As a monarchist during the National Schism, Metaxas unsuccessfully opposed Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos and Greece's entry in World War I; he was exiled to Corsica in response in 1917.

[14] Despite Venizelos's efforts to reach out, Metaxas was strongly opposed to his decision to have a French military mission arrive to train the Greek Army, and almost resigned in protest.

He participated in the First Balkan War as a captain in the operations staff of the Army of Thessaly, before joining Venizelos as a military expert in the London Conference of 1912–13 in December 1912.

[16] On 6 June 1914, Metaxas, as the de facto head of the Staff Service, presented a study on the military options against the Ottoman Empire: the most decisive maneuver, a landing of the entire Greek army in Asia Minor, was virtually impossible due to the hostility with Bulgaria; instead, Metaxas proposed the sudden occupation of the Gallipoli Peninsula, without a prior declaration of war, the clearing of the Dardanelles, and the occupation of Constantinople so as to force the Ottomans to negotiate.

The Entente governments were lukewarm to Venizelos' proposals, since they hoped to entice Bulgaria on their side, even offering territorial concessions at the expense of Serbia, Greece, and Romania.

Venizelos asked Metaxas for an evaluation of the situation; the opinion of the latter was that without a simultaneous entry of Romania into the war on the side of the Allies, Greece's position was too risky.

Metaxas judged that even if Bulgaria joined the Entente, it still would not suffice to shift the balance in Central Europe, and recommended the presence of four Allied army corps in Macedonia as the minimum necessary force for any substantial aid to the Greeks and Serbs.

This caused Metaxas to resign on the next day in protest, basing his argument on the loss of the element of surprise, the fortification of the straits, the fact that a single army corps was insufficient to alter the balance of forces, and the uncertain stance of Bulgaria.

[citation needed] In May and August 1916, Constantine and the General Staff allowed Fort Roupel and parts of eastern Macedonia to be occupied, without opposition, by the Central Powers (Germany and Bulgaria), as a counterbalance to the Allied presence in Thessaloniki.

[31][page needed] In August 1916, Venizelist officers launched a revolt in Greece's northern city of Thessaloniki, which resulted in the establishment of a separate "Government of National Defence" under Venizelos.

As a soldier, Metaxas argued that Greece did not have logistical capacity nor the economic resources to support an army in the interior of Anatolia, and the decision by his patron, King Constantine, to continue the war against Turkey caused a rift between the two.

As a result of the failed coup, the Liberals came to be viewed within the elite as the party of insurgency and chaos while many Populists frightened by the prospect of a revolution swung behind Metaxas's viewpoint.

[40] In response to the fears of the impoverished Greek people rising up in a revolution, Metaxas called for a "new order" in Greece, arguing that the Great Depression proved the failure of democracy and authoritarianism was the solution.

Kondylis pronounced himself an admirer of Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany, and based his call to end the republic he himself had helped to found under the grounds that restoring the monarchy would permanently shift the center of the political gravity in Greece to the right.

[42] From June to October 1935, there was a crisis atmosphere in Greece as the Army was purged of Venizelist officers, rumors swirled of coups being planned, Metaxas spoke openly of the possibility of a civil war and most politicians were fearful of being caught on the losing side as alliances were rapidly made and unmade.

Adding to the crisis atmosphere was a wave of strikes and protests all across the country in both urban and rural areas as the unemployed demanded social reforms that would address the Great Depression.

[44] Despite his unpopularity with the Greek people, from August 1935 politicians began to openly visit the former King George II in his exile in London to assure him of their loyalty.

In discussing economic changes, I endeavored to make clear to the King that Greece could not live without her German customers and that, in particular, a reduction or cessation of our purchases of tobacco must lead to the impoverishment of the Macedonian peasants and thus to grave disturbances in Greek domestic politics [emphasis in the original].

At the time, the Romanian foreign minister Nicolae Titulescu was seeking to link the Little Entente of Czechoslovakia, Romania and Yugoslavia together with the Balkan Pact of Yugoslavia, Romania, Greece and Turkey, which Eisenlohr vehemently objected to, saying he wanted the king to appoint as prime minister someone who was friendly towards Germany who would veto Titulescu's plan, which was aimed at building an alliance against Germany.

Following the Comintern's orders, the KKE declared itself in favor of a "popular front" to unite all left-wing parties against fascism, and called for an alliance with the Venizelists.

The political significance of this appointment was great since Metaxas was not only a dedicated Monarchist but one of the few politicians who had supported openly the imposition of an authoritarian, non-parliamentary regime in Greece.

Three days later, the House of Parliament resolved and suspended its work for five months, authorizing the government to issue legislative decrees on all matters, with the agreement of a parliamentary committee which never operated.

In a national radio address, Metaxas declared that for the duration of the state of emergency, he would hold "all the power I need for saving Greece from the catastrophes which threaten her."

Metaxas adopted the title of Arkhigos, Greek for "leader" or "chieftain", and claimed a "Third Hellenic Civilization", following ancient Greece and the Christian Byzantine Empire of the Middle Ages.

[58] Patterning his regime on other authoritarian European governments of the day, Metaxas banned political parties (including his own), prohibited strikes and introduced widespread censorship of the media.

[citation needed] At that time Koestler met secretly with members of the underground opposition, hearing from them "horrifying stories of police brutality, especially the case of unspeakable torture inflicted on a young girl who was communist".

[66] The emergence of the "Rome-Berlin Axis" in 1936 greatly upset Metaxas's calculations and forced him to reevaluate Greece's foreign policy alignments, though he continued to hope for a while that Germany would restrain Italy in the Balkans.

[69] On the same day, Sir Hughe Knatchbull-Hugessen, the British ambassador in Turkey, asked the Turks to open staff talks with the Greeks so that they could come to Greece's aid in the event of an Italian invasion.

The Hellenic Army mounted a successful defense and a subsequent counteroffensive which forced the Italians back, occupying large parts of southern Albania, which was usually referred to by the Greeks as "Northern Epirus".

During the junta, with the exception of a small number of supporters of his regime (namely the banned "4th of August" organization) and few members of the government, no major projects honoring Metaxas were undertaken.