Greece under the Metaxas Dictatorship (1936-1941) - the 4th of August Regime

[@HistoryHustle]

Interwar Greece before Metaxas: kzbin.info/www/bejne/rXy8iWWCg7pjq9E The Axis Occupation of Greece: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iKnEd6aHorainaM

[@marcoskehl]

👍 Obrigado! 🇧🇷

[@HistoryHustle]

@@marcoskehl 👍

[@dimitriosfromgreece4227]

I'm not kidding, but METAXAS was my grandfather's best friend my grandfather was General and friend of metaxas my dad has told me everything

[@advikalok5557]

@@dimitriosfromgreece4227 Thats very cool

[@dimitriosfromgreece4227]

@@advikalok5557 thanks ❤️

[@Chris-sm2uj]

We are taught in schools that Metaxas was a dictator but he also resisted the Italians. People in Greece hail Metaxas as both a dictator and a hero.

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for sharing this!

[@Hypernefelos]

He's a curious figure in Greek history. From what I recall, back in the 90s, we learned that his regime was fascist and of course fascist = bad, but that was overshadowed by pride in standing up to the bigger fascists in Italy.

[@dimitrisg45]

@@Hypernefelos not fascist, but nationalist . Big difference . Only commies hate him ...

[@Hypernefelos]

@@dimitrisg45 I'd say anti-communist authoritarian rather than fascist, but he was referred to as fascist at school. Then again, one could describe Franco the same way and he's also commonly considered fascist.

[@Pavlos_Charalambous]

@@dimitrisg45 Fascism was an ideology, nothing to do with the modern use of the word. And Metaxas regime was copying allot from fascism and Nazism ( those are two different ideologies) For example the Nazi salute or the personality cult of the leader

[@metaxist]

''Therefore, for us Greeks, the problem is not how we will stay in parliamentarism, but through which door we will leave it. Through the door of Communism or through the door of the nation state?'' ~Ι.Μetaxas

[@Acoisalinda]

Excellent

[@HistoryHustle]

Interesting quote.

[@MrPro897]

Metaxas did a good job in rebuilding the Greek military. Greek Army in 1941 was 200,000 men strong equipped with submachine guns, heavy artillery and trucks. Metaxas line was a series of fortification in Northern Greece to protect against Bulgaria.

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for sharing. Today in 1936 his regime was founded.

[@Averof8234]

If he had manages to get Greece some moderate industry we could have clapped Italy

[@MaxStArlyn]

If you want the truth about this history, look to what Dr. Mathew Raphael Jonson has to say on this.

[@christopherellis2663]

" ...expected a quick victory..." History's most famous line.

[@HistoryHustle]

Fair point.

[@rudolphguarnacci197]

And, "The troops will be home by Christmas." Yeah okay.

[@taurongrful]

It is said that Metaxas reply to Grazzi was “Alors, c’est la guerre.” (roughly translated from French to English as "Then, it is war.") Above information is given with reservation in case it is not historically accurate. Very nice video!

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks!

[@theonemesis5217]

It hasn't "Being said"....HE DID! It is historically proven, and in fact in between words he also called him "Monsieur"...."Sir".....

[@ellinakias6440]

Metaxas is recognized as a dictator but we also accept he did a lot of good thinks for the country and yes one of them is repelling the Italians. Overall he is respected by most Greeks as both a politician and a General

[@HistoryHustle]

Thank you for sharing this.

[@theodorossarafis7370]

Metaxas is one of the most significant figures in the modern history. He is considered a genious and as the Germans used to say when he was a student in the War School "if you have a problem go to Metaxas to find the solution". During his regime he took a lot of social measures that assisted the impoverished with workers housing, national market, reduced interest rates and many more.

[@HistoryHustle]

I understand. Thanks for replying.

[@AALavdas]

Great video! One correction: he said neither "No" nor "Oxi". He said «Alors, c'est la guerre!». But the meaning was "No", it was a negative answer to the request. Hence, "No" became the word that symbolized this idea.

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for sharing this additional information.

[@RadRat1138]

French for "it is war, then"

[@XHollisWood]

Stefan, another great nugget of forgotten history that shaped a country’s future!!! Thank you for sharing 🥃🥃🥃 Cheers ✌️

[@HistoryHustle]

Cheers!

[@AALavdas]

Not forgotten at all, actually -maybe not so well known outside Greece. Great video.

[@davidoliver5582]

dude I wish you were my history teacher in high school. I would still love history then as now, but you as a staff member would have made us history nerds cool.

[@HistoryHustle]

Nice to read. Thanks.

[@thesoundinyourhead1782]

Because he put in jail the communists, Greece was able to win italians. You only have to look what communists exactly did during Greco-Turkish war to understand it

[@HistoryHustle]

Please explain.

[@thesoundinyourhead1782]

@@HistoryHustle OK, I will try, sorry in advance for my bad English. First you have to see how Greek communist party was created and evolved. Greece's borders till 1912 were in Thesalia, South of Olympus mountain. Macedonia, Epirus and Thrace were still occupied by Ottoman empire. However Greeks continued to live there as they did in Asia minor. A substantial minority that used to live in Thessaloniki (capital of Macedonia and top5 Ottoman cities) was the Jews. Who had created the "Federation", a socialist labor federation. Their members have good relationship with Young Turks who also were in Thessaloniki and had their quarters. They had good relationship with Balkan (and Russian) communist parties as well, like the Bulgarian. Both, geopoliticaly speaking, were Greece's enemies. Bulgaria since 1870s with the promulgation of exarchate and st. Stefano treaty, was coveting Macedonian territories from Greeks backed by Russia that since Great Catherine, wanted access in mediterranean sea and Bulgaria, as a slavophone country was the key. Young turks on the other hand wanted to establish a new constitutional Ottoman-turkish federation. After Balkan wars (1912-1913) with the big winners being Greeks extending their borders 60-70% and liberating Macedonia, Federation even helped Young turks' cup against Sultan in Constantinople in 1913. Since Greece was ruling Macedonia and its capital, Greeks lefties took control also of "Federation" with many old Jewish members retaining their position (most prominent figure being Avraam Benaroya). Now Federation was named SEKE (1918). At the same time though, another important event was taking place, that of Russian civil war, with Soviets winning. Their geopolitical goals were the same tho, access on mediterranean sea. So, that makes SEKE a fully dependent organization on other powers' control. During Greco-Turkish (1919-1922) war, they did everything in possible to sabotage the military campaign of Greek army in asia minor. They were calling young men on desertion either in Greek kingdom or Smyrna occupation's zone. They were throwing flyers saying "Imperialist Greeks out of Smyrna, Yes on Greco-Turkish friendship", flyers that kemal used as psyops, throwing them from airplanes. There were even incidents with them participating on battles on purpose in oder to call for withdrawal throwing their guns. Count on that, that at one point Soviets allied with Young turks & Kemal, helping them enormously by borrowing and offering military equipment. Is there any evidence that proves their planned methodical attempt to sabotage Greece's Asia minor campaign? Yes, an article of Nikos Zachariadis on Rizospastis (most famous communist paper), a prominent figure for commies and a soviet spy, who was put in jail by Metaxas in 1936 and responsible for civil war later, states this: The Asia minor military campaign was not only against new-Turkey but also against the vital interests of Greeks. That's why we didn't only get sad of the bourgeoisie's(*) defeat but we also aimed it (!). (on another paragraph) If we hadn't not lost in Asia minor, turkey would be a dead country by now and Greece BIG (with irony). Our "freedom" would be based on Turks' enslavement and we would never accept that. *bourgeoisie: in Smyrna, a city populated by Greeks in majority, there was a huge cultured rich class. Just for clarification: Asia minor campaign happened to protect the Greeks of Asia minor and eastern thrace that already since 1914 were facing a genocide by young turks along with Assyrians and armenians.

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for sharing this!

[@vgiannakos]

@@thesoundinyourhead1782 Historically correct and very insightful text for the events of that era. Σωστός, συνυπογράφω.

[@Timrath]

I went to school in the 80s. There was no mention of Metaxas being a dictator. My grandfather was very upset about that, and he told me to tell my teacher that Metaxas was a dictator. I did what my grandfather told me... "Shut up", is what my teacher replied. My father took part in EON. I asked him a couple of times what that was like. He never wanted to talk about it.

[@Panos-xo9rc]

Yessir,those old timers back in the 80's remembered very well what was all about,and many of them didn't want to swallow the Forgetit pill...good times...

[@MBrln-no8vd]

There are always people who maintained their sanity and principles even the whole society turned into thugs supporting fascists.

