Konstantinos Karamanlis
Konstantinos Karamanlis | |
---|---|
Κωσταντίνος Καραμανλής | |
Alexander Papagos | |
Succeeded by | Konstantinos Georgakopoulos |
Personal details | |
Born | Philothei, Athens | 8 March 1907
Political party | People's Party (1936–1951) Greek Rally (1951–1955) National Radical Union (1955–1963) New Democracy (1974–1998) |
Spouse |
Amalia Kanellopoulou
(m. 1951; div. 1972) |
Relations |
|
Alma mater | University of Athens |
Signature | |
Konstantinos G. Karamanlis (Greek: Κωνσταντίνος Γ. Καραμανλής,[1] pronounced [konstaˈdinos karamanˈlis]; 8 March 1907 – 23 April 1998), commonly anglicised to Constantine Karamanlis or just Caramanlis, was a four-time Prime Minister of Greece and two-term president of the Third Hellenic Republic. A towering figure of Greek politics, his political career spanned portions of seven decades, covering much of the latter half of the 20th century.[2]
Born near
In 1963, Karamanlis resigned following a disagreement with King Paul amidst spiralling political crises in Greece. He spent the next eleven years in self-imposed exile in Paris, while the country fell under military dictatorship after the 1967 coup d'état. After the fall of the junta in 1974, Karamanlis was recalled to Athens to assume interim premiership. This period, known as the Metapolitefsi, saw the country's transition to a pluralist democracy. His new party, New Democracy, won a commanding victory in the November 1974 elections, which were followed by a plebiscite that abolished the monarchy and established the Third Hellenic Republic. In 1980, Karamanlis resigned as prime minister and was elected President of the Republic. In 1981, he oversaw Greece's formal entry into the European Economic Community. He resigned from the presidency in 1985 but was again elected in 1990, and served until his retirement from active politics in 1995. Karamanlis died in 1998 at the age of 91.
Early life
Karamanlis was born in the village of
During the Axis occupation, he spent his time between Athens and Serres, while in July 1944, he left to the Middle East to join the
First premiership
After
In 1959 he announced a five-year plan (1959-64) for the Greek economy, emphasizing improvement of agricultural and industrial production, heavy investment on infrastructure and the promotion of tourism, setting the bases of the post-WWII Greek economic miracle.
London-Zürich Agreements
On the international front, Karamanlis abandoned the government's previous strategic goal for
Merten affair
Max Merten was Kriegsverwaltungsrat (military administration counselor) of the Nazi German occupation forces in Thessaloniki. He was convicted in Greece and sentenced to a 25-year term as a war criminal in 1959. On 3 November of that year, Merten benefited from an amnesty for war criminals, and was set free and extradited to the Federal Republic of Germany, after political and economic pressure from West Germany (which, at the time, hosted thousands of Greek Gastarbeiter).[6] Merten's arrest also enraged Queen Frederica, a woman with German ties,[7] who wondered whether "this is the way mister district attorney understands the development of German and Greek relations".[8]
In Germany, Merten was eventually acquitted from all charges due to "lack of evidence." On 28 September 1960 German newspapers
Karamanlis rejected the claims as unsubstantiated and absurd, and accused Merten of attempting to extort money from him prior to making the statements. The West German government (Third Adenauer cabinet) also decried the accusations as calumniatory and libelous. Karamanlis accused the opposition party of instigating a smear campaign against him. Although Karamanlis never pressed charges against Merten, charges were pressed in Greece against Der Spiegel by Takos and Doxoula Makris and Themelis, and the magazine was found guilty of slander in 1963. Merten did not appear to testify during the Greek court proceedings. The Merten Affair remained at the centre of political discussions until early 1961.
Merten's accusations against Karamanlis were never corroborated in a court of law. Historian Giannis Katris, an ardent critic of Karamanlis, argued in 1971 that Karamanlis should have resigned the premiership and pressed charges against Merten as a private individual in German courts, in order to fully clear his name. Nonetheless, Katris rejects the accusations as "unsubstantiated" and "obviously fallacious".[8]
European vision
Karamanlis as early as 1958 pursued an aggressive policy toward Greek membership in the EEC. He considered Greece's entry into the EEC a personal dream because he saw it as the fulfillment of what he called "Greece's European Destiny".
