Word: greeke
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...country was already under martial law, so the army was able to move quietly and efficiently. Police and troops quickly surrounded the suburban home of President George Papadopoulos and placed him under arrest while tanks rolled unopposed into the main squares of Athens. By the time the Greek people learned that their country had undergone its second coup d' état in six and a half years, the army had already sworn in a new president, Lieut. General Phaedon Ghizikis, a rightist and friend of deposed King Constantine...
...outside world, the notion that the Greek military forces had overthrown Papadopoulos seemed at first glance to be a contradiction in terms...
Though the military looked on Papadopoulos's maneuver with disfavor, his promises of full democracy had been made before and were not altogether convincing to Greek leftists and moderates. In early November, a memorial service for former Premier George Papandreou, a leftist, had turned into a clash between police and students, and a week later demonstrations broke out at the Athens Polytechnic University and quickly spread to the streets of the capital; 13 persons were killed and hundreds wounded. Papadopoulos imposed martial law to restore order. The unrest finally gave the military an excuse to overthrow...
...been the commander of the First Army based in central Greece. He had never been close to Papadopoulos, remaining instead friendly with King Constantine, who is presently living in exile in Britain. It was not known whether the new coup would have any effect on the status of the Greek monarchy, though observers noted that in an announcement the new government referred to the "Royal" Greek Air Force for the first time since the monarchy was formally abolished six months...
...coup give it extraordinary significance. What finally convinced right-wing officers dismayed by even Papadopoulos's sham democracy that Greece needed a change of government was the old government's inability to prevent or even effectively suppress last week's uprising, in which thousands of students and workers fought Greek police and American tanks, demanding a restoration of democracy and freedom. The demonstrators' heroism brought down one dictatorship; because of this week's instability, and the uncertainty about the new government's policy, there's at least some possibility that Greece will become more free. Gizikis may stick to both...