Since 21 April 1967, Greece has lived under a military dictatorship, This dictatorship was imposed to resolve the grave crisis of bourgeois rule following the pre-revolutionary situation of 1963-65, but it has become strikingly clear thất this solution has failed.
The dictatorship of the colonels was never able to build a popular base in support of the regime and its policies. This led to the continuation of the institutional crisis of the bourgeoisie; for which the formal proclamation of a "republic' by the colonels was in no way a solution.
The repression and the wage freeze, which were supposed to guarantee increased profits for the Greek capitalists and their imperialist backers, have failed to prevent the runaway inflation which has been undermining the economy for the last two vears. The virtually uninterrupted application of martial law, along with the use of military tribunals and torture to intimidate opponents of the dictatorship, failed to stem the powerful popular upheaval that took shape in the revolutionary explosion in Athens The Greek ruling class had become aware of the glaring weakness of its policies, which had been exposed over the past year by a developing radicalisawon among important scctions or young workers and students. In response of this development (and after the lamentable failure of the Navy's attempted coup d'etat), leading figures in the Greek ruling class pressed for a liberalisation. This actually meant no more than the normalisation of the military regime, giving it some formal trappings of bourgeois democracy: the referendum on the abolition of the monarchy, the proclamation of a republic, and the organisation of elections.
The proclamation of a republic was intended to cstablish a new institutional framework following the collapse of the monarchy. The nomination of a civilian cabinet under Markezinis, the preparation of elections for 1974, and above all the lifting of martial law were supposed to create the conditions for establishing a strong state as a legacy of the years of military dictatorship. In this way the ruling class aimed to obtain the maximum room for manocuvre in dealing with the popular demands.
This political operation required the acquiescence of those sectors of the ruling class hostile to the junta (represented by such figures as Kanellopoulos and Mavros). Their participation in the elections was intended to give credibility to Papadopoulos's project. Only on this condition could Papadopoulos expect to be assured of full control of the key sectors of government.
The Stalinists at first took a 'sympathetic' attitude towards this 'opening', which was expressed in the hesitation and vacillation of the leaders of the Bureau of the Interior of the Greek Communist Party (which is opposed, to the Moscow-loyalist wing). But finally, these advocates of a dialogue with the dictatorship were forced to adopt a negative position towards the elections, under pressure from the popular mobilisation which ruled out in advance any possibility that this normalisation might gain credibility. The student vanguard, whose confidence had been buoyed by the struggles in the spring of 1973, took advantage of the new conditions brought about by the lifting of martial law. They began to organise just as the political consciousness and will to struggle of sections of the working class and the peasantry were ripening. A succession of strikes and demonstrations reflected this new political reality.
A sharp drop in the purchasing power of the exploited classes in the last few months considerably extended the audience of the young vanguard of control of the Stalinist and reformist bureaucracies, pushed forward the radicalisation of the struggle. The position and pretensions of the Markezinis government, already rendered precarious by its isolation from the bourgeois politicians who were boycotting Papadopoulos's operation, became untenable with the revolutionary explosion of the Athenian workers and students on 16 November, The fate of Papadopoulos This new irruption of the masses on to the scene came as a much greater threat to bourgeois rule than the mobilisations of 1965. The anti-capitalist nature of unis crolosion oroke out or tue rerorist builators imposed on the resistance by the Stalinists and liberal politicians since the coup of 21 April 1967. This was the most important aspect of these events, expressed by the extraordinary combativity, the very high level of politicisation, the quality of 2222222 Outside the Athens Polytechnic during the revolutionary explosion struggle in Europe. revolutionary explosion in Athens. perspective. oppressive living situations. democratic and technical organisation, and the national impact of what will go down in history as the Athens revolutionary explosion of November 1973. At the same time, this development shows the failure of the combined policy of the imperialists and the Greck capitalists, and most of all the acceleration by leaps and bounds of the revolutionary A new generaton or workers and stdents nas taker the initiative in the revolutionary struggle. The demonstrations and barricades of November 1973 nave created a new situadon, marking a turning pow in the revolutionary transformation of the mass movement and the mass mobilisations. The emergence of an integrated worker and student vanguard guarantees the failure of any future 'normalisations.' Even more certainly, it ensures that the resistance will widen and deepen, going more and more on to the offensive. The first concrete elements of a response to the crisis of leadership of the mass movement were thrown up in action in the course of the The achievements of this revolutionary explosion have been many. The resistance to the dictatorship has assumed a clear working class and revolutionary character, breaking from the Stalinist class-collaborationist, popular-frontist orientations put forward by the two Greek CPs, who shouted provocation when the barricades first went up. The impetuous assault of the insurgent students, who raised the slogan students! "power to the workers and peasants, and the building workers, wno demonstrated witn banners proclaiming the vanguard role of the working class-this shattered public eye. This would seem to be the correct Milligan also asserts that life-style politics' are necessary but not sufficient. Again this is correct. 'Coming out' is vital to gay politics. A political and personal identification with homosexuality is an essential part of gay activism. But that identification must be translated into action before it acquires political validity. Once more Milligan is right to say that the London Gay Communes are important because they demonstrate the possibility of nonAlthough homosexuals are an oppressed minority group, however, they are classless and as a group hold no homogeneous economic power. Therefore, as Milligan correctly argues, homosexuals on their own have no hope of being accepted under capitalism. Even though *the popular hostility to homosexuality ... in the working class influences the labour and socialist movement very deeply, the liberation of homosexuals is dependent upon the seizure of state power by the working class, for the workers possess the social and economic strength to overturn the present system.' the Arab East In raising the question of homosexual opprèsREPRINT sion in this way, realising that liberation is impossible under capitalism and that it is only possible under an alternative system of social relations which the abolition of capitalism would bring about, Milligan discusses the status of homosexuals both in the workers' states and in socialist organisations. Equality of the bourgeois democratic illusions that had been poisoning the popular resistance to the dictatorship. Neither the curfew, nor the tanks, nor the murders were able to halt the revolutionary mobilisation of the masses. Bourgeois liberals and Stalinist reformists have tried, however, to falsity the political character of this revolutionary explosion in press articles and broadcasts. Their aim is to minimise the political implications of an event which exposed their own particular policies.
The coup d'etat carried out by a new military junta on 25 November primarily reflects the weakness of the dictatorial regime and the splits within it. The situation has changed since 21 April 1967. The resistance has organised during the years of the dictatorship-it has learned how to fight, how to organise, and can no longer be surprised and disorga-. nised as it was six years ago. The reformist apparatuses, notably the two Greek CPs, have lost control of the masses and especially the youth.
The growing mobilisation of the European working class, in which the emigrant Greek workers have taken part, has had a direct effect on the Greek masses. The isolation of 1967 has been broken. The internationalist character of this explosion rang out loud and clear when the students shouted, 'Thailand showed the way,' or, "Greece, Spain, Chile, forward to democracy!' The struggle for the Greek socialist revolution has been considerably advanced. Long live the struggle of the Greek workers and "
Down with the new military dictatorship! Forward to the Greek socialist revolution!
under socialism, and in fact will only be possible if socialist organisations take up the issue now. He points out that many socialists in Britain think that homosexuality is a 'middle class or upper class disorder, a problem which Kollantai took up in her writings in 1919 when faced with the same attitudes, saying 'the problems of sex concern the largest section of societythey concern the working class in its daily life.' Socialists should learn from Milligan's criticisms, ana encourage much more deuvery tne contribu tion of gay comrades to the struggle. Actions such as the recent fight against the Heneky's discriminatory ban on homosexuals at a Leeds pub point the way forward here.
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