This had the profound effect of ending Greece's economic isolation and breaking its political and economic dependence on US economic and military aid, mainly through NATO.[10] Greece became the first European country to acquire the status of associate member of the EEC outside the six nation EEC group. In November 1962 the association treaty came into effect and envisaged the country's full membership at the EEC by 1984, after the gradual elimination of all Greek tariffs on EEC imports.[10] A financial protocol clause included in the treaty provided for loans to Greece subsidised by the community of about $300 million between 1962 and 1972 to help increase the competitiveness of the Greek economy in anticipation of Greece's full membership. The Community's financial aid package as well as the protocol of accession were suspended during the 1967–74 junta years and Greece was expelled from the EEC.[10][12] As well, during the dictatorship, Greece resigned its membership in the Council of Europe fearing embarrassing investigations by the Council, following torture allegations.[12]
Soon after returning to Greece during metapolitefsi Karamanlis reactivated his push for the country's full EEC membership in 1975 citing political and economic reasons.[9][10] Karamanlis was convinced that Greece's membership in the EEC would ensure political stability in a nation having just undergone a transition from dictatorship to Democracy.[9]
In May 1979 he signed the full treaty of accession. Greece became the tenth member of the EEC on 1 January 1981 three years earlier than the original protocol envisioned and despite the freezing of the treaty of accession during the junta (1967–1974).[10]
Crises and self-exile
In the
Lambrakis assassination
Karamanlis' position was further undermined, and Papandreou's claims of an independently acting "para-state" given more credence, following the assassination of Grigoris Lambrakis, a leftist member of Parliament, by right-wing extremists during a pro-peace demonstration in Thessaloniki in May 1963, who were later revealed to have close links to the local gendarmerie.[15] Karamanlis was shocked by the assassination, was heavily criticized by the opposition of Georgios Papandreou, and he stated:
Who governs this country?
The final straw for Karamanlis' government was his clash with the Palace in summer 1963, over the projected visit of the royal pair to Britain. Karamanlis opposed the trip, as he feared that it would provide the occasion for demonstrations against the political prisoners still held in Greece since the Civil War. Karamanlis' relations with the Palace had been declining for some time, particularly with Queen
In the 1963 election, the National Radical Union, under his leadership, was defeated by the Centre Union under George Papandreou. Disappointed with the result, Karamanlis fled Greece under the name Triantafyllides. He spent the next 11 years in self-imposed exile in Paris, France. Karamanlis was succeeded by Panagiotis Kanellopoulos as the ERE leader.
In 1966, Constantine II of Greece sent his envoy Demetrios Bitsios to Paris on a mission to convince Karamanlis to return to Greece and resume a role in Greek politics. According to uncorroborated claims that were made by the former monarch only after both men had died, in 2006, Karamanlis replied to Bitsios that he would return under the condition that the King were to impose martial law, as was his constitutional prerogative.[18]
U.S. journalist
Sulzberger's account, which unlike that of the former King was delivered during the lifetime of those implicated (Karamanlis and Norstad), rested solely on the authority of his and Norstad's word.
When in 1997, the former King reiterated Sulzberger's allegations, Karamanlis stated that he "will not deal with the former king's statements because both their content and attitude are unworthy of comment."[20] The deposed King's adoption of Sulzberger's claims against Karamanlis was castigated by left-leaning media, typically critical of Karamanlis, as "shameless" and "brazen".[21] It bears noting that, at the time, the former King referred exclusively to Sulzberger's account, to support the theory of a planned coup by Karamanlis, and made no mention of the alleged 1966 meeting with Bitsios, which he would refer to only after both participants had died and could not respond.
On 21 April 1967, constitutional order was usurped by a
Stasi smear campaign
In 2001, former agents of the Eastern German secret police, the Stasi, claimed to Greek investigative reporters that during the Cold War, they had orchestrated an operation of evidence falsification,[22][23] to present Karamanlis as having planned a coup and thus damage his reputation in an apparent disinformation propaganda campaign.[24] The operation allegedly centered on a falsified conversation between Karamanlis and Strauss, a Bavarian officer of the King.
