Capitalism and Dictatorship in Post-War Greece

The seven-year rule of the Greek junta, from 1967 to 1974, has received much attention but little satisfactory analysis. It has been used as the basis for case studies of imperialism, CIA conspiracy, and third-world development. But the specificity of the Greek social formation and its relevance for understanding the roots and nature of the dictatorship remain relatively unexplored. The aim of this chapter is to examine some of the structural causes for the rise and fall of the Greek military regime. It does not attempt an account of the complicated events surrounding the actual seizure of power, but will concentrate on the long-term effects of economic and class developments, for these, although they do not directly determine, set limits to what is possible on the level of the political superstructure at a given historical moment.