ABSTRACT
Chapter 1, ‘Introduction’, presents the subject, the conceptual framework and the main aims of the book. It briefly discusses the evolution of historiography on the Greek junta and the major changes that have been effected during the past 15 years, when a large volume of archival sources from various countries became available. It points to the huge changes that were being made in the structure of the international system during the late 1960s and early 1970s – Cold War détente, the rise of the global South, technological developments, and economic and monetary issues, as well as changes at the level of value systems. It is in this challenging ‘grey area’ of profound, pivotal transitions that this book aims to contribute, connecting the debate on the Greek junta with these crucial international developments. Moreover, the study of Southern European transitions to democracy also reveals interesting threads uniting these processes with the rise of the new agendas of the international system, especially the European. Last but not least, the Introduction sketches the structure of the book, briefly presenting the theme and subject of each chapter.
