The Third Hellenic Republic ( el, Γ΄ Ελληνική Δημοκρατία, Triti Elliniki Dimokratia) is the period in
modern Greek history that stretches from 1974, with the fall of the
Greek military junta
The Greek junta or Regime of the Colonels, . Also known within Greece as just the Junta ( el, η Χούντα, i Choúnta, links=no, ), the Dictatorship ( el, η Δικτατορία, i Diktatoría, links=no, ) or the Seven Years ( el, η Ε ...
and the
final abolition of the
Greek monarchy
The monarchy of Greece ( el, Μοναρχία της Ελλάδας, Monarchía tis Elládas) or Greek monarchy ( el, Ελληνική Μοναρχία, Ellinikí Monarchía) was the government in which a hereditary monarch was the sovereign of ...
, to the present day.
It is considered the third period of
republican rule in Greece, following the
First Republic during the
Greek War of Independence (1821–1832) and the
Second Republic during the temporary abolition of the monarchy in 1924–1935.
The term "''
Metapolitefsi
The Metapolitefsi ( el, Μεταπολίτευση, , " regime change") was a period in modern Greek history
The history of Greece encompasses the history of the territory of the modern nation-state of Greece as well as that of the Greek peop ...
''" (Μεταπολίτευση, '
polity change') is commonly used for the entire period, but when used more strictly, this term refers to the early part of the period, beginning with the fall of the junta and culminating in the democratic transformation of the country. While the First and Second Hellenic Republics are not in common use except in a historiographic context, the term Third Hellenic Republic is used frequently.
The Third Hellenic Republic has been characterised by the development of social freedoms, the European orientation of
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...
and the political dominance of the parties
ND and
PASOK
The Panhellenic Socialist Movement ( el, Πανελλήνιο Σοσιαλιστικό Κίνημα, Panellínio Sosialistikó Kínima, ), known mostly by its acronym PASOK, (; , ) is a social-democratic political party in Greece. Until 2012, it ...
. On the negative side the period has included high corruption, deterioration of certain economic indexes such as public debt, and
nepotism, mostly in the political scene and the state offices.
Events
This period has been marked by many significant changes in the country. In 1981 Greece joined the
EU. Simultaneously, the centre-left party
PASOK
The Panhellenic Socialist Movement ( el, Πανελλήνιο Σοσιαλιστικό Κίνημα, Panellínio Sosialistikó Kínima, ), known mostly by its acronym PASOK, (; , ) is a social-democratic political party in Greece. Until 2012, it ...
won the election and changed the Greek political scenery. The decade of the 1990s saw the standard of living among Greeks steadily increase, a trend which reached its zenith around the time of the
Olympic Games of 2004. On 1 January 2001, Greece voted to adopt the
Euro, and the currency was introduced in the country one year later on 1 January 2002. In the last months of 2009, the
Greek debt crisis broke out, an event that brought about great changes on both a social and political level. The
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
caused more economic hardship for Greece.
Presidents of the Third Hellenic Republic
*
Michail Stasinopoulos (1974–1975)
*
Konstantinos Tsatsos
Konstantinos D. Tsatsos ( el, Κωνσταντίνος Τσάτσος; July 1, 1899 – October 8, 1987) was a Greek diplomat, professor of law, scholar and politician. He served as the second President of the Third Hellenic Republic from 197 ...
(1975–1980)
*
Konstantinos Karamanlis
Konstantinos G. Karamanlis ( el, Κωνσταντίνος Γ. Καραμανλής, ; 8 March 1907 – 23 April 1998), commonly anglicised to Constantine Karamanlis or just Caramanlis, was a four-time prime minister and twice as the president of ...
(1980–1985)
*
Christos Sartzetakis
Christos Sartzetakis ( el, Χρήστος Σαρτζετάκης; 6 April 1929 – 3 February 2022) was a Greek jurist and a supreme justice of the Court of Cassation, who served as the President of Greece from 1985 to 1990.
