Athens Polytechnic uprising

{{Short description|1973 student uprising against the Greek junta}}

{{Infobox civil conflict

| title = Athens Polytechnic uprising

| subtitle = Εξέγερση του Πολυτεχνείου

| partof = the Greek junta and the Cold War

| image = Athens Polytechnic 1973.png

| caption = Protesters outside the Athens Polytechnic on Patission Street

| date = 14–17 November 1973

| place = National Technical University of Athens

| coordinates = {{coord|37|59|16|N|23|43|54|E|display=inline,title}}

| causes = Junta's authoritarianism

| goals = Fall of the Junta

| methods = Student protest

| status =

| result = Uprising suppressed:

Junta is preserved
Many students murdered
Attempts at liberalization by Georgios Papadopoulos, which results in another coup launched by hardliner Dimitrios Ioannidis

| side1 = Greek students
Support:
Greek anarchists
ΕΚΟΝ Rigas Feraios
PAK
Communist Youth of Greece (disputed)
Progressive All-Student Unionist Camp
AASPE

| side2 = {{flagicon|Greece|1970}} Greek junta

| side3 =

| leadfigures1 = Non-centralized leadership

| leadfigures2 = {{flagicon|Greece|1970}} Georgios Papadopoulos
{{flagicon|Greece|1970}} Spyros Markezinis
{{flagicon|Greece|1970}} Panagiotis Sifnaios
{{flagicon|Greece|1970}} Panagiotis Therapos
{{flagicon|Greece|1970}} Nikolaos Dertilis

| leadfigures3 =

| howmany1 =

| howmany2 =

| howmany3 =

| casualties1 =

| casualties2 =

| casualties3 =

| fatalities = 40 (24 identified, 16 unidentified){{sfn|Καλλιβρετάκης|2004|pp=44–45}}

| injuries = 2,000+ (1,103 verified){{sfn|Καλλιβρετάκης|2004|pp=44–45}}

| arrests =

| detentions =

| casualties_label =

| notes =

}}

File:Athens Polytechnic Uprising Monument (20-03-2013) (01).jpg

The Athens Polytechnic uprising occurred in November 1973 as a massive student demonstration of popular rejection of the Greek military junta of 1967–1974. It began on 14 November 1973, escalated to an open anti-junta revolt, and ended in bloodshed in the early morning of 17 November after a series of events starting with a tank crashing through the gates of the Athens Polytechnic. It is believed that approximately 40 people were killed by the Greek army on that day, and more than 2,000 were injured. This was the first event in a series of political crises that ultimately led to the fall of the junta in the summer of 1974, just a few months later.

The uprising had a lasting impact on Greek politics; it marked a break between the Greek youth and traditional leftist parties (KKE), and it also saw the beginning of the revival of Greek anarchism. The repression faced by students gave rise to the terrorist organization 17N.

Background

The first massive public action against the Greek junta came from students on 21 February 1973, when law students and anarchists went on strike and barricaded themselves inside the buildings of the Law School of the University of Athens in the centre of Athens, demanding repeal of the law that imposed forcible conscription.{{cite encyclopedia |encyclopedia=The World Book Year Book 1974 |title=Greece |last=Brown |first=Kenneth |year=1974 |publisher=Field Enterprises Educational Corporation |location=Chicago |isbn=0-7166-0474-4 |lccn=62-4818 |page=[https://archive.org/details/1974worldbookyea00fiel/page/340 340] |url=https://archive.org/details/1974worldbookyea00fiel/page/340 }}

An anti-dictatorial student movement was growing among the youth, and the police utilised brutal methods and torture towards them, in order to confront the threat.{{sfn|Kornetis|2013|pp=225-226}}

November events

File:Μετσόβιο Πολυτεχνείο 7936.JPG]]

