Photography and Dictatorship – A research on the cases of Ioannis Metaxas in Greece and Benito Mussolini in Italy

The dissertational project with the working title “Photography and Dictatorship – A Research on the Cases of Ioannis Metaxas in Greece and Benito Mussolini in Italy” deals with photography in Italy and Greece from 1922 to 1941/3.

The “Regime of August 4th” did not have the dynamics of Italian Fascism or of German National Socialism, however, in part it was oriented towards them. Despite his proximity to Europe’s fascist dictatorships Metaxas remained an ally of Great Britain and avoided to be drawn into the war. However, after he declined the Italian ultimatum Italy’s forces soon crossed the Albanian border into Greece. On April 6th 1941, ultimately, Hitler’s troops started their invasion through Yugoslavia and Bulgaria into Greece.

A comparison between the two countries is showing similarities in the political structure, but also in a diachronic examination from the rise of power to the fall of the dictators and the end of the Second World War with the partisan fights. An examination of this kind has currently not published in the scientific research.

Both Italy’s and Greece’s fascist system used photography for their ends. Photography’s published at the time are the basis for the present research. They will be studied with respect to their role in the propaganda of the dictatorships as well as in the culture of memory until today. The aim of this research is to detect a picture language and to analyse it with respect to photography theory.