Early life and educ ...
(1985–1990)
*
Konstantinos Karamanlis
Konstantinos G. Karamanlis ( el, Κωνσταντίνος Γ. Καραμανλής, ; 8 March 1907 – 23 April 1998), commonly anglicised to Constantine Karamanlis or just Caramanlis, was a four-time prime minister and twice as the president of ...
(1990–1995)
*
Konstantinos Stephanopoulos
Konstantinos "Kostis" Stephanopoulos ( el, Κωνσταντίνος (Κωστής) Στεφανόπουλος, 15 August 1926 – 20 November 2016) was a Greek conservative politician who served two consecutive terms as the president of Gree ...
(1995–2005)
*
Karolos Papoulias
Karolos Papoulias ( el, Κάρολος Παπούλιας ; 4 June 1929 – 26 December 2021) was a Greek politician who served as the president of Greece from 2005 to 2015.
A member of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK), he previously ...
(2005–2015)
*
Prokopis Pavlopoulos (2015–2020)
*
Katerina Sakellaropoulou (2020–present)
Political parties in Third Hellenic Republic
1974–1989
This period began with the centrists and centre-right being dominant, though the former lost support in the late 1970s with the rise of the
Panhellenic Socialist Movement
The Panhellenic Socialist Movement ( el, Πανελλήνιο Σοσιαλιστικό Κίνημα, Panellínio Sosialistikó Kínima, ), known mostly by its acronym PASOK, (; , ) is a social-democratic political party in Greece. Until 2012, it ...
. Also the
Communist Party of Greece was allowed to take part in elections for first time after the end of the
Greek Civil War. The table below shows the results of elections during this period.
1990–2007
This period began with the
fall of communist regimes in
eastern Europe. It is characterized by the reinforcement of bipartisanship with the two main parties (New Democracy and PASOK) regularly polling over 80% of the vote between them, even reaching 86%.
2009–2019
This period corresponds to
Greek government-debt crisis
Greece faced a sovereign debt crisis in the aftermath of the financial crisis of 2007–2008. Widely known in the country as The Crisis ( Greek: Η Κρίση), it reached the populace as a series of sudden reforms and austerity measures that ...
, that changed dramatically the political stage. Early in the period, PASOK were able to capitalise on a loss of support for ND. However, by the early 2010s, PASOK were also attracting blame for their handling of the crisis, and the radical party
SYRIZA became the largest party on the left. The position of the far-right was also strengthened in this period.
SYRIZA has since overtaken PASOK as the main party of the centre-left.
Alexis Tsipras led SYRIZA to victory in the general election held on 25 January 2015, falling short of an outright majority in Parliament by just two seats. The following morning, Tsipras reached an agreement with Independent Greeks party to form a coalition, and he was sworn in as Prime Minister of Greece. Tsipras called snap elections in August 2015, resigning from his post, which led to a month-long caretaker administration headed by judge
Vassiliki Thanou-Christophilou, Greece's first female prime minister. In the September 2015 general election, Alexis Tsipras led SYRIZA to another victory, winning 145 out of 300 seats and re-forming the coalition with the Independent Greeks. However, he was defeated in the July 2019 general
election
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...
by
Kyriakos Mitsotakis who leads New Democracy. On 7 July 2019, Kyriakos Mitsotakis was sworn in as the new Prime Minister of Greece. He formed a centre-right government after the landslide victory of his New Democracy party.
2020s
In March 2020, Greece's parliament elected a non-partisan candidate,
Ekaterini Sakellaropoulou, as the first female
President of Greece
The president of Greece, officially the President of the Hellenic Republic ( el, Πρόεδρος της Ελληνικής Δημοκρατίας, Próedros tis Ellinikís Dimokratías), commonly referred to in Greek as the President of the Rep ...
.
Notes
References
{{reflist
Political history of Greece
1974 in Greece
States and territories established in 1974
1974 establishments in Greece
1970s in Greek politics
Constantinos Karamanlis