Second premiership
Metapolitefsi
In 1974, the invasion of Cyprus by the Turks led to the collapse of the military junta. On 23 July 1974, President
Former prime minister Panagiotis Kanellopoulos was originally suggested as the head of the new interim government. He was the interim prime minister originally deposed by the dictatorship in 1967 and a distinguished politician who had repeatedly criticized Papadopoulos and his successor. Raging battles were still taking place in Cyprus' north when Greeks took to the streets in all the major cities, celebrating the junta's decision to relinquish power before the war in Cyprus could spill all over the Aegean.[25] But talks in Athens were going nowhere with Gizikis' offer to Panagiotis Kanellopoulos to form a government.[25]
Nonetheless, after all the other politicians departed without reaching a decision, Evangelos Averoff remained in the meeting room and further engaged Gizikis. He insisted that Karamanlis was the only political personality who could lead a successful transition government, taking into consideration the new circumstances and dangers both inside and outside the country. Gizikis and the heads of the armed forces initially expressed reservations, but they finally became convinced by Averoff's arguments.[25] Admiral Arapakis was the first, among the participating military leaders, to express his support for Karamanlis.
After Averoff's decisive intervention, Gizikis decided to invite Karamanlis to assume the premiership. Throughout his stay in France, Karamanlis was a vocal opponent of the
During the inherently unstable first weeks of the
The steadfast process of transition from military rule to a pluralist democracy proved successful. During this transition period of the
Greek republic referendum
Influenced by Gaullist principles, Karamanlis founded the conservative party of New Democracy and in the 1974 elections achieved a record 54.4% victory (the greatest electoral victory in modern Greek history), obtained a massive parliamentary majority and he was elected prime minister.
The elections were soon followed by the 1974
In 1977, New Democracy again won the elections, and Karamanlis continued to serve as prime minister until 1980. The external policy of his governments, for the first time since the war, favoured a multi-polar approach between US, Soviet Union and the Third World; a policy continued also by his successor Andreas Papandreou.
Under Karamanlis's premiership, his government also undertook numerous nationalizations in several sectors, including banking and transportation. Karamanlis's policies of economic statism, which fostered a large state-run sector, have been described by many as socialmania.[28]
First and second Presidency
Accession of Greece to the European Communities
Following his signing of the
In 1990 he was re-elected President by a conservative parliamentary majority (under the conservative government of then Prime Minister
Later life
Karamanlis retired in 1995, at the age of 88, having won 5 parliamentary elections, and having spent 14 years as prime minister, 10 years as President of the Republic, and a total of more than sixty years in active politics. For his long service to democracy and as a pioneer of European integration from the earliest stages of the European Union, Karamanlis was awarded one of the most prestigious European prizes, the
Karamanlis died after a short illness in 1998, at the age of 91.
Karamanlis married Amalia Megapanou Kanellopoulou (1929–2020) in 1951, the niece of Panagiotis Kanellopoulos, a prominent politician. They divorced in 1972 in Paris, without ever having children. Karamanlis remained childless all his life.
Legacy
Karamanlis has been praised for presiding over an early period of fast economic growth for Greece (1955–63) and for being the primary engineer of Greece's successful bid for membership in the European Union.
His supporters lauded him as the charismatic even though it is widely acknowledged that he skillfully avoided an all-out war with Turkey during that time.
Karamanlis is recognised for his successful restoration of Democracy during metapolitefsi and the repair of the two great national schisms by legalising the communist party and by establishing the system of parliamentary democracy in Greece.[33][34][35] His successful prosecution of the junta during the junta trials and the heavy sentences imposed on the junta principals also sent a message to the army that the era of immunity from constitutional transgressions by the military was over.[34] Karamanlis' policy of European integration is also acknowledged to have ended the paternalistic relation between Greece and the United States.[34][36]
His nephew Kostas Karamanlis later became the leader of the New Democracy party (Nea Demokratia) and Prime Minister of Greece from 2004 to 2009. Another nephew, also named Kostas Karamanlis, served as Minister of Infrastructure and Transport from 2019 to 2023.