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for sharing.

[@jimspanos]

During the 80's in Greek schools, Metaxas was presented clearly as a dictator, but also as the organizer of the Greek defenses that lead to the successful Greco-Italian war. As is evident from your story @Timrath, it seems that the political viewpoint of each individual teacher must have played a role on which actions of the dictator Metaxas were underlined during teaching. Let's not forget that in the 80's, political passions in Greece were pretty high and many teachers that had memories from the WW2 and the Civil War were still teaching.

[@weirdo9958]

Ο παππούς σου ήταν προδότης

[@Pologram]

Brother OXI is just a slogan that remained in history to represent this moment. Metaxas actually replied in French, as an official language of diplomacy, “alors c’est la guerre” - then, it is war.

[@Pologram]

You can read various sources about it stating the following: On October 28th, 1940, Metaxas was visited by Italian Ambassador to Athens Emanuele Grazzini with a demand for right of passage and occupation of certain Greek military sites by Italy. Metaxas responded immediately, in French: "Alors, c'est la guerre" This entered popular imagination as “OXI” (no), and is the reason for today’s celebration.

[@HistoryHustle]

Believe I mentioned he replied in French.

[@Pologram]

@@HistoryHustle nothing against you it’s just an attempt on giving you more specific info

[@jokodihaynes419]

People in Greece hail Metaxas as both a dictator and a hero my greek friend in college told me once

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for sharing.

[@someonethatlikesyou7713]

same and i live in greece and we call him as a "anti-hero" its bassically a good dictactor like franco

[@aokiaoki4238]

Metaxas is considered a hero in Greece. Last words to Italian embasator was «Alors, c'est la guerre». Then he called his minister that war is about to start and went to sleep. Greek newspapers in the morning had a title of "Ochi".

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for sharing this.

[@aokiaoki4238]

@@HistoryHustle What a gem of channel you have! Very underrated. Metaxas kept a diary, so and Grazzia about that night. Goebbels also had a diary about his meeting with Metaxa. If you even need translation for a Greek source let me know.

[@robertm.8653]

It was really interesting to learn more about Metaxas, thank you Stefan! I can't help but imagine the Italian diplomats, receiving the Greek response in French and it's only: "le Non"

[@Pavlos_Charalambous]

Alors, c'est la guerre 😉

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks Robert!

[@aokiaoki4238]

He actually said at the end «Alors, c'est la guerre»

Another great "on location" video. Interesting this short-lived regime of Ionnis Metaxas and his refusal to accept Mussolini's expansionist desires. Thank you Stefan and keep up the great work. Cheers!

[@HistoryHustle]

Many thanks. Soon more on Metaxas!

@@HistoryHustle thanks Stefan!

[@georgios_5342]

In history class they say that Metaxas regime was a dictatorship with fascist tendencies that however was not able to completely take over the nation and rule with totalitarianism. However they say it treated dissidents with violence, especially the communists, which it tortured severely. That's all the history book in highschool says about Metaxas pretty much, it doesn't talk about his work or the patriotic nature of the regime, it's just described as a violent dictatorship. However I personally believe that while these may be true, the picture that is painted is very one sided and is sponsored by a leftist establishment. It isn't mentioned how it was also illegal to be a communist for many years later or how much the communist establishment betrayed Greece after WW2. And the book doesn't say anything about the preparation of the country leading up to WW2. In general, the second World War is not really touched upon by the modern books, it's believed to be divisive

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for sharing.

[@834863]

As an indication, the regime used torture, basically beating, but did not kill any political opponent, and it was prepared to release Communists upon promising to change their views [most of them of course didn't].

[@Pavlos_Charalambous]

Leftist establishment? Common dude only alt right people believe that nonsense Greece is firmly controlled by the right political sphere since the end of ww2 , many of the families in the shipping industry started of as food smugglers during the occupation working with the enemy and founding the security battalions And they are THE establishment that according to their words are " shiting on ministers" Even the SYRIZA party regardless their name and the political views of their voters followed an liberal financial policy and when they tried to make some excuse of a more left like reforms the media/ shipping establishment attacked them so hard that they collapsed

[@georgios_5342]

@@Pavlos_Charalambous ever since the fall of the junta Greece has been controlled by a leftist ideology, which drifts from social democracy more and more to socialist. Syriza under Tsipras was borderline communist and even New Democracy party under Mitsotakis is more comparable to the Democrats in America, which are already pretty leftist if not socialist. In Greece currently there is no right wing, by world standards. It's only a faction inside the New Democracy party, which can be considered centrist as a whole.

[@Pavlos_Charalambous]

@@georgios_5342 only Tzimeros believes that 🤣🤣🤣 I mean you know many " communist bordering" states that the church has a say to every aspect of public life? Personally I don't know many communist states that would pay for a cuddle light to make it all the way from Israel and be greeted as a state leader Not to mention mandatory religion classes in school Really Dude come on , unless you are leaving in United States and don't know what a real communist/ leftist agenda is calling democrats leftist is childish. The financial policies of every single Greek government since the end of ww2 are strictly on the right side of things All government's right up to Konstantinos Mitsotakis one was following a kensian model - including the military regime Mitsotakis tried to implement a neo liberal model and that caused his downfall. The administrations folloeed afterwards also followed kensian models all the way up to 08 meltdown. IMF tried to force a shock therapy police of hard monetary/ neo liberal measures and backfired leading to Tsipras administration. The policies they followed was ones more kensian nothing to do with leftist financial ideas The establishment was never hurt by any way by the SYRIZA and when they felt that it could be dangerous to their firm control over the country ( see TV stations licensing) they cutted the life line

[@Cinarli1979]

In the population exchange agreement between Turkey and Greece in 1920s after the war, the religion has been taken as nationality. All muslims in Greece (including the Greek speaking ones) have been deported to Turkey and all Greek Orthodox Christians (including the Turks) have been deported to Greece. That was the agreement. The only exceptions were the Turks in Western Thrace region of Greece and the Greeks in İstanbul (hence the Lefter - I think short form of Elefterios- one of the best Turkish football players in Turkish national team). In İzmir I had some Greek-origin friends in the class. I do not know whether they came later from İstanbul to İzmir). There is this interesting case of Karamanlı people who were living in central Turkey (around Karaman I think). They were Greek Orthodox Turks and used the Greek alphabet. But they did not speak Greek. I read some books about them how they were included in population exchange and how they arrived in Piraeus port without speaking any Greek. It was disheartening. I have read that, because they had Turkish names and could not speak Greek they are frowned upon by the Greeks on the boats. Some of them have been placed by the homes of the Western Thrace Turks by the Greek government for "transition" (good idea) until they learned some Greek. I read that at the time there were some pan-Turkist politicians who opposed them being sent to Greece but they were overruled by others who equated religion with the nationality. Likewise Greeks have sent many muslim Greeks to Turkey as "Turks". We had such neighbours in western Turkey in 1980s who had been deported from Crete to Turkey as "Turks". The grandmother who was a child during the population exchange was saying that they could not understand any Turkish when they arrived in Turkey. I think at least the 3rd generation was still speaking Greek at home but theunger ones were mostly Turkish speaking. They went along with my parents partly because my mothers family were immigrants from Salonica (Thesseloniki sp?) though long before the population exchange agreement, when the city changed hands from Ottomans to the Greek state. By the way, a few years ago BBC had a very interesting story of a Syrian refugee discovering his Cretan roots. The family came to Greece as refugees from Syria after the civil war there. The family's roots were Greek. Their family had been deported from Crete to Turkey as "Turks" because they were Greek muslims. Somehow they ended up in Syria. And almost a century later went back to Crete as refugees speaking Cretan Greek!

[@Pavlos_Charalambous]

the exchange of populations was a messy business, by the way Armenians , and circisisians ( i probably miss spelled this one ) found themselves in the western part of Turkey was also deported to Greece.. where i grew up we had an entire neighborhood called " armenika" the Armenian neighborhood by the way as much as am aware the karamanlidika as are known in Greek are basically the compenation of greek grammar and completely Turkish vocabulary... interesting enough the Greek alphabet was also used as an un alternative to the Arabian one

[@834863]

1. The Karamanli Greek Orthodox were not the only Turkish-speaking exchangeable refugees. Many Kappadocian, Pontic and other East Anatolian Greek Orthodox were Turkish-speaking as well. My own grand-mother from Caesaria [Kayseri], too. All those Turkish-speakers were not Turks, but Byzantine Greeks who under certain conditions were forced to change their language. The process has been documented across the Globe. By the way Karamanlis did not have Turkish names; as baptized Greek Orthodox they had the usual Christian first names. 2. Lefter Kucukantoniades was a Constantinopolitan Greek, therefore excepted from the Exchange [as well as the Greeks of Imvros and Tenedos islands]. Being member of Greek minority did not prevent him to play football for the Turkish National Team.

