Constantine Karamanlis

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

Second Premiership

Throughout his exile in France, Karamanlis was a vocal opponent of the military junta that seized power in Greece in April 1967. After the fall of the Régime of the Colonels in July 1974, he returned to Athens on a French Presidency Lear Jet made available to him by President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, a close personal friend, and became Prime Minister on a wave of huge public support, mainly because he was considered the best available solution. He formed a government of National Unity in order to deal immediately with the Cyprus crisis and to restore democratic institutions in Greece. He legalized the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) but he didn't immediately abolish censorship and appeared initially indulgent with members of the 1967 coup who still held on to positions of power in the police and armed forces.

Related Topics:
Junta - April - 1967 - ''Régime of the Colonels'' - July - 1974 - Athens - Valéry Giscard d'Estaing - Cyprus - Communist Party of Greece

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Nevertheless his policy of democratization was gradual and steadfast, and eventually all remnants of the Régime of the Colonels were eliminated. He presided over several milestones in the democratization process, most notably the trial of the former dictators (who received death penalties for high treason and mutiny, mitigated to life incarceration), the staging of free parliamentary elections, the 1974 plebiscite on the abolition of the monarchy and the establishment of the Republic, the writing of the 1975 constitution and the implementation of Greece's accession into the European Economic Community.

Related Topics:
1974 - Plebiscite - Monarchy - 1975 - Constitution - European Economic Community

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In 1974, Karamanlis founded a new conservative party, New Democracy, won the 1974 and 1977 parliamentary elections, and served as Prime Minister until 1980, when he resigned following his signing of the EEC-Greece Accession Treaty. He was succeeded as Prime Minister by George Rallis.

Related Topics:
New Democracy - 1974 - 1977 - 1980 - Accession Treaty - George Rallis

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