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History and Government
History: Greece was the birthplace of European civilisation. The period from 700 BC saw the rise of the great city states of Athens, Corinth and Sparta, frequently engaged in long struggles for supremacy, and uniting only when faced with the common threat of invasion by the Persian Empire. The zenith was reached in the fifth century BC when Athens became the cultural and artistic centre of the Mediterranean, producing magnificent works of architecture, sculpture, drama and literature. Athens lost her empire through a mutually destructive struggle with her arch rival Sparta. The nation was then forcibly united under Alexander the Great. After defeating the sagging military might of Persia in a number of major battles, the expansion of the empire spread Greek influence through the East as far as India and through Egypt. The empire fragmented after Alexander’s death in 323 BC, and the fall of Greek hegemony was completed when the country came under the sway of Rome. Under the Roman emperor Constantine, the empire gained a new capital in Constantinople, and Greece came under the control of the Eastern Empire when the empire divided. The Byzantines were, however, unable effectively to defend the whole of their empire from invaders, and only occasionally did Greece enjoy the security of effective imperial rule. The major beneficiaries of this were the Venetians, who increased their influence in Greece and other parts of the empire.
Byzantium finally fell to the Turks in 1453, although the process of conquest was already well underway by the end of the 14th century. For the next 350 years, Greece was part of the Ottoman Empire. Many attempts were made to shake off the yoke of the Ottomans, such as the rising of 1770, which was supported by Catherine the Great. After a bitter War of Independence from 1821, a free state was declared in 1829. The effective consolidation was a gradual process, the last territory to be handed back being the Dodecanese Islands in 1945. Until 1967, Greece was a monarchy but the country then endured the rule of the Colonels. After their fall in 1974, elections gave the New Democracy Party (ND) a majority. A subsequent referendum rejected the idea of a return to monarchical rule. However, since 1981, with the exception of a single spell from 1990 to 1993 when ND regained power, Greece has been governed by the centre-left Pan-Hellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK). From 1981 until his death in 1996, the dominant figure both in PASOK and in Greek politics was Andreas Papandreou, a charismatic and highly effective politician who maintained, for the most part, a firm grip over his party. In his later years, both he and the party were tainted by repeated allegations of corruption. Nonetheless, since his death, the new PASOK leader, Costas Simitis, has managed to keep PASOK in office through two general elections: firstly, soon after Papandreou’s death and, most recently, by virtue of a wafer-thin majority at the April 2000 poll. The main objective of the second Simitis administration was to steer Greece into the euro-zone. This was done successfully but at the cost of domestic unpopularity due to the necessary economic measures.
The EU has also been at the heart of Greek foreign policy; although Greece has since found itself at odds with its partners on a number of important issues, the strategy has by-and-large paid dividends. One of these has been a slow but steady improvement in relations with Turkey, which itself aspires to EU membership. Despite common membership of NATO, bilateral relations between Turkey and Greece have been among the worst between any two European countries. The principal causes are the continuing division of Cyprus and the ownership of territorial waters in the Aegean. Numerous efforts to solve the Cyprus dispute have failed and, although contacts between the two sides are now more frequent and productive, a settlement still seems some way off. The Balkan states to the north of Greece have been a cause of growing concern in Athens. Independence for the Former Yugoslav Republic Of Macedonia (FYROM) was initially blocked by Greece before a complete settlement between the two countries was agreed in 1995 (see Macedonia section). During the conflict in the former Yugoslavia, Greece was actively involved in finding a peaceful political settlement. Unlike most of its European partners, Greece kept up a close relationship with the government in Belgrade and registered strong objections in 1999 when NATO decided to intervene in Kosovo against the Serbs. Greece has also kept a careful watch on the ever-volatile situation in Albania, and has almost closed the border on several occasions to prevent mass illegal immigration. Otherwise, a constant irritant in relations – especially with the UK and the USA – had been the 25-year assassination campaign by the far-left November 17 guerrilla organisation, which targeted prominent Greeks and foreign nationals. In the summer of 2002, after co-operation between Greek and various foreign anti-terrorist organisations, the group appeared to have been rounded up.
Government: Greece is a unicameral parliamentary democracy. The 300-member parliament is elected for a maximum four-year term by adult suffrage. The Prime Minister is the leader of the largest party. The President is Head of State and is elected for a five-year term but has no executive powers.
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