[@SA-zv4wr]

@@834863 I know this Greek nationalists' theory of rooting most people in Turkey to Greeks. The truth is; Anatolia is the land of tens of thousands of years of many civilizations. Greeks were just one of the many invaders/colonizers. Anatolian peoples are much older than Turks, Greeks whatever. There are many cases (I think one is from Hattuşa) where the DNAs of 21st century local people match those of 4000 years ago in ancient tombs.. It has always been a bridge between civilizations. It has been colonized by invaders. Local people adapted to survive. When Persians invaded they became Persians. When Greeks invaded and colonized, they became Greeks. When Turks invaded they became Turks. Today if you have a DNA test, you would be surprised the diversity of the Turkish DNA compared to for example the Irish. The Anatolian people adapted to survive. Does it make me less Turkish? Not at all. I am proud of being a Turk just like I would be proud of being a Dutch or Gambian or an Arab if I were born so. By the way, according to some studies (one by a Greek of Turkish decent), Karamanlı people had Turkish names (like "Güllü"). Did they all have Turkish names? Probably not. But some certainly had Turkish names. Probably they also had baptised names like some Koreans and Chinese have these days. And for Lefter: he was as Turkish as I am. Once an idiot called him "gavur" (infidel) and there was such an uproar in support of Lefter, the idiot went into hiding, I read. Today, he is one of a two or three football players with a statue of himself in Turkey (in İstanbul, to be specific - BTW, this is the current name of Constantinople, in case the news did not make it to you, along with Bozcaada, Gökçeada). Just stop framing people in boxes....

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for sharing these additional insights.

[@Pavlos_Charalambous]

@@SA-zv4wr i wouldn't say it's a Greek nationalist think For starters let's put aside the DNA thing. There is no such a thing as national DNA, nationhood is an ideology as well as religion and ethnic identity. It's really silly and unfortunately Greek nationalist are actually speak about DNA them selves. So unless you want to sound like those from as far as I understand despite we should leave that silliness aside . Now to the point ethic or cultural identities shift over time The same group of people can " see " themselves as Greeks, Roman, ottoman or Turkish depending on the period in question because those things as you said are just feelings. You are a Turkish person because you how to say '' in love " with what Turkey as a state is I am Greek because it's part of my identity because i love that part of myself of what my country represent That's how things work. My great grandfather was the Greek adopted child of a Turkish couple People indeed can't be forced into boxes

[@user-Prometheus]

We don’t consider him a dictator here in Greece. A benevolent dictator (maybe), he was authoritarian, nationalist, not fascist. Dimitrios Ioannidis was totalitarian. Both wanted order. Though Ioannidis could be described as fascist. Metaxas had stated before that he was against the parliament, and that he was anti-parliamentary, soooo, was he wasn’t really a dictator

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for sharing your insights.

[@sarantis1995]

I dont mean to clash with you but honestly what's the difference between a dictator and a general who wants order within an authoritarian regime, dissolves parliament and says the my opinions (the states) should also be yours or otherwise you get what you deserve? He was a dictator but also a non evil person at the same time. Not every dictator has to send hundreds of thousands to death sentence

[@sarantis1995]

@@user-Prometheus just because he is so well known for renouncing the Italian occupation instead of being a dictator doesn't mean we don't regard him as a dictator. I personally do and I remember beeing taught so at some point during my school years, which indeed surprised me because all I knew before was the he was the Ochi guy. If I looked for a more appropriate word than dictator, I'd say he was a tyrant, a word of greek origin and I use it in the ancient greek meaning here. Yet, essentially, dictator and tyrant are synonyms.

[@Psolaras22]

​@@sarantis1995Metaxas was voted from the Parliament to take the power beacuse the country was economically,soccialy ready to collapse. A civilwar would have started before WW2 without Metaxas, it got Postponed until after his death [1941].

[@georgios_5342]

Metaxas was NOT a fascist! Dictatorship yes, but not fascistic. He was not expansionist or racist and even supported the Jewish and Muslim minorities. He boosted production and industry and prepared the nation militarily and psychologically for the defence of the Fatherland. No other person had the same patriotism and vision as him at the time. He said "in these dire times where the world is once again descending into chaos, the nation needs strong and foreseeing leadership to lead the people united for the nation's survival. It might take 10 years of a non-democratic regime to achieve that". Greece is a small country, without Metaxas it never would have survived for as long as it did, beating back the fascist invaders.

[@HistoryHustle]

Think you got triggered by the tumbnail. Next time watch the full video first. Thanks.

[@georgios_5342]

@@HistoryHustle Alright, you are right. These are just the first things that came to mind. As they say, I shouldn't judge a book by its cover

[@MaxStArlyn]

If you want the truth about this history, look to what Dr. Mathew Raphael Jonson has to say on this.

[@αντωνηςκατσαντωνης-ρ6χ]

Ρε φιλαράκι μάθε ποιοι δώσανε αμαχητί το Ρούπελ το 1916 με αποτέλεσμα την Β βουλγαρική κατοχή της ανατολικής Μακεδονίας και το Δ σώμα στρατού αιχμαλώτους στους Γερμανούς.

[@luisacoquemala7505]

Thank you for this video! For those who enjoy literature, I would recommend Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernières. Metaxas is one of the characters and one can read a beautiful history, but also get some info on the greek-italian war. A must 😊

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for the recommendation.

[@tasosfilippoy]

Another great video for Greece of the early 20th century! Keep up the good work!

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks Tasos!

[@theodorossarafis7370]

As for the school we learn basically that he was the father of the OHI . We hardly learn that he was a dictator or his social work prior to the war. that is in the books. The old timers used to cherrish the time during his regime (apart if you they were communists)

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for sharing.

[@gnas1897]

Or a linguistic minority or a Venizelist

[@theodorossarafis7370]

@@gnas1897 only slavophones

[@gnas1897]

@@theodorossarafis7370 Vlachophones too

[@theodorossarafis7370]

@@gnas1897 nope. No vlahophones

[@Chris-sm2uj]

He didn't say ''no'' he said ''Alors, c'est la guerre" ="Then it is war". The no story is still believed by some people in Greece today

[@HistoryHustle]

Indeed, he responded in French.

[@O_Tade]

Idk but then it is war sounds more badass. Also the NO is symbolic

[@Chris-sm2uj]

@@HistoryHustle I think the ''no'' comes from the headlines of newspapers of the time

[@someonethatlikesyou7713]

@@Chris-sm2uj omg you not get the point man its start a war about an empire and winning them and you care about if metaxas says really "no" as reply in the italians

[@Chris-sm2uj]

@@someonethatlikesyou7713 History is supposed to be accurate. This is a history channel not influencers

[@joeshmo4892]

As a greek, I have tremendous respect for Metaxas! And his resolve against italian aggression, in our eyes he Is forever a hero!

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for sharing.

[@nickkokkas16]

Greek from Greece...? Or somewhere else with Greek heritage? I am actually Greek... and considered a Centrist-Right... Metaxas is remembered by us as a military man who stopped the Italians, but would have never been able to repel the Germans afterwards (and would have made a deal with Hitler)... and he is remembered as just a dictator who trounced on our people's freedoms.

[@joeshmo4892]

@@nickkokkas16 είμαι Έλληνας ρε μαλακά

[@weirdo9958]

​@@nickkokkas16Mην λες παπατζες 🙏

[@mustakman]

​@@nickkokkas16Nope, he was a great leader, ditactor but still a good leader. Without him neither we would have lasted so long against axis(and roupel fortresses kept fighting by the way, the germans just went to athens around them), he created a millitary, he started a small industry(one great example is pyrkal) and much more. Now the fact that he was a dictator, that doesnt make him bad at all, some times when politics and politicians fail, sime meassures in worst cases must be taken. He wasmt an extremists as people back then in our country was modest and simple, there werent any extremists as the today meaning, like they werent facists or communists. He did much better than most of the today poloticians if not all. Democracy is the only one great and true political system but some times people fail it, especially us, so those dictatorships and juntas must be estaplished for just some time. Back then also political onstabillity existed (democrats vs monarchists etc.) and many nations tried to intervene in our politics so somehow they saved our country from bein a sattelite of a major power.

