“The Great Turn” is one of the headlines of the April 10, 1951 Cathimerini. Elections have just been held under a system of enhanced proportionality, at a time of great political instability. The protagonists in the confrontation are already familiar figures from the Liberal Party and EPEK, the newly created EDA, as well as another new political entity: the Hellenic Alarm under the leadership of Alexander Papagos.

In July 1951, when the government of S. Venizelos announced elections, Papagos announced that he would enter politics, stating, among other things: “I call on the Greeks to surround me with their confidence so that Greece can free itself from anarchy and acquire a stable government in which it needs.” Marshal’s surprise move seems to have paid off as Hellenic Alarm became the first party with a 36.5% percentage and took 114 seats.

“The Athenian people – the people of all Greece – responded to the voice of the marshal. And he answered with the most enthusiastic, impressive and touching decision. These men, misled by Humperster’s demagoguery and the most ferocious slander, also responded to the parties who had made a disgusting scandal. He answered by putting them aside without hesitation and with the will to live his new worthy life under the leadership of the Commander-in-Chief of Victory. The moment when these letters are written does not allow to draw final conclusions and reliable judgments. But it allows for a grandiose and brief conclusion, which is confirmed by reports coming from all over Greece: “Greece wants to follow the Marshal on the path that He paved for her,” Kathimerini writes below in her main article.

Although the Greek Anxiety received the most votes, it did not gain independence, Papagos’ refusal to form a government with another party led to the formation of a union government of EPEC and the Liberal Party under the leadership of N. Plastiras. However, he managed to deal hard blows to his intra-party rivals: the People’s Party lost a very large part of its parliamentary weight, gaining only 6.7% and 2 seats.