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AndrewH's Test Thread
- Thread starter AndrewH
- Start date
I’m sorry Ava,I just wanted to give you a challenge
If it helps,I had a plan to explain most of what happened
it’s nothing personal, but it gives me more room to work with
While the military dictatorship that had ruled Greece for seven years officially ended on October 11th, 1975, the Junta had been doomed ever since Georgios Papadopoulos had committed to his policy of reforma — a program of liberalization that divided his government and inadvertently caused his own downfall. The Junta, headed by Papadopoulos and various mid-ranking officers and colonels, had been defined by its isolation from the military (the coup that began the Junta was enacted without the knowledge of the highest-ranking officers and the rank-and-file) and the bureaucratic and political classes, and by the intense fragmentation within the regime. Papadopoulos, looking to legitimize the Junta and maintain his control over Greece well into the future, had made overtures towards democratic and constitutional reform since 1968 and created his own sham parliament (officially known as the "Advisory Council") in 1970, but the Junta made sure that power in the country resided with them. While Papadopoulos could hardly be described as a skilled politician, he was arguably the only member of the Junta who could be described as having a political mind — the rest were uninterested in running the country and were instead focused on undermining each other in vain attempts to gain more power for themselves. Numerous attempts to remove Papadopoulos from power weakened the integrity of the Junta, and forced Papadopoulos to rely more and more on Dimitrios Ioannidis, the secretive colonel who wielded total control over the nations armed forces. Ioannidis strongly disapproved of Papadopoulos' proposed liberalization, but Papadopoulos pressed on. Attempts to bridge the gap between the political class and the Junta were repeatedly stymied by hardliners like Ioannidis, with only Evangelos Averoff (who would go on to rebel against the regime during the Velos mutiny) trying to reach some sort of compromise between the two camps. After being rebuffed and refused at every turn, Papadopoulos attempted to resign his post entirely, but only stayed on after the Colonels reaffirmed their support for him (not that they didn't want him gone, mind you, but it was simply better to stick with the status quo than turn the regime over to a group of infighting officers).
Because of its dictatorial nature, the lack of any links with civil society and the obsolete ideology of its elites, the Junta was everything but welcomed by the people. Resistance to the regime had been growing ever since the once-growing economy slowed dramatically in 1970, culminating in the rebellion of the Athens Polytechnic, led by students demanding an end to the Junta. The harsh crackdown on the Polytechnic shocked the nation, and turned an already angry public apopalectic. Thoroughly alarmed, Papadopoulos told the Junta that a return to civilian government must be reached as soon as possible. Ioannidis, now the power behind Papadopoulos, was unsupportive of his plans to say the least. Within weeks, Papadopoulos had been removed from power before his reforms could be enacted, and had been replaced by Ioannidis. Having been secretly communicating with President Reagan for months, Ioannidis stoked fears of a breakdown of Greek society if Papadopoulos remained in power, which would of course mean the loss of a vital ally in the Mediterranean. While the White House was receptive to Ioannidis, they were hesitant to back the uncompromising colonel — that is, until the breakout of the Yom Kippur War. The U.S. needed to use Greek airfields and naval bases to supply Israeli troops in Sinai and the Golan, and Papadopoulos, who desired close relationships with the Arab world, seemed all but certain to refuse. Ioannidis, conveniently, let the White House know that Greek bases would be free for American use if he was in control. Under the pretext of removing the cruel dictator who had used tanks to put down the Polytechnic rebellion, Ioannidis bloodlessly removed Papadopoulos and his small core of supporters from power, tried them on charges of torture, and had them promptly executed.