[@AceFromGorillaz]

Basic Greek education keeps his dictatorship a little shrouded and mostly focuses on his refusal to musolini, it's not out of the ordinary for many Greeks to be ignorant of metaxas fascist regime and many even consider him a hero.

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for your reaction.

[@Psolaras22]

Nice Communist ballshit, The country was in verb of a collapse, economically was collapsed, Venizelos and his generals attemped 3 coups against the fascist King. The commies signed commintment protocol to split the country to autonomus regions.Metaxas was voted from parliament to take the rule at his hands with 153 votes for 16 against and 4 cancelled, he didnt take the Tanks and Carried a coup like our "Ethnarch', "liberal" Venizelos did every time.

[@praktikiskepsi]

Thank you for making english speaking videos for Greek history, big fun of you, keep up with the good work!

[@HistoryHustle]

You're welcome, thanks for your reply.

[@christospateromichelakis1588]

And something that is not widely known There were factories that manufactured ammunition, mines, aeroplanes, etc. A significant part of this armament ended up in Spain - to both warring sides and mainly to the Democrats - in exchange for "hard" currency or gold. The orders were placed in Germany (Rheinmetall-Borsig) on behalf of the Greek state and ended up (unbeknownst to or even with the knowledge of the German government, which was also in dire need of valuable foreign exchange) via Greek ships on the shores of wartime Spain. Bullets, gunpowder, grenades, mines and even German aircraft assembled in Faliro (Athens) were transported to an "unknown direction" or had a nominal destination of Mexico. Also through clearing, a financial technic, we had many exports to Germany. The economic sector was independent and neutral. But even in the clearing, that was positive for Greece, the Germans stole from us. They never gave us back the surplus that existed before the war from clearing.

[@jackavery7179]

Professor Stefan, in my line of work I meet lots of people and their families. I met a Greek couple . I asked the wife's husband about Mitaxas. The husband smiled from cheek to cheek. The husband than greeted me with a Mitaxas salute. The Husband then told Me about his service as a "Green Barre " in the Italian-Greeco war. He was captured by the Nazi germany when the Nazis took over, then he was released from capture

[@HistoryHustle]

Very interesting to read. Thanks for sharing this.

[@jackavery7179]

@@HistoryHustle thank you Professor Stafan for sharing this interesting multifaceted approach to the world's history. I think it is amazing to be able to have conversations with other people about their diverse culture

[@Panos-xo9rc]

Salazar and the portuguese Estado Novo are the closest examples imho. Or perhaps the latin american dictatorships,Greece has much in common historicaly with these countries. By the way Metaxas was not only a former army officer. He was monarchist to the bone and belonged to the inner circle of King Konstantine,apart from the general staff,already before the turn of the 20th century.

[@ElGranDoTe1]

Absolutely, Peron, Trujillo and hell you could claim that the current Cuban state belongs to the club

[@Panos-xo9rc]

@@ElGranDoTe1 Cuba has nothing to do with the sort of regime august 4th,estado novo etc were.

[@Thiago.Acquati]

Getúlio Vargas also fits

[@Gustavogukpa]

@@Thiago.Acquati this is a internet meme, Vargas purged fascism hard in Brazil and channels like the WWII spreading disinformation hurts

[@jean-francoisrousseau1108]

Yes I would also add Franco to this list

[@odysseasntalias5950]

Metaxas was an idealist, nationalist but had little sympathy for the rest of fascist ideology. He wanted to revive the ancient greek splendour by educating all the greeks and cultivating ideas such as altruism , service for the country and moral integrity, and used ceremonies similar to Hitler's and organizations of youth , but nothing more. These look a little funny today but 80 years ago it was not annoying to the people but rather inspiring. His only obsession was to eliminate communists because he believed that their ideology prevailed to the point that they were willing to betray national goals . He was the one who successfully reorganized the hellenic army , leading to the first victory against fascists in WW2. He also imposed many innovative institutions such as 8 hours of work and the first national system of welfare and pensions for all. Maybe one of the very few cases in which a dictator offered much more than he took.....

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for sharing your insights.

[@scotthovland7380]

I really enjoy your style and the lesser known historical events from your perspective. Thank you for teaching me new things👍✌

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks Scott!

[@vassdell9909]

Metaxas was pro-german but he came to power because he was pro-king who was Anglo file. This is why he had the fascist ideology follow the English foreign policy. TNX for the honest historical account.

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for replying.

[@georgekaragiannakis6637]

Thanks again Stefan for an insightful video. A hypothetical scenario - what if Italy’s invasion of Greece had been prevented by Germany ? Germany did not want to destabilise the Balkans for fear of British intervention and the threat to the Ploiesti oilfields. Without an invasion would Greece have remained neutral, avoided the death of hundreds of thousands of civilians and a civil war? Would this have affected the start date of Barbarossa ?

[@HistoryHustle]

Hard to say, these what-ifs. There is so many factors. Thanks for watching anyway!

[@mikek1536]

Metaxa's cause of death was not ill health. He was poisoned by the British, at a reception at the British embassy and was finished off by British doctors who managed to be in charge of his care at the hospital after the first symptoms from poisoning appeared. The British desperately wanted a new front in the Balkans against the Axis and had no problem sacrificing Greece and its people in the process. So said his security chief, Maniadakis at the time. Metaxas was demanding either a substantial British presense in Greece with a realistic chance of success, or complete withdrawal, so as to avoid provoking a German attack. Over time, a great deal of evidence has been uncovered to support this conclusion. Likewise, Koryzis did not commit suicide. He was shot twice on the head by persons unknown, probably also British agents. If he had commited suicide, he could not have managed a 2nd shot after the first shot to the head. At Metaxa's funeral, even the communists wept. So said in a television interview Mikis Theodorakis, world famous music composer and a commited, lifelong communist.

[@julius6006]

could you please tell me where you got this information? and if that's the case, why did Metaxas say no to the Italians instead of allowing them to pass trough?

[@RadRat1138]

Everyone knows Metaxas was a spy for Imperial Japan and answered directly to the Emperors' assistant Marquis Kido. *Fact*

[@eleanorkett1129]

The primary drivers behind the rise of Fascism and Nazism were the Great Depression and fear of Communism. Thank you for another enlightening episode relating to one of the darkest periods in human history.

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for watching.

[@windows-1675]

In Greece we celebrate the beginning of the Greco Italian war and not the end of the WW2. 28th of October is a national holiday and it's main event are the parades in every city and every village. Not just the Greek army, but schools also. Kids have to walk the same way they had to during the dictatorship. They do tell us that Metaxas was a dictator, but because of his resolution and determination to fight and beat an unbeatable enemy (the Greco Italian war was the first victory for the Allies) we think of him as a war hero. Nothing more. People suffered because of him, especially artists who wanted to keep the Greek and Asia Minor style of art while Metaxas wanted westernization.

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for sharing your insights.

[@ΚωνσταντίνοςΧΙ]

Depends of which point of view you have. In my family with leftist background in both sides, they always told me he was an anti-communist dictator. I've studied history myself and I realised that he was the best leader for the situation. Every European country were starting to prepare for war. Totalitarian regimes were everywhere in the 30s and 40s. He was the leader we needed to get us ready for what was coming. He built a high moral and he unite the people under a common goal. He prepared the army too. He will always be the governor that refused to surrender the country to the enemy. No one can get away that from him. History is written.

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for sharing your insights on this.

[@ΚωνσταντίνοςΧΙ]

@@HistoryHustle you're welcome. Keep up the good work! ✌️

[@nikpist1030]

Back in the 80s no one mentioned in scho ol about dictatorship. Metaxas was the hero who stood against an invading and arrogant empire. I learned about the dark side of his regime many years later as university student

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for sharing this.

[@00fgytduydrtu]

Kke and otger degens only had inflitrated the uni back then.

[@t.jjohnson6317]

Good vid,, Thank-you nice to learn about other countries.God Bless

[@HistoryHustle]

Cheers!

[@conniesoulis7521]

Ioannis Metaxas..is a great hero..despite his policies and politics..he was there at the right time to give the answer to the invading nation..NO !..(OHI )..MAY GOD PRESERVE HIS MEMORY..He gave pride to the Greek people..he died early on..but what he created..fought on after him..untill Victory..many deaths from hunger. Massacres. And Battles....today 28th october is the day of OHI..day of NO..and on that day we remember and first of all ...we remember Ioannis Metaxas..

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for sharing this.

[@alionabiss]

Great video!

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for watching.

