The evolution of Greece's national security doctrine since World War II has been determined by the country's own relative strength and by changes in threat perception. The Cyprus events of 1974 dramatically changed the country's view of its primary threat. Attention since then has focused almost exclusively on Turkey.

Historical Development

During the late 1940s and early 1950s, the difference between Greek conservatives and liberals (the communist party having been banned after the Civil War) on security issues and participation in NATO was one of emphasis. Both groups basically believed that Greece's main security threat emanated from the Warsaw Pact military power across its northern borders. NATO was viewed, therefore, as indispensable for the defense of the country, and the United States was treated as Greece's natural ally and guarantor.

From the end of the Civil War in 1949, Greek governments, given the nation's dependence on the United States, yielded to that power on most issues concerning national defense and security arrangements. The Greek armed forces were equipped exclusively with American arms, and the hundreds of Greek officers who received advanced military training in the United States welcomed the continuity of their host country's influence on the Greek armed forces.

The orientation of Greece's national defense doctrine until the mid-1960s was based on the United States credo that the main security threat was internal rather than external. The Greek army was primarily supplied and organized to face a domestic communist threat. According to NATO planning, in case of global war between the superpowers, Greece was only expected to cause some delay to Soviet and satellite forces.

When international tension relaxed somewhat in the late 1960s, the perception of a domestic communist threat being supported by Greece's communist neighbors diminished considerably. Rather, after the 1964 and 1974 Cyprus crises, a main concern became a confrontation between the two Balkan NATO allies. Greek security planning could no longer focus only on internal danger and NATO defense prescriptions.

The end of the Cold War, the overthrow of Soviet-supported communist regimes in Eastern Europe, and the collapse of the Soviet Union have led, rather paradoxically, to a darkening of Greece's security horizons and a rather complete reassessment of national security requirements. Until the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus, the Hellenic Armed Forces had two primary missions: defending the country against an attack by the Soviet Union or its Balkan satellites and assisting in the maintenance of Western control over the eastern Mediterranean Sea in time of conflict. After the 1974 invasion, the security focus shifted.

Data as of December 1994

NOTE: The information regarding Greece on this page is re-published from The Library of Congress Country Studies and the CIA World Factbook. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Greece Historical Development information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Greece Historical Development should be addressed to the Library of Congress and the CIA.