What happens when a state is under foreign occupation? What are the turning points and what is the continuity in relation to the past? How does the state apparatus continue to function – if it does – and in what ways does it address social needs?

This book examines the policy followed by the first occupation government regarding the organization of state functions, the facilitation of German plunder, food supply, the black market, labor, and broader social policies, and thus seeks to illuminate the form that the state under occupation took in Greece.

To this end, it systematically investigates the vast legislative output of the occupation government, which remains one of the least studied aspects of occupation history to this day. The research covers the period from the beginning of the Occupation, in late April 1941, to the assumption of the premiership of the occupation government by Konstantinos Logothetopoulos on December 2, 1942.

This is the period during which Greek society changes due to famine, resistance is born, and the impending conflict is prepared, where the collaborators of the conquerors will play a central role. Understanding the actions of the occupation governments and their social impact is essential for comprehending this conflict and its development. In this direction, this book aims to contribute.