A constitutional referendum was held in Greece on 29 July 1973. The amendments would confirm the abolition (on 1 June) of the

monarchy A monarchy is a government#Forms, form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state for life or until abdication. The legitimacy (political)#monarchy, political legitimacy and authority of the monarch may vary from restric ...

by the

military junta A military junta () is a government led by a committee of military leaders. The term ''junta'' means "meeting" or "committee" and originated in the national and local junta organized by the Spanish resistance to Napoleon's invasion of Spain in ...

and establish a republic. The proposal was approved by 78.6% of voters with a turnout of 75%.Nohlen & Stöver, p. 838

Background

The

had ruled Greece since a group of middle-ranking officers, under the leadership of Colonel

Georgios Papadopoulos Geórgios Papadopoulos (; el, Γεώργιος Παπαδόπουλος ; 5 May 1919 – 27 June 1999) was a Greeks, Greek military officer and political leader who ruled Greece as a military dictator from 1967 to 1973. He joined the Hellenic ...

, staged a coup on 21 April 1967. King Constantine II reluctantly endorsed the coup, but started preparing for a counter-coup by elements of the armed forces loyal to him. This counter-coup was launched on 13 December 1967 and failed, forcing the king and most of the royal family to flee to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. Greece remained a kingdom, with the king's functions exercised by a junta-appointed regent without sanction from the king, a post held until 1972 by General

Georgios Zoitakis Georgios Zoitakis ( el, Γεώργιος Ζωιτάκης; January 1910 – 21 October 1996) was a Hellenic Army General and regent of Greece from 13 December 1967 to 21 March 1972, during the period of the military regime of the Colonels. Life ...

, and then assumed by an increasingly dominant Papadopoulos, who also held the position of prime minister and several ministerial posts. In May 1973, however, a wide-ranging anti-junta movement was discovered and suppressed, just before its outbreak, among the ranks of the mostly royalist

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It in ...

. One ship, however, the destroyer did actually mutiny, and upon reaching Italy, the captain

Nikolaos Pappas Nikolaos Pappas ( el, Νικόλαος Παππάς; 21 June 1930 – 5 April 2013) was a Hellenic Navy admiral who, as commander of the destroyer , played a major part in the abortive rebellion of the Navy in May 1973 against the ruling military ...

and 31 officers and crew disembarked and asked for political asylum, creating worldwide interest. The failed Navy revolt demonstrated that even after six years of junta "normality", the opposition had not died off, and that it existed even amongst large parts of the armed forces, which were the regime's main internal supporter. This revelation created a major crisis for the junta leadership. Papadopoulos, in a move which would bolster his own authority, deposed the king. On 1 June, a Constituent Act was proclaimed, which declared Greece a

presidential republic A presidential system, or single executive system, is a form of government in which a head of government, typically with the title of president, leads an executive branch that is separate from the legislative branch in systems that use separation ...

, with Papadopoulos as president. The act was to be confirmed by a plebiscite, which was held on 29 July 1973. The defunct political parties and their leaders urged for a "No" as a sign of opposition to the regime, but the vote was tightly controlled by the junta, and the results were predictably favourable to the regime.

Results

Aftermath

Colonel Papadopoulos promised a return to democratic and parliamentary rule, based on the provisions of the new

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

, and appointed

Spyros Markezinis Spyridon "Spyros" Markezinis (or Markesinis; ; 22 April 1909 – 4 January 2000) was a Greek politician, longtime member of the Hellenic Parliament, and briefly the Prime Minister of Greece during the aborted attempt at metapolitefsi (democ ...

as Prime Minister, and he called elections for February 10, 1974. His attempt at controlled democratisation failed after the Athens Polytechnic uprising and the hardliners' coup under

Dimitrios Ioannidis Dimitrios Ioannidis ( el, Δημήτριος Ιωαννίδης ; 13 March 1923 – 16 August 2010), also known as Dimitris Ioannidis and as The Invisible Dictator, was a Greek military officer and one of the leading figures in the junta that ru ...

that followed. The forms of the Republic were maintained until the final collapse of the junta in July 1974, and on 8 December 1974, another

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

was held, in which the Greek people confirmed the abolition of the monarchy, and the establishment of the current

Third Hellenic Republic 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 and the final abolition of the Gre ...

References

{{Greek junta Greek republic referendum Greek junta Referendums in Greece Republicanism in Greece Republic referendum Republic referendum, 1973 Monarchism in Greece Constitutional referendums Monarchy referendums Greek republic referendum