The Greek government’s involvement in the pro-Greek coup d’etat in Cyprus brings the nation to the brink of war with Turkey and leads to the downfall of the military dictatorship.

Upon the restoration of democratic rule under conservative civilian Konstantinos Karamanlis, Andreas Papandreou returns from exile to Greece to form the Panhellenic Socialist Movement.

Giorgios Grivas and his one-track pursuit of enosis through terrorism has become an embarrassment to the Greek Cypriot government, as well as to the Greek government that had sponsored his return to
the island.

His fame and popularity in both countries, however, prevent his removal.

That problem is solved on January 27, 1974, when the general dies of a heart attack.

Makarios grants his followers an amnesty, hoping that EOKA B will disappear after the death of its leader.

Terrorism will continue, however, and the one hundred thousand mourners who attend Grivas's funeral indicate the enduring popularity of his political aims.

A coup d'etat in Athens in November 1973 had made Brigadier General Dimitrios Ioannidis leader of the junta.

Rigidly anticommunist, Ioannidis had served on Cyprus in the 1960s with the National Guard.

His experiences had convinced him that Makarios should be removed from office because of domestic leftist support and his visits to communist capitals.

Cypriot intelligence finds evidence during the spring of 1974, that EOKA B is planning a coup and
is being supplied, controlled, and funded by the military government in Athens.

EOKA B is banned, but its operations continue underground.

Dimitrios Ioannidis, believing that a major nationalist cause will rally the Greek people behind him, induces a confrontation with Turkey in 1974 over control of recently discovered oil deposits in the Aegean Sea.

He also attempts to undermine Makarios by supporting Greek Cypriot terrorist activity.

...Akrotiri, whence he goes to London.

Several days later, Makarios addresses a meeting of the UN Security Council, where he is accepted as the legal president of the Republic of Cyprus.

Makarios writes to the Greek president Phaedon Gizikis early in July, demanding that the remaining six hundred and fifty Greek officers assigned to the National Guard be withdrawn.

He also accuses the junta of plotting against his life and against the government of Cyprus.

Makarios sends his letter (which is released to the public) to the Greek president on July 2, 1974; the reply comes thirteen days later, not in the form of a letter but in an order from Athens to the Cypriot
National Guard to overthrow its commander in chief and take control of the island.

Makarios narrowly escapes death in the attack by the Greek-led National Guard.

He flees the presidential palace and goes to ...

...Paphos.

A British helicopter takes him to the Sovereign Base Area at ...

Sampson is expendable, of course, to the Athens regime, but Sisco can get an agreement only to reassign the six hundred and fifty Greek officers.

As Sisco negotiates in Athens, Turkish invasion ships are already at sea.

A last-minute reversal might be possible if the Greeks made concessions, but they do not.