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The Polytechnic uprising and the subcultural movement
'''The new phase of the Greek anarchist movement started during the Greek military junta of 1967–1974. In this period, Greek anarchism broke away from its anarcho-syndicalist origins, and it was organized around small direct action groups. Students played a significant role in this new phase. Students returning from Paris, where they had taken part in the events of May 1968 and got in touch with leftist and anarchist ideas, started spreading these ideas among the radical youth. In 1972, Guy Debord's The Society of the Spectacle was published in Athens, along with other Situationist texts. Mikhail Bakunin's God and the State and Peter Kropotkin's Law and Authority followed. In 1971, "Diethnis Vivliothiki" ("International Library”), a publishing and political team was founded. Christos Konstantinides was one of the founding figures and translators such as Agis Stinas contributed. The "Black Rose" bookshop carried the publications of "Diethnis Vivliothiki".'''

'''Interest in anarchism swelled with the anti-junta movement, and the 1973 Athens Polytechnic uprising was a flashpoint for the junta's opposition. The group that initiated the Polytechnic uprising included a minority of anarchists and leftists.''' The moderator of the anarchist group was Christos Konstantinides. '''Anarchists were branded as provocateurs by the Communist Youth of Greece as they were expressing slogans not directly related to the student's demands (i.e. they were calling for sexual freedom, social revolution and the abolition of the State). The resonance with the French 1968 movement was clear. Some demonstrators also used slogans with anarchist overtones, such as "Down with Authority" and "People Revolt". The uprising is commemorated annually with a multi-day march. Anarchists use the occasion to denounce the political regime. The annual protests promote a subculture that sees resistance of authority as one's duty.'''

[ On May 4th 1976, the first autonomous anarchist rally took place at Propylaea. The aim was to express political and pacifist messages, while the country was facing severe issues with its neighbour country, Turkey. Some major slogans of the demonstration were «Turkish workers are our brothers» and «The Aegean sea belongs to its fish». ]

Greek anarchism remained a small subculture after the fall of the junta, but grew into a movement following riots in 1981.In December 1979, protests took place as the Karamanlis Government voted the statutory act no. 815, which aimed to reduce the university exam periods and set a time limit to the study period. '''The university occupation movement of 1979–1981 was largely instigated by Anarchist and leftist groups. Near the Polytechnic, the student neighbourhood of Exarcheia became a "free zone", where leftists, Anarchists, hippies, and others were in charge. During this decade, and the next one, various terms relating to anarchism were used (such as autonomous or anti-authoritarian) to describe far left wing groups, police branded them rather vaguely as anarchist.'''

On the 17th of November 1980, a large student demonstration took place in order to commemorate the abolishment of Greek junta. Severe street fights occurred and two protesters were killed. In 1981, when PASOK (The PanHellenic Socialist Movement) came to power, there was a decline of the extra parliamentary left. A big moment for the anarchist movement, which helped attest self-confidence, was the 1984 anarchist demonstration on the hotel "Caravel”, where a far-right conference was taking place (among the participants was Jean-Marie Le Pen of Action Française). The meeting was disrupted and it was then obvious to the intellectuals of the Greek left that confrontational tactics and street fighting had become a trademark of a new major social movement.

'''Demonstrations and clashes between anarchists and police took place almost daily in Athens between 1985 and 1986. The confrontation between the police and anarchists escalated during the 1985 Polytechnic uprising anniversary demonstration when a group of anarchists set a riot police car on fire. One of the riot policemen, Athanassios Melistas, shot a 15-year-old anarchist, Michalis Kaltezas, in the back of the head, killing him instantly and sparking large riots in Athens and Thessaloniki and the occupation of the University of Athens's Chemistry Department.''' Police forces entered the university the next morning after receiving permission from the Commission of University Asylum, whose president was dean Michalis Stathopoulos. There was a heavy use of tear gas sprays and a brutal arrest of 37 people. '''The anarchist movement staged demonstrations with thousands of participants in Athens. In retaliation against Melistas, the 17 November Group killed Nikolaos Georgakopoulos and injured fourteen other MAT officers in a 1985 bus bombing. '''

