2/ FASCISM: FROM INTERWAR ORGANIZATIONS TO THE SECURITY BATTALIONS DURING THE OCCUPATION A | INTERWAR Fascist ideas had an appeal to both sides (i.e., the Venizelian and the Royalist) within the Greek bourgeoisie during the interwar period. The conscripts’ militias acted on a local level in the form of isolated groups and people who put their action and their “know-how” to the service, irst, of local politicians of the People’s Party, industrialists and landowners; but also, and increasingly so, of paragons of the State as it under the control of the anti-royalists. Most attempts at creating distinctly fascist associations and organizations were dispersed, poorly prepared, and achieved no remarkable results. The exception occurred in Thessaloniki, the city of the largest and most active Jewish community in Greece, with Nation Union Hellas (NUH), founded in 1927. A few years ater its creation, NUH acquired a massive and dynamic character in Thessaloniki and other areas around the country. Like other fascist groups it did not at irst show much potential for mass appeal, but eventually developed into a mass organization with about 10,000 members during the international economic crisis, in the context of which the last Venizelos government declared Greece’s default in 1932. During the short period of its massive growth, the ideology of NUH was a mixture of nationalism, anti-Parliamentarism, anti-communism and anti-Semitism. Ater 1931, the organization was also expanded to rural areas of Greek Macedonia, following the revival of ethnic tensions during the economic crisis and rediscovering the political and martial traditions of Greek nationalism, which had already developed in the early 20th Century during the so-called “Macedonian Struggle” of 1904 to 1908.8 In 1932 to 1934, NUH, favoured by powerful economic and political interests and quite oten enjoying impunity from the judiciary and the police, formed assault squads in the workers’ districts of Athens and Piraeus and clashed many times with communists.9 Ater the Greek State instituted its special anti-communist law, which targeted all those claiming or calling for an overthrow of the “social regime in force”, the “Steel Helmets” were oten used as an ancillary force in support of the Gendarmerie against workers’ strikes and demonstrations. However, this mass phase of the organization ended a few years later when the royalists, ater their electoral victories of 1932 and 1933, set about stabilizing the regime. At irst, they were aided by the military; later, stabilization took the form of a monarchical restoration with the controversial 1935 referendum; these developments inally led to the establishment of a dictatorship under Ioannis Metaxas in August 1936. During this process, many members of NUH 8. 9. 14 | The “Macedonian Struggle” that culminated in the early 20th century was the conlict between Greek, Serbian and Bulgarian nationalists regarding the territories of Ottoman Macedonia; the conlict was conducted both with “peaceful” means (the creation of schools, etc.) and with the active participation of paramilitary squads. Cf. Chondromatides 2001. ROSA LUXEMBURG STIFTUNG