Instruct: Given a question, retrieve relevant documents that can help answer the question.
Query: How long did Georgios Papadopoulos lead Greece?
Georgios Papadopoulos (/ˌpæpəˈdɒpəlɒs/; Greek: Γεώργιος Παπαδόπουλος [ʝeˈorʝios papaˈðopulos]; 5 May 1919 – 27 June 1999) was the head of the military coup d'état that took place in Greece on 21 April 1967, and leader of the junta that ruled the country from 1967 to 1974. He held his dictatorial power until 1973, when he was himself overthrown by his co-conspirator Dimitrios Ioannidis.
Schlitter was still in office as ambassador on 21 April 1967 when democracy in Greece formally ended, supplanted by dictatorship. The development did nothing to diminish the diplomatic sensitivity of the posting. On 27 June 1969 Schlitter found himself in negotiation with Georgios Papadopoulos and other members of Greece's ruling junta over a possible friendship agreement between their two countries. He tried to persuade the junta to loosen certain repressive measured on the home front in order that Bonn might persuade the Council of Europe against expelling Greece. As matters turned out, the junta were not prepared to compromise, however, and the Greek government anticipated expulsion by withdrawing from the Council of Europe in December 1969.
Papadopoulos married his first wife, Niki Vasileiadi, in 1941. They had two children, a son and a daughter.[9] The marriage, however, ran into difficulty later and they eventually separated. The separation, however lengthy, could not lead to divorce at first because, under Greece's restrictive divorce laws of that era, spousal consent was required. To remedy this, in 1970, as Prime Minister of the dictatorship he decreed a custom-made divorce law with a strict time limit (and a built-in sunset clause) that enabled him to get the divorce.[10] After having served its purpose, the law eventually expired automatically. After the divorce, Papadopoulos married his long-time paramour Despina Gaspari in 1970, with whom he had a daughter.[9]
The flight of Constantine and Kollias left Greece with no legal government or head of state. This did not concern the military junta. Instead the Revolutionary Council, composed of Pattakos, Papadopoulos, and Makarezos, appointed another member to the military administration, Major General Georgios Zoitakis, as Regent. Zoitakis then appointed Papadopoulos as prime minister. This became the only government of Greece following the failure of the King's attempted counter-coup, as Constantine was unwilling to set up an alternative administration in exile. 
In January 1975 the junta members were arrested and in early August of the same year the government of Konstantinos Karamanlis brought charges of high treason and insurrection against Georgios Papadopoulos and nineteen other co-conspirators of the military junta. The mass trial was staged at the Korydallos Prison. The trial was described as "Greece's Nuremberg". One thousand soldiers armed with submachine guns provided security. The roads leading to the jail were patrolled by tanks.
Greek Civil War Greek military junta of 1967–1974 History of Modern Greece Military history of Greece during World War II
After the events of the student uprising of 17 November at the National Technical University of Athens (see Athens Polytechnic uprising), the dictatorship was overthrown on 25 November 1973 by hardline elements in the Army. The outcry over Papadopoulos's extensive reliance on the army to quell the student uprising gave Brigadier Dimitrios Ioannidis a pretext to oust him and replace him as the new strongman of the regime. Papadopoulos was put under house arrest at his villa, while Greece returned to an "orthodox" military dictatorship.
At the beginning of 1944, Papadopoulos left Greece with the help of British intelligence agents and went to Egypt, where the Greek government-in-exile was based, and was promoted to lieutenant. Along with other right-wing military officers, he participated in the creation of the nationalist right-wing secret IDEA organization in the fall of 1944, shortly after the country's liberation. Those 1940B officers who took refuge in Egypt with the king immediately after the German invasion had become generals when their still-colonel classmates undertook the coup of 1967.
Throughout his tenure as the junta strongman, Papadopoulos often employed what have been described by the BBC as gory surgical metaphors,[21] where he or the junta assumed the role of the "medical doctor".[22][23][24][25][26][27] The "patient" was Greece. Typically Papadopoulos or the junta portrayed themselves as the "doctor" who operated on the "patient" by putting the patient's "foot" in an orthopedic cast and applying restraints on the "patient", tying him on a surgical bed and putting him under anesthesia to perform the "operation" so that the life of the "patient" would not be "endangered" during the operation. In one of his famous speeches Papadopoulos mentioned:[26][28][29]
In face of growing difficulties with the economy, popular dissent and increasing diplomatic isolation, the Greek junta was seeking ways for a transition to some form of parliamentary rule. Papadopoulos sought support from the old political establishment, and Markezinis accepted to undertake the mission to help lead the country back to parliamentary rule in a process that was called metapolitefsi. In September, 1973, he was appointed by Papadopoulos Prime Minister of Greece, with the task to lead Greece to parliamentary rule. He accepted the task, subject to a commitment by Papadopoulos to curtail any military interference. Papadopoulos proceeded to abolish martial law, and eased censorship of the press. Free elections were promised, in which political formations including part of the traditional left-of-center were expected to participate. However, the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), banned since the civil war, and United Democratic Left (EDA), the party which mostly fronted for KKE during the years of democratic rule, were not expected to be re-legitimized nor allowed to participate. In any case, most leading politicians of the old guard, including Karamanlis, Andreas Papandreou, Panagiotis Kanellopoulos and Georgios Mavros, with the exception of former MP and exile Pavlos Vardinogiannis, condemned the attempt at Metapolitefsi by Papadopoulos and Markezinis, and refused to participate in any contacts with the ruling junta, insisting on an unconditional and immediate reinstatement of democratic rule.
