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Ladies and Gentlemen. I write to you today in an effort to keep alive the memory of a regime, an ideology and a man who was integral to the national story of the Hellenic motherland. Through this regime and it’s leadership, the nation was reborn as it was reintroduced to the institutions and factors that had empowered it in the first place whilst resisting and opposing threats (both foreign and internal). The regime I am talking about is non other than the “4th of August Regime” of Greece. The man I am talking about is Ioannis Metaxas.

The 4th of August Regime is named a such as it was formed following a “self coup” by Ioannis Metaxas (who was appointed as Prime Minister at the time by King George II) on the 4th of August, 1936. To understand why this was done or why I and many think this was an acceptable route, one must turn to Greek history preluding it’s conception. Greece during this time was an unstable hot mess due to the political instability and radical (sometimes militant) partisanship amongst the various factions in Greece. Following Greece’s defeat during the Greco-Turkish War, the monarchy was ousted in a military coup, creating the Second Hellenic Republic. This republic, however, was very unstable, seeing a total of 23 changes in government along with 13 coups. This, combined with a hung parliament and an increase in popularity for the Communist Party of Greece, would see the Republic in a dire position. That is why, with the King’s blessing, Ioannis Metaxas had launched a self coup creating the dictatorship known as the 4th of August regime.

From this regime would come a miriad of reforms and changes to the governmental doctrine and the national ethos/perception Greece would take. Greece would firmly be defined by “faith, family and nation”. Metaxas aimed to create a new “Third Hellenic Civillisation”, one that took the disciplinary, militaristic virtues of Ancient Macedonia and Sparta (The First Hellenic Civillisation) and the devout faith in religion of the Byzantine Empire (The Second Hellenic Civillisation) to mold this new one. One that would oppose the old, corrupt nature of the previous regime and the degenerate, unholy rhetorics of Communism, Anarchism and Nazism.

His achievements would see him introduce economic reforms such as unemployment insurance, maternity leave, guaranteed 2 week vacation with pay, stricter work safety standards and a 5 day, 40 hour work week. He would normalise relations with the old enemy of Turkey (seeing them ally against the mutual threat of Bulgaria) and see Greece take a more “Allied friendly path”. He would also promote assimilation, integrating groups (such as the Arvanites, Aromanians and Slavophone Greeks) into the larger Greek society whilst deporting those who seeked to harm it by advocating for the independence or partition of regions within the country (namely, the Cham Albanians and Slavo-Macedonians). Most notably, he would lead Greece in World War II against Fascist Italy, delivering the Allies their first military victory against an Axis power.

The conclusion one can take from the legacy of the 4th of August Regime should not be that of a “tyrranical dictatorship only saved by its participation in World War II” as that would be naive. The Metaxas Regime serves as a reminder to all that Greece and any country for that matter can achieve greatness lest it empowers the factors that make said country great. One should not take for granted the religion, culture and history native to a given country, for lest it was to forget these things, it’s identity, sovereignty and roots would become under threat by ideological and foreign movements. We must celebrate this day as a symbol of the importance of the triple factors that arguably make up any given nation: “Family, Faith and Country”. Ζητω ο Μεταχας! Ζητω η 4 Αυγουστου!

(Note: This is the first post as a part of a larger scheme to memorialize certain regimes, people, ideologies etc considered to be ideal models that empower values that Nuevo Amanecer supports and adheres to.)