People of the Revolution and the USSR

Greece state institutions Counter-revolutionary forces 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.

Counter-revolutionary forces 1891–1957

A military leader between wartime resistance and anti-communist politics

In November 1942, he committed his forces to the Gorgopotamos operation, where British saboteurs joined Aris Velouchiotis's ELAS fighters.

A former Hellenic Army officer, Napoleon Zervas founded the National Republican Greek League (EDES) in 1941 and led non-communist resistance to the Axis occupation. In 1942 he cooperated with the British Special Operations Executive and ELAS in the destruction of the Gorgopotamos bridge, but soon shifted from republicanism toward loyalty to the monarchy as British support and confrontation with the communist movement became decisive. After liberation, he carried his wartime military authority into right-wing politics and public-order administration during the Greek Civil War.

Greece state institutions Counter-revolutionary forces 1893–1972 ○ Natural causes

Architect of the dictatorship's security apparatus

In 1940, the police deployed a counterfeit KKE leadership and forged Rizospastis to confuse the party's members.

A former Greek Army officer, Konstantinos Maniadakis was a central official of Ioannis Metaxas's 4th of August dictatorship, organizing its security state and anti-communist repression. He combined the Asfaleia's intelligence network with torture and island exile to break the KKE's public activity and disable much of its leadership. In 1940, the police created a counterfeit KKE leadership and forged edition of Rizospastis to confuse party members. After liberation, he converted anti-communism into political capital and served as a parliamentarian, while his responsibility under the dictatorship went largely unaccounted for.