Athens, Greece

July 1963

Konstantinos Karamanlis somberly listened to the news. Konstantinos Mitsou had been arrested. Shit he thought to himself. He asked his aide on the telephone to repeat the charges. The investigator had described the ties that Mitsou allegedly had with the far right, the neo-fascist organizations that he had sponsored in the North, the gendarmerie’s political abuses. It was only a matter of time until the that damnable investigator pulled on another thread and reached Karamanlis…

A knock at his door. The police?

He apprehensively opened it. It was another aide reminding him of his meeting with King Paul. Karamanlis swore under his breath. He grabbed his jacket and got into the car on the way to the palace. Three days earlier, he had met with the King and again urged him to postpone his trip to England. Karamanlis had pleaded with the King; the events of April were destabilizing for Greece, Papandreou’s suspicions of a para-state were being confirmed by the official channels, and the Labour Party in the UK was on a campaign of anti-Greek rhetoric attempting to pressure the British government to condemn the so-called human rights abuses and political prisoners in Greece. That day, he had threatened to the King that he would resign if the trip was not postponed… he hoped he would have such an easy out.

Arriving at the Palace the King greeted Karamanlis. “I am embarrassed,” he started, “but after reconsidering I have decided not to accept the government’s recommendation I postpone my trip.” Karamanlis nodded, “Then, your Grace, I must implore you to accept my resignation.”

Shortly after departing the Palace, Karamanlis called an emergency meeting of the cabinet where he announced to them his resignation and the request that they hold snap elections and a short-lived strictly caretaker government until that election should happen. Paul responded by offering Karamanlis the Great Cross of the Savior, an award usually given to Prime Ministers that died in office. While Karamanlis was negotiating with the Parliament to organize a caretaker government and new elections, King Paul delivered an unprecedented speech without approval of Parliament, a violation of the Constitution. In it he announced Karamanlis’ resignation which rocked Greece to its core.

Apogeumatini ran a single headline broadside: God save Greece