Center Union
Encyclopedia
The Centre Union was a Greek
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

 political party, created in 1961 by George Papandreou, senior.

The party was elected to power in 1963, with Papandreou as Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Greece
The Prime Minister of Greece , officially the Prime Minister of the Hellenic Republic , is the head of government of the Hellenic Republic and the leader of the Greek cabinet. The current interim Prime Minister is Lucas Papademos, a former Vice President of the European Central Bank, following...

. In 1965, King Constantine
Constantine II of Greece
|align=right|Constantine II was King of Greece from 1964 until the abolition of the monarchy in 1973, the sixth and last monarch of the Greek Royal Family....

 forced Papandreou from the office following the Apostasia of 1965
Apostasia of 1965
The terms Apostasia or Iouliana or the Royal Coup are used to describe the political crisis in Greece that centred around the resignation, on 15 July 1965, of Prime Minister Georgios Papandreou and the appointment, by King Constantine II, of successive Prime Ministers from Papandreou's own...

plan, designed by him and executed by Center Union's politician Konstantinos Mitsotakis. He then formed a new government using the apostates,
ex-members of EK, and installed Georgios Athanasiadis-Novas
Georgios Athanasiadis-Novas
Georgios Athanasiadis–Novas was a Greek lawyer, politician and Prime Minister.Born in Naupactus, he obtained his law degree from the University of Athens...

 as prime minister. Athanasiadis attempted to gain a vote of confidence in parliament, but the EK party was split in two
Apostasia of 1965
The terms Apostasia or Iouliana or the Royal Coup are used to describe the political crisis in Greece that centred around the resignation, on 15 July 1965, of Prime Minister Georgios Papandreou and the appointment, by King Constantine II, of successive Prime Ministers from Papandreou's own...

, and a political crisis ensued that led to the period of the Greek military junta of 1967-1974
Greek military junta of 1967-1974
The Greek military junta of 1967–1974, alternatively "The Regime of the Colonels" , or in Greece "The Junta", and "The Seven Years" are terms used to refer to a series of right-wing military governments that ruled Greece from 1967 to 1974...

.

The Centre Union Party was the last Venizelist
Venizelism
Venizelism was one of the major political movements in Greece from the 1900s until the mid 1970s.- Ideology :Named after Eleftherios Venizelos, the key characteristics of Venizelism were:*Opposition to Monarchy...

 party to hold power in Greece. The party nominally continued to exist until 1977 (after the Junta it was known as the Center Union - New Forces
Center Union - New Forces
Centre Union – New Forces was the continuation of the Centre Union party of George Papandreou after the military junta...

), when its successor Union of the Democratic Centre (EDIK) party was created. Konstantinos Mitsotakis, who had defected the EK in 1965, formed a rival Venizelist party, known as the "Party of New Liberals
Party of New Liberals
The Party of New Liberals was a shortly lived liberal political party in Greece.The party was founded by Constantine Mitsotakis in 1977. It took part in only one election, that of 1977, where it obtained 1.08% of the vote and two seats in the Hellenic Parliament .The New Liberals merged into the...

", which merged with New Democracy
New Democracy (Greece)
New Democracy is the main centre-right political party and one of the two major parties in Greece. It was founded in 1974 by Konstantinos Karamanlis and formed the first cabinet of the Third Hellenic Republic...

in 1978.
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