Eleftherios Venizelos
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Elefthérios Venizélos (Greek: Ελευθέριος Βενιζέλος) |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|---|---|
| In office 27 April 1899 – 6 March 1901 |
|
|
|
|
| In office March 1910 – 12 Sept 1910 |
|
| Preceded by | Alexandros Zaimis |
|
|
|
| In office 18 October 1910 – 15 March 1915 |
|
| Preceded by | Stephanos Dragoumis |
| Succeeded by | Dimitrios Gounaris |
| In office 23 August 1915 – 7 October 1915 |
|
| Preceded by | Dimitrios Gounaris |
| Succeeded by | Alexandros Zaimis |
| In office 27 June 1917 – 18 November 1920 |
|
| Preceded by | Alexandros Zaimis |
| Succeeded by | Dimitrios Rallis |
| In office 24 January 1924 – 19 February 1924 |
|
| Preceded by | Stylianos Gonatas |
| Succeeded by | Georgios Kafantaris |
| In office 4 July 1928 – 26 May 1932 |
|
| Preceded by | Alexandros Zaimis |
| Succeeded by | Alexandros Papanastasiou |
| In office 5 June 1932 – 3 November 1932 |
|
| Preceded by | Alexandros Papanastasiou |
| Succeeded by | Panagis Tsaldaris |
| In office 16 January 1933 – 6 March 1933 |
|
| Preceded by | Panagis Tsaldaris |
| Succeeded by | Alexandros Othonaios |
|
|
|
| Born | 23 August 1864 Mournies, Chania, Crete, Ottoman Empire |
| Died | 18 March 1936 (aged 71) Hotel Ritz, Paris, France |
| Nationality | Greek |
| Political party | Liberal Party |
| Spouse | Maria Katelouzou, Elena Skylitsi |
| Children | Kyriakos Venizelos, Sophoklis Venizelos |
| Profession | Lawyer |
| Religion | Christian Orthodox |
| Signature |  |
Eleftherios Venizelos (full name Elefthérios Kyriákou Venizélos, Greek: Ελευθέριος Κυριάκου Βενιζέλος) (Mournies Chania, 23 August 1864 - Paris, 18 March 1936) was one of the greatest statesmen of modern Greece.[1][2][3] He played a significant role in the autonomy of the Cretan State and later in the union of Crete with Greece. Also under his leadership, Greece doubled in area and population during the Balkan wars (1912–13) with the liberation of Macedonia, Epirus and brought Greece on the side of the Allies in the World War I.[3] Though with his policies he came in direct conflict with the monarchy, causing the National Schism that lasted for decades, he also set the basis for the modernization of the Greek society. Venizelos defined an entire era in Greek history, and is still a point of reference in Greek politics today.
Contents |
[edit] Early life
[edit] Family and education
Eleftherios was born in Mournies, near Chania (also known as Canea) in then-Ottoman Crete to Kyriakos Venizelos, a Cretan revolutionary.[4] When the Cretan revolution of 1866 broke out, Venizelos' family fled to the island of Syros, due to the participation of his father in the revolution.[5] They were not allowed to return to Crete, and stayed in Syros until 1872, when the Sultan granted an amnesty.
He spent his final year of secondary education at a school in Ermoupolis in Syros from which he received his Certificate in 1880. In 1881 he enrolled at the Law School of the University of Athens and got his degree in Law with excellent grades. He returned in Crete in 1886. There he worked as a lawyer in Chania. Throughout his life he had a passion for reading, and was constantly improving his skills in English and French.
