Ioannis Metaxas
| File:Metaxas.jpg | |
| Prime Minister of Greece | |
| In office 1936–1941 | |
| Preceded by | Konstantinos Demertzis |
| Succeeded by | Alexandros Korizis |
| Personal details | |
| Born | April 12, 1871 Ithaca, Greece |
| Died | January 29, 1941 (aged 69) Athens, Greece |
| Political party | Freethinker's Party |
General Ioannis Metaxas (Greek: Ιωάννης Μεταξάς) (April 12, 1871 – January 29, 1941) was a Greek general and the Prime Minister of Greece during the 4th of August Regime, from 1936 until his death in 1941.
Military career
Born in Ithaca, Metaxas was a career military officer, first seeing action in the Greco-Turkish War of 1897. Following studies in German Empire, he returned to join the General Staff and was part of the modernizing process of the Greek Army before the Balkan Wars (1912–1913), in which he actively participated. He was appointed as Chief of the Greek General Staff in 1913 and was promoted to General in 1916.
A staunch monarchist, he supported Constantine I and opposed Greek entry into World War I. Eleftherios Venizelos, the prime minister, resigned over the refusal of Metaxas to aid the unsuccessful Dardanelles campaign and used the war as the major issue in the elections. When Venizelos won the March 1915 elections, he mobilised the army, but was dismissed by the king. In June 1917, with Allied support and 60,000 Cretan soldiers, the king was deposed and Venizelos came to power, declaring war on June 29, 1917.
Metaxas followed the king into exile, neither returning until 1920.He opposed Anatolian Campaign in Asia Minor. When the monarchy was displaced in 1922, Metaxas moved into politics and founded the Freethinkers' Party in 1923. He temporarily left Greece with the fall of the monarchy shortly afterwards, but later returned and served as a minister under the republic in 1928.
Prime Minister
After a disputed plebiscite George II, son of Constantine I, returned to take the throne in 1935. The elections of 1936 produced a deadlock between Panagis Tsaldaris and Themistoklis Sophoulis. The political situation was further polarized by the gains made by the Communist Party of Greece (KKE). Disliking the Communists and fearing a coup, George II appointed Metaxas, then minister of war, to be interim prime minister on 13 April 1936, and the appointment was confirmed by the Greek parliament.
Widespread industrial unrest in May allowed Metaxas to declare a state of emergency. He suspended the parliament indefinitely and suspended various articles of the constitution. On August 4, 1936 Metaxas declared the 4th of August Regime. The regime's propaganda presented Metaxas as "the First Peasant", "the First Worker" and "the National Father" of the Greeks. Metaxas adopted the title of Arhigos, Greek for "leader" or "chieftain", and claimed a "Third Hellenic Civilization", following ancient Greece and the Greek Byzantine Empire of the Middle Ages.
Patterning his regime on other authoritarian European governments (most notably Italian dictator Benito Mussolini's fascist regime), Metaxas banned political parties, arrested communists, prohibited strikes and introduced widespread censorship of the media.
The Metaxas government promoted various popular measures, such as the 8-hour working day and mandatory improvements to the working conditions of workers. He established the Greek social security fund (IKA), still the biggest social security institution in Greece, and improved the country's defences. For rural areas agricultural prices were raised and farm debts were taken on by the government. Despite these efforts the Greek people generally moved towards the political left, but without actively opposing Metaxas.
In foreign policy Metaxas had a clear pro-British stance. He saw in the Mediterranean the British as a natural ally and their fleet was a major force while the expansionist goals of Mussolini were clearly threatening to Greece. The policy of Metaxas to keep Greece out of WWII was decisively broken by the blunt demands of Mussolini in October 1940. He demanded occupation rights to strategic Greek sites and was met with a curt reply by Metaxas: "Alors, c'est la guerre" ("then it is war"). His reply was encapsulated in Greek popular feeling in the single word "No" (Oxi). "Oxi Day" is still celebrated in Greece each year. On October 28, 1940, Italy invaded Greece from Albania and started the Greco-Italian War.
Thanks to preparations and an inspired defence the Greeks were able to mount a successful defense and counter offensive, forcing the Italians back into Albania and occupying large parts of Northern Epirus (Southern Albania). Metaxas never saw the German invasion of Greece during the Battle of Greece because he died in Athens on January 29, 1941. Metaxas died of a phlegmon of the pharynx which subsequently led to uncurable toxaemia. At the time it was speculated that he was poisoned by the British. He was succeeded by Alexandros Korizis. After the death of Metaxas, the Germans invading Greece encountered much difficulty with the fortifications constructed by Metaxas in Northern Greece. These fortifications were constructed along the Bulgarian border and were known as the Metaxas Line.
To this day, Metaxas remains a highly controversial figure in Greek history. He is reviled by some for his dictatorial state, and admired by others for his popular policies, patriotism, defiance to aggression, and his military victory against Italy.
See also
External links
- Metaxas Project - Inside Fascist Greece Pro-fascist website.