[@puertola7186]

So, he was a copy-cat Hitler or Mussolini. Only that he did not have the military strength to invade surrounding countries. All those fascist salutes and even worse that chilling words to the students are pretty scary...

[@alswann2702]

Also no genocide, Karen.

[@gn7646]

Pain

[@Pavlos_Charalambous]

Well not exactly He was more like a Greek Franco He copied the salutes ect ( although the regime was insistent that it was the Roman salute) but it never became antisemitic ( the nazi party of Greece known as EEE was outlawed) and was ready to give in to people demands in order to stay in power. Having said that the crack downs on communist shells was extremely brutal, police forces had the freedom to go ... Very far The later leader of ELAS Aris Velouchiotis was literally cutstrated during an interegasion Although later regardless of being a communist rised to the rank of major since merit was more important for the regime than political beliefs. Having said all that doesn't change the fact that the regime was a oppressive regime As for the military power the Greek army at the time was in better condition than many other Balkan ones , they didn't wish to use it Metaxas although he was trained in Germany before ww1 he was very pragmatic without the fantasies of glorious campaigns that you can find in Mussolini's and Hitler's political thinking When the Greek government made the decision to move forward in Anatolia ( greco Turkish war )Metaxas said in the parliament " where the hell you think you are going? What job do we have there? "

[@mydogsbutler]

No. Metaxas was not a "copycat Hitler or Mussolini". He was a dictator (which of course is wrong) but not a fascist. Dictator does not mean "fascist". Not only did Metaxas not once claim to be a fascist he actually banned the nationalist socialist party of Greece. There were no concentration camps in Greece. He had no fixation with Jews. Greece also fought Axis forces during WW2 (beating Italy early on so not exactly a toothless military) And what you call the "fascist' salute... it the modern era was first used by the United States of America during the pledge of allegiance. Back then it was called the Belamy salute. Mussoli and Metaxas adopted it because they considered a Roman salute. Hitler took the idea from Italy but in different context. American children were using the so-called "fascist salute" for decades before various kinds of dictators did. kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y5yqgH6rarGqgJY

[@HistoryHustle]

He did borrow elements but not one on one I'd say.

[@lordschild5748]

Vargas in Brazil, Salazar in Portugal, Metaxas in Greece? Amazing!

[@HistoryHustle]

Please explain m

[@lordschild5748]

@@HistoryHustle Metaxas is known as a dictator by many people (even a fascist), which is usually known as a bad thing. Nevertheless, he is still loved by many people because his authority was good in many ways. The same thing happened to Vargas, and specially Salazar from Portugal. I personally think the 3 guys were great authorities.

[@VladTevez]

Another good video!

[@HistoryHustle]

Many thanks!!

[@marshallgrek997]

In schools, we remember him only for the middle-finger that gave to Mussolini. And also, briefly from the victories that the army had in albania.

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for sharing.

[@davidraper5798]

An interesting introduction to a complex subject.

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for your reply!

[@konioan]

I went school at '80s and they didn't tell us that was a dictator but the hero. Now that I'm growing up and see more documentary and true history I'm sorry for the others but I agree. He was a hero a very clever hero

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for your reply!

[@NoahFC_Fans_Peristeriou]

The whole europe had dictatorships back then, democracy was considered weird and not sucesfull then

[@padman291]

Hello I'm Greek I like your videos. I'm 60 and a history enthusiast. When I went to school Metaxas was promoted as a hero. Today for me he is nothing but another fasist thug. There is no excuse ever to abolish Democracy. For me he didn't say NO it was the Greek people that said it. By the way the Royal Greek family had some very strong ties to Germany starting with WW1. You should look into that

[@Pavlos_Charalambous]

They was fully pro central powers just check what the Greek king was mailing to Kaiser.. As for Metaxas he was following the trend of his time, most European countries had abolish democracy in favour of athoriterian regimes As for the ochi, if we want to be honest he wasn't given an other option and the regime also had mentality prepared the population for that moment What came first? The egg or the chicken? The wish of people to resist or newspapers under the complete control of the state? The regime trying to survive or the reality of geopolitics hitting like a sledgehammer?

[@834863]

Metaxas was a ''fasist thug''? Your historical ignorance is uptly matched by your political fanaticism.... Shame on you, ''history enthusiast'' ignoramus!

[@mydogsbutler]

Among Greeks, it's only Greek lefists that call Metaxes "fascist". Reality check. Not once did Metaxas call himself a fascist. Metaxas was a dicator (which is wrong) but dictator does not mean fascism, as the Greek left incompetently uses the word. Speaking as a Greek, every since our economic meltdown, some Greeks went nuts and start voting for formerly fringe far right and far left parties.. GD was fortunately criminalized but Greek leftists insanely continue to support extreme left parties. They went from voting hard socialist Pasok that helped bankrupt our country with endless spending of money we did not have..to doubled down on their stupidity by now shamelessly voting for Maxist infested Syriza and KKE. It's like the Greek left have completely edited out communists were just as oppressive as fascists during the 20th century. Pretty much everyone not a leftist in Greece is framed s "fascist" these days by the Greek left. It's reached the absurd point I've even heard some former Syriza supporters called Tsiprias, a life long communist, "rightwing" after he flip-flopped on his ridiculous populist promises he would role back cuts and exit the bailout conditions.

[@HistoryHustle]

Hi Patrick, thanks for your reply.

[@HertenkampBlues]

Controversial...more a hero than a dictator was my impression. Studied at Athens University. Best, Saskia from the Netherlands

[@docnoc66]

I went to high school in the 1970s and we knew nothing of the Greek Civil War anything about the Greek Civil War or Metaxas. I had to learn everything as an adult

[@HistoryHustle]

Crazy! Thanks for sharing this.

[@mustakman]

My father went also back then but he knew all of this detailed. He wrte 19 in history maybe because of that

[@tng2057]

My Greek heritage friend told me that normal Greeks do not have much affection with the monarchy, due to the monarchy being ‘too foreign’. The late HRH Duke of Edinburgh used to be called Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark before he was married to Princess Elizabeth….

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for sharing this additional information.

[@Panos-xo9rc]

Monarchy remained foreign,or,even worse,repeatedly imposed by foreign powers to the end.

[@coling3957]

@@Panos-xo9rc well don't worry cos from 2008 Greece was ruled by the EU ...

[@Panos-xo9rc]

@@coling3957 From 2010 actually. What happens is a bit different,though. EU has its represantative politicians that act sort of mayors and run the day to day show,the dynasty was present 24/7.

[@Pavlos_Charalambous]

Prince Andrew was literally smuggled out of Greece in a cardboard box to avoid execution..

[@Nick_G.]

I still ask this question to this day: How come and Metaxas said "ΟΧΙ", to his like-minded, Hitler and Mussolini?

[@HistoryHustle]

Good question which I recently covered here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/q520qmuBbsd4g5Y

[@Ninety-Nine__]

Very interesting account of his life. I'd be curious about Papadopoulos and the Greek junta, that's still a pressing issue in Greece, especially when it comes to it's economic and social policies.

[@Lefteris1283]

Greece during Papadopoulos had the best economy Greece ever had the last century

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for your reply. In the future more on the Greek junta.

[@Pavlos_Charalambous]

@@Lefteris1283 that's a urban legend . The financial policies of the regime was almost the same with the ones of their predecessors. The reasoning why the Greek economy was in better condition than the post ww2 era was the connection of drachma towards dollar , as long as American dollar was doing well drachma would do as well. By the way many of the unpaid loans that came to hound Greece in 21th century was the so called " sea loans " that the regime was forcing banks to grant to shipping companies Not to mention corruption like Papadopoulos wife making trips to Paris sponsored by Onassis or Papadopoulos wolf lair at mount parnitha

[@Lefteris1283]

@@Pavlos_Charalambous Nobel prize for one of the best economies and also the 2nd most growing country after Japan. "Muuhhh, katiousa said Papadopoulos bad"

[@Pavlos_Charalambous]

@@Lefteris1283 you need to read again what I wrote and stop making childish assessments . Chilean economy was also on the rise in the same period as well Would you like to live in Chile back in the day? Can you tell me when all the shipping companies was found and what connections those people had with the regime? Or at least you understand what was the policies that lead to the 70s-80s boom ? Ps Learn to make arguments and not trying to win the comments section " ad baculum" Ps 2 i understand not been familiar with Brendon Woods agreement and the Marshall plan but at least make some effort to study those things before visiting shitty sites like "pentapostagma " or reading eletheri ora

[@kaljic1]

Yes, Metaxas had a totalitarian regime. It was mainly a reaction to the mass of people repopulated from the Greek-Turkish War. Primarily, his regime was against a habit these new ethnic Greeks brought with them--hashish and Rembetiko music. Drugs and Rembetiko were outlawed---a tradition lasting until the middle 70s. At that time, a famous Greek singer, George Dalaras, relased a two-album set of his renditions of Rebetiko music. I was a mere lad but I remember my parents being outraged at the record. Anyway, many people---today---get misty eyed when talking about Metaxas. Not simply because simply because of "No" (OXI) Day. He instituted public works, infrastructure, people had work, and the Country seemed to be going somewhere.

