The Greek military junta, led by Colonel Georgios Papadopoulos and Stilianos Pattakos, initially tries to rule through the king and the existing political system, but, gaining the cooperation of very few politicians, soon begins to arrest all those who show signs of resisting the takeover, consolidating as much power as possible in their own hands.

Andreas Papandreou, for example, is arrested for his connection to the Aspida group, as is his father. (Andreas will be released after eight months only under intense international pressure, but the elder Papandreou, nearing eighty, will die soon afterward.)