The following extract is from the Introduction to the book of Professor Anthony Makridimitri entitled "The Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Greece, 1829-2000," published by the Diplomatic and Historical Archives Service of the Foreign Ministry in collaboration with Kastaniotis Publishing, in 2000.

Professor Makridimitri's text appears here without the footnotes included in the original, and having undergone slight changes, mainly with respect to arithmetic data regarding tenures and the individuals who served them.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) ranked first among the seven central services of the Hellenic State founded by means of the royal decree dated April 3, 1833. In fact, at the time it was given the name: "Secretariat with regard to the Royal House and Foreign Affairs".

Similar institutions (e.g., Head Secretary of the State and Secretary General, who, in addition to their coordinating and supervisory role over other ministers, were also directly in charge of the department of the country's foreign affairs) were also provided for during the Greek revolutionary period. Therefore, pursuant to article 22 of the first Greek Constitution - that of 1822, the Epidaurus Constitution - "the Executive Body elects eight ministers, first among them being the Head Secretary of the State, who is also in charge of Foreign Affairs ." Pursuant to article 25 of the Constitution of 1823 (the Astros Constitution), "the Electoral Body elects seven Ministers … and one Secretary General, before whom all foreign affairs are brought." In fact, it was in accordance with these provisions that Theodoros Negris initially assumed the relevant duties. Given, though, that during the Greek Revolution and under the prevailing conditions of war the state had not as yet been established - nor had it been recognized on an international level , nor were there even crudely organized public services available - for all intents and purposes there was no Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Circumstances were significantly ameliorated and affairs were regulated in a more systematic manner when Governor Ioannis Kapodistrias arrived in Greece, on January 12, 1828, and assumed power. Indeed, pursuant to article 41 of the 3rd revolutionary Constitution (Troezena Constitution), of 1827, "the Executive [Power] lies with only one person, called Governor, with various Secretaries of the State under him ." Following the first governmental changes imposed by Kapodistrias , from early February 1829 and on the duties of the Secretary of the State on Foreign Affairs were assumed by Spyridon Trikoupis, whose tenure officially marks the founding of the office of Minister of Foreign Affairs of Greece.

The end of the Kapodistrian period and the arrival of Otto and Regency in Greece, in early February 1833, consolidated the newly established state's central and regional administration, which took on the more definite form it was to have in the years that followed. Particularly, the institutional and organizational big bang in April 1833 resulted in almost all fundamental institutions of the state being restructured tout a coup, including basic central administration services, regional organization of the state, dividing the state into 10 prefectures and 47 provinces and with traditional communities giving way to three classes of municipalities, according to their population, at the first level of local administration.

More specifically, with reference to the central administration structuring of state services, the decree dated April 3, 1833, "with regard to the formation of Secretariats" provided in article 1 that "seven Secretariats are desired" with first the one "with regard to the Royal House and Foreign Affairs ." The duties of the competent Secretary were assumed, or rather retained, since he had already assumed them, by Sp. Trikoupis. From that time, and throughout a period of about 80 years in the 19th Century until early in the second decade of 20th Century, the standard seven central services list or rule of state administration remained unaltered.

According to the Constitution of 1844 (articles 20, 22, 24, and 80), the Secretaries of the State were finally renamed Ministers, and the corresponding state services Ministries. This assumed its concrete form later on by means of fundamental Law No. 33 / June 7, 1846, "with regard to Ministry structure", which was formulated by the Government of Ioannis Kolettis. Pursuant to article 1 of this law, the number and class of the seven classical ministries remained unaltered, as had been determined by the Decree of April 3, 1833, with the exception of their change of name from Secretariats of the State into Ministries. This name has been retained and confirmed in all subsequent constitutional and legislative documents .

However, about twenty years later, by means of Bill No. 7 "with regard to the formation and duties of the government" dated February 4, 1863, their ranking was altered, even though the rule of seven ministries was maintained. Also simplified was the name of the MFA. The first part of its traditional title ("with regard to the Royal House") was removed, whereas the second - "Ministry of Foreign Affairs" - remained, and it is by this name that it has been determined ever since .

