Anarchism in Greece traces its roots to

ancient Greece Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity ( AD 600), that comprised a loose collection of cu ...

but was formed as a political movement during the 19th century. It was in the ancient era that the first libertarian thoughts appeared when

philosophers A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...

based on

rationality Rationality is the quality of being guided by or based on reasons. In this regard, a person acts rationally if they have a good reason for what they do or a belief is rational if it is based on strong evidence. This quality can apply to an ab ...

questioned the fundamentals of tradition. Modern anarchism in Greece emerged in the 19th century, heavily influenced by the contemporary European classical anarchism. Because of the

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...

success in the

Russian Revolution of 1917 The Russian Revolution was a period of political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and adopt a socialist form of government ...

and the rise of the

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of '' The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engel ...

, anarchism faded after the first decades of the 20th century. The collapse of the military junta put an end to the monopoly of the political power from the Right, whereas the dissolution of the Soviet Union diminished the allure of the

Communist Party of Greece The Communist Party of Greece ( el, Κομμουνιστικό Κόμμα Ελλάδας, ''Kommounistikó Kómma Elládas'', KKE) is a political party in Greece. Founded in 1918 as the Socialist Labour Party of Greece and adopted its curre ...

allowing anarchist groups to gain pace in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates a ...

and other cities.

Precursors

Beliefs, opinions and sentiments that are close to anarchist core values were expressed in Ancient Greece. With the appearance of presocratic thought, rational inquiry during the classical and Hellenistic period, challenged traditional beliefs, religion and authority itself.

Socrates Socrates (; ; –399 BC) was a Greek philosopher from Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and among the first moral philosophers of the ethical tradition of thought. An enigmatic figure, Socrates authored no t ...

skepticism towards the state and its passionate support of the individual's moral freedom were among the first-ever libertarian critiques. Cynics' contribution to philosophical anarchism was the distinction between the man-made laws and nature's law, fiercely rejecting the former.

Stoics Stoicism is a school of Hellenistic philosophy founded by Zeno of Citium in Athens in the early 3rd century BCE. It is a philosophy of personal virtue ethics informed by its system of logic and its views on the natural world, asserting tha ...

followed the same worldview and

Zeno of Citium Zeno of Citium (; grc-x-koine, Ζήνων ὁ Κιτιεύς, ; c. 334 – c. 262 BC) was a Hellenistic philosopher from Citium (, ), Cyprus. Zeno was the founder of the Stoic school of philosophy, which he taught in Athens from about 300 B ...

, the main stoic philosopher, received the admiration of 19th-century anarchist, Piotr Kropotkin, who was impressed by Zeno's Republic- a community based on

egalitarianism Egalitarianism (), or equalitarianism, is a school of thought within political philosophy that builds from the concept of social equality, prioritizing it for all people. Egalitarian doctrines are generally characterized by the idea that all h ...

and friendly relations. A powerful play resonating with anarchism was

Antigone In Greek mythology, Antigone ( ; Ancient Greek: Ἀντιγόνη) is the daughter of Oedipus and either his mother Jocasta or, in another variation of the myth, Euryganeia. She is a sister of Polynices, Eteocles, and Ismene.Roman, L., ...

, by

Sophocles Sophocles (; grc, Σοφοκλῆς, , Sophoklễs; 497/6 – winter 406/5 BC)Sommerstein (2002), p. 41. is one of three ancient Greek tragedians, at least one of whose plays has survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or c ...

, where a young woman defies the orders of the Ruler and acts according to her consciousness.

Ottoman era

According to some academics, shortly before and after the end of Ottoman rule in Greece, the socioeconomic relations of the Greek countryside reflected traits of Bakunian collectivism (decentralization and autonomy) creating a future audience for anarchist ideas. Discussing the second half of the 19th century, a source argued that the level of anarchist activity in the Ottoman Empire was comparable to that in Europe. Some of the Greek anarchists were born in the Ottoman Empire, for example Emmanouil Dadaoglou was from Izmir. According to a study of anarchism in the late

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University ...

by Axel Corlu, Greek anarchists were significantly less than their Armenian or Bulgarian counterparts in the Ottoman Empire at the end of the 19th century. Corlu suggests that Greek anarchists were mostly focused in influencing events, struggles and structures in the Greek state rather than the Ottoman Empire.