[edit] Entry into politics
The situation in Crete during Venizelos' early years was fluid. The Turkish government was undermining the reforms, which were made under international pressure, while the Cretan desired to see the Sultan abandoning "the ungrateful infidels".[6] Under these unstable conditions, Venizelos entered into politics in the elections of 2 April 1889 as a member of the island's liberal party.[4] As a deputy, he was distinguished for his eloquence and his radical opinions.[7]
[edit] Personal life and family
In December 1891 Venizelos married Maria Katelouzou, daughter of Eleftherios Katelouzos. The newly-weds lived in the upper floor of the Chalepa house, while Venizelos' mother and his brother and sisters lived on the ground floor. There, they enjoyed the happy moments of their marriage, and there, also, their two children were born, Kyriakos in 1892 and Sophoklis in 1894. Their married life, however, was short and marked by misfortune. Maria died of post-puerperal fever in November 1894 after the birth of their second child, Sophoklis. Her death deeply affected Venizelos and as sign of his mourning, he grew his characteristic beard and mustache, which he retained for the rest of his life.[4]
In 1920, after his defeat in the November elections, he left for Paris in a self-imposed exile. In September 1921, twenty seven years after the death of his first wife Maria, he married in Highgate in London an exceedingly wealthy woman called Elena Skylitsi and settled down in Paris in a flat at 22 rue Beanjon. He lived there until 1927, when he returned to Chania.[4] In 1928 he entered Greek politics again.
In 1935, after a failed coup attempt, he left from Chania once again into self-imposed exile in Paris. A year later, in 1936, on 18 March, the "light of the Great man went out".[4]
[edit] Political Career in Crete
[edit] The Cretan uprising
[edit] Background
The numerous revolutions in Crete, during and after the Greek War of Independence, (1821, 1833, 1841, 1858, 1866, 1878, 1889, 1895, 1897)[8] were the result of the Cretans' desire for Enosis — Union with Greece. In the Cretan revolution of 1866, the two sides, under the pressure of the Great Powers, came to an agreement, which was finalized in the Pact of Chalepa. Later the Pact was included in the provisions of the Treaty of Berlin, which was supplementing previous concessions granted to the Cretans — e.g. the Organic Law Constitution (1868) designed by William James Stillman. In summary the Pact was granting a large degree of self-government to Greeks in Crete as a means of limiting their desire to rise up against their Ottoman overlords.[9] However, the Muslims of Crete, who identified with Ottoman Turkey, were not satisfied by these reforms, as in their view the administration was delivered to the hands of the Christian Greek inhabitants of the island. In practice, the Ottoman Empire failed to enforce the provisions of the Pact, thus fueling the tensions between the two communities; instead, the Ottoman authorities attempted to maintain order by the dispatching substantial military reinforcements in the 1880-1896 period. Throughout that period, the Cretan Question was a major issue of friction in the relations of independent Greece with the Ottoman Empire.
In January 1897, violence and disorder was escalating on the island, thus polarizing the population. Massacres against the Christian population took place in Chania[10][11][12][13] and Rethimno.[13][14][15] The Greek government, pressured by public opinion, intransigent political elements, extreme nationalist groups, Ethniki Etairia[16], and the Great Powers reluctant to intervene, decided to send warships and personnel to assist the Cretan Greeks.[17] The Great Powers had no option then but to proceed with the occupation of the island, but they were late. A Greek force of 1,500 men had landed at Kolymbari on 1 February 1897,[18] and its commanding officer, Colonel Timoleon Vassos declared that he was taking over the island "in the name of the King of the Hellenes" and that he was announcing the union of Crete with Greece.[19] This led to an uprising that spread immediately throughout the island. The Great Powers finally decided to land their troops and stopped the Greek army force from approaching Chania. At the same time their fleets blockaded Crete, preventing both Greeks and Turks from bringing any more troops to the island.[18]
[edit] The events at Akrotiri