On 14 November 1973, students at the Athens Polytechnic (Polytechneion), radicalized by the nascent Greek anarchist circles{{Cite web |date=2019-11-16 |title=Μιχάλης Πρωτοψάλτης (συνέντευξη 2002): το Πολυτεχνείο & οι αναρχικοί του ’70 - Aυτολεξεί |url=https://www.aftoleksi.gr/2019/11/16/synenteyxi-michalis-protopsaltis-2002-to-polytechneio-amp-oi-anarchikoi-70/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200930055758/https://www.aftoleksi.gr/2019/11/16/synenteyxi-michalis-protopsaltis-2002-to-polytechneio-amp-oi-anarchikoi-70/ |archive-date=2020-09-30 |access-date=2024-12-26 |website=www.aftoleksi.gr |language=el}} went on strike and started protesting against the military junta (Regime of the Colonels). As the authorities stood by, the students were calling themselves the "Free Besieged" (Greek: Ελεύθεροι Πολιορκημένοι, a reference to the poem by Greek poet Dionysios Solomos inspired by the Ottoman siege of Mesolonghi).{{cite news |author1=ΑΡΗΣ ΔΗΜΟΚΙΔΗΣ |title=11 ενδιαφέροντα πράγματα για την εξέγερση του Πολυτεχνείου |url=https://www.lifo.gr/team/bitsandpieces/53097 |publisher=Lifo Magazine |date=16 November 2014 |access-date=15 April 2019 |archive-date=15 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190415065847/https://www.lifo.gr/team/bitsandpieces/53097 |url-status=live }}{{cite news |title=Πολυτεχνείο – 45 χρόνια μετά: Πολύτιμη πηγή γνώσης, έμπνευσης και παραδειγματισμού |url=https://neaselida.gr/ellada/polytechneio-45-chronia-meta-polytimi-pigi-gnosis-empneysis-kai-paradeigmatismoy/ |publisher=Nea Selida |date=17 November 2018 |access-date=15 April 2019 |archive-date=15 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190415065852/https://neaselida.gr/ellada/polytechneio-45-chronia-meta-polytimi-pigi-gnosis-empneysis-kai-paradeigmatismoy/ |url-status=live }}{{cite news |title=Πολυτεχνείο: 40 χρόνια μετά |url=https://gr.greekreporter.gr/2013/11/16/%CF%80%CE%BF%CE%BB%CF%85%CF%84%CE%B5%CF%87%CE%BD%CE%B5%CE%AF%CE%BF-40-%CF%87%CF%81%CF%8C%CE%BD%CE%B9%CE%B1-%CE%BC%CE%B5%CF%84%CE%AC/ |agency=Greek Reporter |date=16 November 2013 |access-date=15 April 2019 |archive-date=12 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200112033159/https://gr.greekreporter.gr/2013/11/16/%CF%80%CE%BF%CE%BB%CF%85%CF%84%CE%B5%CF%87%CE%BD%CE%B5%CE%AF%CE%BF-40-%CF%87%CF%81%CF%8C%CE%BD%CE%B9%CE%B1-%CE%BC%CE%B5%CF%84%CE%AC/ |url-status=live }} Their main rallying cry was:

An assembly formed spontaneously and decided to occupy the Polytechnic. The anarchist group that had just formed at the university, notably thanks to the actions of Christos Konstantinidis{{Cite journal |title=Δυο τρομερές μαρτυρίες συντρόφων για το Πολυτεχνείο (Γιάννης Φελέκης - Αρετή Πότσιου) |url=https://diktio.org/node/1401 |journal=Δίκτυο για τα Πολιτικά και Κοινωνικά Δικαιώματα}} and Nikos Balis, occupied a central place in this movement,{{sfn|Kornetis|2013|p=233}}{{Cite book |title=We are an image from the future: the Greek revolt of December 2008 |date=2010 |publisher=AK Press |isbn=978-1-84935-019-8 |location=Edinburgh |pages=6}} Konstantinidis, in particular, succeeded in having the occupation extended into the night of the first day, which set the movement in motion for the long term.{{Cite web |date=2019-11-16 |title=Μιχάλης Πρωτοψάλτης (συνέντευξη 2002): το Πολυτεχνείο & οι αναρχικοί του ’70 - Aυτολεξεί |url=https://www.aftoleksi.gr/2019/11/16/synenteyxi-michalis-protopsaltis-2002-to-polytechneio-amp-oi-anarchikoi-70/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200930055758/https://www.aftoleksi.gr/2019/11/16/synenteyxi-michalis-protopsaltis-2002-to-polytechneio-amp-oi-anarchikoi-70/ |archive-date=2020-09-30 |access-date=2024-12-26 |website=www.aftoleksi.gr |language=el}} They adopted the following motion in the 14 November General Assembly:{{Cite web |last=ΜΠΡΑΤΣΙΑΚΟΥ |first=ΙΩΑΝΝΑ |date=2016-11-17 |title=Το Πολυτεχνείο στο Αναρχικό Λεξικό |url=https://www.news247.gr/afieromata/to-politexneio-sto-anarxiko-lexiko/ |access-date=2024-12-26 |website=News 24/7 |language=el}}

