Greece

Counter-revolutionary forces 1871–1941 ○ Natural death

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.

Non-Soviet revolutionary 1905–1945 ✕ Suicide after isolation

Organizer of a mass partisan war against occupation

In Domnista in 1942, he led a small mountain guerrilla band and proclaimed the emergence of ELAS.

Born Athanasios Klaras, Aris Velouchiotis was a Greek communist activist who became the key organizer linking the National Liberation Front, EAM, with its military arm, ELAS, during the occupation. In 1942 he formed a small guerrilla force in the mountains of Roumeli and built its early base by combining strict discipline with mass politics. Joint actions such as the destruction of the Gorgopotamos viaduct demonstrated the potential of armed resistance, while EAM-ELAS’s growing dominance also sharpened conflict with rival resistance groups and Britain. After the Varkiza Agreement he rejected demobilization, broke with the party leadership, and died isolated in 1945; the communist movement later restored his standing.

Non-Soviet revolutionary 1922–2011 ○ Natural death

The resistance fighter who brought down an occupation symbol from the Acropolis

On the night of 30 May 1941, Santas and Manolis Glezos climbed the Acropolis and tore down the Nazi flag.

Apostolos Santas was a Greek resistance fighter remembered for tearing down the Nazi flag on the Acropolis with Manolis Glezos during the Second World War. Their action became an early public symbol of resistance to the occupation, and German authorities sentenced both men to death in absentia. Santas later joined EAM and ELAS and fought the Axis occupation, but after liberation he was sent into internal exile because of his left-wing politics, including to Ikaria and Makronisos. He escaped via Italy, received political asylum in Canada, and returned to Greece in 1962.