Venizelos, at that time, was touring the island and decided to act. He hurried to Malaxa, near Chania, where a group of about 2,000 rebels had assembled, and established himself as their header. He proposed an attack, along with other rebels, on the Turkish forces at Akrotiri in order to displace them from the plains (Malaxa is in a higher altitude). Venizelos' subsequence actions at Akrotiri form a central set-piece in the Venizelos myth. People composed poems on Akrotiri and his role there; editorials and articles spoke about his bravery, his visions and his diplomatic genius as inevitable accompaniment of later greatness.[10] Venizelos spent the night in Akrotiri and a Greek flag was raised. The Turkish forces requested help from the foreign admirals and attacked the rebels, thus the ships of the Great Powers bombarded the rebel positions at Akrotiri. A shell threw down the flag, which was raised up again immediately, accompanied by the excited shouts from the crews of Greek warships, which were anchored off shore, but unable to intervene. The mythologizing became more pronounced when we come to his actions in that February, as the following quotes display:
| “ | On 20th of February [he] was ordered by the admirals to lower the flag and disband his rebel force. He refused![20] | ” |
| “ | Venizelos turned towards to the port of Souda, where the warships were anchored and explained: "You have cannon-balls - fire away! But our flag will not come down"... [after the flag was hit] Venizelos ran forward; his friends stopped him; why expose a valuable life so uselessly?[20] | ” |
| “ | There was that famous day in February 1897 when... he rejected the orders of the Protecting Powers and in the picturesque phrase in the Greek newspapers "defied the navies of Europe"[20] | ” |
| “ | Under the smooth diplomat of today is the revolutionist who prodded the Turks out of Crete and the bold chieftain who camped with a little band of rebels on a hilltop above Canea and there he defied the consuls and the fleets of all the [Great] Powers![20] | ” |
In the same evening of the bombardment, Venizelos wrote a protest to the foreign admirals, which was signed by all the chieftains present at Akrotiri. He wrote that the rebels would keep their positions until everyone is killed from the shells of European warships, in order not to let the Turks remain in Crete[21] The letter was deliberately leaked to the international press, evoking emotional reactions in Greece and in Europe, where the sight of Christians, who wanted their freedom and bombarded by Christian vessels, caused popular indignation. Throughout western Europe much popular sympathy for the cause of the Christians in Crete was manifested, and much popular applause was bestowed on the Greeks.[18]
[edit] The war in Thessaly
The Ottoman Empire, in reaction to the rebellion of Crete and the assistance sent by Greece, relocated a significant part of its army in the Balkans to the north of Thessaly, close to the borders with Greece.[citation needed] Greece in reply reinforced its borders in Thessaly. However, irregular Greek forces, who were members of Ethniki Etairia (followers of the Megali Idea) acted without orders and raided Turkish outposts,[18] leading the Ottoman Empire to declare war on Greece; the war is known as the Greco-Turkish War of 1897. The Turkish army was better prepared, due to the recent reforms carried out by a German mission under Baron von der Goltz, and the Greek army was in retreat within weeks. The Great Powers again intervened and an armistice was signed in May 1897.[22]
[edit] Conclusion
The humiliating defeat of Greece in the Greco-Turkish war cost small territorial losses in small readjustments of the border line in northern Thessaly, but turned into a diplomatic victory. The Great Powers (Britain, France, Russia, and Italy), following the massacre in Iraklion on 25 August,[6][13][23] imposed a final solution on the Cretan Question: Crete was proclaimed an autonomous State, the Republic of Crete. Venizelos played an important role towards this solution not only as a leader of the Cretan rebels but also as a skilled diplomat due to his frequent communication with the admirals of the Great Powers.[23] The four Great Powers assumed the administration of Crete; and Prince George of Greece (second son of King George I) became High Commissioner, with Venizelos serving as his minister of Justice from 1899 to 1901.[24] The European powers helped Prince George to create a Cretan Gendarmerie for enforcing the law in the island.
[edit] Autonomous Crete
Prince George was appointed High Commissioner of the Cretan State for a three-year term.[24] On 13 December 1898, he arrived at Chania, where he received an unprecedented reception. On 27 April 1899, the High Commissioner created an Executive Committee composed of the Cretan leaders. Venizelos became minister of Justice and with the rest of the Committee, they began to organize the State. After Venizelos submitted the complete juridical legislation on 18 May 1900, disagreements between him and Prince George began to emerge.
