Exhibiting Greek war history: The origin and foundation of the war museum of Athens

ABSTRACT The War Museum of Athens, the first public war museum in Greece, was founded in 1969, during the dictatorship that ruled Greece from 1967 to 1974, but was inaugurated in 1975 after the restoration of democracy. Emerging in a politically charged climate marked by distrust of the military, its establishment provoked skepticism about the institution’s purpose and message. Drawing on archival materials of the time, including photographs and newspapers, this paper describes the period of development of the War Museum of Athens from its conception under the dictatorship rule to its opening after the restoration of democracy. With a focus on the War History of Greeks exhibition which took place at Zappeion in 1968 on the colonels’ first year in power, this article demonstrates how this event provided the conceptual foundation for the War Museum of Athens. The article argues that the War Museum of Athens, although inaugurated in a new political context, inherited the ideological and museological framework of the Zappeion exhibition and tried to reconfigure it. Through continuity in narrative structure, visual elements, and selective historical emphasis, it perpetuated a heroic and defensive vision of Greek history while omitting episodes of internal division.