The long course towards the metapolitefsi began with the disputed liberalisation plan of Georgios Papadopoulos, the head of the military dictatorship. This process was opposed by prominent politicians, such as Panagiotis Kanellopoulos and Stephanos Stephanopoulos. Papadopoulos's plan was halted with the Athens Polytechnic uprising, a massive demonstration of popular rejection of the military junta, and the counter coup staged by Dimitrios Ioannides.
In September 1973, Georgios Papadopoulos, the head of the military junta that took power in 1967, initiated an attempt at "metapolitefsi" or process of liberalisation, aiming to legitimize his government and rehabilitate its image as an international, and especially European, pariah after six years of dictatorship during which he appointed himself to a multitude of high-echelon government positions including Regent, Prime Minister, Minister for Defence, and Minister for the Interior. These excesses had the effect of further undermining his credibility and the seriousness of his regime both at home and abroad. Feeling confident of his grasp on power he requested the resignation of the 13 military men in his cabinet and appointed Spyros Markezinis as Prime Minister of Greece, entrusting him with the task of leading Greece to parliamentary rule. Papadopoulos however proposed a constitution that accorded far greater powers to the President of Greece (a position Papadopoulos also held) than those of the Parliament.
Our obligations are described by both out history and our religion. Christ teaches Harmony and Love. Our history demands faith in our country. [...] Greece is being reborn, Greece will accomplish great things, Greece will live forever.
The military junta had ruled Greece since a group of middle-ranking officers, under the leadership of Colonel Georgios Papadopoulos, staged a coup on 21 April 1967. King Constantine II reluctantly endorsed the coup, but started preparing for a counter-coup by elements of the armed forces loyal to him. This counter-coup was launched on 13 December 1967 and failed, forcing the King and most of the Royal Family to flee to Italy. Greece remained a Kingdom, and the King's functions were exercised by a Regent, a post held until 1972 by General Georgios Zoitakis, and then assumed by an increasingly dominant Papadopoulos, who also held the position of Prime Minister and several ministerial posts.
Following the failure of King Konstantínos II's counter-coup on 13 December 1967 and the subsequent flight of the Royal Family to Italy, Zoitakis was sworn in as Regent for the absent King. He held this post until 21 March 1972, when he was replaced by the junta's principal leader, Prime Minister Georgios Papadopoulos. At the same time, he was retired from the Army with the rank of full general. On 1 June 1973, Papadopoulos would abolish the monarchy and declare himself President of a new republic.
After Greece's return to democracy, in 1975 Zoitakis, along with the other junta leaders, was tried and convicted to life imprisonment for high treason. He remained in prison for 13 years until 1988, when he was released, due to deteriorating health. A pardon plea was rejected in 1991, and he remained confined to his residence in Athens until his death in 1996.
Other metaphors contained religious imagery related to the resurrection of Christ at Easter: “Χριστός Ανέστη – Ελλάς Ανέστη” translating as "Christ has risen – Greece has risen", alluding that the junta would "save" Greece and resurrect her into a greater, new Land.[28] The theme of rebirth was used many times as a standard reply to avoid answering any questions as to how long the dictatorship would last:[28]
A military junta, presided over by Colonel Georgios Papadopoulos, had ruled Greece since a group of middle-ranking officers staged a coup on 21 April 1967. King Constantine II reluctantly endorsed the coup, but started preparing for a counter-coup by elements of the armed forces loyal to him. The counter-coup, launched on 13 December 1967, failed, and the King and the royal family fled to Italy. In the aftermath of the royal coup attempt, the King was replaced by a regent, General Georgios Zoitakis, and Papadopoulos assumed the post of Prime Minister.
Personally loyal to junta principal Georgios Papadopoulos, Angelis was chosen by the latter as his Vice President when he abolished the monarchy and declared Greece a Presidential Republic on 1 June 1973. Angelis served in this post until 25 November 1973, when Papadopoulos lost power to a hardliner coup.