Prince George was intending to travel to Europe and announced to the Cretan population that "When I am traveling in Europe I shall ask the Powers for annexation, and I hope to succeed on account of my family connections".[25] The statement reached the public without the knowledge or approval of the Committee. Venizelos said to the Prince that it would not be proper to give hope to the population for something that wasn't feasible at the given moment. As Venizelos had expected, during the Prince's journey, the Great Powers rejected the his request.[24][25]
The disagreements continued on other topics; the Prince wanted to build a palace, but Venizelos strongly opposed it as that would mean perpetuation of the current arrangement of Governorship; Cretans accepted it only as temporary, until a final solution was found.[24] Relations between the two men became increasingly soured, and Venizelos repeatedly submitted his resignation.[26]
In a meeting of the Executive Committee, Venizelos expressed his opinion that the island was not in essence autonomous, since militarily forces of the Great Powers were still present, and that the Great Powers were governing thought their representative, the Prince. Venizelos suggested that once the Prince's service expired, then the Great Powers should be invited to the Committee, which, according to article 39 of the constitution (which was suppressed in the conference of Rome) would elect a new sovereign, thereby removing the need for the presence of the Great Powers. Once the Great Powers' troops left the island along with the their representatives, then the union with Greece would be easier to achieve. This proposal was exploited by Venizelos' opponents, who accused him that he wanted Crete as an autonomous hegemony. Venizelos replied to the accusations by submitting once again his resignation, with the reasoning that for him it would be impossible henceforth to collaborate with the Committee's members; he assured the Commissioner however that he did not intend to join the opposition.[24]
On 6 March 1901, in a report, he exposed the reasons that compelled him to resign to the High Commissioner, which was however leaked to the press. On 20 March, Venizelos was dismissed, because "he, without any authorization, publicly supported opinions opposite of those of the Commissioner".[24] Henceforth, Venizelos assumed the leadership of the opposition to the Prince. For the next three years, he carried out a hard political conflict, until the administration was virtually paralyzed and tensions dominated the island. Inevitably, these events led in March 1905 to the Theriso Revolution, whose leader he was.
[edit] Revolution of Theriso
On 23 March 1905, the rebels gathered in Theriso and declared "the political union of Crete with Greece as a single free constitutional state"; the resolution was given to the Great Powers, where it was arguing that the illegitimate transient arrangement was preventing the island's economic growth and the only natural solution to the Cretan Question was the union with Greece. The Great Powers in reply to the rebels that they would use military force to impose their decisions. However, more deputies joined with Venizelos, in Theriso. The Great Powers' consuls met with Venizelos in Mournies, in an attempt to achieve an agreement, but without any results.
The revolutionary government asked that Crete to be granted a regime similar with that of Eastern Rumelia. On 18 July, the Great Powers declared military law, but it did not discourage the rebels. On 15 August the regular assembly in Chania voted most from the reforms that Venizelos proposed.
The Great Powers' consuls met Venizelos in a new meeting and they accepted the reforms Venizelos had proposed. This led to the end of the revolution of Theriso and to the resignation of Prince George as the High Commissioner. The Great Powers assigned to the king of Greece, George I, the election of a new Commissioner. An ex-Prime Minister of Greece, Alexandros Zaimis, was chosen for the place of High Commissioner, and it was allowed for Greek officers and non-commissioned officers to undertake the organization of the Cretan Constabulary. As soon as the Constabulary was organized, the foreigner troops began to withdraw from the island.
In September 1908 the emperor of Austria announced the annexation of Bosnia-Herzegovina and the independence of Bulgaria. The Cretans, on 24 September 1908 burst out a new revolution in the island. Thousands citizens in Chania and the surrounding regions on that day formed a rally, in which Venizelos declared the final union of Crete with the Greece. Having communicated with the government of Athens, Zaimis left to Athens before the rally.
An assembly was convened and it declared the independence of Crete, the civil servants were put under oath faith in the name of the king George I of Greece, while a fivefold Executive Committee was created with the command to control the island for the king George I of Greece and according to the laws of Greek state. Chairman of committee was the Michelidakis and Venizelos became minister of Justice and Foreign Affairs. In April 1910 new assembly was convened, and Venizelos was elected chairman and then became Prime Minister. All the foreigner troops left from Crete and the power transfered entirely to Venizelos' government.
[edit] Political Career in Greece
[edit] Goudi military revolution of 1909
In August 1909 the Military League, displeased with the social and military status quo, carried out action against the government, followed through into a type of lockout in the Athenian suburb of Goudi. Even thought it did not overturn the government with a coup d'etat, it forced the Dimitrios Rallis' government to resign and a new one was formed with Kiriakoulis Mavromichalis. However, the political dead-end remained till the Military League invited Venizelos from Crete to undertake the leadership.[27] Venizelos went to Athens and after consulting with the Military League and with representatives of the political world, proposed a new government and Parliament's reformation. The proposals were considered that they could constitute danger for the political regime. Venizelos stopped all his contacts and started to prepare his return to Crete. King George I, fearing the escalation of the crisis, convened a council with political leaders, and recommended them to accept Venizelos' proposals. The king, after a lot of postponements, he agreed to assign Stephanos Dragoumis (Venizelos' indication) for forming a new government, which would lead the country to elections. In the elections of 8 August 1910, Venizelos was elected members of the Parliament, with Venizelos himself representing Athens. His founded his political party, Komma Fileleftheron (Liberal Party). On 2 October 1910, he formed a government and started to reorganize the economic, political, and national affairs of the country.