[@HistoryHustle]

Thank you for sharing your insights.

[@Thiago.Acquati]

Metaxas has very similar politcs with the Brazilian dictator Getúlio Vargas. Both used the masses too expand political power and both denied military expansion. In Brazil historians define Vargas as a Populista (in portuguese means popular regime) and I would for sure call Metaxas a populista. Very interesting too see history repeat itself in far away territory in the same period. If you want too study Vargas, he governed after the coup of 1930 and in 1937 did a new coup, establishing the Estado Novo (new State) that was more totalitarian and ended after the end of WW2 in 1945. Only for him to make a democratic return in 1950 and govern with less autority in the Second Vargas Era. Surely the Estado Novo is similar to the greek 4th of august regim. Thanks for the vídeo and sorry for the bad english. 🇧🇷

[@HistoryHustle]

No problem, thanks for your reply!

[@gasmonkey1000]

Brilliant video. I'd say Metaxas was still a facist. I was hoping you could do a video on the Portuguese Estado Novo. It's a fascinating rabbit hole

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for replying. Have to plans no travel to Portugal anytime soon.

[@mustakman]

Hellenes hated extremism, he wasnt facist, he banned actually that facist party. He just was a dictator because he needsd to be in order to do all that

[@xaralampon]

this salute is 100% greek it was used by the spartans as a farewell to the setting sun but when hitler used it it was remembered as a nazi salute thats what happend with swastika as well

[@HistoryHustle]

Back then in the 1930s most people refered to it as nazi or fascist salute. That's why I called it as such. It's origins, Greek or Roman, are irrelevant regarding this video.

[@_Doctor_14]

Metaxas was a good leader at war, as he built many bases and basically protected Greece by the Bulgarian attack of 1941. But as a politician he was not good. He was the reason many people were exiled and many important books were burnt. So he is a 50/50

[@terryterry7715]

In my primary school our teachers referred Ioannis Metaxas as prime minister and not as dictator. In later years, in high school they tought as that the "NO" was said by the people. I don't know if they are afraid of being labeled as far-right followers.

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for sharing.

[@rjames3981]

Don’t know a great deal about Greek history. Very interesting 👌

[@HistoryHustle]

🇬🇷👍

[@sarantis1995]

It's been ten years since I was in high school already (geez I get old) so take it with a grain of salt: Despite I was a rather dedicated student and scored high in history I can barely remember learning anything about him at school! I followed the science direction in late high school so I didn't have the extra history class that humanitarian/literature studies directed students take. So I would say that we barely learn anything at all about him. I Remember that in 9th grade we didn't finish the modern history book, we barely touched the WWII era so maybe we just missed it.

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for sharing this.

[@MaxStArlyn]

If you want the truth about this history, look to what Dr. Mathew Raphael Jonson has to say on this.

[@sarantis1995]

@@MaxStArlyn yeah Thanks but no I'm not buying "orthodox nationalism" whatever

[@MaxStArlyn]

@@sarantis1995 So you obviously put the effort in to looking him up,…but because he is also known as the Orthodox Nationalist this somehow has deterred you? And you seem to think I care what you want to buy into, or not? You are funny. The fact that he is named the Orthodox Nationalist, doesn’t change that he has Two PHDs, one in history, and another in political science. It also doesn’t change the fact that he is celebrated for the unique work he has done, while the F^κε Ν3ω5 establishment has been trying to silence him. I value my heritage and I want the truth to be exposed, you obviously don’t buy into that, but perhaps someone else who reads this message will.

[@sarantis1995]

@@MaxStArlyn yeah I did look him up, i didn't know him before. But I am in the position of choosing my sources and where I learn history from. People such as this guy font present information unbiased, they clearly serve an agenta. I may agree to some extent and I may disagree to another, the problem is that I would like to form an own opinion based on information, not listen to a quite strong - opinioned guy talking his own beliefs.

[@icecoffee1361]

Makes you wonder why Hitler didn’t try harder to bring Greece into the German sphere of influence. Great episode 🫡

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks. I understand your question. Perhaps I'll cover it in the future.

[@icecoffee1361]

@@HistoryHustle fantastic but I’m sure you have so many episodes/history projects in the pipe line 🙌🏻

[@soktayridis5044]

Although he was a supporter of neutrality he was a pro British in heart since then Britain was associated with monarchies in general, he also never believed that the Germans whould win

[@sarantis1995]

Greece's interest always aligned with Britain's and France's

[@icecoffee1361]

@@sarantis1995 30s & 40s where very weird times, just look at what happened with Romania even Yugoslavia. The Greeks had a very hard war/post war. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[@Rousseau4469]

Whatever we were taught in grammar school about what Metaxas was not much really.The fact remains that he was a politician who had great envision for the future and he realised very early that Greece had a need for great fortification works to its northern borders for the upcoming war. Something similar to Mazino line in France. Although the specifications of his fortifications were much less as they were finally constructed and way less that the French equivalent the contractor was tremendously generous and he build them much stronger than the required specs paying from his pocket practically. His argument was that these fortifications would propably be used by his son and maybe his grandson and he wished that they were safe inside. Indeed the fortifications lasted despite the aerial bombings and heavy artillery fire that they received but ammunitions were depleted so their defenders had to surrender. This was a unique time in WWII where Nazis not only allowed to the defenders to stay alive but also presented arms to their enemy even became very friendly with offering cigarettes and liquor to them. One thing I learned by myself about him was that the Germans expressed the opinion that Metaxas hadn’t died physically but there was the suspicion that he was eliminated by British Secret service as he opposed to Britains General Wavell proposal of thousands of Britains troops arriving and strengthening Greece’s defence. I think that this is propaganda but true to the part not liking the idea of thousands of British soldiers being in Greece. After all he was German bred and hoped that he could make out with the Germans one way or another.

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for sharing your insights.

[@ninjamentz]

Greek people are still divided into left/right wing context views and political opinions. Sad thing is school-history books follow each political party's side each time. I would say most governments try to not mention Ioannis Metaxas, or mention him as "dictator" or his government as "authoritarian" and "totalitarian regime". But the thing is...history has always context and opinions should have the correct one also. For me using any of these terms in the 40s (dictator, authoritarian etc) meant nothing when talking about WW2 era. It was the historical norm of the time, half of Europe was authoritarian and the world was about to explode. The world was divided into authoritarian parties, nazis, fascism, communism -Soviet Union, Britain and USA. Even as you evidently pointed out that Metaxas regime had ideology differences from fascists, nationalists of the time etc. No one really tries to picture out the political scheme and what each choice meant for the people back then. Today most people simply judge the past....using words like "communist" or "fascist" with the context of today.

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for sharing this.

[@Lepidivs]

Metaxas is a national hero without a dought. Many greeks say that he was a fascist but this is false and its dirt to his name. He is one of the most important people in the history of greece but in the whole world reforming greece so much that it gave hope to the people outside greece as Franklin d. Roosevelt said. Also, by reorganizing the greek army and greek's spirit our ancestors were able to draw back from the soviet border many divisions to be sent here as stalin said

[@HistoryHustle]

Looking at the replies people review Metaxas differently.

[@puertola7186]

You mean the who later started the namesake spirits company? Not my taste!

[@HistoryHustle]

Never heard about it.

[@puertola7186]

@@HistoryHustle You have not missed much. It is a botanical alcoholic drink, to an optimist, it is a bit like Brandy, but to me it tastes like Hungarian Unicum, Danish Gammel Dansk, though not that as bad as those.

[@MrPro897]

Today August 4 is the anniversary of the establishment of Metaxas regime. We can't get around the fact that he is a national hero for most Greeks.

[@HistoryHustle]

Ah yes, today it is.

[@seanford2358]

In the wider history of WW2 (which is often taught as a war against Fascists and Nazis), people conveniently forget that Austria was a Fascist state under Dollfuss, the first National Socialist government was actually in Czechoslovakia and Greece was Fascist under Metaxes.

