its contemporaries Nazi Germany or Fascist Italy. Attempts at social control Having come to power intent on restoring public order, Metaxas' state largely achieved this goal, under the supervision of what can be described as its most fascist member, minister of public order Konstantinos Maniadakis. Maniadakis created a second fake "communist party", published a fake Rizospastis and achieved the dissolution of all the communist organizations. Metaxas' policies such as the censorship of the media, the banning of political parties and prohibition of strikes copied contemporary European authoritarian regimes. As its far-right contemporaries Italy and Germany, the Greek State also had its political police force, the Asfaleia, based upon the Gestapo (its chief Maniadakis maintained a close relationship with Himmler on methods and techniques). The objective of Asfaleia was to secure public order. The regime also repressed the rebetiko music due to the uncompromising lyrics and favoured the traditional Greek folk music. Hashish dens, baglamas and bouzouki were banned, or at least playing in the eastern-style manner and scales. Probably inspired by the Völkisch movement, a massive promotion of the Greek folk music took place, though the radio and public festivals, mainly because of the animosity of the state towards the bouzoukis and the rebetiko music. On this point the Greek communist left agreed, considering the rebetiko as "reactionary". Soon after its inception the regime severely repressed the communists and leftists. About 15,000 people were arrested and jailed, or exiled for political reasons; some were subjected to torture. Metaxas' regime forced the Communist party underground, and also attempted to dismantle the old system of loyalties of the Royalist and Venizelist parties. Those major forces however remained, as they had for the preceding decades, and re-emerged immediately after the four-year Metaxas regime. While Metaxas' regime did play up the communist threat in order to justify its repression, the regime is not known to have committed political murders and did not instate the death penalty. Dissidents were, rather, usually banished to tiny islands in the Aegean sea. For example, the liberal leader George Papandreou was exiled to Andros. The Greek Communist Party (KKE), meanwhile, which had already been outlawed, remained intact. Legal restrictions against it finally were ended in 1974 during metapolitefsi. Arts and culture Metaxas was educated in the German Empire and admired German culture. He supported the arts (theatrical, literary, musical, visual arts, etc.). He collaborated with significant intellectual figures of