{"id":20355,"date":"2015-08-22T22:39:05","date_gmt":"2015-08-23T02:39:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theredphoenixapl.org\/?p=20355"},"modified":"2015-08-22T22:39:05","modified_gmt":"2015-08-23T02:39:05","slug":"the-greek-debt-crisis-a-misnomer-for-the-european-imperialist-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/redphoenix.news\/es\/2015\/08\/the-greek-debt-crisis-a-misnomer-for-the-european-imperialist-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"The Greek Debt Crisis: A Misnomer for the European Imperialist Crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Anti-austerity<\/a>
Anti-austerity demonstration before the Greek Parliament, July 3, 2015<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

August 2015<\/strong><\/span>
\nHari Kumar<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

1. An Introduction to Greece<\/strong><\/span>
\n2. The Truman Doctrine \u2013 Greece becomes dependent upon the USA after the Second World War<\/strong><\/span>
\n3. The Greek Junta \u2013 Greece by now fully a client state of the USA<\/strong><\/span>
\n4. Capitalist Class of Greece Moves to \u201cDemocracy\u201d and Europe<\/strong><\/span>
\n5. The USA Makes Its Move to Become the World Imperialist Leader – The Character of the European Union \u2013 from pro-USA states to anti-USA coalition<\/strong><\/span>
\n6. The Greek Economic Crisis 2009-2015<\/strong><\/span>
\n7. The Marxist View of “National Debt” under capitalism<\/strong><\/span>
\n8. The Debt Crisis leads to increasing struggle of the growing Greek working class and gives rise to The United Front of Syriza \u2013 the political parties of the left<\/strong><\/span>
\n9. What was the elected programme of Syriza?<\/strong><\/span>
\n10. Elections of 2015 and Negotiations with the Troika<\/strong><\/span>
\n11. Conclusion
\nAPPENDIX: Select Chronology 1975 to 2015<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Synopsis:<\/strong><\/span>
\nAfter the Second World War, Greece was a client state in the Mediterranean of the USA. The revisionist collapse of the Yugoslav communists in the neighbouring state of Yugoslavia was key in this development. Tito\u2019s degeneration into revisionism deprived the minority of the Marxist-Leninist forces in the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) of crucial support. We describe this in a subsequent more detailed article.<\/span><\/p>\n

This article is restricted to the post Second World War development of Greece, up to the present-day debt crisis. It argues that the entire post-war history of Greece was effectively that of a neo-colonial state serving initially the interests of USA imperialism and British imperialism. The Greek people did not have a non-revisionist proletarian leadership that could develop an independent democratic path. The Junta and the imperialist machinations in Cyprus of the island further retarded the people of Greece. Both Greece and Cyprus \u2013 endured military oligarchic dictatorships sponsored by the USA.<\/span><\/p>\n

The later history of Greece became inextricably entwined with the slow but sure evolution of the European imperialist bloc. This bloc took multiple only slowly coalesced, and eventually it later became the European Community. However during its coming into being, it took several class forms. The post-Marshall Plan in Europe had ushered in a dominant USA which fostered the first steps towards a federal Europe. In its hopes to control the European content as a market, the USA was at first successful. During this period the elements of a united Europe adopted a pro-USA comprador position.<\/span><\/p>\n

This is also characterised the initial European Economic Union (EEC). But the Euronationlists finally, and haltingly, moved to release Europe to some extent, from the USA embrace. Following the fall of the former Comecon countries, Germany was able to move into a new market itself. This began a new phase. Now the rising German imperialists used their industrial superiority and new market share to re-vitalise their hegemonic ambitions.<\/span><\/p>\n

Such events were milestones on the road to today\u2019s debacle in Greece. They were the pre-history of the chronic indebtedness of the Greek state.<\/span><\/p>\n

After the Junta \u201cdemocratised\u201d itself, Greece swopped the USA master for that of the EU. The EU progressed to be firmly dominated by the unified single unitary state of Germany, where German capitalists became the dominant faction. German capital exported both capital and industrial exports, including\u2026 to Greece. Over-riding the total market share of Greece accruing to Germany, are the huge debts of Italy and France to Germany \u2013 both at risk of potential default. This underlies the harshness of the German ruling class towards the Greek capitalist representatives in Greece today. Finally, current differences between the International Monetary Fund leader Christine Lagard (representing the USA interests) and the German leaders Angela Merkel and Schauble, show the continuing inter-imperial contradictions. This has engulfed Greece today.<\/span><\/p>\n

1. An Introduction to Greece<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Greece is set in the Eastern corner of the Mediterranean Sea and surrounded by the Aegean Sea:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cGreece has more than 2,000 islands, of which about 170 are inhabited; some of the easternmost Aegean islands lie just a few miles off the Turkish coast. The country\u2019s capital is Athens, which expanded rapidly in the second half of the 20th century. Attik\u00ed (ancient Greek: Attica), the area around the capital, is now home to about one-third of the country\u2019s entire population.<\/span><\/p>\n