{{Blockquote|text=The autonomous assembly of workers located in the premises of the Polytechnic School calls on workers to occupy places of production and to create factory and strike committees with the ultimate goal of establishing workers' councils. The minimum program of the workers' councils is the destruction of wage labor, the state, capitalism, and politics.}}

The anarchist group leading the uprising quickly tagged the university and placed their banner at the entrance, until it was removed by communist militants who did not support the movement.{{Cite book |last=Apoifis |first=Nicholas |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/950450490 |title=Anarchy in Athens: an ethnography of militancy, emotions and violence |date=2017 |publisher=Manchester University Press |isbn=978-1-5261-0059-7 |series=Contemporary anarchist studies |location=Manchester |pages=87 |oclc=950450490}}

In contrast, two main student parties, the Marxist pro-Soviet A-AFEE and Rigas, did not endorse the movement.{{sfn|Kornetis|2013|p=255}} A Coordination Commission of the Occupation (CCO) was formed but had loose control over the uprising.{{sfn|Kornetis|2013|p=256}} Anarchists were labeled as provocateurs by the Communist Youth of Greece because they voiced slogans that were not directly tied to the students' demands (such as advocating for sexual freedom, social revolution, and the dismantling of the State).{{sfn|Kornetis|2013|p=260}} The connection to the French 1968 movement was evident.{{sfn|Kornetis|2013|p=260}}

Police had gathered outside but did not manage to break into the premises.{{sfn|Kornetis|2013|p=257}}

During the second day of the occupation (often called "celebration day"), thousands of people from Athens poured in to support the students.{{sfn|Kornetis|2013|p=257}} A radio transmitter was set up using laboratory equipment, enabling the occupations to run a pirate radio station, over which they ran broadcasts with requests for solidarity and aid. Maria Damanaki, then a student and member of A-EFEE, popularized the slogan "Bread-Education-Freedom." The demands of the occupation were anti-imperialistic and anti-NATO.{{sfn|Kornetis|2013|pp=257-59}} Third parties that allied themselves with the student protests were the construction workers (who set up a parallel committee next to CCO) and some farmers from Megara, who coincidentally protested on the same days in Athens.{{sfn|Kornetis|2013|pp=263}}

On Friday, 16 November, the CCO proclaimed that the students were aiming to bring down the junta. During the afternoon, demonstrations and attacks against neighbouring ministries took place. Central roads were closed, fires erupted and Molotov cocktails were thrown for the first time in Athens.{{sfn|Kornetis|2013|pp=270-272}} Students barricaded themselves in and that repeatedly broadcast across Athens: {{blockquote|Polytechneion here! Polytechneion here! People of Greece, the Polytechneion is the flag bearer of our struggle and your struggle, our common struggle against the dictatorship and for democracy![https://web.archive.org/web/20080617131656/http://www.athensnews.gr/athweb/nathens.print_unique?e=C&f=12502&m=A01&aa=3&eidos=A Etho Polytechneio through Internet archive] Text in Greek: Εδώ Πολυτεχνείο! Λαέ της Ελλάδας το Πολυτεχνείο είναι σημαιοφόρος του αγώνα μας, του αγώνα σας, του κοινού αγώνα μας ενάντια στη δικτατορία και για την Δημοκρατία, transliterated as: Etho Polytechneio! Lae tis Elladas to Polytechneio einai simaioforos tou agona mas, tou agona sas, tou koinou agona mas enantia sti diktatoria kai gia tin Dimokratia){{cite news |author1=Παύλος Μεθενίτης |title=17 Νοέμβρη 1973: Πολυτεχνείο |url=https://www.news247.gr/sthles/skoufakia/17-noemvri-1973-polytechneio.6668179.html |publisher=News247 |date=17 November 2018 |access-date=15 April 2019 |archive-date=15 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190415070023/https://www.news247.gr/sthles/skoufakia/17-noemvri-1973-polytechneio.6668179.html |url-status=live }}"}}

