News of July 28, 1938

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News of July 28, 1938

Failed coup in Greece

A revolt against the Ioannis Metaxas dictatorship was put down in Chania, Greece.

Who was Metaxas?

Ioannis Metaxas (Greek: Ιωάννης Μεταξάς; 12 April 1871^[1] – 29 January 1941) was a Greek military officer and politician, serving as Prime Minister of Greece from 1936 until his death in 1941. He governed constitutionally for the first four months of his tenure, and thereafter as the strongman of the authoritarian 4th of August Regime.

Patterning his regime on other authoritarian European governments of the day (most notably Fascist Italy), Metaxas banned political parties (including his own), prohibited strikes and introduced widespread censorship of the media. National unity was to be achieved by the abolition of the previous political parliamentary system, which was seen as having left the country in chaos (see National Schism).  Metaxas disliked the old parties of the political landscape, including traditional conservatives.

His authoritarian nationalist ideology became known as:
Metaxism

It called for the regeneration of the Greek nation and the establishment of a modern, culturally homogenous Greece.   Metaxism disparaged liberalism, and held individual interests to be subordinate to those of the nation, seeking to mobilize the Greek people as a disciplined mass in service to the creation of a "new Greece."

• Greek ethno-nationalism: Promoted cultural purity of the Greek nation and endorsed the creation of a "Third Hellenic Civilization".    The Metaxas regime asserted that true Greeks were ethnically Greek and Christian, intending to deliberately exclude Albanians, Slavs, and Turks residing in Greece from Greek citizenship.
• Monarchism: Considered the institution of monarchy a pillar of national unity.
• Anticommunism: Metaxism was very hostile to left-wing and/or communist ideologies.
• Anti-Parliamentarianism: Denounced the old parliamentary system as a cause of anarchy, division and economic decline.
• Corporatism: Worked strongly with corporations
• Protectionism: Considered the market-liberal policies of the old state to have failed.
• Anti-imperialism: Opposed the domination and influence of Greece by foreign powers.

Although the Metaxas government and its official doctrines are often described as Fascist, academically it is considered to have been a conventional authoritarian-conservative dictatorship akin to Francisco Franco's Spain or António Salazar's Portugal. The Metaxist government derived its authority from the conservative establishment and its doctrines strongly supported traditional institutions such as the Greek Orthodox Church and the Greek Monarchy; essentially reactionary, it lacked the radical theoretical dimensions of ideologies such as Italian Fascism and German Nazism.

The ideology of Metaxism was associated with Metaxas' political party, the Freethinkers' Party and the 4th of August Regime. In the post-war period it has been advocated by the 4th of August Party and the Golden Dawn party.

1938 Coup Attempt

The uprising of 1938 was the only armed insurrection against the dictatorship of Metaxas and broke out on 28 July 1938 in Chania. Aristomenis Mitsotakis was the leader of the coup. The uprising was hoped to trigger a broader revolt and revolution that was organized in Athens. Among the people that helped to organize this plan were the governor of the Bank of Greece at the time, Emmanouil Tsouderos,^[2] Ioannis Mountakis, M. Voloudakis, and Emmanouil Mantakas. The banned Communist Party of Greece (KKE) was also involved.

On 28 July 1938, the radio station of Chania emitted the following proclamation that asked King George II of Greece to end Metaxas’ dictatorship in order for the Greeks to be free.   Because of the limited timeframe and the low number of people initiated in the plans, but also due to the very poor planning, the coup was doomed to fail, and collapsed within a few hours. The government reacted fast and effectively, sending powerful military forces to Crete and seaplanes to Milos. After some minor clashes, Chania was clear of rebels.

Pan Am seaplane disappears over Pacific Ocean with 15 people aboard

Pan American initiated trans-Pacific airmail service on 22 November 1935, and began carrying passengers in October 1936. The flying boat service between San Francisco Bay and Manila Bay required about 60 hours of flying time over six days, with intermediate stops at Pearl Harbor, Midway Atoll, Wake Island, and Guam.

Martin M-130, capable of landing on water,
making it possible to extend commercial
air flight to locations without runways.

On July 28, 1938, Hawaii Clipper departed Guam on the last leg of the westbound journey at 11:39 local time. The last radio contact was 3 hours 27 minutes later, when the aircraft reported flying through layers of clouds and moderately rough air 565 miles from the Philippine coast.

The US Army transport ship USAT Meigs found an oil slick along the course of the lost aircraft about 500 miles from Manila, took samples, and stood by to investigate.  Search for the plane was called off on August 5, 1938. Later tests on the oil samples collected by Meigs indicated no connection with the aircraft. Modern reviews of the events and oil sampling techniques have led some to conclude the test of oil from the tropical Pacific compared to samples from San Francisco were not conclusive in ruling out a link with a slick found close to the last estimated position allowing for ocean currents.

Hawaii Clipper was the first of the initial three long-range flying boats to be lost. It was the worst Pacific airline accident at the time, although fatalities were higher when the other two Martin M-130 flying boats crashed later. The Philippine Clipper crash of 1943 killed 19, and 23 were killed when China Clipper crashed in 1945

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