Greek riot police officers stand guard as demonstrators march during a protest marking the 51th anniversary for the 1973 Athens Polytechnic student uprising against the military junta, in Athens, Greece, on 17 November 2024. [Fotis Karambetsos/EPA]
Τhis year Greece celebrates half a century of a well-functioning democracy following the collapse of the junta in July 1974.
The invasion of Cyprus and the tragic division of the island were the last and most painful chapter of that dark period in the nation’s modern history.
It was preceded by the Athens Polytechnic uprising, a milestone of peaceful democratic resistance to the junta, that is celebrated every year on November 17, the date in 1973 when the military violently entered the university campus with tanks and brutally clashed with the students who were revolting against the authoritarian regime’s oppression, torture and the traumatic absence of civil liberties and neglect for human dignity.
A year later, in 1974, on the same date, Greece held its first national elections after the fall of the junta that had been in power since 1967.
As we honor – we did so once again last Sunday – the ones who paid a price for the restoration of democracy, while at the same time celebrating these last 50 years of political freedoms and economic growth, we should not let go of the sentiments and lessons of what the country went through during the seven-year dictatorship.
As Greece has steadily developed since then – politically, economically and socially – we need to cherish the accomplishments of the last half a century, despite the many shortcomings that led to last decade’s deep economic crisis.
Obviously, we should be critical of the numerous deficiencies – from clientelism to the widening inequalities, among others – but at the same time, we should not forget that not very long ago the liberties we enjoy and take for granted today were not self-evident.
Every year the 17th of November and the Athens Polytechnic uprising should not only be preserved as a day of symbolism, remembrance and appreciation, but also act as a critical lesson in a consistent and continuous effort to strengthen today’s modern Greek democracy.