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The Athens Polytechnic uprising in 1973 was a massive demonstration of popular rejection of the Greek Military Junta Of 1967-1974 , which was otherwise known as the ''Regime of the Colonels'' and led by the dictator George Papadopoulos . The uprising began on November 14 , 1973, escalated to nearly an open anti-junta revolt and ended in a bloodshed early in the morning of November 17 with a Tank crushing the gates of the Polytechnic . The causes Greece had been, since April 21 , 1967, under the Dictatorial Rule Of The Military , a repressive regime which abolished basic Civil Rights , dissolved Political Parties and Exile d, Jail ed and Torture d politicians and citizens based on their political beliefs. 1973 found the junta under Papadopoulos having undertaken a "liberisation" process of the regime, which included the release of political prisoners and the partial lifting of censorship, as well as promises of a new constitution and new elections for a return to civilian rule. This created a power vacuum for Leftist and generally Democratic elements to undertake political action against the junta. The junta, trying to control every aspect of politics, had from its beginnings in 1967 interfered with Student Syndicalism , banning student elections in universities, forcefully Drafting leftist students and enforcing non-elected student syndicate leaders in the national student's syndicate, EFEE. These actions eventually created a fierce anti-junta sentiment among students. Notably, the first massive and public action against the junta came from students on February 21 1973. On February 21 1973 law students went on Strike and barricaded themselves inside the buildings of the Law School of the University Of Athens in the centre of Athens , demanding the cancelling of the law that imposed forceful Drafting of "subversive youths", as 88 of their colleagues had been forcefully drafted. The regime ordered the Police inside the Law School. Many students were reportedly subjected to police brutality. The events at the Law School are often cited as the prelude to the Polytechnic uprising. The uprising was also a Student Uprising influenced heavily by the youth movements of the sixties, notably the events of May 1968 . The events On November 14 , 1973 students at the National Technical University Of Athens (also known as "Athens Polytechnic" or ''Polytechnion'') went on Strike and started protesting against what many believed to be an US-backed military rule (the ''Regime of the Colonels''). There was no response, so the students barricaded themselves in and built a radio station (using materials from the laboratories) that broadcast across Athens. Leftist , later to be Politician Maria Damanaki was one of the major speakers. Soon thousands of workers and youngsters joined them protesting inside and outside of the "Athens Polytechnic". On first hours of called Hymn To Freedom written by Dionysios Solomos , until the time the Tank enters the yard. By that time the radio seizes to transmit. According to a contested official investigation undertaken after the fall of the Junta, no students of the Athens Polytechnic were killed during the incident. However a few of them have been left severely injured by the tank for the rest of their lifes. Total recorded casualties amount to 24 civilians killed outside Athens Polytechnic campus. These include 19-year old Michael Mirogiannis , reportedly shot in cold blood by officer G. Dertilis , high-school student Diomedes Komnenos , and a five-year old boy caught in the crossifire in the suburb of Zografou. The records of the trials held following followed the collapse of the Junta, document the circumstances of the deaths of many civilians during the uprising, and it is possible that the official numbers are too modest. The matter however is highly political, so there is no real agreement on it to this date. Aftermath of the uprising The uprising triggered a series of events that put an abrupt end to the regimes's attempted "liberisation" process under Spiros Markezinis . Brigadier Demetrios Ioannides , a disgruntled Junta hardliner, used the uprising as a pretext to restablish "law and order," and staged a couter-coup that overthrew George Papadopoulos and Spiros Markezinis on November 25 the same year. Military law was reinstated, and the new Junta appointed General Phaedon Gkizikis as President and economist Adamantios Androutsopoulos as Prime Minister, although Ioannides remained the behind-the-scenes strongman. Ioannides's abortive coup attempt on June 14 1974 against Archbishop Makarios , then President of Cyprus , was met by an invasion of Cyprus by Turkey . These events caused the military regime to implode. Constantine Karamanlis was invited from self-exile in France , and was appointed Prime Minister of Greece alongside President Gen. Phaedon Gkizikis . Parliamentary democracy was thus restored, and free elections were held for the first time in a decade on November 17 1974 . Legacy November 17th is currently a school holiday in Greece. Schools and universities stay closed during the day. The central point of the commemoration is the campus of the Polytechneio . The campus is closed on the 15th (the day the students first occupied the campus on 1973 ). Students and politicians lay wreaths on a monument within the Polytechneio that inscribes the names of Polytechneio students killed during the Greek Resistance in the 1940s . The commemoration day ends with a Demonstration that begins from the campus of the Polytechneio and ends at the United States Embassy . There have been several casualties during clashes with the police in such demonstrations in the 1980s and 1990s . The student uprising is hailed by many as a valiant act of resistance against the military dictatorship, and therefore as a symbol of resistance to tyranny. Others believe that the uprising was used as a pretext by Brigadier Demetrios Ioannidis to put an abrupt end to the process of democratization undertaken by Spyros Markezinis . Metapolitefsi See Also: Metapolitefsi Metapolitefsi refers to the period in Greek History after the restoration of democracy, subsequently to the fall of the Junta in 1974. See also |