Ioannis Metaxas (April 12, 1871 – January 29, 1941)

Ioannis Metaxas (April 12, 1871 – January 29, 1941)

Born on the island of Ithaca, he was a career military officer who reached the rank of Lieutenant General of the Greek Army. He was Prime Minister of Greece at the outbreak of WW2 and during the Greco-Italian War of 1940.

He was only 14 when he entered the Military Academy in 1885, graduating in 1890. He would soon see action during the Greco-Turkish War (1897) & the Balkan Wars (1912-13).

He entered politics in the 1920’s. Becoming a minister in various Governments. By 1936 Metaxas was the Minister of Defence during the Government of Konstantinos Demertzis.

Demertzis dying while in office, the various threats to Greece as a nation, the threat of communism, as well as widespread unrest across the country, gave Metaxas justification to declare a state of emergency on 4 August 1936, becoming Prime Minister with the King’s support.

Metaxas adopted the title of “Αρχηγός”. He wanted to mould his regime into a mix of Ancient Greece and the Byzantine Empire, wanting to bring unity to a divided country.

He is most admired for his patriotism and defiance to during WWII and his response to the preposterous ultimatum by Fascist Italy, which marked the beginning of the Greco-Italian War, and saw victory by the Greeks and the liberation of Northern Epirus in that time.

The series of fortifications on the Greek-Bulgarian frontier known as the Metaxas Line, which were designed by Metaxas, consisted of tunnels that led to observatories, emplacements and machine-gun nests. The constructions are so sturdy that they survive to this day.

In the first half of the 20th century, Metaxas was a significant figure in Greek society, as well as in the political and military scene during a time of great upheaval and a tumultuous period of Greek history.