In the early hours of November 17, 1973, the transitional government sent an AMX-30 tank crashing through the gates of the Athens Polytechnic.[https://web.archive.org/web/20080118223013/http://www.athensnews.gr/athweb/nathens.print_unique?e=C&f=12982&m=A11&aa=2&eidos=A "Past present" and quote:Markezinis had humiliated himself by 'requesting' Papadopoulos to reimpose martial law in the wake of the November 17 uprising at the Athens Polytechnic ], Athens News, 4 October 2002 through Internet Archive{{Cite web |date=2023-11-17 |title=17 Νοέμβρη 1973: Πού βρίσκεται το τανκ που έριξε την πόρτα του πολυτεχνείου |url=https://www.iellada.gr/istoria/17-noemvri-1973-poy-vrisketai-tank-poy-erixe-tin-porta-toy-polytehneioy |access-date=2024-11-15 |website=iEllada.gr |language=el}} Soon after that, Spyros Markezinis had the task of requesting Georgios Papadopoulos to reimpose martial law.

An official investigation undertaken after the fall of the junta declared that no students of the Athens Polytechnic were killed during the incident. However, 24 civilians were killed outside the campus. These included 19-year-old Michael Mirogiannis, reportedly shot to death by officer Nikolaos Dertilis, high-school students Diomedes Komnenos and Alexandros Spartidis of Lycée Léonin, and a five-year-old boy caught in the crossfire in the suburb of Zografou. The records of the trials held following the collapse of the junta document the deaths of many civilians during the uprising, and although the number of dead has not been contested by historical research, it remains a subject of political controversy. In addition, hundreds of civilians were injured during the events.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/25/newsid_2546000/2546297.stm BBC: On this day] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170427081612/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/25/newsid_2546000/2546297.stm |date=2017-04-27 }} quote: It follows growing unrest in Greece, and comes eight days after student uprisings in which 13 people died and hundreds were injured..

