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Anastasia Balezdrova

Over the past two years, many commentators and politicians in Greece have tried to explain today's difficult situation of the country with its history. In the great majority of cases, this has led to a strong surge of social unrest: Nobody can forget the improvised gallows and slogans for extreme actions against politicians during the protests of the discontented last year.

However, history can be a great teacher. A professor at Columbia University and a prominent expert on Greek history, Mark Mazower proved it in his lecture on "The vision of Spinelli" Greece and the European crisis," which he delivered before a large number of listeners, who had crowded in two halls and others, who were watching it on the screens in the lobby of the Megaro Mousikis in Athens.

He criticized the Greek politicians who "refuse to accept the blame for the mistakes made in the past" and "take no action against the rise of Golden Dawn, which is very dangerous."

GRReporter presents the main points of his presentation, which provides specific answers to the question: "How have we ended up here?".

"I do not think that the roots of today's crisis in Greece are deep or that convincing explanations for it have been provided so far. Some say the reasons are cultural and that "Greeks are lazy and corrupt. They have always been and will continue to be like that." The media in Northern Europe advocated this theory, but unfortunately, the crisis has shown how little Europeans know each other and how easily they turn to stereotypes.

Of course, the data indicate that the problem of corruption in Greece is serious and is associated with the state mechanism. But it has existed in periods of economic boom and in periods of recession. So, we cannot attribute the current economic situation just to corruption.

Another explanation, which we hear, is that the causes of the Greek crisis are historical and the economic problems have been ongoing since the establishment of the Greek state. This is also true, since we assume that Greece has actually gone through several debt crises. But its role in the world economy and its historical experience can only partly explain the problems it has to solve today.

What we must explore are the political decisions that have taken us to the current crisis."

Mark Mazower returned to the distant 1974 and the change of the political regime after the fall of the military dictatorship in the country. "Many commentators describe it as triumphant and successful. I think too it was successful since a democratic government has been established in Greece after decades of extreme political instability. I do not usually associate this period with the development and flourishing of the private sector."

According to the historian, it is a complex task to specify the exact number of state employees. "There are many legends about the creation of the Greek public sector as well, which various experts often demonize. The data show that government officials numbered 120 thousand in 1974. By 1981 their number had reached 121 thousand when Constantine Karamanlis was in power. The sharp rise began after 1981, when Andreas Papandreou’s PASOK won the elections. Within one year, the number of public workers had already risen  to over 200 thousand and has not decreased ever since. In a second phase of intensive development in the late 1990s and early 2000, when Greece began making efforts to enter the euro zone, the number of public workers increased four times. All this was contrary to the very slow rise in the number of private-sector employees."

Mark Mazower explained that Greece did not apply any of the Western models of development of the private sector, which bring positive economic results. "In Greece, an attempt was made to create a welfare state through the establishment of health centres, decentralization of power, etc. At the same time, the practice of giving bribes has been terminated and the public sector has become a "battlefield" for the two major parties, which alternate in governing the country."

According to Mark Mazower, the Greek public sector is not the only one in Europe, which creates problems for the state. "Things are similar in the rest of Europe to a greater or lesser degree. For me, the problem lies in synchronization. After the fall of the junta in 1974, there was a will to integrate the left into the social life of the country. At the same time, the efforts were aimed at creating a public sector, so that the state guarantees social solidarity. However, at the same time again, this welfare impulse was growing weaker in other countries like the UK and the USA. And it's not because it was the will of their governments, but because the globalization of the economy and markets necessitated it. I.e. Andreas Papandreou was trying to create something that was dying in other countries. And here comes the logical question: How did the Greeks decide that they would be able to deviate from the path that other countries were following?"

According to Mark Mazower, Greece today is faced with three options for dealing with its difficult economic situation. "First, Greece could abandon all efforts to repay its loans and leave the euro zone. Let us put aside the complex legal processes that are associated with it and see what the consequences will be. Some time ago, Joseph Stiglitz told me that this was not such a bad option: In the beginning, there would be chaos but afterwards, with a devalued national currency, Greece could achieve growth through exports. Professor Stiglitz won the Nobel Prize in economics and he knows more than I know, but I think he is wrong in this case. I think Greece needs a stable currency and the European currency is stable at present.

The second option is for Greece to remain in the euro zone but through the establishment of a "joint social front" as SYRIZA proposes. I do not think that Greece is able to achieve growth alone. It is just the opposite. Although I do not like the term "peoples" and "nations" that I read in SYRIZA’s programme, I do not think peoples in Europe are ready to rescue Greece. I think that the public opinion in the north European countries now is that the countries in the South should not be supported so much. Governments are actually making great efforts. Europe would be more democratic if it did not help Greece so much, not the opposite.

The third path is the one that all Greek governments have been following since the start of the crisis. Many things can be said about the measures introduced, but the only thing that is certain is that the majority of Greek society supports that attempt, because it is aware that in the past, the country received very strong political and financial support from its involvement in the European structures."

The historian stressed that the Greek society and the political system have already shown that they are able to form a coalition government with the participation of many parties. "The problem is the politicians themselves, who seem to be completely unable to understand the crisis of their legitimacy. I think this crisis and its resolving are the "key" to dealing with the economic crisis. When the leader of Golden Dawn says its members’ hands are clean, it is not a threat to immigrants but delegitimization of an entire system. The loss of legitimacy is associated with corruption, but its roots are not there but in the apparent failure of the political system. It is clear that Greek politicians cannot take their share of responsibility for the current situation in a non-party manner.

Not one politician has made a statement on behalf of the entire political system to accept at least some responsibility for the mistakes made in the past. Instead, we have heard the expression: "We 'ate' it (the money) together." It was not only unnecessary but was offensive as well. Anyway, the money was not "eaten" by all. Some "ate" more than others did, whereas others had to "eat" and others - not. Most importantly, however, such a view is actually an attempt of the political elite to avoid the responsibilities.

The implications of this are many. First, this political elite cannot speak about the achievements of the past 30 years, and there were some: political stability and prosperity. It can neither lead the society, nor require more sacrifices from it. Instead of sharing these sacrifices, the political elite remains untouched, it blames everyone but itself. Apparently, it is unable to understand how fragile the situation is. The rise of Golden Dawn should upset the political elite more than it seems to be doing at the moment."

Mark Mazower described the events in 1936, when "the whole political system in Greece collapsed and the power passed into the hands of a not charismatic man - dictator Ioannis Metaxas, who actually had no opponent. So, people gradually withdrew from politicians. It is not impossible for us to be on the verge of a similar situation today. Unfortunately, the solution is in the hands of Greek politicians. But will they be able to deal with this challenge, to realize the need of reorganization and renovation? I am not talking about the parties butabout  a new, democratic and creative way for politics."

According to the historian, Greek politicians must do so "not only symbolically" and it should be done this year, which is very important mainly because of the upcoming elections in Germany. "They should avoid pompous phrases. Many people tell me that Greece looks like in a time of war. I do not think so. On the other hand, we listen to the language and phrases from the era of wars, both from the Left and from the Right. SYRIZA wants to create a joint front to punish the traitors, to introduce a new socialist system, etc. I think this is wrong because it leads to polarization and ultimately, to increased violence, as seen especially in the last two years. I understand that this is the only way for some politicians to become protagonists in a drama at a time, when conditions do not allow the expression of great deeds and heroism. Extreme right forces use the same rhetoric. Yes, Greece is not in a state of war, but it has to resolve the crisis, as if it were in a similar situation. It should create a pluralist political coalition to lead the country forward."