The fact that the ranking of the Ministries was altered should not necessarily be taken as signifying reduction in the importance of the foreign policy as opposed to the domestic policy of the country. In the years that followed, rather indicative was the variation in emphasis shown in the commitment to national objectives described by higher priority in economic and diplomatic affairs, rather than war and military parameters of national policy. This is also evident in the general policy practice adopted by both Alexander Koumoundouros and Charilaos Trikoupis over their governmental service. A policy connected to the enlargement of national borders by historical links (integration of the Eptanese Islands into Greece in 1864, of Thessaly and Southern Epirus in 1881) that employed diplomatic rather than military means. On the other hand, the major Cretan Revolution of 1866-69 had an ineffectual outcome.

The consequences of the defeat during the 1897 Greek-Turkish war, the heightening of the Macedonian War starting early in the first decade of the 20th century, and of course the commencement of the Balkan Wars had as a consequence, among other things, not only further variance in the emphasis put on national policy (balanced military and diplomatic factors), but also on internal restructuring of the MFA (into Directorates General) in addition to an increase in foreign missions.

In general, the establishment of Eleftherios Venizelos on the national political scene and the commencement of the reform program gradually increased the number of ministries while further central services were added to the old ones. Thus, in 1911 the Ministry of National Economy was the eighth added to the standard seven ministry list, in 1914 the Ministry of Transport was added, in 1917 the Ministry of Nutrition and Self Sufficiency, as well as the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Relief, and, in 1922, the Ministry of Post, Telegraphy and Telephony, in 1924 the Ministry of Legal Order, in 1935 the Ministry of Employment, in 1936 the Ministry of Merchant Marine, in addition to the Ministries of Press and Tourism. In the same year, by means of emergency Law 43 / August 29, 1936, the position of the "Permanent Deputy Minister to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs" was established, while about ten years later the position of a second deputy minister of "Press and Information to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs" was added by means of legislative decree No. 16, dated April 17, 1964.

The internal structure of services and competencies of the MFA was established over this period (between the wars) on the basis of the fundamental law No. 4592 of 1931, which was formed during the last major tenure of Eleftherios Venizelos as Prime Minister, with Andreas Michalopoulos as Minister of Foreign Affairs.

The central service structuring of the state and the government was rendered systematic for the first time during the post-war period, and within the framework of the new domestic and international state of affairs, by the government of Sofoklis Venizelos with emergency law No. 1671 of 1951. According to article 13 of the law, the number of Ministries came to 16 and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs ranked fourth in the government .
The next major restructuring of government services and bodies was carried out 25 years later, by means of Law No. 400 of 1976, which was formulated following the government changeover, by the government of C. Karamanlis. Pursuant to article 12 of the law, there were 19 ministries and the MFA ranked third . During the same period, the new structure of MFA internal organization was provided for by means of Law No. 419 of 1976.

About ten years later, a new systematization was attempted with regard to the name and class of the Ministries.  Pursuant to article 23 of law 1588 of 1985 on government and government bodies, formulated by the government of Andreas Papandreou, there were 19 Ministries, or rather 20, since one year later one more ministry was added.

Disregarding, finally, changes implemented over the following years with regard to the structure and composition of government services and bodies, and without any special law on the organization of the government having passed, the number of Ministries seems to have settled at 19. This was reconfirmed by the two cabinet reshuffles of the government of Costas Simitis that followed the elections of April 2000.  According to the most recent of those reshufflings, there are 49 members of the government, including, apart from the prime minister, 18 ministers, one minister of state, one alternate minister (at the MFA) and 28 deputy ministers.

Of the 28 deputy ministers, two are at the MFA, the second of which since October 2001, when the position of deputy minister responsible for Issues of Development Aid and International Economic Transactions was created.

The Ministers and their tenures

As stated in the above concise historical retrospective, the MFA was one of the seven founding ministries of the Hellenic State and has been one of the leading levers of Greece's government mechanism ever since. Maintaining its central service and diplomatic missions and delegations throughout the world, the MFA has played a key role in defending Greek interests internationally. This is significant considering the size of the country and the difficulties and problems it has come up against from time to time since National Liberation.

