La Marx International

A new revolution of the workers and the people is sweeping through Greece with the outbreak of the massive and historic rallies that took place on February 28, 2025, on the occasion of the second anniversary of the Tempi train accident in which 57 people died.

The mobilizations against the government of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotákis and the New Democracy Party are of historic proportions with more than 260 cities and towns across the country, and in more than 125 cities abroad. Millions of people mobilized in the largest strike rallies in Greece's modern history, with more than 1 million people in Greece, more than 300,000 in Thessaloniki; and hundreds of thousands more in the other cities of the country.

The mass mobilizations took place in the framework of a 24-hour general strike that left the state, and the country's economy paralyzed. The unions called for a general strike, but the initial calls were overtaken by the generalized will of the working class and the people to participate in an impetuous and massive mass process. This new revolution is a recurrent February that takes up the revolution started by the Greek people in the anti-Memorandum movement that developed between 2010-2015 against the capitalist governments that were entering into Memorandums of Understanding with the European Central Bank (ECB), the European Union (EU) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The anti-memorandum movement was carried out with more than 9 general strikes confronting the policy of the Syriza government, which came to power presenting itself as a "radical left", and betrayed the hopes that the people had placed in them by governing for the "troika" (ECB-EU-IMF).

A revolution with workers' methods

The unprecedented scale of the demonstrations shows that we are in the midst of a new February revolution in which the working class and the poor strata of Greek society have now decisively entered the historical scene and are determining events in the country. This irruption of the working class and the people on this scale is the most consistent and dangerous opposition to the government and the capitalist regime throughout the country, which has placed the New Democratic government on the defensive and in crisis. This combination of economic crisis, crisis of the ruling classes, and irruption of the working class and the people is what characterizes a revolutionary situation, the one that Greece is now going through, which joins the third revolutionary wave that is crossing the world led by the peoples of Ukraine, Palestine, Yemen, Syria, Rojava, etc. among others.

While the demonstrations stem from an event that seemingly does not question the capitalist regime and government that was the Tempi rail disaster in March 2023 that resulted in the deaths of 57 people and injuries to more than 85, making it the deadliest train accident since 1968. But the workers and the people took advantage of these calls to develop a massive protest surpassing the leaderships, and the calls that were originally raised. This has hit the New Democracy government of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

In turn, the historic rallies refuted all those analysts and sectors of the left who spoke in reference to the electoral victory of New Democracy of a "turn to the right of Greek society". Now he has made it clear that there is no "turn to the right" and has categorically refuted the social democratic left and Stalinists who spoke of the "defeat" of the anti-memorandum movement of 2010-2015. That February revolution was betrayed and diverted by Syriza, but it was not defeated, the working class remained intact for the reason why the working class has come out with everything overcoming the betrayal of Syriza with a new activism that is developing outside the old leaderships.

The mobilizations of February 28 framed in a massive general strike called by the unions imply that the Greek revolution in a recurrent February with workers' methods. The government tries to threaten dismissal and violence to cause fear in the ranks of the workers, which they combine with repression and the deployment of security forces in the streets, but the people are not intimidated and remain in the streets for hours, with admirable perseverance, showing the real relationship of forces between the classes that exist and exposing the political and trade union leaderships of the working class that are coming betraying the struggle of the people.

The revolution lays bare the crisis of the left

The government tried to attack the mass mobilization to disperse the meeting. With methods typical of all capitalist governments he sent small groups of provocateurs to justify the repression of the police. But the plan failed completely and despite the riots and repression there were no deaths due to the composure and maturity of the columns of workers' and people's demonstrators who stoically endured the chemicals and guaranteed the orderly and safe withdrawal of children and the elderly. Thousands of young people mobilized to Syntagma Square and returned to the Parliament building raising their hands in the air to separate themselves from the provocateurs, an image that illustrates the revolution.

The mobilizations raised the slogan of "Murderers!", but as they developed due to their great magnitude combined with the scandalous attempt to break up the demonstration by the police, they resulted not only in the reappearance of the slogan "Murderers!", but also in the spontaneous appearance of the slogan "Resign!" This slogan unmasked all these "anti-political" speakers, and expressed in a concrete and simple way the question of power. From then on, panic has intensified in government and ruling class circles, they had a policy at first of minimizing the demonstration with a "nothing has happened here," and they had to admit the historical significance of the demonstrations.

But it is not only the mobilizations of the 28th that have put the government in crisis. They have also laid bare the enormous crisis of the left in Greece that is verified with the politics of groups such as the social democratic PASOK, the reformist SYRIZA coalition, or the New Left coalition, the latter composed of 11 deputies that broke with Syriza. All these groups propose to present a motion of censure against the government in Parliament, a treacherous policy that tries to make the people place expectations on bourgeois institutions. The trade union bureaucracy of the Trade Union Confederation of Greek Workers (GSEE) was forced by pressure from the rank and file to announce a 24-hour general strike for 28 February, but they have no policy of continuing this struggle, let alone raising slogans of "resignation" to the government.

Nor do the leaders of the Stalinist Greek Communist Party (KKE) raise the slogan of resignation, which in fact implies a boycott of the deepening of the struggle and the question of power. The treacherous policies of both the Social Democrats, such as Stalinists, and the trade union bureaucracy are the expression in Greece of the world crisis of the Left which in all countries refuses to raise the question of the fall of capitalist governments, and to replace them with a workers' and people's government. The same has happened in the case of France, where the people put Macron's government on the ropes, but no left-wing group raised the slogan of a workers' and people's government. All these leaderships collaborate with the bourgeoisie and are ready to promote a tactic of deactivating the movement, cloaked in a talk of "struggle".

For a revolutionary way out for Greece

In the face of this treacherous attitude of the trade union leaders and politicians of the left, the one who has played a more dignified role is the Association of Relatives of the Victims of Tempi, whose most militant figure is the president Maria Karystianou. The attitude of the Association with its militant position has gained prestige among the working and young masses, exposing the social democratic, or Stalinist, political and trade union leaderships. It is essential that the activists of the Association continue their "militant action" for the continuation of the movement, and to deepen the process.

From La Marx International we extend our broadest solidarity with the workers and the people who are carrying forward the Greek revolution. The thousands of workers, youth, activists, who are developing this revolutionary movement need all the support of Marxists, including most especially the militants and brave parents and relatives of the unfortunate victims of Tempi. The Greek revolution, as part of the European revolution led by the workers and people of Ukraine, is at the forefront of the struggle against capitalism, and for Global Socialism.