Papadopoulos had let conspiracies and resistance against him within the Junta grow for fear of violent and reprisal, and Ioannidis fully capitalized on this, using concerns with corruption among low-ranking officers and opposition to reform among the hardliners to form his base of support in the aftermath of the coup. While openly condemned by most of the international community, the tacit support of the United States meant that Ioannidis rule without foreign reprisals. Further restrictions of the freedom of press and the freedom of movement were enacted by the Ioannidis regime, suppressing films that could be seen as "subversive" and banning public gatherings that did not have the approval of the government. Bureaucrats and officials who had risen as a result of the nepotism of the Papadopoulos regime were purged along with opponents to Ioannidis inside the Junta, causing a spike in politically-motivated imprisonments. These decisions were made in direct reaction to the Carnation Revolution in Portugal — the downfall of the Estado Novo to a left-wing rebellion deeply troubled Ioannidis, who in turn sought to suppress any opposition to the Junta in both public and private life. The EAT, the Greek military police, operated without oversight, "disappearing" artists and intellectuals who were seen as critical of Ioannidis' government. The EAT headquarters bore the motto "He who enters here leaves as friend or cripple" on the front of the building, a fitting description of what went on inside its doors. The Reagan Administration, while embattled by Democratic opposition within Congress, kept up its support of Ioannidis until July 1st, 1974, when Andreas Papandreou, a leader of exiled Greek opposition (and a vocal critic of the Reagan Administration's foreign policy), was assassinated in Swedish territory. While no culprit was ever found, it was widely accepted to be the handiwork of the Junta. The White House, looking to avoid international scandal, vociferously condemned the Ioannidis regime. Sweden began aggressively pushing for international sanctions against Greece, and soon enough the Junta found itself diplomatically and economically isolated.
Dissent among Ioannidis' supporters began spreading rapidly (as envoys to politicians in-exile proposing a government of National Unity went ignored), and rioting and looting in Athens was met by heavy-handed reprisals from the military, further inflaming resistance to the regime. While the violence was contained in the short term, the failed coup of Makarios III in Cyprus was the final nail in the coffin. Makarios, the Archbishop and President of Cyprus, had been privately informed by a turncoat within the Cypriot National Guard that Ioannidis and members of the far-right EOKA-B paramilitary front were planning to kill him and replace him with Nikos Sampson, a minor politician who wished to unite Cyprus and Greece into one nation. Makarios quickly moved against the plotters and had them arrested before the coup could take place, and made the plan and Ioannidis' complicity public in a speech before the U.N., which meant a new round of sanctions and condemnations were on the way.
The Junta recognized that this could go on no longer — the economy was in free-fall, they were despised internationally and their rule looked more and more precarious as the days went on. Ioannidis was removed and arrested by the EAT in a particularly cruel bit of irony, and a transitional government headed by Panagiotis Kanellopoulos (the Prime Minister deposed by the Junta eight years prior) was appointed. Old parties and new were formed in the return to a democratic government, the Monarchy was officially abolished, and Kanellopoulos was replaced by Constantine Karamanlis in the 1976 Greek Legislative Elections, the first in over twelve years.
The return to normalcy was harsh, and the nation's economic woes continued despite Karamanlis' harsh free-market reforms. The 1979 Elections saw Karamanlis lose his majority, with Karolos Papoulias and PASOK enter a coalition agreement with the Left Alliance, to form the first left-of-center government of post-Junta Greece. However, their government is precarious, and another round of elections in 1980 seems likely. Who knows whether Papoulias will replicate his success, or whether Karamanlis can use his personal popularity to return to power...
~-~
1967 - 1973: Georgios Papadopoulos (Military Government)
1973 - 1975: Dimitrios Ioannidis (Military Government)
1975 - 1976: Panagiotis Kanellopoulos (New Democracy leading 'National Unity' government)
1976 - 1979: Constantine Karamanlis (New Democracy)
defeated, 1976: Karolos Papoulias (PASOK), Charilaos Florakis (KKE), Georgios Mavros (EDIK)
1979 - present: Karolos Papoulias (PASOK)
defeated, 1979: Constantine Karamanlis (New Democracy), Charilaos Florakis (KKE), Ilias Iliou (Left Alliance), Spyros Markezinis (Greek Rally)
Because of its dictatorial nature, the lack of any links with civil society and the obsolete ideology of its elites, the Junta was everything but welcomed by the people. Resistance to the regime had been growing ever since the once-growing economy slowed dramatically in 1970, culminating in the rebellion of the Athens Polytechnic, led by students demanding an end to the Junta. The harsh crackdown on the Polytechnic shocked the nation, and turned an already angry public apopalectic. Thoroughly alarmed, Papadopoulos told the Junta that a return to civilian government must be reached as soon as possible. Ioannidis, now the power behind Papadopoulos, was unsupportive of his plans to say the least. Within weeks, Papadopoulos had been removed from power before his reforms could be enacted, and had been replaced by Ioannidis. Having been secretly communicating with President Reagan for months, Ioannidis stoked fears of a breakdown of Greek society if Papadopoulos remained in power, which would of course mean the loss of a vital ally in the Mediterranean. While the White House was receptive to Ioannidis, they were hesitant to back the uncompromising colonel — that is, until the breakout of the Yom Kippur War. The U.S. needed to use Greek airfields and naval bases to supply Israeli troops in Sinai and the Golan, and Papadopoulos, who desired close relationships with the Arab world, seemed all but certain to refuse. Ioannidis, conveniently, let the White House know that Greek bases would be free for American use if he was in control. Under the pretext of removing the cruel dictator who had used tanks to put down the Polytechnic rebellion, Ioannidis bloodlessly removed Papadopoulos and his small core of supporters from power, tried them on charges of torture, and had them promptly executed.