Early anarchism

Early anarchism in Greece traces to the mid-19th century and lasted through

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. Early Greek socialist thought was dominated by anarchism. The most influential anarchist authors in Greek at the time were

Bakunin Mikhail Alexandrovich Bakunin (; 1814–1876) was a Russian revolutionary anarchist, socialist and founder of collectivist anarchism. He is considered among the most influential figures of anarchism and a major founder of the revolutionary s ...

, Andrea Costa,

Kropotkin Pyotr Alexeyevich Kropotkin (; russian: link=no, Пётр Алексе́евич Кропо́ткин ; 9 December 1842 – 8 February 1921) was a Russian anarchist, socialist, revolutionary, historian, scientist, philosopher, and activist ...

, and

Jean Grave Jean Grave (; October 16, 1854, Le Breuil-sur-Couze – December 8, 1939, Vienne-en-Val) was an important activist in the French anarchist and the international anarchist communism movements. He was the editor of three major anarchist periodica ...

; for comparison,

Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...

and Engels were not translated in Greek until 1893. Individuals having ties with Italy and Italian immigrants imported anarchism to the Greek mainland with the Ionian islands as a midpoint. Geographical proximity to Italy explains why the port town of Patras saw the first organized anarchist group. Patras had organized meeting places, a viable local press and publishing activity. Various individuals were inspired by the expansion of European classical Anarchism. The first anarchist publication in Greece appeared in September 1861, in the daily newspaper "" (''Light''), issue 334. In the main article of the paper, titled "Anarchy", part A, the writer, Dimos Papathanasiou, employed classical anti-authoritarian rhetoric, characterized anarchy as the greatest good and claimed that state authorities live at the expense of the people. The first Greek-organized anarchist group was the Democratic Club of Patras (Δημοκρατικός Σύλλογος Πάτρας). Founded in 1876 and affiliated with the anti-authoritarian

Jura Federation The Jura Federation represented the anarchist, Bakuninist faction of the First International during the anti-statist split from the organization. Jura, a Swiss area, was known for its watchmaker artisans in La Chaux-de-Fonds, who shared anti-s ...

of the

First International The International Workingmen's Association (IWA), often called the First International (1864–1876), was an international organisation which aimed at uniting a variety of different left-wing socialist, communist and anarchist groups and trad ...

, the Democratic Club helped to create a federated network of similar Greek groups. They also published the first anarchist newspaper in Greece, ''Greek Democracy'' (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία). In its declaration of principles, the Democratic Club claimed that "poverty and ignorance are the greatest wounds of the people" and supported the liberation of Greeks in the Ottoman Empire. Emmanouil Dadaoglou and the Italian

Amilcare Cipriani Amilcare Cipriani (October 18, 1844 in Anzio – April 30, 1918 in Paris)1862 Athens uprising, though details of Dadaoglou's life are unverified. In 1876, an anarchist working club was founded in

Syros Syros ( el, Σύρος ), also known as Siros or Syra, is a Greek island in the Cyclades, in the Aegean Sea. It is south-east of Athens. The area of the island is and it has 21,507 inhabitants (2011 census). The largest towns are Ermoupoli, An ...

. It played an instrumental role in the tannery and shipyard strikes of 1879. Pyrgos, a

Peloponnese The Peloponnese (), Peloponnesus (; el, Πελοπόννησος, Pelopónnēsos,(), or Morea is a peninsula and geographic region in southern Greece. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmus of Corinth land bridge which ...

city close to

Patras ) , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 = , demographics1_info2 = , timezone1 = EET , utc_offset1 = +2 ...

, was another place that anarchist ideas flourished along with other socialist currents. The fight against loan sharks and the heavy taxation by the state fueled anarchist thought among small raisin producers in the Peloponnese which was the home of various anarchist groups in the late 19th century. ''New Light'' (Νέον Φως) was a western Peloponnese weekly newspaper that voiced anarchist ideas (local and international). It was first published in October 1898 by the lawyer Vasileios Theodoridis. Its aim was to unify the subversive people of the Western Peloponnese to face the social problem. The newspaper contained articles of Drakoulis, translations of the works of Paul Argyriadès, republications of texts that first appeared in Athenian magazines and news about the Greek and the international labor movement. It also contained adages of the Orthodox Church Fathers and