Constantine appointed a new government nominally headed by Konstantinos Kollias. However, from the early stages, Papadopoulos was the strongman of the new regime. He was appointed Minister of National Defense and Minister of the Presidency in the Kollias government, and his position was further enhanced after the king's abortive counter-coup on 13 December, when he replaced Kollias as Prime Minister. Not content with that, on 21 March 1972, he nominated himself Regent of Greece, succeeding Georgios Zoitakis.
In 1956, Papadopoulos took part in a failed coup attempt against King Paul of Greece. In 1958, he helped create the Office of Military Studies, a surveillance authority, under General Gogousis. It was from this same office that the subsequently successful coup of 21 April 1967 emanated.
During the years 1967–1973, Greece remained officially a monarchy, with a regency appointed while the King lived in exile. On 1 June 1973, Constantine II was declared deposed and Georgios Papadopoulos became the self-appointed President of Greece.
Papadopoulos was also a member of the court-martial in the first trial of the well-known Greek communist leader Nikos Beloyannis, in 1951. At that trial, Beloyannis was sentenced to death for the crime of being a member of the Communist Party, which was banned at that time in Greece following the Greek Civil War. The death sentence pronounced after this trial (Papadopoulos had voted against it) was not carried out, but Beloyannis was put on trial again in early 1952, this time for alleged espionage, following the discovery of radio transmitters used by undercover Greek communists to communicate with the exiled leadership of the Party in the Soviet Union. At the end of this trial, he was sentenced to death and immediately taken out and shot. Papadopoulos was not involved in this second trial. The Beloyannis trials were highly controversial in Greece, and many Greeks consider that, like many Greek communists at the time, Beloyannis was shot for his political beliefs, rather than any real crimes. The trial was by court-martial under Greek anti-insurgency legislation enacted at the time of the Greek Civil War which remained in force even though the war had ended.
In 1964, Papadopoulos was transferred to an artillery division in Thrace by decree of Center Union Defense Minister Garoufalias.[12] In June 1965, days before the onset of the major political turmoil known as Apostasia, he made national headlines after arresting two soldiers under his command and eight leftist civilians from settlements near his military camp, on charges that they had conspired to sabotage army vehicles by pouring sugar into the vehicles' gas tanks. The ten were imprisoned and tortured, but it was eventually proven that Papadopoulos himself had sabotaged the vehicles.[11] Andreas Papandreou wrote in his memoirs that Papadopoulos wanted to prove that under the Center Union government, the communists had been left free to undermine national security.[13] Even after this scandal, Papadopoulos was not discharged from the army since prime minister Georgios Papandreou forgave him as a compatriot of his father.[11] In 1967, Papadopoulos was promoted to colonel.
Among its most widely known members were film director Jules Dassin, Costas Simitis, subsequently Prime Minister of Greece, Nikos Konstantopoulos, subsequently president of the Synaspismos party,professor of economics in Panteion University , , professor of criminal law in the University of Athens,Pavlos Zannas,a writer and film critic, general Georgios Iordanides, a well known military analyst and a national security advisor of Georgios Papandreou during , Vasilis Filias, professor of sociology in Panteion University, lawyer Dimosthenis Konaris, John Starakis, a journalist, Christos Rokofyllos, subsequently minister of Foreign Affairs, , a trade union member, Athanasios Filias, a mechanical engineer, Georgios Kouvelakis, subsequent minister of Justice, brothers Antonios Michalakeas (later on a judge of the Supreme Court of Greece) and Athanassios Michalakeas (later on a president of the court of Appeal), Georgios Kosmas (later on also a member of the supreme court of Greece), (later on also a judge of the Supreme Court of Greece and a member of the European Parliament elected with PASOK), Ioannis Papadopoulos, a well known plastic surgeon (later on a minister of Health during the formed by PASOK in 1981) etc.
Following the German attack, the capitulation of the Greek army and the Axis occupation of Greece in April, on 20 May 1941 Papadopoulos was reinstated in the army by the new collaborationist government's Minister of Defence, Major General Georgios Bakos, and led the Supreme Military Council that reviewed the war records of the officer corps in respect to awards, promotions etc. On 20 May 1943, he became a founding member of the "Military Hierarchy" (Στρατιωτική Ιεραρχία), a group of generals led by Alexander Papagos that tried to organize the officer corps into the Greek Resistance. The group's activities quickly became known to the Germans, however, and on 20 July the leadership of the organization was arrested and deported to Germany. Of the leading Lieutenant Generals, only Papadopoulos remained at large, although the Germans were aware of his role; as the leader of what was left of the organization, he was placed under constant watch, and possibly served as a bait for other officers who might wish to contact the group. The group survived through the occupation and many of its members came forth to man the Attica Military Command which took over control of Athens and its environs upon the retreat of the German troops in October 1944.