At the end of the inter-war period, following the proclamation of the dictatorship in 1936, the edge was taken off the basic political juxtaposition of the two blocs (Venizelists- anti-Venizelists), at least on the social level. Ioannis Metaxas' four-year governorship of the country contributed to this. The proscription of opponents, whether convicted or not (with particular emphasis on Communists and Democrats), became a leading principle of the Regime. The acts attempted by the Opposition had limited impact since they could not acquire a massive following. The effectiveness of the police network, treason and finally the suppression that the Regime of the Fourth of August demonstrated, were both impressive and resourceful. The most serious attempt at opposition, the Cretan revolution, was quelled before it had even broken out.
It is obvious that the application of the most totalitarian methods at the expense of the people, but also persecutions of almost all the political figures by the dictatorial Regime, created a new political status. More specifically, the party ructions of previous decades were transformed and defined in new terms: loyalty to parliamentarism or its denouncement.