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for sharing.

[@sirdarklust]

Thanks for another interesting video. I'd be curious to know more about Turkey during the WWII era, if you're ever interested in doing a ding dong video about that. Take care. (Fooled you there, didn't I?)

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for your reply. Hope to travel to Turkey one day.

[@gravatas5274]

Metaxas with 4 year plan do the greek army rearmed again after anatolia katastrofi greek army was un equipment. At greek school we see metaxas like dictatorship but the correct man too correct time

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for sharing.

[@Pavlos_Charalambous]

what i remember from school in the 90s is that we had very bad written history books from the late 70s early 80s those books had huge gaps to say the least,for example the history books in highschool was jumping from the greco Turkish war right to ww2 ignoring everything in-between The fact that Metaxas was a dictator was often downplayed and there was no information about the national schism his early life ect it was really a matter of the history teacher and how would explain things to students, often would make a passing comment or give a hint and as we say in Greece, " if you got it, you got it"

[@mydogsbutler]

Communist treason during the Greek civil war is also downplayed in Greek history books. It's insane any Greeks would vote for parties like GD, Syriza, and KKE when both communist and fascists committed so many atrocities during the 20th century.

[@Pavlos_Charalambous]

@@mydogsbutler all parties had some good reasons to downplay everything after the Balkans wars From the king allowing an entire brigade to be captured without a flight during ww1 eventually leading to the national schism To Venizelist murdering their political opponents From KKE highjacking EAM to Zervas destroying the Muslims Albanian populations of hippirus From police working for the enemy To " centralist " accepting ex security battalions men back to national's army's ranks From cladio operations in Greece leading to April's regime to the coup in Cyprus and the Turkish invasion From the restoration of democracy to the murder of MP's daring to question the actions of the Greek army's high command All of them have blood stains on them No one was saints There are no good guys in this story And we should look forward X organisation, the mechanised detachment, security battalions had as much innocent blood in their hands as any other organizations operating in Greece in 43 - 44 It's cheap to make a mental connection with modern day political parties and pointless

[@mydogsbutler]

@@Pavlos_Charalambous "From KKE highjacking EAM" EAM were mostly communists. KKE didn't hijack it. Greek communists at the time saw themselves more closely aligned with Stalin "Zervas destroying the Muslims Albanian populations" Not all Albanians... specifically Albanian Chams. Many Chams colluded with Axis forces. That's why they were targeted at the end of WW2. A significant number of Chams not only killed Greeks but even killed other Albanians during the occupation of Greece. (not to mention Chams latter were complicit in irrredentism against Greece during Greek civil war when they switched sides to communism) "It's cheap to make a mental connection with modern day political parties and pointless" Except twist history is exactly what leftist parties like Syriza do by framing dictator Metaxas as "fascist"... along with every other greek that isn't a leftist even if democratic. They also twist the stone-cold fact Marxists committed treason during the Greek civil war. (including calling Skopians "Macedonians" back then too) I would also point out the moderate center-right in Greece banned fascist GD. This is quite unlike most leftists in Greeks these days that are insanely voting for the extreme of self-declared Marxists. who egg on endless leftist and anarchist street violence with their revolutionary resistance rhetoric. This would include Euro-communist comrade Tsipras who thinks 50 year dictator Castro represented freedom and named his poor kid Che after communist terrorist Che Guevera.

[@mydogsbutler]

@@Pavlos_Charalambous There is a real cost to the craziness going on in the Greek left today. Their smearing of everyone in Greece that disagrees with them as "fascist' and "far-right" has had a major effect on how the world perceives Greeks. This would include the massive drop in media rankings by Reporters "without borders" (no clue as to their agenda and politics) Greece arguably has more media freedom than France where that ridiculous ranking was made.

[@Pavlos_Charalambous]

@@mydogsbutler that's a modern problem Basically the problem with greek media is that the majority of them are belonging to a small number of families that also control the shipping and construction industries basically acting on a similar manner as the Russian oligarchs. Everyone who disagree with them lose his job A classic example is Aris Chatzistefanou after the documanter about IMFs practices he was forced out of the media industry altogether

[@aokiaoki4238]

Metaxas was a very humble person , with militaly discipline and lifestyle. Emanuele Grazzi writes that he was socked about Metaxas had no gurds at his house and how poor was the interior, completely opposite to Mussolini s

[@HistoryHustle]

Interesting to read.

[@aokiaoki4238]

@@HistoryHustle Goebbels liked Metaxa in his diary also

[@vicnedel02]

Growing up as a foreigner in Greece I remember that our teachers worshipped Metaxas for saying NO to the Fascists and refer to him as a mythical figure of legend. They never once mentioned that people used to salute him like nazis and that he called his regime the 3rd Greek Civilization. Perhaps it was just my history teacher that was like that because she also used to say that "life was better when we had the Junta." In my correct opinion, Greek children are taught their history from a biased perspective that glorifies the anchients a little too much.

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for sharing your insights on this.

[@00fgytduydrtu]

Αλβανε

[@harrymourtzakis8329]

For some people Metaxas is a national hero, for some others just a dictator

[@HistoryHustle]

Indeed.

[@mustakman]

He wasnt a facist, he was a ditactor. But a great one. Backthen there werent extremists in Hellas. Basicly never, only some minor stuff nowdays, but back then, they were very traditional and not extremists

[@HistoryHustle]

He had fascist tendencies but I agree, I wouldn't call him a fascist per se.

[@jonpournaras2767]

nice job..in my country the education system hates this guy (& anything patriotic), therefore greek people knows minimal information about him (dictator , fascist & thats all)..In reality this guy was a genius."the Metaxas line" "Η Γραμμη Μεταξα" was a huge project and huge problem for german army (Battle of the Forts)..n also for a "dictator" he was very sensitive socially...

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for sharing.

[@_Mrrock]

Metaxas a nationalist that supported monarchy and took both ideas from fascism and a little bit from communism, his dream was The Hellenic kingdom to start it's own economy boosting the workers and the farmers so we could produce our own supplies, creator of EON which offered to people that either finished or were already attending school to keep them on track and learning them about Metaxism which also had tours all around Greece

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for sharing this.

[@peterhughes8699]

VERY interesting Stefan - thanks for posting :)

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks Peter!

[@jamesbodnarchuk3322]

Very interesting!

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks James!

[@Atreas40000]

The Metaxas regime was more like a "hybrid" regime. A regime that could not really fully materialize as fascist, because its purpose of existence was to support a British backed monarchy. In Germany and Italy, fascism and national-socialism, subverted completely the previous order of traditional monarchies. Subverting and replacing fully the traditional conservative monarchy, was a core element of fascist regimes, while in Greece, the 4th of August regime was made in order to defend against, (if you can imagine) liberal military counter-coups, and to solidify the Monarchy. In previous occasions, the Monarchy was subverted by short lived coups, organized by democratic military officers, who would then step down to establish parliamentary goverments and oust the Monarchs. So Greece had a long-standing record of "benevolent" dictators. The Metaxas regime made concessions in ideology that couldn't really characterize it as really "fascist" although elements of fascism were there. Metaxas himself has a very dark and controversial history, as a mindless, staunch royalist, who during the 1st Word War, didn't hesitate to follow royalist orders (while the Monarchy was friendly to Germany, and their political opponents, the elected government of Venizelos was pro Entente), and basically delivered the entire of Greek Macedonia to the Germans and the Bulgarians, without a fight. He was "redeemed" in the concience of the Greek people because of his policy against Italy and Germany, during the WW2 although, to tell the truth, he didn't have much of a choice, as, at the time, he was basically a pawn of the British, who were at war with Italy and Germany.

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for sharing your insights on this.

[@αντωνηςκατσαντωνης-ρ6χ]

Ο Μεταξάς πέρασε στρατοδικείο καί καταδικάστηκε σε θάνατο ερήμην. Εκτός του ότι παρέδωσε αμαχητί την ανατολική Μακεδονία στους Βούλγαρους παρέδωσε και το Δ σώμα στρατού αιχμαλώτους στους Γερμανούς 7500 Έλληνες αξιωματικούς και στρατιώτες

[@Arcangel77able]

Professor: forward !!!, like Panzer Division in the vastness of the Russian Plain, fanning out and into the vastness.... of the Second World War History. Greetings.

[@HistoryHustle]

👍

[@Arcangel77able]

Errata: perhaps there is a precedent that should have alerted the Greeks: the sinking of the old Helle Cruise, which was anchored to the South West of Corfu, pieces of Torpedo were recovered and kept with the greatest secrecy. After the war it was made public that they had legends in Italian. .... no doubt of the aggressor. That was before the ground attack.

