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Witness History: A Greek coup: The day the colonels took power

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A Greek coup: The day the colonels took power

06/12/2023 GMT

BBC World Service - Witness History, A Greek coup: The day the colonels took power

In 1967, army officers seized power in Greece in a US-backed coup

In 1967, a group of right-wing army officers seized control in Greece to prevent the election of a socialist prime minister, George Papandreou.

On 21 April 1967, a group of right-wing army officers seized power in Greece to prevent the election of a social democratic government led by veteran politician George Papandreou. 

The dictatorship, backed by the United States, lasted for seven years. Thousands of people were imprisoned, exiled and tortured. 

The grandson of that politician, also called George, was 14 at the time. He went on to be elected as Greece’s prime minister in 2009. 

In February 2012, George Papandreou Junior spoke to Maria Margaronis about the night when tanks rolled through Athens and soldiers came to arrest his father. Archive audio is used by permission of ERT, the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation.

Archival audio used by permission of ERT, the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation.

(Photo: The younger George Papandreou in 2011. Credit: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg/Getty Images)

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