4th of August Regime
The 4th of August Regime, commonly also known as the Metaxas regime, was a dictatorial regime under the leadership of General Ioannis Metaxas that ruled the Kingdom of Greece from 1936 to 1941.
On 4 August 1936, Metaxas, with the support of King George II, suspended the Greek parliament and went on to preside over a conservative, staunchly anti-communist and ultranationalist government under the ideology of Metaxism, which has been described either as an authoritarian conservative system or as a Greek variation of Fascism; a middle position is that it was a regime with a strong Fascist component or a para-fascist regime. Metaxas himself and some contemporary historians have described the government as totalitarian. In its symbolism and rhetoric, the regime took inspiration from Fascist Italy, but it retained close links to Britain and the French Third Republic, rather than the Axis powers.
Being non-partisan, after Metaxas' death in January 1941, the regime hinged entirely on the King. Although Greece was occupied following the German invasion of Greece in April 1941 and the Greek government was forced to go into exile in the British-controlled Kingdom of Egypt, several prominent figures of the regime, notably the notorious security chief Konstantinos Maniadakis, survived in cabinet for several months until the King was forced to dismiss them in accordance with a compromise with the representatives of the old democratic political establishment.
Origins of the regime
Metaxas imposed his regime primarily to fight the turbulent social situation prevalent in Greece in the 1930s, in which political factionalization had disrupted Greek parliamentary democracy. The sinking credibility of the Parliament was accompanied by several coup attempts; a Venizelist putsch failed in March 1935, and in the following October, elections reinforced the Royalist majority, which allowed the exiled King George II to return to Greece.The king re-established the monarchy in the country, but the parliament, split into incompatible factions, was unable to shape a clear political majority and form a government. Meanwhile, the increasing activity of the Communists, whose 15 deputies from the 1936 elections held the balance between 143 Monarchists and 142 Liberals, Agrarians, and Republicans, created a deadlock.
In May 1936, widespread agrarian unrest among tobacco farmers and industrial unrest in the north of the country erupted, which eventually brought General Metaxas to suspend the parliament on the eve of a major strike, on 4 August 1936. Endorsed by the King, Metaxas declared a state of emergency, decreed martial law, annulled various articles of the constitution, and established a crisis cabinet to put an end to the unrest and to restore the social order. In one of his first speeches, Metaxas announced: "I have decided to hold all the power I need for saving Greece from the catastrophes which threaten her."
Thus the Metaxas dictatorship was born, and the period of time which would follow was named after the day Metaxas rose to absolute power: 4 August. The new regime was backed by small extremist political parties, and by conservatives expecting a crackdown on the communists.
Classical influences
The roots of Metaxas' "New State" were sought in Greece's classical history. Metaxas thought Greek nationalism would galvanize "the heathen values of ancient Greece, specifically those of Sparta, along with the Eastern Orthodox Christian values of the Medieval empire of Byzantium". Ancient Macedonia was also glorified as the first political unifier of the Hellenes. As its main symbol, the youth organization of the regime chose the labrys/pelekys, the symbol of ancient Minoan Crete.The traditional Greek values of "Country, Loyalty, Family and Religion", which Metaxas praised repeatedly, were also close to those of the ancient Spartans. The regime promoted the perceived Spartan ideals of self-discipline, militarism and collective sacrifice, while Byzantium provided an emphasis on a centralized state and devotion to the monarchy and Greek Orthodox Church.
External influences
Metaxas considered António Salazar's Estado Novo of Portugal his main inspiration and surrounded himself with elements from this and other dictatorial regimes of the time. Thus, his main ideological slogan was also "New State" and 4 August regime used its own military-like uniforms, greetings, songs and rituals, including the Roman salute.Metaxas' regime also developed characteristics typical of authoritarian states such as 1930s Italy and Germany: the regime's propaganda presented Metaxas as "the First Peasant", "the First Worker" and as "the National Father" of the Greeks. Like his contemporaries Hitler with Führer and Mussolini with Duce, Metaxas adopted the title of Archigos, Greek for "leader" or "chieftain", and claimed that his regime had to lay the foundations for the appearance of a glorious "Third Hellenic Civilization" combining the best of ancient Greece and the Greek Byzantine Empire of the Middle Ages.