(<\/span>http:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/Greece<\/a><\/span>)\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In the modern era industrialisation has been slow, leaving Greece dependent upon agriculture, fishing and tourism. The only segment of industry that could be considered substantial is shipbuilding and related industries:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe manufacturing sector in Greece is weak. \u2026. In the 1960s and \u201970s Greek shipowners took advantage of an investment regime that benefited from foreign capital by investing in such sectors as oil refining and shipbuilding. Shipping continues to be a key industrial sector\u2014the merchant fleet being one of the largest in the world\u2014(but) are extremely vulnerable to downturns in international economic activity, as they are principally engaged in carrying cargoes between developing countries.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

(<\/span>http:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/Greece\/Demographic-trends#toc26455<\/a><\/span>)<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As far as agriculture is concerned, produce is hampered by small peasant holdings, resulting from an early restriction on large land holdings:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201clarge landowners appeared relatively late (with the annexation of Thessaly in 1881) and only lasted till the agrarian reforms of 1917, which abolished big landed property in Greece irreversibly.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

(Mouzelis, Nicols. \u2018Capitalism and Dictatorship in Post-war Greece\u201d; New Left Review; I\/96, March-April 1976).<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In addition dry conditions and poor soil make agriculture at times tenuous.<\/span>
\nIn recent years the European Community has helped with various grant subsidies. Overfishing has hampered that other resource:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cGreece\u2019s agricultural potential is hampered by poor soil, inadequate levels of \u201cprecipitation, a landholding system that has served to increase the number of unproductive smallholdings, and population migration from the countryside to cities and towns. Less than one-third of the land area is cultivable, with the remainder consisting of pasture, scrub, and forest. Only in the plains of Thessal\u00eda, Makedon\u00eda, and Thr\u00e1ki is cultivation possible on a reasonably large scale. There corn (maize), wheat, barley, sugar beets, peaches, tomatoes, cotton (of which Greece is the only EU producer), and tobacco are grown. Other crops grown in considerable quantities are olives (for olive oil), grapes, melons, potatoes, and oranges, all of which are exported to other EU countries. \u2026 Although inefficient, Greek agriculture has benefited substantially from EU subsidies… In general, however, the importance of the agricultural sector to the economy is diminishing\u2026<\/span>
\nGreece\u2019s extensive coastline and numerous islands have always supported intensive fishing activity. However, overfishing and the failure to conserve fish stocks properly, a problem throughout the Mediterranean, have reduced the contribution of fishing to the economy.<\/span>
\nGreece has few natural resources. Its only substantial mineral deposits are of nonferrous metals, notably bauxite.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

(http:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/Greece\/Demographic-trends#toc26455<\/a><\/span>) (http:\/\/www.britannica.com\/place\/Greece\/Agriculture-forestry-and-fishing<\/a><\/span>)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The early development of modern-day Greek capitalism was that of a merchant capital that weaved itself into the matrix of the Ottoman Empire. Both these traders and arising shipping magnates, were based outside of Greece. Being non-resident they could not transfer easily all their capital resources for later industrialisation needed to keep pace with the rest of the European eco<\/span>nomies:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe development of the Greek bourgeoisie must be traced back to the sixteenth century when Greece was under Ottoman rule\u2026. Greek merchants\u2026 accumulated vast fortunes and control (over) Balkan trade and most of the Ottoman empire\u2019s commercial transactions with the industrialising West. \u2026..<\/span>
\nWith the decline of the Ottoman empire in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the Greek bourgeoisie\u2026.contributed to the development of Balkan nationalism. It thus played a crucial role in the Greek war of independence against the Turks (1821). For while the Greek peasantry constituted the main revolutionary force in the war, the bourgeoisie and the intellectuals managed to direct this force towards nationalist goals. \u2026.<\/span>
\nThe first Greek constitutions, for instance, were inspired by the French experience; and although Capo d\u2019Istria and later King Otto tried to implement an absolutist model of government, their efforts were ultimately frustrated.<\/span>
\nOf course, it is true that in the nineteenth century the autochthonous merchant class was rather weak. But its counterpart living abroad, the Greek diaspora merchants and ship-owners, with their formidable financial power, greatly influenced the shaping of most institutions in nineteenth-century Greece itself\u2026 .. these (Greek) merchant communities.. were flourishing both in colonial centres (Alexandria, Cairo, Khartoum, etc.), in the major capitals of ninteenth- century Europe and in Constantinople and Asia Minor.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

(Mouzelis, Nicols. \u2018Capitalism and Dictatorship in Post-war Greece\u201d; New Left Review; I\/96, March-April 1976).<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This large overseas Greek bourgeoisie was already prone to comprador positions. Although it helped transfer some capital to Greece itself, this was largely in the mercantile and finance sectors:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough relatively small by international standards, the Greek diaspora bourgeoisie, by exploiting inter-imperialist rivalries and playing the role of intermediary between metropolitan and colonial centres, managed to master formidable financial resources, some of which were channelled into mainland Greece. However, given its cosmopolitan and mercantile character, as well as the weakness of the indigenous bourgeoisie, these resources contributed to the development of a top-heavy state and a parasitic tertiary sector, geared to support a mercantile and finance capital, rather than to the development of industry and agriculture.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

(Mouzelis, Nicols. \u2018Capitalism and Dictatorship in Post-war Greece\u201d; New Left Review; I\/96, March-April 1976).<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

By the end of the Second World War, the population of Greece can be characterised in the following break-down:<\/span><\/p>\n