Contemporary
'''The self-collapse of the USSR had a profound impact not only on anarchism but on Greece as well. Greek anarchism reached a peak of activity between 1989 and 1995, reinforced by a disappointment with Greek mainstream politics. The 1990-93 Mitsotakis government agenda included an attempt to enforce neoliberal policies. The 1990s was the era that the anti-authoritarian movement became more prominent and had active participation among student riots against government plans for the privatization of the education sector. The most circulated publications were The Void Network and The Children of the Gallery. '''In the new century, with capital and neoliberalism advancing victoriously through the world, Greek anarchist participated in the anti-globalization movement. New collectives, such as the Antieksousiastiki kinisi in Exarcheia and its associated newspaper, Babylonia, became popular among rebellious youth. Athens Indymedia and Antieksousiastiki kinisi were formed in 2001 and 2003 respectively.

On the 6th of December 2008, the lethal shooting of 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos by a policeman in Exarcheia District in Athens, generated an immediate social unrest. The significant repercussions that followed were the most intense to occur in Greece since 1974, when the military dictatorship ended. Within a short period of time, anarchists, leftists, and sympathizers started rioting and attacking banks, police vehicles and government offices in the area. It was the first time that these groups displayed such meticulous discipline, hierarchy and coordination. The fact that the tragic event occurred in the Exarcheia District was of major symbolic significance, as even police presence was and still is considered to be an intrusion to a "ground occupied by the antagonistic movement". The murder of Grigoropoulos, which did not even take place during a clash, felt like an attack against the anarchist movement.

The Greek Government of the time (Prime Minister; Konstantinos A. Karamanlis) chose to have a ‘defensive’ approach on the events that were taking place. The aim was to avoid further civil disorder and instances of potential violence. Other political parties tried to take advantage of the situation and organised nine demonstrations in three days.

The parliament building was besieged for weeks by angry crowds. For a month, large protests were taking place in many major Greek cities, with a lot of them resulting in conflict with the police and arson attacks on government buildings, shops and banks. On multiple occasions during the attacks, the violence against the police resulted in officers getting shot and/or severally wounded.

An anarchist form of illegalism re-emerged during the insurrection when anarchist expropriated food from stores to distribute to people in need.

The rebellion that took place in 2008 was fuelled by the prevailing economic insecurity. '''Anarchist groups organized and participated in protests against the measures implemented by the government to resolve 2010 Greek economic crisis that was precipitated by the 2010 Greek sovereign debt crisis. Certain anarchist groups and networks, in conjunction with activists affiliated to anarchist and libertarian ideas, during the beginning of the crisis, differentiated themselves from violence, becoming engaged in self-organization activities. '''Spontaneous networks of students and other radicals were formed that followed an anarchistic approach on how they function. The influence of traditional Marxism was minimal. What also was illustrated by the December 2008 riots is the inability of insurgency tactics to gain popular support.''' '''

Athens Indymedia, an open publishing, anti-authoritarian site which attracted significant audience during the 2008 revolt, paralleled the expansion of the anarchist choros within the Greek society.

On May 2010, a significant wave of protest occurred when the Greek parliament voted on its first austerity memorandum. During the protest, a petrol bomb was fired at the Marfin Bank in Stadiou Street and caused the deaths of three employees. After this tragic event, there was a notable drop in the attendance and frequency of protests and more importantly the "ideological legitimacy" was reduced, and anarchist momentum eased. There are several anarchist groups that have been vocal about disagreeing and condemning the use of violence as a practice at Marfin and other such instances.

In 2013, there were several protests when Nikos Romanos (anarchist) was arrested for bank robbery and the police digitally altered his mugshot in order to cover several bruises that were inflicted during his arrest. Amnesty International described this as a "culture of abuse and impunity in the Greek police".

The first years of the 2010s saw the rise of Golden Dawn, a fascist party that was targeting immigrants and managed to control Agios Panteleimonas neighbourhood in Athens centre. The rivalry between anarchists and the extreme right was profound.

Anarchist groups that have claimed responsibility for recent violent attacks include the Lovers of Lawlessness, Wild Freedom and Instigators of Social Explosion, Gangs of Consciousness, Lonely Wolf, the Untouchable Cell of Revenge and most recently, Untamed Desires.

In 2017, Greece was one of the only three European Union countries (along with Italy and Spain) that appear to be dealing with anarchist terrorism.