Papadopoulos had let conspiracies and resistance against him within the Junta grow for fear of violent and reprisal, and Ioannidis fully capitalized on this, using concerns with corruption among low-ranking officers and opposition to reform among the hardliners to form his base of support in the aftermath of the coup. While openly condemned by most of the international community, the tacit support of the United States meant that Ioannidis rule without foreign reprisals. Further restrictions of the freedom of press and the freedom of movement were enacted by the Ioannidis regime, suppressing films that could be seen as "subversive" and banning public gatherings that did not have the approval of the government. Bureaucrats and officials who had risen as a result of the nepotism of the Papadopoulos regime were purged along with opponents to Ioannidis inside the Junta, causing a spike in politically-motivated imprisonments. These decisions were made in direct reaction to the Carnation Revolution in Portugal — the downfall of the Estado Novo to a left-wing rebellion deeply troubled Ioannidis, who in turn sought to suppress any opposition to the Junta in both public and private life. The EAT, the Greek military police, operated without oversight, "disappearing" artists and intellectuals who were seen as critical of Ioannidis' government. The EAT headquarters bore the motto "He who enters here leaves as friend or cripple" on the front of the building, a fitting description of what went on inside its doors. The Reagan Administration, while embattled by Democratic opposition within Congress, kept up its support of Ioannidis until July 1st, 1974, when Andreas Papandreou, a leader of exiled Greek opposition (and a vocal critic of the Reagan Administration's foreign policy), was assassinated in Swedish territory. While no culprit was ever found, it was widely accepted to be the handiwork of the Junta. The White House, looking to avoid international scandal, vociferously condemned the Ioannidis regime. Sweden began aggressively pushing for international sanctions against Greece, and soon enough the Junta found itself diplomatically and economically isolated.
Dissent among Ioannidis' supporters began spreading rapidly (as envoys to politicians in-exile proposing a government of National Unity went ignored), and rioting and looting in Athens was met by heavy-handed reprisals from the military, further inflaming resistance to the regime. While the violence was contained in the short term, the failed coup of Makarios III in Cyprus was the final nail in the coffin. Makarios, the Archbishop and President of Cyprus, had been privately informed by a turncoat within the Cypriot National Guard that Ioannidis and members of the far-right EOKA-B paramilitary front were planning to kill him and replace him with Nikos Sampson, a minor politician who wished to unite Cyprus and Greece into one nation. Makarios quickly moved against the plotters and had them arrested before the coup could take place, and made the plan and Ioannidis' complicity public in a speech before the U.N., which meant a new round of sanctions and condemnations were on the way.
The Junta recognized that this could go on no longer — the economy was in free-fall, they were despised internationally and their rule looked more and more precarious as the days went on. Ioannidis was removed and arrested by the EAT in a particularly cruel bit of irony, and a transitional government headed by Panagiotis Kanellopoulos (the Prime Minister deposed by the Junta eight years prior) was appointed. Old parties and new were formed in the return to a democratic government, the Monarchy was officially abolished, and Kanellopoulos was replaced by Constantine Karamanlis in the 1976 Greek Legislative Elections, the first in over twelve years.
The return to normalcy was harsh, and the nation's economic woes continued despite Karamanlis' harsh free-market reforms. The 1979 Elections saw Karamanlis lose his majority, with Karolos Papoulias and PASOK enter a coalition agreement with the Left Alliance, to form the first left-of-center government of post-Junta Greece. However, their government is precarious, and another round of elections in 1980 seems likely. Who knows whether Papoulias will replicate his success, or whether Karamanlis can use his personal popularity to return to power...