Charles Fourier François Marie Charles Fourier (;; 7 April 1772 – 10 October 1837) was a French philosopher, an influential early socialist thinker and one of the founders of utopian socialism. Some of Fourier's social and moral views, held to be radical ...

as well as translations of texts by Bakunin, Kropotkin and Girard. The anarchist groups of the Peloponnese were the strongest in Greece until the early 20th century. They had a lively propaganda work in the cities and their surroundings as opposed to "authoritarian" socialists who were more interested in parliamentary politics. They encouraged abstention in the elections of 1899 and mobilized against loan sharks and taxation in the name of raisin producers. They did not seek the support of the state to confront the currant crisis but they denounced instead state mechanisms of oppression. Zestful socialist Stavros Kallergis was arguing in ''The Socialist'' (a newspaper he was editing) that socialism is the path towards Anarchism. ''The Socialist'' was funneling the contemporary socialist thought of Europe, ranging from moderate socialist to anarchist opinions, during the 1890s. Persecution against anarchists intensified in the summer of 1894. The assassination of Sadi Carnot by an anarchist led to a barrage of attacks against the anarchists by the press, and in particular by Asty, the official organ of

Charilaos Trikoupis Charilaos Trikoupis ( el, Χαρίλαος Τρικούπης; 11 July 1832 – 30 March 1896) was a Greek politician who served as a Prime Minister of Greece seven times from 1875 until 1895. He is best remembered for introducing the vote of c ...

' party. Many anarchists and socialists were put on trial and this led others to either flee the country or relocate in isolated parts of Greece. Similarly, many radical publications closed down and mainstream activity was reduced. In 1896 in Patras, Dimitrios Matsalis, a sandal maker, murdered Dionysios Fragkopoulos, a banker and currant merchant and injured Andreas Kollas. He declared that "I acted alone. By killing I did not aim at people but I stroke the capital. I am an anarchist and as an anarchist I am in favor of violence." He committed suicide in prison. Fragkopoulos' assassination arguably intensified the erosion of

collective identities Collective identity is the shared sense of belonging to a group. In sociology In 1989, Alberto Melucci published ''Nomads of the Present'', which introduces his model of collective identity based on studies of the social movements of the 1980s ...

as the persecutions continued. Persecuted anarchists and anarcho-syndicalists fled from Patras during the last years of the 19th century. The persecution began right after the

International Conference of Rome for the Social Defense Against Anarchists The International Conference of Rome for the Social Defense Against Anarchists was held between November 24 and December 21, 1898 following the assassination of Empress Elisabeth of Austria by Luigi Lucheni on the promenade of Lake Geneva on Se ...

, leading many anarcho-syndicalists that moved to

to establish the "Anarchist Workers Association" (Αναρχικός 'Εργατικός Σύνδεσμος). They took part in the anarchist international congress held in Paris in 1900. "''Epi ta Proso''" (Επί τα πρόσω) was another group of anarchist intellectuals publicly advocating for anarchism in the Peloponnese that finally ended up in Athens before being dissolved. As in the rest of Europe by that time, propaganda of the deed was employed by the

Boatmen of Thessaloniki The Boatmen of Thessaloniki ( bg, Гемиджиите; mk, Гемиџиите) or the Assassins of Salonica, was a Bulgarian anarchist group, active in the Ottoman Empire in the years between 1898 and 1903. The members of the Group were predo ...

, a group of Bulgarian anarchists based in

Salonica Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...

(then part of the

), and

Alexandros Schinas Alexandros Schinas ( el, Αλέξανδρος Σχινάς, c. 1870 – 6 May 1913), also known as Aleko Schinas, assassinated King George I of Greece in 1913. Schinas has been variously portrayed as either an anarchist with political motiv ...

, who assassinated King George I in 1913 for reasons of either anarchist conviction or mental illness. In 1916, the anarcho-syndicalist Konstantinos Speras was an organizer of a miners strike in the island of Serifos. The strike was violently faced by the police leading to the death of four workers and wounding others. The workers, supported by their wives, responded by throwing stones killing three of the police and routing the others away. However, even though the strike was organized by an anarchist and the workers took control of government buildings (telegraph tower, police headquarters, town hall), the strikers raised a French flag and asked for protection from the French fleet, which at the time had some ships stationed in the neighboring island of

Milos Milos or Melos (; el, label=Modern Greek, Μήλος, Mílos, ; grc, Μῆλος, Mêlos) is a volcanic Greek island in the Aegean Sea, just north of the Sea of Crete. Milos is the southwesternmost island in the Cyclades group. The ''Venus d ...

