Which general established an authoritarian, anti-communist dictatorship in Greece on 4 August 1936 with royal backing?
Answer and explanation
Correct answer: B. Ioannis Metaxas
- Step 1: Appointed prime minister by King George II, Metaxas dissolved parliament in August 1936 citing communist labor unrest. His regime suspended constitutional articles, instituted strict press censorship, created the EON youth organization, and militarised the state. Answer: Ioannis Metaxas. Why not the others: "Theodoros Pangalos" was a general who ruled as a short-lived dictator in 1925-1926 before being overthrown; "Georgios Papadopoulos" was the colonel who led the 21 April 1967 military junta coup d'état thirty years later; "Nikolaos Plastiras" was a republican revolutionary officer who led the 1922 revolution and governed in the 1940s-1950s.
Practise more 20th Century Greece: Wars, Dictatorships and Democracy.
Free questions with an explanation for every one, and full timed Panhellenic Examinations (Greece) mock tests.
More 20th Century Greece: Wars, Dictatorships and Democracy questions
- Which Cretan statesman was invited to Athens by the Military League following the 1909 Goudi coup, transforming Greek politics?
- Which 1913 peace treaty concluded the Second Balkan War, securing Greek sovereignty over eastern Macedonia, Kavala, and Crete?
- What was the deep political split during WWI between Prime Minister Venizelos and King Constantine I regarding wartime neutrality?
- Which 1923 peace treaty terminated the Greco-Turkish War and mandated a compulsory population exchange between Greece and Turkey?
- What historical event is commemorated on 28 October as a national holiday across Greece and Cyprus?
- Which joint resistance operation on 25 November 1942 blew up a strategic railway viaduct, severing Rommel's North African supply line?