The Turkish invasion of Cyprus, referred as the 1974 Cyprus Peace Operation by Turkey was a military action against the island nation of Cyprus by Turkey that resulted in the partition of the Republic of Cyprus. ... The Metapolitefsi (Greek: Μεταπολίτευση, translated as polity or regime change) refers to the period in Greek history after the fall of the Greek military junta of 1967-1974 and includes the transitional period from the fall of the dictatorship to the Greek legislative elections of 1974 as well as the democratic... Konstantinos Karamanlis Konstantinos Karamanlis (Κωνσταντίνος Καραμανλής in Greek; March 8, 1907 – April 23, 1998) was a towering figure of Greek politics. ... The first free elections since 1964 and after the end of a 7-year dictatorship (1967-1974) took place in Greece in 1974. ...

Legacy

November 17th is currently a school holiday in Greece. Schools and universities stay closed during the day. The central location for the commemoration is the campus of the Polytechneio. The campus is closed on the 15th (the day the students first occupied the campus on 1973). Students and politicians lay wreaths on a monument within the Polytechneio on which are inscribed the names of Polytechneio students killed during the Greek Resistance in the 1940s. The commemoration day ends with a demonstration that begins from the campus of the Polytechneio and ends at the United States embassy. Front entrance of Patission Campus The National Technical University of Athens (Greek: Εθνικό Μετσόβιο Πολυτεχνείο, National Metsovion Polytechnic), sometimes simply known as Athens Polytechnic, is among the oldest and most prestigious higher education institutions of Greece. ... 1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday. ... An ELAS soldier The Greek Resistance is the blanket term for a number of armed and unarmed groups from across the political spectrum that resisted the Axis Occupation of Greece during World War II. // The rise of resistance movements in Greece was precipitated by the invasion and occupation of Greece... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... A man carries a sign at the September 24, 2005 anti-war protest, a demonstration in Washington, D.C. American Civil Rights March on Washington, leaders marching from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial, August 28, 1963. ... A diplomatic mission is a group of people from one nation state present in another nation state to represent the sending state in the receiving State. ...

The student uprising is hailed by many as a valiant act of resistance against the military dictatorship, and therefore as a symbol of resistance to tyranny. Others believe that the uprising was used as a pretext by Taxiarkhos Dimitrios Ioannides to put an abrupt end to the process of ostensible liberalization of the regime undertaken by Spiros Markezinis. Taxiarhos is used in the Greek language to mean Brigadier. In Ancient Greece the title/rank was held by a number of officers in the armies of several but not all city-states. ... Dimitrios Ioannides (also Dimitris Ioannidis) (March 13, 1923) was a Greek military officer who was involved in the Greek military junta of 1967-1974. ... In general, liberalization refers to a relaxation of previous government restrictions, usually in areas of social or economic policy. ... Spiros Markezinis (1909 - January 4, 2000) was a Greek politician, longtime member of the Vouli (Greeces parliament), and briefly Prime Minister. ...

Metapolitefsi

Main article: Metapolitefsi

Metapolitefsi refers to the period in Greek history after the restoration of democracy, subsequently to the fall of the Junta in 1974. The Metapolitefsi (Greek: Μεταπολίτευση, translated as polity or regime change) refers to the period in Greek history after the fall of the Greek military junta of 1967-1974 and includes the transitional period from the fall of the dictatorship to the Greek legislative elections of 1974 as well as the democratic... This article covers the Greek civilization. ...

Cited References

See also

• History of Modern Greece
• Greek military junta of 1967-1974
• Metapolitefsi (Μεταπολίτευση)
• The boy who braved the tanks