Tributes
On 29 June 2005 an audio-visual tribute celebrating Konstantinos Karamanlis' contribution to
See also
- List of presidents of Greece
- Politics of Greece
- History of Modern Greece
References
- ^ "Karamanlis Foundation".
- ^ David Wilsford, ed. Political leaders of contemporary Western Europe: a biographical dictionary (Greenwood, 1995) pp 217–223
- ISBN 0-313-28623-X.
Karamanlis, the first of eight children, was born on 8 March 1907, in the Macedonian village of Proti, in the northern region of Greece
- ^ "Konstantinos Karamanlis". britannica.com. Retrieved 1 February 2010.
Konstantinos Karamanlis Greek statesman also spelled Constantine Caramanlis born 23 February [8 March, New Style], 1907, Próti, near Sérrai, Ottoman Empire [now in Greece] died 23 April 1998, Athens, Greece
- ^ a b Laurence Stern, The Wrong Horse, (1977) p. 17.
- ^ "Kathimerini on the Merten affair". Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 12 July 2006.
- ^ Anagnosis Books: Queen Frederika. An arrogant woman who was a grand-daughter of the Kaiser
- ^ a b Giannis Katris (1971), "The Birth of Neofascism in Greece", Papazisis Editions, pp 100–106
- ^ a b c time.com: Greece's Gain Time Magazine Archives Quote: "While it was Rallis who hailed the new membership and its promise, much of the credit belonged to former Prime Minister and now President Constantine Caramanlis. For him, entry into the Community was the fulfillment of a dream, a sealing of what he calls "Greece's European destiny." In his view, being part of the democratic Western European family of nations should help ensure political stability for a country crushed by military dictatorship from 1967 to 1974."
- ^ a b c d e f g h Athensnews.gr: "Destination Europe". Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 7 August 2006.
- ^ "Karamanlis' personal contacts with the German and French leaders (Konrad Adenauer and De Gaulle), to shift Greek foreign policy towards stronger ties with the nascent (EEC)". Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 8 August 2006.
- ^ a b Time magazine archives "I Am with You, Democracy Is with You" Quote: "Denied Benefits. When the Council of Europe tried to investigate charges that the regime was torturing prisoners, Athens quit the respected if powerless body rather than risk the inquiry. The Common Market was so repelled by the actions of the junta that it expelled Greece from associate membership in the EEC, thus denying the Greek economy some $300 million annually in agricultural benefits." Monday, 5 August 1974 Retrieved 6 July 2008
- ^ Clogg 1987, p. 40.
- ^ Clogg 1987, pp. 42–43.
- ^ Clogg 1987, p. 43.
- ^ Clogg 1987, pp. 43–44.
- ^ Clogg 1987, p. 44.
- ^ Alexis Papachelas, "Constantine Speaks", TO BHMA, 29 January 2006.
- ^ C.L. Sulzberger, Postscript with a Chinese Accent, Macmillan Publishing Co., 1974, p. 277. [ISBN missing]
- ^ Karamanlis reaction from Ta Nea[permanent dead link]
- ^ Reaction from the Left: Ta Nea[permanent dead link]
- ^ Mega channel television, Gkrizes Zones, 2001"
- ^ Greek press on Stasi falsifications
- ^ Greek press on Stasi campaign
- ^ a b c d e f Athens News on Metapolitefsi Archived 6 November 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Thousands went to the airport to greet him Archived 6 November 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Rise and decline of Democracy: online article Archived 8 September 2005 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Economy and Statism". Archived from the original on 9 October 2007. Retrieved 16 March 2007.
- ^ "Karamanlis was sworn in as the country's first elected president on 6 May". Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 8 August 2006.
- ^ Konstantinos G. Karamanlis Foundation website Archived 14 September 2005 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "charismatic patriarch at the helm". Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 8 August 2006.
- ^ Ange S. Vlachos, Graduation 1974, Oceanis 2001.