~-~
1967 - 1973: Georgios Papadopoulos (Military Government)
1973 - 1975: Dimitrios Ioannidis (Military Government)
1975 - 1976: Panagiotis Kanellopoulos (New Democracy leading 'National Unity' government)
1976 - 1979: Constantine Karamanlis (New Democracy)
defeated, 1976: Karolos Papoulias (PASOK), Charilaos Florakis (KKE), Georgios Mavros (EDIK)
1979 - present: Karolos Papoulias (PASOK)
defeated, 1979: Constantine Karamanlis (New Democracy), Charilaos Florakis (KKE), Ilias Iliou (Left Alliance), Spyros Markezinis (Greek Rally)
Siena College Research Institute, Expert Poll — Post-War Presidents, 2020
1. Bob Casey (Democratic)
2. Dwight Eisenhower (Republican)
3. John Kasich (Republican)
4. John F. Kennedy (Democratic)
5. Ralph Nader (Peoples')
6. Bob Casey, Jr. (Democratic)
7. Harry Truman (Democratic)
8. Lyndon B. Johnson (Democratic)
9. Hilda Solis (Democratic)
10. David Koch (Republican)
11. Martha Layne Collins (Democratic)
12. Nelson Rockefeller (Republican)
13. William Westmoreland (Republican)
14. Shelley Silver (Democratic)
1. Bob Casey (Democratic)
2. Dwight Eisenhower (Republican)
3. John Kasich (Republican)
4. John F. Kennedy (Democratic)
5. Ralph Nader (Peoples')
6. Bob Casey, Jr. (Democratic)
7. Harry Truman (Democratic)
8. Lyndon B. Johnson (Democratic)
9. Hilda Solis (Democratic)
10. David Koch (Republican)
11. Martha Layne Collins (Democratic)
12. Nelson Rockefeller (Republican)
13. William Westmoreland (Republican)
14. Shelley Silver (Democratic)
Oh dear.Part of the Rockefeller verse you’re making ,I suppose?
The Aleppo one, yeah.
Steve Brinson
The possum is not OK. Neither are we.
- Location
- Brooklyn (originally Houston)
- Pronouns
- he/him
Ranking of American Presidents since 1961, Gallup polling (2019)
1.
2.
3.
4. Richard Riley
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12. Hillary Clinton
1.
2.
3.
4. Richard Riley
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12. Hillary Clinton
I Saw A Red Sky
He killed my ma, he killed my pa, but 🤓
Ranking of American Presidents since 1961, Gallup polling (2019)
1.
2.
3.
4. Richard Riley
5.
6.
7.
8. Nelson Rockefeller
9.
10.
11.
12. Hillary Clinton
1.
2.
3.
4. Richard Riley
5.
6.
7.
8. Nelson Rockefeller
9.
10.
11.
12. Hillary Clinton
I Saw A Red Sky
He killed my ma, he killed my pa, but 🤓
Ranking of American Presidents since 1961, Gallup polling (2019)
1.
2.
3. Bill Browder
4. Richard Riley
5. Judd Gregg
6.
7.
8. Nelson Rockefeller
9.
10.
11.
12. Hillary Clinton
1.
2.
3. Bill Browder
4. Richard Riley
5. Judd Gregg
6.
7.
8. Nelson Rockefeller
9.
10.
11.
12. Hillary Clinton
napoleon IV
Sheer Animal Cunning of the Groundhog
- Location
- Washington, Douglass Commonwealth
- Pronouns
- he/him
Ranking of American Presidents since 1961, Gallup polling (2019)
1.
2.
3. Bill Browder
4. Richard Riley
5. Judd Gregg
6.
7. George Romney
8. Nelson Rockefeller
9.
10.
11.
12. Hillary Clinton
1.
2.
3. Bill Browder
4. Richard Riley
5. Judd Gregg
6.
7. George Romney
8. Nelson Rockefeller
9.
10.
11.
12. Hillary Clinton
- Location
- Toronto, ON, CA
Ranking of American Presidents since 1961, Gallup polling (2019)
1.
2. Molly Ivins
3. Bill Browder
4. Richard Riley
5. Judd Gregg
6.
7. George Romney
8. Nelson Rockefeller
9.
10.
11. Alexander Haig
12. Hillary Clinton
1.
2. Molly Ivins
3. Bill Browder
4. Richard Riley
5. Judd Gregg
6.
7. George Romney
8. Nelson Rockefeller
9.
10.
11. Alexander Haig
12. Hillary Clinton
napoleon IV
Sheer Animal Cunning of the Groundhog
- Location
- Washington, Douglass Commonwealth
- Pronouns
- he/him