Social stratification

On the basis of its relations with the means of production and paid employment, Greek society in the inter-war period can be conventionally divided into four classes: the bourgeois, petit-bourgeois, working, and farming class (with the equivalent layers like the professional classes etc. that these may include).
In the former, traders and industrialists must principally be included, despite strong internal conflicts between them. Small owners (shop owners etc.) and professionals (craftsmen, assistants etc.) formed the middle bourgeois class. Here as well political differences were manifest, especially amongst those who felt that their professional survival was threatened by rapid economic restructuring. In the working class, those employed in tobacco manufacturing held a prominent place in terms of size, cohesion, organization and fighting spirit. Lastly, the population of rural areas (natives and refugees) in this period ended up having their majority reinforced by the great reforming effort of Eleftherios Venizelos in the field of agriculture. Concerning the above approaches, it is important to take into account the matter of partial social classes overlapping and inter-class mobility that can be elusive.