Word: greekness
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1960-1969
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
American influence undoubtedly had some part in the regime's decision to grant the Greek people a constitution, no matter how flimsy it is. Yet Greek people are desperately afraid that the document will be hailed the world over as a step towards democracy. The fact is, according to Greeks, that the fraudulent constitution is merely a trick by the regime to give their rule a legal rationale and to maintain the all important American support...
...labor strikes will be outlawed. The junta repeatedly uses the rhetoric of saving the Greek Christian Civilization from the old days when workers were constantly on strike and students were always throwing stones. The constitution restricts unions from organizing against the interests of the existing social order. It's quite true that Greece was strike-ridden before the revolution and that walk-outs seriously worried many Greeks, but most observers didn't think in terms of the strikes being dangerous enough to overthrow the government...
Widespread anxiety has slowed the Greek economy to a walk. The government keeps prices low, so most people can buy enough to live on. But no one is interested in buying anything, outside of subsistence goods, except land. Nobody has respect for the Greek currency. Many people said they were hoarding British Gold Pounds for the period after the regime. The junta's claim that the tourist trade was "much better in 1968 than in the previous year" is true but there still aren't nearly as many tourists as before the revolution...
...saved the following fact for the end because it is the one thing so far that I didn't see myself. During the summer, however, I became very close to a young Greek enlisted man, and he swore that United States military aid was indispensible for the regime...
...Defense Secretary Clifford has admitted that American is supplying the Greek regime with large amounts of munitions. He said that no matter how repugnant the regime's politics are to the U.S., the regime will continue to receive such aid because of its strategic place in the fight against communism. Some Greeks even believe the CIA played a decisive role in planning and contributing arms and money to the revolution. America does not send arms directly to Greece but rather uses the convenient agency of NATO, which supplies Greece with 75 percent of its weapons...