[@834863]

''Elle'' was not old, but a capital ship in the Greek Navy. It was not anchored in Corfu, but outside Tinos, an island in Central Aegean, to honour the important religious celebration of Maria, Mother of Christ, on 15th August 1940. The Greeks understood the Italians sank it, the government found part of the torpedo, but ordered Press silence after stating the submarine is unknown. She used the 2 months time until the Italian invasion to prepare its secret reserve partial mobilization which caught the Italians by surprise.

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for sharing.

[@Arcangel77able]

Thank you for answering and for the correction, please, if you see errors in my post, please correct me. We are all always learning.I promise from now on to be more specific and careful with what I write or narrate.

[@Arcangel77able]

@@834863 Errata of the errata? I remember reading the incident, I did not remember the name of the Island and the port and I had doubts that it was on the huge Island of Corfu, so I wrote a compromise response (mea culpa) for "laziness" I did not reread the source: mea culpa 2). I am a serious person, passionate about Military History.

[@Arcangel77able]

@@834863 If I did not remember the name of the port, if the religious festival and clearly, I got confused when placing it Cardinally, The Cyclades (Aegean) is not "to the Southwest of Corfu" (nor of continental Greece) it was and is to the Southeast.

[@kajamix]

Metaxas was being made fool of in the Herodion, because he wanted to change the texts of Antigone and Pericles' funeral oration. He was a dictator but nothing like the economic dictatorship we have now. These days I receive every year my tax form from the inland revenue and it states exactly how much money I have in the various banks, down to the last cent. It's pre-printed, I don't have to fill it in. I have to fill in the rest. Now Metaxas in the war first of all he could n't possibly give away national territory to the Italians or to the Bulgarians and furthermore he correctly anticipated the eventual defeat of the axis. So he said the "ochi" and a few hours later king George repeated the "ochi" in his public adress. So both became national heroes.

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for sharing this.

[@filippos1]

Because of the patriotic idealism Metaxas was forced to answer ΟΧΙ (No) to Italy. If he did the opposite he would loose the control. Greek people ran to enlist. My father who was a democrat, even though he was able to skip war as a foreign citizen, enlisted the same day and fought till the end of the war in the front line on mountain Terovo in Albania. Many other did the same and soon all the nation transformed into a war machine.

[@HistoryHustle]

Interesting to read.

[@katman8805]

In history there great men,Metaxas was not among them,he was a TITAN.as soldier he fought for the liberation of his country with his military genius, as politic he gave ALL Greek people a better life not only for his days but for many decades after him.he saved Greece from communism, who want to "donate"Macedonia to the slavs.that is why they after so many years they put mud to his name.you should also mark the name of a minister of Metaxa's government K.Maniadakis to see how he eliminated the communist party. In the end how Greek people remember him:people with knowledge of history and pure love to the nation they put him among the 3 better rulers of the nation:I.Kapodistrias,I.Metaxas,G.Papadopoulos.all of them fought for the nation ,did not take a single drachma for them and they have been murdered (a lot believe England killed Metaxa)or died in prison. ΖΗΤΩ Η ΑΙΏΝΙΑ ΕΛΛΑΣ.

[@ferred3056]

Even though metaxas was a dictator, he wasn't fascist.

[@HistoryHustle]

Agree.

[@MaxStArlyn]

5:31 The salute is an Ancient Greek salute. Wake up…you are a historian!

[@HistoryHustle]

By the 1930s commonly known as Hitler salute. Wake up.

[@MaxStArlyn]

@@HistoryHustleNot good enough. This reference is a drop in the ocean, of our history. If you make reference to it, as a historian, make note of it’s HISTORY. Why not make note of why little moustache man adopted it. It was a Greek and later Roman Salute, which has been hijacked by western war ρrοραgαndα and demonised.

[@CoreyStudios2000]

I think Metaxas was more of an authoritarian conservative than a fascist like Hitler, Mussolini, Moseley, or Franco.

[@HistoryHustle]

I explain it in the video, please watch it if you haven't.

[@CoreyStudios2000]

@@HistoryHustle Already did. ;)

[@tomorrowneverdies567]

I remember when I was in Kindergarden in the late 90s I asked the teacher "was Metaxas a good guy"? She replied to me/us "he was a good guy!". Then I asked my mother and she told me that he was an evil brutal fa**st 😂

[@HistoryHustle]

Interesting to read. Thanks for sharing.

[@mustakman]

Your mother was probably very left

[@tomorrowneverdies567]

@@mustakman she was 😂

[@georgios_5342]

3:28 it's not wrong to call it the party of the freethinkers (Κόμμα των Ελευθεροφρόνων) because in Greek ελεύθερος means free while φιλελεύθερος is liberal

[@HistoryHustle]

I refer to my sources.

[@christospateromichelakis1588]

The financial sector of the regime was good. They continued to develop and impose reforms, a lot of which were emblematic till 2010, troika abolish them. But................ The hidden truth is that Georgios II and Metaxas were puppets of the British government. We had to do in diplomacy what did Turkey, Swiss, Sweden, Spain, and Portugal. They led Greece to an absolute disaster. The country was destroyed totally in terms of deaths (10% of the population - a lot of the from starving ), and infrastructures and they created the conditions of future civil war. The Pireaus port, Patra was bombarded with the most modern US and British aeroplanes and with thousands of dead civilians. Even the destruction of the communist party led to an extreme development of this party later but with low-quality leadership in the years 1942-1944. And then the communist party, ELLAS, and EAM were under British control.

[@ΔημήτρηςΤερζάκης-τ9π]

Being a member of EON was never compulsory. Anyone could very well deny it back then and Greeks knew that but saw EON as something they were obliged to do in order to honour their culture. There was nothing political about EON as said by the composer and fierce Communist Mikis theodorakis who died recently and was a part of the EON. All in all every Greek agreed it was for the better with the exception of those who worked for the KKE. (Not those who voted for it like mister theodorakis but those who worked for it. E.g. the national traitor nikolaos zachariadis)

[@HistoryHustle]

I see, I read it was but thnks for your insights.

[@betasgr]

Metaxas was an excellent army officer that studied in Germany. When he became dictator, establish a state of prosecutions and exiles against the communists. At the same time he founded IKA, the institute of public insurance for the first time in the country. Contradicting personality, had the support of majority of the people in a strangling to survive population still trying to adjust to new reality created at 1922. My grandma was a highschool student at that time and member of EON the youth organization of the regime. She was proud for that till the last day of her life. She used to tell me stories about their activities and a couple of songs they were being taught (spreading hate and insulting communists I have to mention). But fascism and it's ideals were never really popular among the Greeks. In Thessaloniki and other cities Jews population leaved as equals among equals till the Germans arrived. that was another story my grandma used to say, about a good friend of her that was driven to a specifically for Jews people area isolated by German troops and within a month she was put in a train to end up you know where...metaxas to my opinion was a philopatris dictator Great job my friend

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for sharing this additional information and insights with us!

[@Arcangel77able]

Great video, very interesting. I remember reading that relations between Greece and Italy, aside from a certain geostrategic rivalry in the Aegean, were not bad, far from it, and some time before the Italian attack in October 1940, the General Staff of the Hellenic Army surveyed their peers Fascists, the sale of some Artillery batteries, which were being replaced in the Reggio Ejercito, by newer pieces, for the Greeks, the aggression was a bucket of Cold Water. They didn't expect it.

[@HistoryHustle]

Hi Juan, thank you for your reply!

[@gghost1224]

Spartan militarism is one of the tenents of Metaxism, dont spread misinformation. Militarism and expansionism isnt the same.

[@HistoryHustle]

Never said they were the same.

[@gghost1224]

@@HistoryHustle You said Metaxism didnt espouse militarism, which is flat out wrong

[@Thomas.Nikolaidis10]

He was a dictator and leader of greece But not a fascist

[@HistoryHustle]

I understand.

[@pontikofarmako3634]

In Greece Metaxas is a hero. He was poisoned by the British before the German Invasion, because he would achieve truce between Greece and Italy with Hitler.

[@HistoryHustle]

Source?

[@pontikofarmako3634]

@@HistoryHustle 1) Ο Ιωάννης Μεταξάς: Η πορεία προς την δόξα - Μάνος Ν.Χατζηδάκης (Ioannis Metaxas: The path to glory - Manos N. Hatzidakis) 2) Writings of his daughter Lukia Metaxa