- ^ Ελληνοαμερικανικές σχέσεις 1974–1999 Archived 7 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine Tου Θεοδωρου Κουλουμπη Article by Theodoros Kouloumbis from ekathimerini
- ^ a b c Hellenic Foundation of European and Foreign Policy Quote: "Quote: "Ο Κωνσταντίνος Καραμανλής, παρά τους δισταγμούς του Χένρι Κίσινγκερ στην Ουάσιγκτον, επέστρεψε από το Παρίσι τα χαράματα της 24ης Ιουλίου του 1974 και ανέλαβε την τεράστια ευθύνη της αυθεντικής εδραίωσης των δημοκρατικών θεσμών στην τόσο ταλαιπωρημένη του χώρα. Η μετάβαση στη δημοκρατία έγινε με τρόπο υποδειγματικό από τον Ελληνα Μακεδόνα ηγέτη. Οι δύο μεγάλοι διχασμοί του 20ού αιώνα γεφυρώθηκαν με τη νομιμοποίηση των κομμουνιστικών κομμάτων και με το δημοψήφισμα για το πολιτειακό που καθιέρωσε το σύστημα της προεδρευόμενης δημοκρατίας. Οι δίκες των πρωταιτίων της χούντας με αυστηρότατες ποινές (ισόβια δεσμά) πέρασαν το μήνυμα στις ένοπλες δυνάμεις ότι η περίοδος της ατιμωρησίας των αντισυνταγματικών παρεμβάσεων του στρατού στην πολιτική είχε περάσει ανεπιστρεπτί. Και χωρίς αμφιβολία, το μεγαλύτερο επίτευγμα του Καραμανλή ήταν η ένταξη της Ελλάδας στην Ευρωπαϊκή Κοινότητα (σήμερα Ευρωπαϊκή Ενωση) την 1η Ιανουαρίου του 1981. Ισως περισσότερο από οποιαδήποτε άλλη εξέλιξη η ένταξη της Ελλάδας στην Ευρώπη άλλαξε τη μορφή και την ποιότητα της ελληνοαμερικανικής δυαδικής σχέσης. Η πατερναλιστική κατατομή προστάτη – προτατευόμενου θα περνούσε έκτοτε μέσα από ένα διαρθρωτικό φίλτρο με το όνομα «Βρυξέλλες».""
- ^ Britannica Konstantinos Karamanlis: Greek statesman who was prime minister from 1955 to 1963 and again from 1974 to 1980. He then served as president from 1980 to 1985 and from 1990 to 1995. Karamanlis gave Greece competent government and political stability while his conservative economic policies stimulated economic growth. In 1974–75 he successfully restored democracy and constitutional government in Greece after the rule of a military junta there had collapsed.
- ^ "Karamanlis' unflinching political orientation towards the unification of Europe". Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 8 August 2006.
- ^ "Tribute website". Archived from the original on 8 December 2005. Retrieved 24 March 2007.
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Further reading
- Clogg, Richard (1987). Parties and Elections in Greece: The Search for Legitimacy. Duke University Press. ISBN 978-0822307945.
- Diamandouros, P. Nikiforos. "Transition to, and consolidation of, democratic politics in Greece, 1974–1983: A tentative assessment." West European Politics 7#2 (1984): 50–71.
- Michalopoulos, Dimitri,"Konstantinos Karamanlis and the Cyprus Issue, 1955–1959", in Köse, Osman (ed.), Tarihte Kıbrıs, vol. II, pp. 1021–1028 (ISBN 978-605-67945-0-6).
- Μichalopoulos, Dimitri,Philia's Encomion. Greek–Turkish Relations in the 1950s, Istanbul: The Isis Press, 2018, ISBN 978-975-428-606-9
- Wilsford, David, ed. Political leaders of contemporary Western Europe: a biographical dictionary (Greenwood, 1995) pp. 217–223.
- Woodhouse, Christopher Montague. Karamanlis: the restorer of Greek democracy (Oxford University Press, 1982).
External links
- Karamanlis Institute Institute for the Advancement of Democracy