. The strike and the aftermath resulted in the improvement of working conditions in the mines and the first application of the 8-hour working day in modern Greece. The Greek anarchist movement's momentum subsided in the 1920s as, among many factors, the Greek working class turned to

Marxist ideology Marxism is a left-wing to far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand class relations and social conflict and a dialectical ...

and the Communist Party of Greece, known for its hostility towards anarchists, appeared. Reflecting Greek desire for a strong state, anarchism was eradicated in the 1930s and 1940s, between the Metaxas Regime, the Axis occupation of Greece, and the

Greek Civil War The Greek Civil War ( el, ο Eμφύλιος �όλεμος}, ''o Emfýlios'' 'Pólemos'' "the Civil War") took place from 1946 to 1949. It was mainly fought against the established Kingdom of Greece, which was supported by the United Kingdom and ...

. In times of changing government, Greeks relied on local government for resistance and security. An important figure is Plotino Rhodakanaty, born in 1828. His birthplace is disputed, some authors cite Athens, others cite other European capitals. Nevertheless, he is considered one of the most important figures in Mexican socialist thought.

The Polytechnic uprising and the subcultural movement

The new phase of the Greek anarchist movement started during the

Greek military junta of 1967–1974 The Greek junta or Regime of the Colonels, . Also known within Greece as just the Junta ( el, η Χούντα, i Choúnta, links=no, ), the Dictatorship ( el, η Δικτατορία, i Diktatoría, links=no, ) or the Seven Years ( el, η Ε ...

. 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 Beginning in May 1968, a period of civil unrest occurred throughout France, lasting some seven weeks and punctuated by demonstrations, general strikes, as well as the occupation of universities and factories. At the height of events, which ha ...

and got in touch with leftist and anarchist ideas, started spreading these ideas among the radical youth. In 1972,

Guy Debord Guy-Ernest Debord (; ; 28 December 1931 – 30 November 1994) was a French Marxist theorist, philosopher, filmmaker, critic of work, member of the Letterist International, founder of a Letterist faction, and founding member of the Situation ...

's ''

The Society of the Spectacle ''The Society of the Spectacle'' (french: La société du spectacle) is a 1967 work of philosophy and Marxist critical theory by Guy Debord, in which the author develops and presents the concept of the Spectacle. The book is considered a semin ...

'' was published in Athens, along with other Situationist texts. Mikhail Bakunin's ''

God and the State ''God and the State'' (called by its author ''The Historical Sophisms of the Doctrinaire School of Communism'') is an unfinished manuscript by the Russian anarchist philosopher Mikhail Bakunin, published posthumously in 1882. The work criticises ...

'' and

Peter Kropotkin Pyotr Alexeyevich Kropotkin (; russian: link=no, Пётр Алексе́евич Кропо́ткин ; 9 December 1842 – 8 February 1921) was a Russian anarchist, socialist, revolutionary, historian, scientist, philosopher, and activist ...

'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 these publications of "Diethnis Vivliothiki" ("International Library"). Interest in anarchism swelled with the anti-junta movement, and the 1973 Athens Polytechnic uprising was a flash-point 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 The Communist Youth of Greece ( el, Κομμουνιστική Νεολαία Ελλάδας ''Kommounistiki Neolea Elladas'', KNE) is the youth wing of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE). It publishes the monthly newspaper ''Odigitis'' (Greek: � ...

as they were expressing slogans not directly related to the student's demands (i.e. they were calling for

sexual freedom A sexual norm can refer to a personal or a social norm. Most cultures have social norms regarding sexuality, and define '' normal sexuality'' to consist only of certain sex acts between individuals who meet specific criteria of age, consanguinit ...

social revolution Social revolutions are sudden changes in the structure and nature of society. These revolutions are usually recognized as having transformed society, economy, culture, philosophy, and technology along with but more than just the political sys ...

