George II of Greece - Restoration of Monarchy and The Metaxas Regime

Restoration of Monarchy and The Metaxas Regime

In Greece between 1924 and 1935 there were 23 changes of government, a dictatorship and 13 coups. General Georgios Kondylis, a former Venizelist, overthrew the government in October 1935 and appointed himself Prime Minister. He then arranged a plebiscite both to approve his government and to bring an end to the Republic. On 3 November 1935, almost 98% of the reported votes supported restoration of the monarchy. The balloting was not secret, and participation was compulsory. As Time described it at the time, "A voter one could drop into the ballot box a blue vote for George II and please General George Kondylis... or one could cast a red ballot for the Republic and get roughed up."

George, who had been living at Brown's Hotel in London, returned to Greek soil on November 25. Almost immediately he and Kondylis disagreed over the terms of a general amnesty the King wanted to declare, and George appointed an interim Prime Minister, Professor Konstantinos Demertzis. New elections were held in January, which resulted in a hung parliament with the Communists (who were anti-monarchist) holding the balance of power. A series of unexpected deaths amongst the better-known politicians (including Kondylis and Demertzis) as well as the uncertain political situation, led to the rise to power of Ioannis Metaxas. On 4 August 1936, George endorsed Metaxas's establishment of dictatorship - the "4th of August Regime", signing decrees that dissolved the parliament, banned political parties, abolished the constitution, and created a "Third Hellenic Civilization. The King, ruling with Prime Minister Metaxas, oversaw a fascist regime in which political opponents were arrested and strict censorship was imposed. An Index of banned books during that period included the works of Plato, Thucydides and Xenophon.