ABSTRACT
The Centre coalition government under General Nicolaos Plastiras and Sophocles Venizelos remained in power until the autumn of 1952, but the aged Plastiras had suffered a stroke in March 1952 and Venizelos’ political masterpiece, NATO accession, had already been completed. Other people now came to the forefront. In the November 1952 general election, the Greek Rally secured 49 per cent of the vote and won 240 out of 300 seats in Parliament; it then formed the first single-party government of post-civil war Greece. This signalled an important change in comparison to previous years: governmental stability, a huge parliamentary majority, the strong personality of the Prime Minister, Alexandros Papagos, and the achievement of high development rates as early as 1953 were the catalysts for the emergence of a new foreign policy that was much less sensitive to foreign influence or pressure. The 1952 election was the start of a period during which powerful personalities emerged in Greek politics (Papagos, Constantinos Karamanlis and George Papandreou). This significantly contributed to a lessening of the country’s dependence on the US. At the same time, the decrease of US economic aid after the end of the European Recovery Programme pointed in the same direction. Washington itself, under President Dwight D. Eisenhower, sought to reduce its economic obligations abroad. Thus, the gradual assertion of relative Greek self-confidence and independence was also welcomed by the Americans, as it was in line with the decrease in US aid.1
