In 1967, the Greek army overthrows King Constantine, and sets up a military dictatorship. The monarchy, however, was not officially abolished until 1973. The crisis in Cyprus (see the item just below) leads to the collapse of the military government and return to democracy in November 1974 under Prime Minister Karamanlis.

In July 1974, a military coup on Cyprus deposed President Makarios. The coup was led by the Greek Cypriot National Guard. Cyprus is made up of both people from Greece and Turkey. In reaction to this, Turkey landed military forces on the island. The end result was a split of the island into separate states, one Greek, the other Turkish.

Spain also saw student protests in the 1967 and '68, but these were harshly put down by the police forces of the dictator Franco. Franco had ruled Spain since his 1939 victory in the Spanish civil war. In November 1975, Franco dies. After a period of uncertainty, King Juan Carlos re-established the monarchy in Spain and created a stable, democratic government.

In 1969, Colonel Gadafi overthrows the monarchy in Libya and establishes a republic.

Arab-Israeli tensions see the break out of two major wars, the Six-Day War in 1967 and the Yom Kippur War in 1973. In the 67 war, better-trained and equipped Israeli forces quickly defeated their Arab opponents. However, the 73 war saw much tougher opposition from Egypt, and Israeli forces took heavy losses before a cease fire was called. Golda Meir becomes prime minister of Israel in 1969. In Egypt, Anwar Sadat becomes president in 1970, taking over from Nasser.