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 often use the occasion to denounce the political regime of the day. The annual protests promote a subculture that sees resistance of authority as one's duty. On 4 May 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 neighbor 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 A subculture is a group of people within a culture that differentiates itself from the parent culture to which it belongs, often maintaining some of its founding principles. Subcultures develop their own norms and values regarding cultural, poli ...

after the fall of the junta, but grew into a movement following riots in 1981. In December 1979, protests took place as the Konstantinos 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 neighborhood of

Exarcheia Exarcheia ( ) is a community in central Athens, Greece close to the historical building of the National Technical University of Athens. Exarcheia took its name from a 19th century businessman named Exarchos (Greek: Έξαρχος) who opened a larg ...

became a "free zone", where leftists, Anarchists,

hippie A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to different countries around ...

s, and others were in charge. Throughout the late 20th century, Greek radical leftists referred to their cause by various fashionable names (autonomous, anti-authority, alternative) while police and the public generally labeled all revolutionary leftists as "anarchists". On 17 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 that helped attest self-confidence was the anarchist demonstration on the hotel "Caravel" hosting a far-right conference (among the participants was

Jean-Marie Le Pen Jean Louis Marie Le Pen (, born 20 June 1928) is a French far-right politician who served as President of the National Front from 1972 to 2011. He also served as Honorary President of the National Front from 2011 to 2015. Le Pen graduated fro ...

Action Française Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...

). 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 Marxist-Leninist Revolutionary Organization 17 November killed Nikolaos Georgakopoulos and injured fourteen other MAT (riot police) officers in a 1985 bus bombing. The anarchists proposals were in contrast to the legalistic approach of the

Greek Communist Party The Communist Party of Greece ( el, Κομμουνιστικό Κόμμα Ελλάδας, ''Kommounistikó Kómma Elládas'', KKE) is a political party in Greece. Founded in 1918 as the Socialist Labour Party of Greece and adopted its curren ...

which at the time was enjoying parliamentary participation, with Exarcheia was increasingly perceived as becoming a no-go zone for police as clashes occurred merely with the sight of officers. Alternative media and punk subcultures proliferated anarchist thought among Greek youth in the 1980s and 1990s. This collectively owned media spread messages against

neoliberalism Neoliberalism (also neo-liberalism) is a term used to signify the late 20th century political reappearance of 19th-century ideas associated with free-market capitalism after it fell into decline following the Second World War. A prominent f ...

, reactionary populism,

liberal democracy Liberal democracy is the combination of a liberal political ideology that operates under an indirect democratic form of government. It is characterized by elections between multiple distinct political parties, a separation of powers into ...

, and

the state A state is a centralized political organization that imposes and enforces rules over a population within a territory. There is no undisputed definition of a state. One widely used definition comes from the German sociologist Max Weber: a "sta ...

. By the late 1980s, anarchism had turned towards a broader spectrum of issues: gender inequalities, patriarchy, racism towards immigrants, and ethnic minority repression (Slavic and Turkish). Anarchist

squats Squat, squatter or squatting may refer to: Body position * Squatting position, a sitting position where one's knees are folded with heels touching one's buttocks or back of the thighs * Squat (exercise), a lower-body exercise in strength and co ...

emerged in this era, among which Villa Amalia and Villa Lela Karagianni were the most prominent.

Contemporary

The

collapse of the USSR The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the So ...

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 Neoliberalism (also neo-liberalism) is a term used to signify the late 20th century political reappearance of 19th-century ideas associated with free-market capitalism after it fell into decline following the Second World War. A prominent f ...

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 of the era were ''The Void Network'' and ''The Children of the Gallery''. In the new millennium, with capitalism and neoliberalism being viewed as advancing throughout the world, Greek anarchists participated in the

anti-globalization movement The anti-globalization movement or counter-globalization movement, is a social movement critical of economic globalization. The movement is also commonly referred to as the global justice movement, alter-globalization movement, anti-globalist m ...

. 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 6 December 2008, the lethal shooting of 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos by a policeman in Exarcheia District in Athens, generated an immediate social unrest that quickly escalated into large-scale riots. The significant repercussions that followed were the most intense to occur in Greece since the fall of the

military dictatorship A military dictatorship is a dictatorship in which the military exerts complete or substantial control over political authority, and the dictator is often a high-ranked military officer. The reverse situation is to have civilian control of the ...

