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| Left: Mother mourns her murdered son; Right: Workers rally in Thessaloniki. |
The 1936 “Bloody May” in Greece.
By Nikos Mottas.
May
1936: A milestone in the history of the Greek working movement. The
country was in the midst of unprecedented moments of militant upheaval.
Large-scale strikes, began on April, gradually took the
characteristics of peoples' revolt which had to face the barbarity of
the fascist Metaxas government.
The
center of the demonstrations was Thessaloniki where, since March,
strikes in various sectors had been erupted due to the miserable
conditions of labor. On April 29, the tobacco workers declared an
indefinite strike demanding, among other things, better wages. Their
mobilizations created a wave of solidarity and revolt across Greece.
Until the Workers' Day of 1936, the strikes had been spread in other
cities, from Serres to Volos and from Karditsa to Athens. By May 7th,
the strike had already spread in all over the
country, with the participation of thousands of workers. The
government of Premier Metaxas- a government of violence and
terrorism- had one major aim: the dissolution of the strikes with any
means.
On
May 8th, equestrian policemen attacked a workers'
demonstration, opening fire against the masses. For the next day (May
9th), the General Confederation of Greek Workers declares
a 24-hour strike. The government, in an attempt to break the strike,
conscripted men from various sectors (railways, electricians etc) but
without result: the workers ignored the government's terrorist
efforts and create an unprecedent, huge strike-rally in Thessaloniki.
The rally was converting into a mass uprising against the fascist
political establishment, while the government had already transformed
the city into a military camp with hundreds soldiers and policemen in
almost every corner and building.
The clash was unavoidable. The fascist government unleashed an armed murderous attack against the workers' rally. The first dead worker was Tasos Tousis, in the crossroad of Syggrou and Ptolemeon streets, in front of “Metropolis” hotel. His comrades placed his lifeless body on a door they had ripped from a nearby building. His mother found him on that point- the shocking photo of her son's mourning was published the other day on “Rizospastis”. This tragic photo would later become the inspiration for communist poet Yannis Ritsos to write his epic and best known poem “Epitafios”.
However, the deadly attacks by the army and police couldn't stop the demonstration, while a huge number of people- even soldiers who denied to shoot- joined the workers. The slogan “down with fascism” spreads in the city. The working class mourned 9 deaths (12 according to other sources) while hundreds were the wounded workers.
The clash was unavoidable. The fascist government unleashed an armed murderous attack against the workers' rally. The first dead worker was Tasos Tousis, in the crossroad of Syggrou and Ptolemeon streets, in front of “Metropolis” hotel. His comrades placed his lifeless body on a door they had ripped from a nearby building. His mother found him on that point- the shocking photo of her son's mourning was published the other day on “Rizospastis”. This tragic photo would later become the inspiration for communist poet Yannis Ritsos to write his epic and best known poem “Epitafios”.
However, the deadly attacks by the army and police couldn't stop the demonstration, while a huge number of people- even soldiers who denied to shoot- joined the workers. The slogan “down with fascism” spreads in the city. The working class mourned 9 deaths (12 according to other sources) while hundreds were the wounded workers.
On
the next day, the funerals of the workers, attended by more than
200,000 people, turned into new mass demonstrations against the bloodthirsty Metaxas government. What followed was an orgy of
violence and arrests from the side of the government while armed
forces, disembarked at Thessaloniki's port, tried to enforce law and
order in the city. On May 13th
another nationwide strike took place condemning the murderous attack
of the state authorities. Under the public pressure and an outburst
of complaints by labor unions and opposition parties, the Metaxas
government hypocritically declared that the workers' demands would be
pleased- something that never happened. The Greek bourgeoisie
(powerful industrialists like Bodosakis, Hadjikyriakos, Kanellopoulos
etc), the Royal family and their imperialist collaborators had
different plans.
What
followed is known as “Metaxas Regime”. On August 4th
1936, the state authority of the fascist Prime Minister carried out a
Coup, dissolving the bourgeois parliament and establishing an
authoritarian dictatorship which ruled Greece until 1941. Thousands
of communists (among them the General Secretary of KKE Nikos
Zachariadis) were persecuted and imprisoned.
From
bourgeois parliamentary democracy to the 4th
of August.
“Metaxas is
the most sophisticated fascist with a clearly hitlerite, fascist
program”
Rizospastis,
6 March 1936.
May 1936 was a
brilliant militant moment in the history of the Greek workers
movement which the then fascist government “drowned in blood”. It could possibly mark the
beginning of the end of Metaxas' authority, if the bourgeois parties
had responded positively to KKE's call for a united struggle against
the ambitious dictator. The CC of the Communist Party of Greece was
pointing out in a statement: “Metaxas the murderer, the
representative of the most terrorizing, plutocratic circles, of the
King and fascist militarism, accelerates his effort in order to
establish a monarcho-fascist dictatorship in Greece”
(“KKE-Official Documents”, Vol.4).
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| Dictator Ioannis Metaxas and the Nazi salute. |
The Communist
Party had multiple times pointed the danger of the rise of a possible
monarcho-fascist dictatorial regime. On March 28, 1936, a few weeks
after the murder of medicine student A.Sotiriadis by the Police, a
KKE manifesto was stressing out: “Working People! In front of
your eyes, under the auspices of the Monarchy, the most anti-people,
dishonest, criminal conspiracy is being unveiling. The leader of this
conspiracy is Metaxas. His collaborators and accomplices are all the
plutocratic parties, from the anti-Venizelos ones which bidding in anti-people governmental measures and plans to the pro-Venizelos
parties which support the government and it's antipeople policy”
(Makis Mailis, “From the 4th of August until today”).
On the same time, despite the press reports which were exposing the
danger of a dictatorship, the centrist leader of the Liberals Party
Themistoklis Sofoulis was stating: “Mr.Prime Minister (Metaxas)
does not consider such a thing. On that issue, I am convinced that
the people must remain calm and shall not believe such intentional
rumors”.
The bourgeois
political powers turned their backs to KKE and Metaxas- who came to
power with their support- showed his real face. A face which was- as
Brecht wrote- “the most naked, braze, oppressive and deceitful
Capitalism”; the face of Fascism. The Metaxas regime, which today
is celebrated by the criminal, Neo-nazi party of Golden Dawn, was
born from the womb of bourgeois power, of the exploitative system, of
the dictatorship of the Capital.
Greek TV documentary about Yannis Ritsos' 'Epitafios'
