A right-wing military junta ruled Greece for seven years, suppressing civil liberties before collapsing in 1974 and giving way to the Third Hellenic Republic.
Key Facts
- Rule began
- 21 April 1967
- Rule ended
- 24 July 1974
- Duration
- Approximately 7 years
- Primary ruler
- Georgios Papadopoulos (1967–1973)
- Final ruler
- Dimitrios Ioannidis (1973–1974)
- Trigger for collapse
- Turkish invasion of Cyprus
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
In April 1967, scheduled parliamentary elections were approaching and Georgios Papandreou's Centre Union party was widely expected to win. A group of military colonels, opposed to a return of civilian left-leaning government and motivated by anti-communist ideology, moved preemptively to seize control of the Greek state.
On 21 April 1967, the colonels staged a coup overthrowing the caretaker government. The resulting junta, led primarily by Georgios Papadopoulos, imposed authoritarian rule marked by restrictions on civil liberties, suppression of political opposition, and the imprisonment and torture of dissidents. A 1973 internal coup replaced Papadopoulos with hardliner Dimitrios Ioannidis.
The junta collapsed on 24 July 1974 under pressure from the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, which it had helped provoke. Its fall initiated the Metapolitefsi, a transition to democratic governance that led to the establishment of the Third Hellenic Republic and permanently ended military rule in Greece.