Greece Letter: Country has always been shackled by foreign powers

The recent death of ex-king Constantine of Greece aroused mixed responses among citizens, historians and politicians, not least because his deposition by a military junta in 1967-74 is still a matter for debate. As a young king he misjudged the competing claims of democracy and authoritarianism which have bedevilled Greek politics since the 1820s, and led to the abolition of the monarchy in a 1974 referendum which restored democracy. In all the commentaries on Constantine's career one statement struck me as very significant: journalist Pavlos Papadopoulos, in the course of two broadsheet pages in Kathimerini newspaper, suggested "Greece's induction into…