Therefore, it is not surprising that leading political personalities have often assumed and exercised the duties of the Foreign Affairs of the country. In fact, over this historical course and at various historical moments, the roles, capacities and offices of the Prime Minister have often coincided with those of the Minister of Foreign Affairs. One could speak of an outlined, even if vaguely so, rule that describes the Greek governmental tradition: that, apart from bright exceptions, Ministers of Foreign Affairs seem to become Prime Ministers at a certain moment, or if not, then their political status is by all means indisputably powerful.

Still, despite the particularly central, significant role in politics and the history of Greek governments of both the Prime Minister and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, so far the historical diagram of the presence of both institutions has been neither analyzed and studied thoroughly, nor redeemed to an elementary degree. This fact produces a void in historical memory and a deficit in self-knowledge with regard to the nature and evolution of the respective government institutions in the Greek political system.

Lets start at the beginning, though. From 1829 to date, that is, over a period of exactly 173 years, 219 distinct ministerial tenures have been recorded, beginning with that of Sp. Trikoupis starting early in February 1929, and ending with that of George A. Papandreou, the current Minister of Foreign Affairs, who assumed his duties in mid-February 1999 and has been exercising them ever since.

New appointments in ministerial offices that do not, however, apply to temporary appointment of concurrent duties to other members of the government are taken as distinct tenures. Therefore, only distinct appointments and removals of ministers are counted. This category also encompasses those cases where there is concurrent appointment of Foreign Affairs Minister duties to another member of the government, as is ascertained in the corresponding unit of the text, when the Minister up to that time has previously resigned and no other Minister has been appointed.

The number of 219 ministerial tenures over the period of 173 years (1829-2002) presents an average tenure index at the MFA of about 9.5 months. Notably, the corresponding prime ministerial tenures over about the same 174-year period (1828-2002) amount to 171, therefore the relative average index exceeds twelve months. With reference to the individuals who have assumed the duties of the Foreign Affairs Minister over the 173-year period, the number comes to 123. That is, once again starting with Sp. Trikoupis, whose tenure marks the beginning of the historical diagram of Greek Foreign Affairs Ministers, up to G. A. Papandreou, whose tenure is currently in progress, 123 different individuals have been recorded, corresponding to 219 ministerial tenures. Notably, the number of individuals who have assumed the duties of Prime Minister of Greece over the same 174-year term is 90.

These facts firstly point to at least two things: first, that the general index of government instability in Greece has been high, and second, that this index varies to a comparatively higher degree with regard to tenures of Foreign Affairs Ministers, as opposed to tenures of Greek Prime Ministers. This is expected, given that more political importance is attached to the office of the Prime Minister than to that of the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Thus, in their overwhelming majority, ministerial changes follow the changes of Prime Ministers and governments. Only in rare cases does a Minister of Foreign Affairs remain in his office over successive and different governments and Prime Ministers (e.g., in the case of Constantinos Tsaldaris, over the period 1946-50, who was nevertheless the leader of the political party that won the absolute majority of Parliamentary seats in the 1946 elections). Equally rare are the cases where the changes of Prime Ministers are not accompanied by, and to not bring about, a change of the Foreign Affairs Minister.

One more indication is given if the tenures of the alternate Ministers (17) and Deputy Ministers (44), and the permanent caretaker ministers (8) are added to the 219 tenures of Foreign Affairs Ministers. Then a sum of 288 ministerial (in the broadest sense of the word) tenures at the MFA corresponds to the much smaller sum of 171 prime-ministerial tenures over the same period of time.

Besides, of the four basic categories of ministerial positions and offices at the MFA, the oldest and most significant is naturally that of the Minister. Among the others, the oldest institution is that of the Deputy Minister, who surpasses the caretaker ministers in terms of politics and significance in the government, even though it is subsequent to that of the alternate Minister. Despite the distinct reference to the permanent caretaker deputy ministers in the constitutional provision under article 81, paragraph 1, the employment of the relative institution at the MFA was already abandoned in 1968, following thirty years of experience and testing.