. Within a short period of time, anarchists, leftists, and sympathizers rioted and attacked 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 murder of Alexandros occurred in the Exarcheia District was of major symbolic significance, as police presence in the area was considered to be an intrusion to a "ground occupied by the antagonistic movement" and was felt by some as 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 organized 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 severely wounded. An anarchist form of illegalism re-emerged during the insurrection when anarchist expropriated food from stores to distribute to people in need. 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. The rebellion that took place in 2008 was fueled, in part, by the prevailing economic insecurity. Anarchist groups organized and participated in protests against the austerity measures implemented by the government to resolve the

economic crisis An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with th ...

that was precipitated by the 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. In 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 bank employees. After this tragic event, there was a notable drop in the attendance and frequency of protests and more importantly the "''ideological legitimacy''", and anarchist momentum eased. However, no evidence about the perpetrator being an anarchist was provided, and the accused anarchist was declared innocent in the court. There are also 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 anarchist Nikos Romanos was arrested for bank robbery and the police digitally altered his

mug shot A mug shot or mugshot (an informal term for police photograph or booking photograph) is a photographic portrait of a person from the shoulders up, typically taken after a person is arrested. The original purpose of the mug shot was to allow law ...

in order to cover several bruises that were inflicted during his arrest.

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and s ...

described this as a "culture of abuse and impunity in the Greek police". As of 2013, 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. As of 2017 Interpol claims Greece was one of the only three

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...

countries (along with

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

and

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

) that appear to be dealing with anarchist terrorism.

List of groups and places

''Chóros'', meaning "scene" or "milieu" in Greek, is the body of loosely associated anarchist groups and collectives in Greece. Αντιεξουσιαστική Κίνηση

;Groups *Anarchist Federation, a platformist federation
Anarchist Political Organisation
(''Anarchikí Politikí Orgánosi''), a synthesis federation affiliated with the

International of Anarchist Federations Contemporary anarchism within the history of anarchism is the period of the anarchist movement continuing from the end of World War II and into the present. Since the last third of the 20th century, anarchists have been involved in anti-globalisa ...

*Anarcho-syndicalist Initiative Rocinante (''Anarchosyndikalistikís Protovoulías – Rosinánte''), an

anarcho-syndicalist Anarcho-syndicalism is a political philosophy and anarchist school of thought that views revolutionary industrial unionism or syndicalism as a method for workers in capitalist society to gain control of an economy and thus control influence i ...

federation *Anti-authoritarian Current (AK) (''Antiexousiastikí Kínisi''),

anti-authoritarian Anti-authoritarianism is opposition to authoritarianism, which is defined as "a form of social organisation characterised by submission to authority", "favoring complete obedience or subjection to authority as opposed to individual freedom" an ...

group in Athens *

Conspiracy of Fire Nuclei The Conspiracy of Fire Nuclei ( el, Συνωμοσία Πυρήνων της Φωτιάς, Synomosía Pyrínon tis Fotiás, abbrev. SPF), also translated as Conspiracy of Fire Cells or Conspiracy of Cells of Fire, is an anarchist urban guerrill ...

(''Synomosía ton Pyrínon tis Fotiás''), an

individualist anarchist Individualist anarchism is the branch of anarchism that emphasizes the individual and their will over external determinants such as groups, society, traditions and ideological systems."What do I mean by individualism? I mean by individualism t ...

militant organization *

Industrial Workers of the World The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), members of which are commonly termed "Wobblies", is an international labor union that was founded in Chicago in 1905. The origin of the nickname "Wobblies" is uncertain. IWW ideology combines general ...

, a grassroots

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ...

affiliated with the

International Confederation of Labor International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

*Libertarian Syndicalist Union (''Eleftheriakí Syndikalistikí Énosi''), an

group affiliated with the

* Revolutionary Struggle (''Epanastatikos Agonas''), a platformist militant group * Rouvikonas, anarchist collective operating out of Exarcheia, part of the Anarchist Federation ;Squats and other places *

*Lela Karagianni, historic center in Athens named after

Lela Karagianni Eleni "Lela" Karagianni ( el, Λέλα Καραγιάννη ; 1898 – 8 September 1944), also written Karayanni, was a Greek resistance leader during World War II. The wife of an Attican pharmacist and the mother of seven children, Karagianni ...

* Villa Amalia, Anarchist squat used for cultural events, now evicted ;Publications *Diadromi Eleftherias *Babylonia, newspaper affiliated to Anti-authoritarian Current *Rocinante, anarcho-syndicalist publication *Apatris, anarchist newspaper ;Radio Stations *Radiozones Anatreptikis Ekfrasis *Elefthero Koinoniko Radiofono 1431AM

References

Sources

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