[edit] The Balkan Wars
[edit] Background
At the time there were diplomatic contacts with Turks to initiate reforms in Macedonia and in Thrace, which at the time were under the control of Ottoman Empire, for improving the living conditions of the Christian populations. Failure of the reforms would leave the only option of removing Turkey from the Balkans, an option that most Balkan countries shared. This last option appeared feasible to Venizelos, because Turkey was under a constitutional transition and its administrative mechanism was disorganized and weakened. Also, there was no fleet capable to transport forces from Asia Minor to Europe, while the Greek fleet was dominating the Aegean Sea. Venizelos did not want to make any immediate major movements in the Balkans, until the Greek army and navy were reorganized (an effort that had begun from the last government of Georgios Theotokis) and the Greek economy is recovered.[1] Hence, Venizelos proposed to Turkey to recognize the Cretans the right to send deputies to the Greek Parliament, for closing the Cretan Question. However, the Young Turks (feeling confident after the Greco-Turkish war in 1897) threated that they will make a military walk to Athens, if the Greeks insisted to such claims.
[edit] Balkan League
It then appeared to Venizelos that the only way to settle the disputes with Turkey, was to join with the other Balkan counties Serbia, Bulgaria and Montenegro in an alliance known as Balkan League. He convinced the successor Constantine to represent Greece in a royal feast in Sofia, and organized a visit of Bulgarian students in Athens, in 1911. These events had a positive impact and in May 1912 Greece and Bulgaria signed a treaty. But the slaughters of Kotsanon and Mpranas accelerated the developments.[citation needed] Serbia and Bulgaria forged a secret alliance, and invited Greece the last days of September 1912 to join with them in the war against Turkey.
Venizelos seeing no improvements coming after his approach with the Turks concerning the Cretan Question and at the same time not wanting to see Greece remaining inactive as it happened in the Russo-Turkish War in 1877 (where Greece's neutrality left the country out of the peace talks). Thus, on 30 September 1912 Greece declared the war on Turkey, thus joining into the First Balkan war. On 1 October, in a regular session of the Parliament Venizelos announced the declaration of war to Turkey and accepting the Cretan deputies, thus closing the Cretan Question, with the declaration of the union of Crete with Greece. The Greek population received these developments with a big enthusiasm.
[edit] First Balkan War
The army, with the Crown Prince Constantine in command, marched to Macedonia, achieving many victories. This period was marked by Venizelos' well-known disagreement with Prince Constantine, concerning the course of the army should follow and which cities should be liberated first. After the victory of the Greek army at Sarantaporo, Venizelos intervened and insisted that Thessaloniki, which was a major and strategic port in the surrounding area, must be taken at all costs. Venizelos not only sent the following telegraph to General Staff saying:
| “ | Salonique à tout prix![28] | ” |
but also he kept frequent communication with the King for preventing the Prince marching north, towards Monastir.[28] Venizelos' opinion prevailed and on 26 October 1912, the Greek army entered Thessaloniki, shortly ahead of the Bulgarians. Moreover, Venizelos forecasting the problems of maintaining order after the liberation of Thessaloniki and that the Bulgarian allies (but also the big European Forces) would promote a picture of anarchy in the city along with the Greek state's incompetence, Venizelos ordered, long before the liberation of the city, the transport of the Cretan Gendarmerie to Thessaloniki.[citation needed] Indeed, in the city of Thessaloniki the largest single element in the city's population comprised Sephardic Jews, the descendants of the Jews expelled from Spain in 1492, who continued to speak Spanish. Elsewhere in New Greece, as the recently acquired territories came to be known, there were substantial Slavic, Muslim (mainly Turkish), Vlach, and Gypsy populations.[29][30] Like the Jews, many of these populations did not look upon the Greeks as liberators.[30]
Once the campaign in Macedonia was complete, however, a large part of the Greek army under the Crown Prince was redeployed to Epirus, and in the Battle of Bizani the Ottoman positions were overcome and Ioannina taken on 22 February 1913.[30] Meanwhile the Greek navy rapidly occupied the Aegean islands still under Ottoman rule, while it prevented the Turks bringing reinforcements to Balkans.[31]
On 20 November, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria signed truce with Turkey. It followed a conference in London, where Greece took part, even though the Greek army continued its enterprises in the area. The conference led to the Treaty of London between the allies and Turkey.
