Witness

In 1974, Greece held a referendum to decide the future of the country’s monarchy, and whether Constantine II would remain their king.Constantine had come to the throne in 1964, but he’d inherited a divided country. Political divisions, between the left and right, ran deep. In 1967, a group of army officers launched a coup, and Constantine fled into exile in England. When the military regime collapsed seven years later, the new government called a referendum to decide the fate of the country.Some of the population supported the king, but many thought the monarchy was outdated and irrelevant. Finally, in December, 1974, four and a half million people went to the polls to cast their vote. The result was two to one in favour of a republic. Constantine had lost his crown. Jane Wilkinson has been looking through the BBC archives to find out more.Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes