Constantine Karamanlis

Constantine (Konstantinos) Karamanlis (Κωνσταντίνος Καραμανλής) (March 8, 1907 - April 23, 1998) was a Greek politician.

First Premiership

After World War II, Karamanlis quickly rose through the ranks of Greek politics, eventually becoming Minister of Public Works in the Greek Rally (Hellenikos Synagermos) administration under Prime Minister Alexander Papagos. He performed unusually well in this position and, when Papagos died and was to be succeeded, King Paul of Greece immediately suggested the young Karamanlis for Prime Mininster. In doing this, the King bypassed Stephanos Stephanopoulos and Panagiotis Kanellopoulos, the two senior Synagermos politicians who were widely considered as the heavyweights most likely to succeed Papagos. Karamanlis first became prime minister in 1955, and reorganized the Greek Rally as the National Radical Union (Ethnike Rizospastike Enosis). He won solid majorities in three successive elections (1956, 1958 and 1961). In 1959 he announced a five-year plan (1960?64) for the Greek economy, emphasizing improvement of agricultural and industrial production, heavy investment on infrastructure and the promotion of tourism.

Related Topics:
Alexander Papagos - Paul of Greece - Stephanos Stephanopoulos - Panagiotis Kanellopoulos - 1955 - 1956 - 1958 - 1961 - 1959

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