The History of the Revolutionary Organization November 17FormationGreece is a country more regarded for its rich ancient history than for its great political violence. Unfortunately, this country's more recent history has been marked by just that, by violent protests and terrorist attacks. There are even those who claim that Greece is the country with the biggest terrorism problem in all of Europe. Greek terrorism stems from a civil war that broke out in the country in the late 1940s. This civil war was about communism and the loss of life and property was extensive. The government created after this civil war, a more conservative regime, lasted until the 1970s, when conflict broke out between conservatives and liberals. During this conflict, Greek citizens were subject to few freedoms and were under constant control and surveillance by the police, as the Greek police were found to have files on almost all citizens of the country (Kassimeris, 2013). Greece found itself under the rule of a military regime, led by Georgios Papadopoulos, which clashed with the royal leadership of Constantine II. It was the Papadopoulos regime that attempted to resist communist rule in the country, but Constantine II was not satisfied with the military rule. When Constantine II attempted to dissolve the military government, Papadopoulos banished Constantine II from the country and assumed a dictatorial role as the leader of Greece (Marcovitz, 2011). It was from this confrontation and the subsequent military takeover that sparked a revolt on November 17, 1973. When Papadopoulos began attempting to liberalize Greece, students ironically used their new freedoms to stage a revolt at the Athens Polytechnic, which saw a violent clash between students and the Gr...... middle of paper ...... by a government terrorism analyst. Conflict and Terrorism Studies, 15(1), 13-23. Smith, H. (2003, December 08). The Greek trial ends the November 17 reign of terror. The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/dec/09/helenasmithThe Economist. (1983). Political Europe. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.Uladh, D. (2014, January 21). The leader jailed on November 17 says ministers are responsible for Xiros' escape. ENet.gr. Retrieved from http://www.enetenglish.gr/?i=news.en.article&id=1720United States Department of State, Bureau of Counterterrorism. (2012). Foreign terrorist organizations. Retrieved from website: http://www.state.gov/j/ct/rls/other/des/123085.htmXenakis, S. (2012). A new dawn? Change and continuity in political violence in Greece. Terrorism and political violence, 24(3), 437-464. doi: 10.1080/09546553.2011.633133