Ioannis metaxas biography of michael

Greek military officer and politician (1871–1941)

Ioannis Metaxas (12 April 1871 – 29 January 1941) was a Greek military officer and politician who was dictator of Greece from 1936 until his death in 1941. He governed constitutionally for the first four months of his tenure, and thereafter as the strongman leader of the 4th of August Regime following his appointment by King George II.

Born to an aristocratic family in Ithaca, Metaxas took part in the Greco-Turkish War of 1897 and the Balkan Wars (1912–13), and quickly rose through the ranks of the Hellenic Army. As a monarchist during the National Schism, Metaxas unsuccessfully opposed Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos and Greece's entry in World War I; he was exiled to Corsica in response in 1917. On his return, Metaxas moved into politics and founded the Freethinkers' Party, but had only limited success under the Second Hellenic Republic.

Metaxas was appointed prime minister in April 1936, a year after the Greek monarchy was restored. With the support of King George II, Metaxas initiated a self-coup and established an authoritarian, nationalist, and anti-communist regime, which Metaxas himself and some historians called totalitarian. The ideology and system associated with his rule, Metaxism, has been described as a form of Fascism, or a conventional authoritarian-conservative dictatorship, or a regime with a strong fascist component.

On 28 October 1940, Metaxas rejected an ultimatum imposed by the Italians to surrender, committing Greece to the Allies and bringing the country into the war. He died in January 1941, before the German invasion and subsequent fall of Greece.

Military career

Ioannis Metaxas was born in Ithaca in 1871. His family was inscribed in the Libro d'Oro of the Ionian islands, previously a Venetian possession, while its root

Ioannis (Michael) Metaksas was born in Ithaca on 12 April 1871 and died in Athens on 29 January 1941. There was a senior officer in the Greek Army and then prime minister and dictator (1936-1941). Took Part in the Balkan wars and the 1917 banished to Corsica. With the return of the founded the party of FreeMinded, which has managed several times to enter the House together but low rates. In 1936, following various circumstances, he was appointed prime minister of Greece, in place of the deceased Dermetzi and then it pioneered the imposition of dictatorial “scheme of 4 August, ruling until his death in 1941. Stayed in the history for the negative reply to the Italian fascist ultimatum of 28 October 1940, and rapid military preparation of Greece in view of the Hellenik-italian war and the German invasion in Greece. As a military had played an important role in the Balkan wars and in the so-called national division.

Table of contents :
Cover
Half Title
Title Page
Copyright Page
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations
Preface and Acknowledgements
Introduction
PART I Formative Years: School, Military Training, Cultural and Political Influences
1. Origins and Formative Years
2. Early Military Career
3. The 1897 Greek–Turkish Thessaly War
4. The European Experience: The Berlinkriegsakademie, 1899–1903
PART II Soldiering and Diplomacy: Rapid Professional Advancement and Growing Political Involvement, 1910–25
5. The Balkan Wars, 1912–13
6. The Great War, 1914–18
7. Exile and Return, 1917–20
8. Entry into Politics and Second Exile, 1920–24
9. The National All-Party (Ekoumeniki) Government
PART III Prelude to Power: The Momentum of Leadership
10. Greece in the 1930s
11. Political Party Leader, Prominent Member of Parliament, and Rivalry with Venizelos
12. Metaxas becomes Prime Minister
13. On the Eve of War
PART IV Radical Reformer and Wartime Leader, Architect of Military Victory
14. The Nature of the 4th August Regime
15. How Others Saw Metaxas and His Regime
16. Assessments and Conclusion
Index

Citation preview

POPULAR AUTOCRACY IN GREECE 1936-41

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POPULAR AUTOCRACY IN GREECE 1936-41 A Political Biography of General Ioannis Metaxas

P.]. Vatikiotis Emeritus Profissor ofNear East Politics, University ofLondon

I~ ~~o~:!;n~~~up LONDON AND NEW YORK

First Published 1998 ~Y FRANK CASS PUBLISHERS. Published 2014 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY, 10017, USA Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

Copyright © 1998 P. J. Vatikiotis British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data: Vatikiotis, PJ. (Panayiotis]erasimo~, 1928Popular autocracy in Greece, 1936-41: a political biography of General Io

Greek general and dictator.

Ioannis Metaxas (1871–1941) was a Greek general, statesman, and dictator. Born on the island of Ithaca on 12 April 1871, he graduated from the Military Academy in 1890. In the Greek-Turkish war of 1897 he served in the staff of the heir to the throne, Constantine. With the support of Constantine he went to Berlin to continue his military studies (1899–1903), and when he returned to Greece took part in the reorganization of the army. When World War I broke out in 1914, he was second in command in the general staff, and during the dispute between Prime Minister Eleutherios Venizelos (1864–1936) and King Constantine (r. 1913–1917 and 1920–1922), Metaxas, promoted to chief in 1915, sided with the latter and resigned. Following the flight of the king in 1917 Metaxas went to Italy (June 1917–November 1920). When the royalists came to power in 1920 he returned to Greece. A staunch royalist with close ties to King Constantine, he nevertheless voiced his opposition to the king's plans for a Greek military campaign in Asia Minor. He foresaw the danger of a disastrous defeat, which happened in August 1922 and resulted in the expulsion of 1.3 million Greeks from Turkey.

In 1922 Metaxas moved into politics and founded the Freethinkers' Party. In the 1926 election his party won fifty-four seats in the parliament but it did not repeat that success in the subsequent elections. In the 1936 election he polled only 4 percent and elected seven deputies. That election produced also a political stalemate because none of the two major political blocs (royalists and republicans) had the majority. In March 1936 King George II (r. 1922–1923 and 1935–1947) appointed Metaxas minister of war, and when the prime minister, Constantine Demertzis (1876–1936), died, the king appointed Metaxas as prime minister on 13 April 1936. On 4 August 1936 General Metaxas, using as a pretext a general strike that was scheduled for the