A public seminar examining the political turmoil and ideological forces that shaped modern Greek history will take place in Melbourne next month, with emerging historian Dean Kontos presenting new research into the rise of Ioannis Metaxas’ dictatorship.
The seminar is part of the Greek Community of Melbourne’s Greek History and Culture Seminars series.
Titled Transnational Fascist Interactions and the Coming of Ioannis Metaxas’ Fourth of August Regime in Interwar Greece, 1934–36, the session will explore the collapse of democratic institutions during the interwar years and the broader European influences that contributed to political change in Greece.
Kontos, a recent graduate of the University of Melbourne, completed his Honours dissertation in 2025 focusing on the interwar period and the influence of fascist ideology on the decline of the Second Hellenic Republic.
His research examines how Greece’s political instability between 1924 and 1935 created conditions that allowed fascist and para-fascist ideas to gain influence among revisionist political circles.
Unlike the mass political movements that emerged in countries such as Italy, Germany and Austria, Kontos argues that Greece experienced what he describes as a more “top-down” process of political transformation.
His work considers the growing influence of figures including General Ioannis Metaxas and General Giorgos Kondylis, and how their rise reflected wider European political trends during the 1920s and 1930s.
The seminar also seeks to challenge existing interpretations of the Metaxas regime, arguing that scholarship has often underestimated Greece’s engagement with transnational fascist networks and ideological influences across Europe.
The presentation will take place on Thursday, 7 May 2026, at 7pm at the Greek Centre, Mezzanine Level, 168 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne.
The seminar will be delivered in English and is open to those interested in modern Greek history, political studies and interwar Europe.
Event Details
- Date: Thursday, 7 May 2026
- Time: 7pm
- Speaker: Dean Kontos
- Venue: Greek Centre, Mezzanine Level, 168 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne
- Language: English