Legacy

File:Polytexneio.jpg

File:Gate of the National Technical University of Athens.JPG

An annual march commemorates the uprising, starting near the grounds of the Polytechnic.{{Cite news |title=Greece marks '73 student uprising |work=Athens News |page=A01 |date=1999-11-17 |url=http://www.athensnews.gr/athweb/nathens.print_unique?e=C&f=12502&m=A01&aa=3&eidos=A |df=mdy-all |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080617131656/http://www.athensnews.gr/athweb/nathens.print_unique?e=C&f=12502&m=A01&aa=3&eidos=A |archive-date=17 June 2008 |url-status=dead}} In 1980, the police killed two people in an attempt to prevent marchers from passing by the American embassy in Athens, the traditional end point of the march in protest to the CIA's role in supporting the coup.{{cite book|last=Papadogiannis|first=Nikolaos|title=Militant Around the Clock?: Left-Wing Youth Politics, Leisure, and Sexuality in Post-Dictatorship Greece, 1974-1981|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=htCdBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA210|year=2015|publisher=Berghahn Books|isbn=978-1-78238-645-2|page=210|access-date=2019-08-24|archive-date=2020-01-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200107164602/https://books.google.com/books?id=htCdBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA210|url-status=live}}{{Citation |last=Miller |first=James Edward |title=9. Uncle Sam Regrets: The United States and the Greek Coup of April 1967 |date=2021-09-17 |work=The Greek Military Dictatorship |pages=240–265 |url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9781800731752-012/html?lang=en&srsltid=AfmBOoqqSbJ17MPXaZakF4Ho1KtO_AHaCHAwFeSmqUzCMR41M5G-XUYg |access-date=2024-11-19 |publisher=Berghahn Books |language=en |doi=10.1515/9781800731752-012/html?lang=en&srsltid=afmbooqqsbj17mpxazakf4ho1kto_ahachawfesmquzcmr41m5g-xuyg |isbn=978-1-80073-175-2 |archive-date=2024-11-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241130133932/https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9781800731752-012/html?lang=en&srsltid=AfmBOoqqSbJ17MPXaZakF4Ho1KtO_AHaCHAwFeSmqUzCMR41M5G-XUYg |url-status=live }} The now-defunct far-left organization Revolutionary Organization 17 November, named after the last day of the Polytechnic uprising. After the transition to democracy, the group's chief hitman, Dimitris Koufontinas, attempted to assassinate figures associated with the junta, also titling his memoir-manifesto "I Was Born November 17th" (Γεννήθηκα 17 Νοέμβρη).{{sfn|Lekea|2014|p=10}}{{Cite web |last=Rovics |first=David |date=2021-02-02 |title=November 17th, 1973 and the Legacy of State Terror |url=https://www.counterpunch.org/2021/02/02/november-17th-1973-and-the-legacy-of-state-terror/ |access-date=2024-11-19 |website=CounterPunch.org |language=en-US |archive-date=2024-04-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240425095305/https://www.counterpunch.org/2021/02/02/november-17th-1973-and-the-legacy-of-state-terror/ |url-status=live }}

The students' struggle also had a lasting effect on Greek anarchism.{{Cite book |last=Dimitri Kitis |first=E |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/308025083_The_anti-authoritarian_choros_A_space_for_youth_socialization_and_radicalization_in_Greece_1974-2010 |title=The anti-authoritarian chóros: A space for youth socialization and radicalization in Greece (1974-2010) |date=2015 |pages=10/33}} This event marked the revival of anarchism in Greece and democratized anarchist positions within the country. It also marked a break between the Greek youth and the traditional leftist parties of the time, such as the Communist Party of Greece (KKE).

Citations

Sources

{{cite book|last= Lekea|first=Ioanne K. |title=17N's Philosophy of Terror: An Analysis of the 17 November Revolutionary Organization|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pMiUAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA202|year=2014|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-0-313-38141-6}}
{{Cite book |last1=Καλλιβρετάκης |first1=Λεωνίδας |chapter=Πολυτεχνείο '73: Το ζήτημα των θυμάτων: Νεκροί και τραυματίες |trans-chapter=Polytechnic School '73: The question of the victims: dead and injured |title=Πολυτεχνείο '73: ρεπορτάζ με την Ιστορία |volume=2 |pages=38–55 |date=2004 |hdl=10442/8782 |language=Greek }}
{{cite book|last=Kornetis|first=Kostis |title=Children of the Dictatorship: Student Resistance, Cultural Politics and the 'Long 1960s' in Greece|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g_UcAgAAQBAJ|year=2013|publisher=Berghahn Books|isbn=978-1-78238-001-6}}

External links

[https://web.archive.org/web/20130125045602/http://www.athensnews.gr/old_issue/12936/7176 The boy who braved the tanks]
[http://www.helleniccomserve.com/thecoupat40part3.html Athens by Night]
[http://www.aylonfilmarchives.com/aylon/dl/en/item.html?id=1277 The Athens Polytechnic Uprising: 16-17 November], dir. Nicholas A. Vernicos, 13:21min. Documentary footage of a super 8mm recording of the 17 November events by journalists from a nearby hotel window.

Category:1973 protests

Category:1973 in Greece

Category:1973 labor disputes and strikes

Category:November 1973 in Europe

Category:1970s in Athens

Category:1970s in Greek politics

Category:20th-century rebellions

Category:Resistance to the Greek junta

Category:Protests in Greece

Category:Riots and civil disorder in Greece

Category:Student strikes

Category:Student protests in Greece