Activities and affiliations

Government and administration Greece state institutions 1871–1941 ○ Natural causes

The monarchist anti-communist who established the 4th of August dictatorship

“Then, it is war.”

A Greek military officer turned politician, Metaxas sought an authoritarian national order that joined monarchism to hostility toward parliament. With King George II's support, he suspended parliament in 1936 and established the 4th of August Regime, banning parties and strikes while repressing the left. He also used state intervention and a youth organization to mobilize society, and historians have debated whether his rule is best understood as fascist, authoritarian-conservative, or a regime with a strong fascist component. In 1940 he rejected Italy's ultimatum and led Greece into war, but died in 1941 before the German invasion.

Government and administration Greece state institutions 1885–1941 ✕ Suicide

The Greek prime minister who accepted British aid under invasion

When Germany invaded on 6 April 1941, he rejected the German demand that British forces leave Greece.

Alexandros Koryzis was a lawyer, economist, and banker who helped organize state finance and agricultural credit in Greece. He served as an official and minister under Ioannis Metaxas's authoritarian regime, but became prime minister as an administrator rather than a party politician. After Metaxas's death in January 1941, he led the government in accepting British military assistance and resisting the German invasion, binding Greece's war effort to the Allied coalition. He died by suicide on 18 April, as German forces advanced.

Government and administration Greece state institutions 1888–1968 ○ Died

A liberal statesman at the threshold of liberation and civil war

At Caserta, he agreed that military command after liberation would pass to the British commander, General Scobie.

A Greek liberal politician, Papandreou opposed the monarchy while also confronting the communist movement, combining social reform with firm anti-communism. During the Second World War he led the government-in-exile and, through the Lebanon Conference and the Caserta Agreement, helped establish a framework for resistance participation in government and the integration of armed forces. Returning in 1944 as prime minister of the Government of National Unity, he sought to restore state authority amid British intervention and conflict between EAM and non-EAM forces, a project that gave way to the Dekemvriana and civil war. He later founded the Centre Union and defended parliamentary democracy until his death under house arrest after the 1967 military coup.

Government and administration Greece state institutions 1890–1947 ○ Natural causes

Patron of the restored monarchy and Metaxas dictatorship

On 4 August 1936, George II gave royal authorization to Metaxas as he suspended parliament and established the dictatorship.

George II was the Greek king who pursued the restoration and survival of the monarchy through successive political crises. After returning to the throne in 1935, he authorized Ioannis Metaxas's rise and the dictatorship established on 4 August 1936, joining royal authority to military authoritarianism. He maintained Greece's alignment with Britain during the war and opposed the Italian and German invasions, but his exiled government and post-liberation campaign for a royal return placed him in conflict with the resistance forces and left a contested political legacy. He died soon after returning to the throne in 1946.