HISTORY
THE MODERN GREEK NATION
1981
Greece joins the EU,
eff ectively removing
protective trade
barriers and opening
up the Greek economy
to the wider world
for the fi rst time.
The economy grows
smartly.1981–90
Greece acquires its
fi rst elected socialist
government ( PASOK)
under the leadership of
Andreas Papandreou.
The honeymoon
lasts nine years.
The conservatives
ultimately reassume
power.1999
Turkey and Greece
experience powerful
earthquakes within
weeks of each other
that result in hundreds
of deaths. By pledging
mutual aid and support,
the two nations
initiate a warming of
diplomatic relations.2004
Greece successfully
hosts the 28th
Summer Olympic
Games amid much
muffl ed rumour that
infrastructure would
not be complete in
time. Greece also wins
the European football
championship.A dispute between the former king, Constantine, and the government
over the family’s assets was settled in 2002 and the royal family members
now often return to Greece as private citizens.)The 1 9 80s & 1 990 s
When Greece became the 10th member of the EU in 1981, it was the
smallest and poorest member. In October 1981,Andreas Papandreou’s
PASOK party was elected as Greece’s fi rst socialist government. PASOK
ruled for almost two decades (except for 1990–93). PASOK promised am-
bitious social reform, to close the US air bases and to withdraw from
NATO. US military presence was reduced, but unemployment was high
and reforms in education and welfare were limited. Women’s issues fared
better: the dowry system was abolished, abortion legalised, and civil
marriage and divorce were implemented.
Economic scandal, a series of general strikes and fundamental policy
wrangling over the country’s education system damaged PASOK, and
in 1 99 0Konstandinos Mitsotakis led theND back to offi ce. Intent on
redressing the country’s economic problems – high infl ation and high
government spending – the government imposed austerity measures,
including a wage freeze for civil servants and steep increases in public-
utility costs and basic services.
By late 1992 corruption allegations were being levelled against the gov-
ernment. By mid-1993 Mitsotakis supporters had abandoned the ND for
the new Political Spring party; the ND lost its parliamentary majority and
an early election in October returned Andreas Papandreou’s PASOK party.
Papandreou stepped down in early 1996 due to ill health and he died
on 26 June. His departure produced a dramatic change of direction for
PASOK, with the party abandoning Papandreou’s left-leaning politics and
electing experienced economist and lawyer Costas Simitis as the new prime
minister (who won a comfortable majority at the October 1996 polls).The 21st Century
The new millenium saw Greece join the eurozone in 2001, amid rumblings
from existing members that Greece was not ready economically to join –
its public borrowing was too high, as was its infl ation level. Membership
had already been denied them in 1999, and many Greeks were keen to
ditch the drachma and nestle under the stable umbrella of the euro. In
hindsight, many look back on that year and bemoan the mis-calibration
of the drachma against the euro, claiming Greece’s currency was underval-
ued, and that, overnight, living became disproportionately more expensive.
That said, billions of euros poured into large-scale infrastructure projects
across Greece, including the redevelopment of Athens – spurred on largely
by its hosting of the 2004 Olympic Games, which was a tremendous boostThe Green Line
separating Greece
and Turkey in
modern-day
Cyprus is a ghost
town, a desert
of silence where
the clock stopped
in 1974. Greeks
still peer through
the barb-wire
partition to
the place they
were born and
banished from,
but are unlikely to
return to.