Ohi [No] night 28th Oct is with us again. I am always left wondering what sort of man was Ioannis Mataxas, the Greek Prime Minister who in 1940 by saying no, took Greece into the Second World War, when he refused Mussolini's demand for occupation rights to certain Greek sites. The paradox of this man revolves around his political ideology. Mataxas portrayed himself as"Saviour of the Nation" when declaring a state of emergency in 1936, while suspending parliament indefinitely, banning political parties, prohibiting strikes and censoring the press. His government was very authoritarian, he modeled his rule on the fascist regimes then current in Europe. He even held his own book burnings and re-wrote all school text books!
The question that always puzzeled me is why do Greeks today celebrate this event? When
the man whose action in 1940 resulted in Greece's entry into the second world war and the eventual German invasion of the country in 1941. Are they monarchists, fascists or simply see Metaxas' action as restoring pride in themselves and the country. There is no question that "The National Father" was a military dictator who's constitutional claim to office was only legitimate for a few months. Yet despite this he is considered in some quarters as a national hero.
Greek politics has always been divided by extreme positions on both right and left. A divide that lead to a civil war and again to the coup of the Generals during the 70's. I only hope that our volatile Greek friends are not today eembarking on yet another installment of violent decent into anarchy. Still as I sit here with my friends in Hobart's Greek Club , eating, drinking, talking, dancing these political considerations are drowned by the sounds of loud Greek music and the feeling of camaraderie
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