The Surge of Neo-Nazism in Greece
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A combination of psychological, cultural, structural and historical factors is needed to explain the sudden rise of neo-Nazism in Greece. While the economic crisis in Greece has devastating effects for the majority of its people and has spurred the growth of a mass neo-Nazi organization, it would be a mistake to conclude that Golden Dawn is a product solely of the crisis. In the modern era, Greece has always had a strong authoritarian political tradition and a strong fascist element. Authoritarianism and fascism thrived in Greece from the 1940s through the mid-1970s. Censorship, political imprisonment, torture, concentration camps and killing political opponents run like a red thread through Greece's modern political history. Major social institutions such as the army, the police and even the church were directly involved in the support of fascist ideology and the propagation of authoritarian values. Big capital - and the notorious shipping tycoon business community - always backed the most reactionary political forces in Greece. So did, unfortunately, a sizable percentage of the Greek citizenry, especially among the rural population and the petty bourgeoisie. The military junta which ruled Greece from 1967-73 was opposed openly by a tiny fraction of the population only, with the left, as always, at the forefront of the struggle for freedom and democracy and its supporters paying a big price for their resistance to the regime. After the re-establishment of parliamentary democracy, much of the extreme right and the "silent majority" that had backed the junta gravitated toward the conservative party of New Democracy. In the decades ahead, what remains of the fascist movement is a handful of die-hard fanatics, but this does not mean that the extreme right is extinct. It is still everywhere, with a particularly strong presence in the ranks of the police, which has always been an employment magnet for the most conservative and reactionary elements of Greek society.
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The Surge of Neo-Nazism in Greece
Wednesday, 25 September 2013 16:24 By CJ Polychroniou, Truthout | Opinion...
A combination of psychological, cultural, structural and historical factors is needed to explain the sudden rise of neo-Nazism in Greece. While the economic crisis in Greece has devastating effects for the majority of its people and has spurred the growth of a mass neo-Nazi organization, it would be a mistake to conclude that Golden Dawn is a product solely of the crisis. In the modern era, Greece has always had a strong authoritarian political tradition and a strong fascist element. Authoritarianism and fascism thrived in Greece from the 1940s through the mid-1970s. Censorship, political imprisonment, torture, concentration camps and killing political opponents run like a red thread through Greece's modern political history. Major social institutions such as the army, the police and even the church were directly involved in the support of fascist ideology and the propagation of authoritarian values. Big capital - and the notorious shipping tycoon business community - always backed the most reactionary political forces in Greece. So did, unfortunately, a sizable percentage of the Greek citizenry, especially among the rural population and the petty bourgeoisie. The military junta which ruled Greece from 1967-73 was opposed openly by a tiny fraction of the population only, with the left, as always, at the forefront of the struggle for freedom and democracy and its supporters paying a big price for their resistance to the regime. After the re-establishment of parliamentary democracy, much of the extreme right and the "silent majority" that had backed the junta gravitated toward the conservative party of New Democracy. In the decades ahead, what remains of the fascist movement is a handful of die-hard fanatics, but this does not mean that the extreme right is extinct. It is still everywhere, with a particularly strong presence in the ranks of the police, which has always been an employment magnet for the most conservative and reactionary elements of Greek society.
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