The Political and Diplomatic Background to the Metaxas Dictatorship, 1935-36

Abstract

On 4 August 1936, King George II of Greece established a dictatorship under General John Metaxas. The reason given was to prevent 'communism'. This article attempts to explain the domestic policies and the international circumstances that enabled the king to establish the August 4th regime, as it was officially called. Before the dictatorship, the dominant domestic issue in Greek politics was whether the monarchy was absolute or subordinate to parliamentary prerogatives. When, in 1924, a republic was established by a coup and King George went into exile (1925), the constitutional issue became that of republicans versus royalists. The attempt to assassinate Liberal Party leader Eleftherios Venizelos in 1933, and the March Revolt by intransigent republican officers in 1935, both events occurring during a period of great economic distress, triggered a series of political moves which led to a coup by General George Kondylis, followed by a rigged 'plebiscite' and the forced 'restoration' of King George in November 1935. However, George's insecurity after his return made him turn to Metaxas, and in 1936 the alliance between them fused two separate currents, the absolutist tradition of the monar