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Country : Greece Official name: I Elliniki Dimokratia (The Hellenic Republic) |
Historical profile
Ancient Greece at one point ruled a substantial empire extending across the Middle East and Central Asia. The Greek monarchy later administered the eastern arm of the Roman empire. Following the fall of the Roman empire, Greece was initially ruled by the Byzantines from their capital in Constantinople (now Istanbul).
1454 After the fall of Constantinople to Suleiman the Magnificent, Greece and most of the eastern Mediterranean were occupied by the Ottoman empire.
1829 Following a war against the Ottomans lasting eight years, Greece declared independence as a monarchy.
1913 The London Conference reduced the amount of ethnic Albanian-dominated territory of the former Ottoman Empire claimed by Albania after recognising its independence. Of the territory, Kosovo was granted to Serbia and Cameria (Chamouria) to Greece.
1917 Greece entered the First World War on the side of the Allies and made territorial gains.
1923 Greece signed the Lausanne Peace Treaty with Turkey. The Treaty outlined the territory of each country and provided Greece with a number of islands in the Aegean Sea.
1939 Greece rejected Italy's ultimatum seeking free passage for its troops in the Second World War and repelled its attack, but was occupied by Germany. The government and the King went into exile. Mass armed resistance grew out of various political groupings.
1944 Liberation from the Nazis. The returned National Unity government under George Papandreou fought a civil war against the Communists.
1949 Constitutional monarchy was re-established. There were territorial gains from the war, the last of which was the Dodecanese islands in the south-eastern Aegean Sea.
1967--72 Conflicts between the young King Konstantinos II and his ministers resulted in a coup led by right-wing army officers. An attempted counter-coup by the King failed, and he went into exile. Colonel Georgios Papadopoulos appointed himself prime minister and then Regent. All political activity was banned and opponents of the regime were expelled from all positions of power or influence.
1973 Following an abortive naval mutiny, Greece was declared a republic and Papadopoulos appointed himself president. Martial law was ended. A civilian cabinet was installed in preparation for elections to be held at the end of the year. A military coup led by General Demetrios Ioannides overthrew President Papadopoulos. General Phaidon Gizikis was appointed president.
1974 Civil war in Cyprus and the Turkish invasion of the island brought Greece close to war with Turkey and caused the downfall of the military junta. Elections resulted in a decisive victory for Nea Dimokratia (ND) (New Democracy). A referendum rejected proposals for a return to constitutional monarchy.
1975 A republican constitution providing for a parliamentary democracy was promulgated and Konstantinos Tsatsos was elected president.
1977 The ND was re-elected with a reduced majority.
1980 In May, Constantine Karamanlis was elected president,.
1981 The Panellino Socialistiko Kinima (Pasok) (Pan-Hellenic Socialist Movement) gained an absolute majority in parliament in the elections. The Pasok government, led by Andreas Papandreou, was the first socialist government in Greek history. Greece joined the EU.
1984 Pasok slightly increased its proportion of votes in the elections.
1985 President Karamanlis resigned and parliament elected Christos Sartzetakis as president. Election were held to enable the government to secure support for proposed constitutional changes. Pasok was returned to power. The government's programme of economic austerity became very unpopular and resulted in widespread industrial unrest.
1986 Constitutional amendments limited the powers of the president.
1989 ND won the largest proportion of votes in the elections.
1993 Prime Minister Constantine Mitsotakis' ND government was forced to resign after losing its one seat parliamentary majority. Pasok regained power.
1994 Greece held the EU presidency for the first half of the year.
1995 Costis Stephanopoulos was elected president.
1996 Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou resigned due to ill health and Costas Simitis became prime minister. Andreas Papandreou died, ending an era of authoritarian control over Pasok and opening the way for government by consensus. Pasok won the elections.
2000 President Stephanopoulos was re-elected with the support of both the main parties. Pasok was re-elected, becoming the first party to win three successive elections. The EU accepted Greece's application to join the Economic and Monetary Union (Emu).
2001 Greece officially joined the Emu.
2002 The euro replaced the drachma as the national currency of Greece.
2003 Greece held the EU presidency for the first six months.
2004 The former opposition party, Nea Dimokratia (ND) (New Democracy) (conservatives) won the 7 March parliamentary elections. On 22 March, parliament passed a confidence vote in the ND government of Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis.
2005 On 8 February, Karolos Papoulias was elected president, to take over the post on 12 March, when President Stephanopoulos' second five-year term expires.
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