Greek totalitarianism
The Metaxas regime sought to comprehensively change Greece, and therefore instituted controls on Greek society, politics, language, and the economy. In each of these policy areas, the Metaxas government seemed more nearly an anticipation of Francoist Spain than to resemble its contemporaries Nazi Germany or Fascist Italy.Attempts at social control
Having come to power intent on restoring public order, Metaxas' state largely achieved this goal, under the supervision of what can be described as its most fascist member, minister of public order Konstantinos Maniadakis. Maniadakis created a second fake "communist party", published a fake Rizospastis and achieved the dissolution of all the communist organizations.Metaxas' policies such as the censorship of the media, the banning of political parties and prohibition of strikes copied contemporary European authoritarian regimes. As its far-right contemporaries Italy and Germany, the Greek State also had its political police force, the Asfaleia, based upon the Gestapo. The objective of Asfaleia was to secure public order.
The regime also repressed the rebetiko music due to the uncompromising lyrics and favoured the traditional Greek folk music. Hashish dens, baglamas and bouzouki were banned, or at least playing in the eastern-style manner and scales. Probably inspired by the Völkisch movement, a massive promotion of the Greek folk music took place, though the radio and public festivals, mainly because of the animosity of the state towards the bouzoukis and the rebetiko music. On this point the Greek communist left agreed, considering the rebetiko as "reactionary".
Soon after its inception the regime severely repressed the communists and leftists. About 15,000 people were arrested and jailed, or exiled for political reasons; some were subjected to torture. Metaxas' regime forced the Communist party underground, and also attempted to dismantle the old system of loyalties of the Royalist and Venizelist parties. Those major forces however remained, as they had for the preceding decades, and re-emerged immediately after the four-year Metaxas regime.
While Metaxas' regime did play up the communist threat in order to justify its repression, the regime is not known to have committed political murders and did not instate the death penalty. Dissidents were, rather, usually banished to tiny islands in the Aegean Sea. For example, the liberal leader George Papandreou was exiled to Andros. The Greek Communist Party, meanwhile, which had already been outlawed, remained intact. Legal restrictions against it finally were ended in 1974 during metapolitefsi.
Arts and culture
Metaxas was educated in the German Empire and admired German culture. He supported the arts. He collaborated with significant intellectual figures of the era, like Stratis Myrivilis, Nikos Kazantzakis, Angelos Sikelianos, Manolis Kalomoiris, Angelos Terzakis, "Nelly's", and others, to promote the ideas of the regime, especially to the youth.Another notable policy was the use and promotion of Demotic Greek in the educational system, instead of Katharevousa. Manolis Triantafyllidis was appointed to create the Demotic grammar used.
The role of the youth
In order to keep and maintain the values of the regime in future years, Metaxas gave birth to the Ethniki Organosi Neolaias.The EON brought together youths of all economic and social strata into one single body. Boys' education emphasized discipline and physical training, while girls were taught to become supportive wives and caring mothers to breed a stronger, healthier new generation. The EON published a fortnightly magazine called Neolaia, which had much influence both in schools and in higher education.
Metaxas' vision was to create, through the youth, the "Third Hellenic Civilization", a continuity of the ancient Greek and Byzantine civilization.
The EON was disbanded by the German-Italian occupying authority in Greece following its vigorous resistance of the invasion.
Nationalism
As in most other totalitarian regimes, 4 August regime adopted a strong nationalistic program: although Metaxas was opposed to the invasion of Asia Minor as part of the Megali Idea, he used strong nationalist language concerning Greek minorities in neighbouring countries and in answering threats from Greece's neighbours in the still volatile southeast Europe. As with many nation states at the time, he used language exalting his people's race.Ethnic and linguistic minorities were persecuted under Metaxas' rule. The regime, however, was tolerant to the Greek Jews, repealing the anti-Semitic laws of previous regimes. A large community of Sephardic Jews was present in the region of Thessaloniki which was annexed by Greece in 1913, and Jews were largely in opposition to Venizelism. Metaxas was firmly opposed to the irredentist factions of the Slavophones of northern Greece, some of whom underwent political persecution due to advocacy of irredentism with regard to neighbouring countries.
Metaxas' regime continued repression of the use of Slavic languages both in public and in private and of expressions of Slavic cultural distinctiveness. During World War II, the Greek-identifying Slavophones fought in the Hellenic Army in defense of Greece, whereas those who didn't, collaborated with the occupational forces following Greece's capitulation.
Again, in contrast to some totalitarian regimes, no mass killings were ever instituted and there is no evidence that any were planned.