In any case, the number of individuals who have assumed the corresponding duties in the government and the ministerial offices is clearly smaller than that of the respective tenures. Thus, while 171 prime ministerial tenures correspond to 90 individuals, and 219 ministerial tenures correspond to 123 individuals, 17 tenures of alternate Foreign Affairs Ministers correspond to 15 individuals, 44 tenures of political Deputy Ministers of Foreign Affairs correspond to 38 individuals, and 8 tenures of permanent caretaker Deputy Ministers correspond to an equal number of persons.

Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Prime Ministers

We have previously referred to the possibility of comparing the office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs with that of the Prime Minister. Notably, of the total number of 123 persons who served as Ministers of Foreign Affairs, no fewer than 48 have served as Prime Ministers of the country at some time in their political career. The fact that about 40% of Greek Ministers of Foreign Affairs have served as Prime Ministers at some time demonstrates beyond any doubt that the two highest governmental offices are closely correlated. The fact that the list of 48 Ministers of Foreign Affairs includes fine personalities that have served as Greek Prime Ministers comes as no surprise. Among others, the list includes: Sp. Trikoupis, Al. Mavrokordatos, I. Kolettis, Theodoros Diligiannis, Epameinondas Deligiorgis, Al. Koumoundouros, Ch. Trikoupis, Georgios Theotokis, Demetrios Rallis, El. Venizelos, Demetrios Gounaris, Alexandros Papanastasiou, Ioannis Metaxas, S. Venizelos, Georgios Papandreou, Panagiotis Kanellopoulos, Georgios Rallis, Constantinos Mitsotakis.

This strong indication of a positive correlation between the two governmental offices does not, however, constitute grounds for the establishment of a corresponding rule. There are equally strong and impressive exceptions of significant Greek Prime Ministers who never served directly as Ministers of Foreign Affairs, either before or after their prime-ministerial tenure. This category includes, among others: I. Kapodistrias, Alexandros Papagos, C. Karamanlis and A. Papandreou. Included in the same category is, for the time being, the current Prime Minister of the country, Costas Simitis.

With this information in mind, one might make a case for the increasing differentiation between government roles and offices, a fact which is linked as much to the gradual particularisation and reinforcement of the office of prime minister within the governmental and political system (primus solus), as to the complexity of the obligations and demands faced by the prime ministerial and ministerial offices. Naturally, this refers to those cases in which the same person assumes both governmental offices. In other words, a long and effective enough tenure in the office of Minister of Foreign Affairs sets the conditions for a serious future claim on the office of Prime Minister, without, though, that being the only or primary condition to that effect. Either way, in history all possibilities remain open. Political power also constitutes by its nature a complex phenomenon lacking deterministic character.

Persons and Institutions

If the persons and in fact the Ministers of Foreign Affairs in particular constitute an essential coordinate of the operation of the overall system of foreign policy of our country, then the historical diagram of their presence in the political leadership of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is no less significant. This significance could be summarized as follows: 

• The 219 ministerial tenures and 123 persons who have served them indicate in total that lasting fluidity and a rather high rate of change characterize the persons who have held the office of the Greek Minister of Foreign Affairs. This is indicative of the larger phenomenon of instability of the government institutions in our country, particularly in past historical periods. 
• The role that some of these persons have played by means of their actions or omissions, in collaboration with, or even in dynamic relation to, the respective prime ministers is not small with regard to the choices and directions of the country's foreign policy at specific historical moments. 
• The office or institution of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the country, as well as that of the Prime Minister, is strongly defined by the political personality of the person exercising it. Studying the nature of the relationship formed between the person and the office or the institution they serve and powers they exercise at various historical junctures is of great interest. 
• In more general terms, however, the persons and the physical presence of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, in addition to the Prime Ministers, place and record their historical contribution in a more comprehensive context [of the system] of Greek foreign and government policy, which they naturally influence to various degrees, according to the case, together with other factors and variables. 
• The very central significance of the foreign policy system with regard to the overall course of the country within historical place and time is significant and useful to the study and comprehension of the role and presence of the personalities of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs. All the more, when by means of their actions and/or omissions they are no less liable, but rather are often directly involved in making choices that bear decisive significance for the historical course and prospects of the country.

printsend