Introduction

The transformation of the Greek political system from a qualified liberal democracy (marked by the anti-Communist legacies of the 1946–49 Civil War) to a repressive military dictatorship, and finally, to a more modernised democratic regime, offers a case study of wider relevance. The Greek experience prompts the interest of students of comparative politics towards several dimensions of its character. It has a lower level of economic development than that of the centres of the industrialised world, yet it is clearly distinct from the Third World; it shares common traits of political culture with other northern Mediterranean countries. The ‘exclusivist-political system’ was to be reinforced by the experience of occupation under Italian and German forces, and by the ensuing Civil War. The occupation saw King George II and a government in exile under British protection, and two competing guerilla forces operating within Greece itself.