By P.J. Vatikiotis

In characterizing the Greek political experience since Independence, I ventured some twenty years ago the following remarks about the Metaxas episode:

The mutual interdependence of army officers and politicians introduced a new factor into Greek politics in this century, reminiscent of civil military relations in the Middle East. It contributed to the further erosion of parliamentary government, which in any event was delicate implantation in difficult soil. The prolonged dictatorship of General Metaxas (1936-1941) meant atrophy of civilian institutions. At best one could argue that it was headed by en educated general who from the turn of the century had been versed in the ways of Greek politics.

A combination of fascist-inspired National Socialism and religious fanaticism served as the basis of the Metaxas regime and the background to his ‘August 4th’ New Era. Typically, forced social reform for the improvement of the conditions of the urban and rural lower classes was accompanied by a police state system, so that Greeks of all classes and occupations were made even more dependent on the state.

Paramilitary youth organizations and other corporatist structures of a dictatorial government forced an alliance between the petit bourgeoisie, traditionalist and individualist small landowning farmers, the army, and the church. The army was purged clean of all republican officers. The power and authority of the old landowning upper class had been eroded by the liberal experiment of Venizelos after 1910. Now the liberal, middle class followers of Venizelos were decimated by the Megalos Kybernitis- the Great Leader, Metaxas.

The most pernicious legacy of the Metaxas dictatorship was that of political atrophy and its by-product, political irresponsibility: a recourse by Greek politicians to extralegal and extra institutional means for the attainment of both their political and their most selfish personal ends. Whereas Venizelos toward the end of his career cheapened the meaning of parliamentary democracy by dispensing extensive patronage among army officers and by personalizing party political strife, Metaxas undermined the system further by suspending it for five years.