Britain and the Greek Colonels

Accommodating the Junta in the Cold War

Britain and the Greek Colonels cover

Britain and the Greek Colonels

Accommodating the Junta in the Cold War

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Description

At the apex of international Cold War tension, an alliance of Greek military leaders seized power in Athens. Seven years of violent political repression followed in Greece, yet as Cold War allies, the Greek colonels had continued international support- especially from Britain. Why did successive governments, those of Harold Wilson and Edward Heath, choose to pursue an alliance with these military dictators? Alexandros Nafpliotis' book examines British foreign policy towards Greece, exposing a guiding principle of pragmatism above all else. This is the first systematic study of Britain and the Greek military Junta of the early 1970s to be based on newly released National Archive documents, US and Greek sources and personal interviews with leading actors. Comparing and contrasting the attitudes of both Labour and Conservative governments towards the Junta in Greece, Nafpliotis outlines a great degree of continuity, as well as showing where and how moral and public relations issues were overcome in order to facilitate a close relationship with the colonels.
'Britain and the Greek Colonels' is a comprehensive history of international diplomacy and realpolitik in the Cold War period and will be essential reading for students and scholars of Cold War history, the history of modern Greece and International Relations.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1: The Labour government's policy towards
the Colonels, 1967–68: Setting the tone
The first traces
1967: A coup, a war and a conference
Trouble in Cyprus
Royal blues
1968: 'Business as usual'
International dimension

Chapter 2: The Labour government's policy towards the Colonels,
1969–70: a 'new era of relations'
1969: Council of Europe vs. NATO
The Kotronis case
1970: 'The pendulum is swinging too
wide for comfort'
A note on Cyprus

Chapter 3: The Conservative government's policy towards the
Colonels, 1970: continuity vs. change
'Painful dilemmas'
A Mediterranean 'powder keg'
Troubled waters
'As much business as possible'

Chapter 4: The Conservative government's policy towards the
Colonels, 1971: messages, meetings and visits
Extremists and 'policy of scold'
The bridge
Papadopoulos' doubts reappear
The quest for a new spirit in relations

Chapter 5: The Conservative government's policy towards the
Colonels, 1972: towards a new direction?
An inconclusive year
Beware of Greeks bearing gifts
Pragmatism prevails

Chapter 6: The Conservative government's policy towards the
Colonels, 1973: overtaken by events
'Europeanisation' of Anglo-Greek relations
The three epochs of relations
Recognition unbound
The 'referendum'

Chapter 7: The Conservatives, the experiment that failed, and the
hardliners coup, September–December 1973
To encourage or not to encourage
The 'invisible dictator' and the 'Greek Calends'
The effects of anti-Americanism

Chapter 8: Conservatives, Labour and the junta, 1974:
the endgame
Taking the heat
The US card
'A proper working relationship'
Diplomacy over the Aegean
Cyprus
Endgame

Conclusion

Appendix
Notes
Bibliography
Index

Product details

Published 30 Apr 2020
Format Paperback
Edition 1st
Extent 320
ISBN 9781350161047
Imprint I.B. Tauris
Dimensions 216 x 135 mm
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

About the contributors

Author

Alexandros Nafpliotis

Alexandros Nafpliotis holds a PhD in International…

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