It was July 24, 1974, when the military handed over power to the politicians, after the collapse of the seven-year dictatorship, under the weight of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus…
On 23 July 1974, the seven-year dictatorship of 21 April, under the weight of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, collapsed. The military handed over power to the politicians and Constantine Karamanlis was sworn in as Prime Minister of the country, heading the “National Unity” government in the early hours of 24 July. From this day begins the era of “Metapolitika”, perhaps the most brilliant period in the political history of the Greek state.
The general conscription declared on 21 July, one day after the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, was chaotic and disorganized and demonstrated the tragic situation in which the Greek Army found itself after seven years of dictatorship. The government of Androutsopoulos, who was a subordinate of the “invisible dictator” Demetrios Ioannidis, was incapable of taking serious decisions. Thus, recourse to politicians was a one-way street for the military leadership of the country.
On the morning of 23 July, the Chief of the Armed Forces, General Gregorios Bonanos, and the Chiefs of the Army, Major General Andreas Galatsanos, Navy, Vice Admiral Petros Arapakis and Air Force, Vice General Alexandros Papanikolaou, in a meeting with the President of the Republic, General Phaidonas Gizikis, expressed the view that it was imperative to entrust the governance of the country to the politicians. Subsequently, Gizikis called Ioannidis and announced the decision of the troop leadership to him, without his reacting.
At 2 o’clock after noon, influential political figures of the pre-dictatorial period were summoned to a meeting by the President of the Republic. The meeting was attended by the leaders of the two main parties, Panagiotis Kanellopoulos of the EPP and Georgios Mavros of the ‘Union of the Centre’, as well as Evangelos Averof, Spyros Markezinis, Georgios Athanasiadis-Novas, Stefanos Stephanopoulos, Petros Garoufallias and Xenophon Zolotas. The dictatorship of 21 April had already collapsed.
At the meeting it was decided to form a political government under Panagiotis Kanellopoulos, who was given until 8 p.m. to announce the composition of the cabinet. Meanwhile, Evangelos Averoff, who had promoted the Karamanlis solution, contacted the former prime minister, who had been living in self-exile in Paris since 1963, and asked him to return to Greece as soon as possible. At 6:30 p.m., Averoff, at Giziki’s suggestion, telephoned Kanellopoulos and announced the withdrawal of the mandate he had been given.
