Greek Democracy and the Junta: Regime Crisis and the Failed Transition of 1973

by Ioannis Tzortzis

During the dictatorship of the Colonels in Greece, there was an attempt at self-transformation into some form of civilian rule in 1973: the so-called 'Markezinis experiment', named after the politician who assumed the task of heading the transition government and lead to elections. It lasted a mere eight weeks, faced heavy opposition from both the opposition elites and the civil society and eventually collapsed by a military hard-liners' coup.

This book argues that the failure of the 'Markezinis experiment' paved the way for the actual transition of 1974 as it happened. Using British and American archival resources, as well as unique private archives and personal interviews, the book concludes by briefly seeking to trace some potential alternative paths for the failed self- transformation attempt, and by accounting for the long-term consequences of the failure of the 'Markezinis experiment'.

280 pages, Hardcover

First published January 23, 2020

About the author

Ioannis Tzortzis is a Teaching Fellow in the Department of Political Science and International Studies at the University of Birmingham.

Tzortzis was born in Athens in 1970. He graduated from the Law Department of the University of Athens and received a master's degree in political theory from the University of Essex. In 2005 he was awarded a doctorate from the University of Birmingham in political science.

In addition to the book Greek Democracy and the Junta (2020), he has published several articles in international academic journals on the transitions from dictatorship to democracy in Greece, Spain and Turkey. He has also collaborated with the "Historical" column of greek newspaper "Kathimerini on Sunday".