Membership
Within two years from the first march of EON in Athens in 1937, the organization numbered a million members in 1939. Some of the most prominent members of the organization were crown prince Paul, who also served as the titular head of the organization for a short time, as well as other members of the Greek royal family. The organization was also open for the Greek Jews.
Membership to the Organization was not mandatory, but there was widespread successful campaigning by the Metaxas regime to include the largest part of the youth to EON. In the founding document of the Organization, it is mentioned that "the inclusion of the entire Greek youth to EON is everyone's responsibility". The organization later took over the scouts and other such organizations, although typically membership still remained strictly voluntary. It has been said that "school teachers were ordered to bring the youth to EON en masse, as well as the workers in the public sector, who were forced to enlist their children to the National Youth Organization".
Unlike most contemporary political youth organizations in Europe, EON was not affiliated with a political party, as the Metaxas Regime was not supported by a mass political movement. Metaxas' dictatorial power relied chiefly on the King and the army, and no political parties were active during his leadership.
Read more about this topic: National Youth Organisation (Greece)
Famous quotes containing the word membership:
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—Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (b. 1922)