The Merchants During the Metaxas Dictatorship in Greece (1936–1941)

While the perceptions of General Ioannis Metaxas’ dictatorship, established at the end of the interwar period in Greece (1936–1941), regarding various professional groups (farmers, workers) have been sufficiently studied, its relationship with the country’s merchants remains largely unexplored. This relationship was initially shaped by the regime’s ideological orientation. Although the identification of politics with agrarian movements was not as pronounced in Greece as in the broader Balkan region, there was still a significant rural presence in the country, and the dictatorship maintained strong ideological ties with the agrarian population. The populist connections that interwar authoritarian regimes sought to establish with the working classes also shaped the dictatorship’s relationship with workers. However, merchants did not fit as neatly into the dictatorship’s ideological framework. This article aims to fill a gap in understanding the relationship between the dictatorship and the commercial community by examining not only the ideological background but also the economic policies pursued by the regime. These include import substitution policies and the ‘clearing’ agreements that were prevalent in the Balkans, both of which led to conflicts with the merchant class. The regime’s preferential treatment of industry over commerce, coupled with certain authoritarian practices implemented by Metaxas’ government, further exacerbated this tension.