[edit] Second Balkan War
Nevertheless, the Bulgarians wanted to become the hegemonic force in the Balkans and made excessive claims, while Serbia asked for more territories than it had initially agreed to with the Bulgarians, due to the additional help it had provided for Bulgaria in Thrace. Bulgarians also laid claims on Thessaloniki, since they wanted access to Mediterranean waters. In the conference of London, Venizelos clarified to the Bulgarians, that Thessaloniki belonged to Greece, mainly by citing the fact that it was captured first by the Greek army.[32]
The rupture between the allies due to the Bulgarian diplomatic claims was inevitable, and Bulgaria found itself standing against Greece and Serbia. On 19 May 1913, a pact of alliance was signed in Thessaloniki between Greece and Serbia. On 19 June 1913 the Second Balkan War was declared by a surprise Bulgarian assault to Serbian and Greek positions.[33] The Greek king Constantine turned the Bulgarian forces away from Thessaloniki and pushed them further away with repeated victories. Bulgaria was overwhelmed by the Greek and Serbian armies, while in the north the Romanian army was marching towards Sofia; the Bulgarians asked for truce. Venizelos went to Vyroneia, where the Greek headquarters were, to determine with Constantine what the territorial claims of Greece in the peace conference would be. Thus he went to Bucharest, where a peace conference was assembled. On 28 June 1913 a peace treaty was signed with Greece, Montenegro, Serbia and Romania on one side and Bulgaria on the other. All Greek claims were accepted, thus gaining Macedonia, Epirus, Crete and the Aegean islands for Greece.
[edit] World War I
[edit] Dispute over Greece's role in World War I
The World War I started in the autumn of 1914, soon after the end of the Balkan Wars, and up to 1915, Greece remained neutral. Venizelos supported an alliance with the Entente, not only believing that Britain and France would win, but also it was the only choice for Greece, due to combination of the strong Anglo-French control of the Mediterranean and the geographical distribution of the Greek population, could have ill effects in the case of a naval blockade, as he characteristically remarked:
| “ | One cannot kick against geography![34] | ” |
On the other hand, Constantine, now being King after his father's assassination in March 1913,[35] favored the Central Powers and wanted Greece to remain neutral.[36] He was influenced both by his belief in the military superiority of Germany and also by his German wife, Queen Sophia, and his pro-German court. He therefore strove to secure a neutrality which would be favorable to Germany and Austria.[37]
In 1915, Winston Churchill (then First Lord of the Admiralty) suggested to Greece to take action in Dardanelles on behalf of the allies.[38] Venizelos saw this as an opportunity to bring the country on the side of the Entente in the conflict. However the King disagreed and Venizelos submitted his resignation on 21 February 1915.[37] Venizelos' party won the elections and formed a new government.
[edit] The National Schism
Even though Venizelos promised to remain neutral, after the elections of 1915, Bulgaria's attack on Serbia, with which Greece had a treaty of alliance, obliged him to abandon that policy. The dispute between the Venizelos and the King reached its height shortly after and the King invoked the Greek constitutional right that gave the monarch the right to dismiss a government unilaterally. Meanwhile, using the excuse of saving Serbia, in October 1915, Entente disembarked an army in Thessaloniki.[39] The dispute continued between the two men, and in December 1915 Constantine forced Venizelos to resign for a second time and dissolved the Liberal-dominated parliament, calling for new elections. Venizelos left Athens and moved back to Crete. Venizelos did not take part in the new elections, as he considered the dissolution of Parliament unconstitutional.[40][41]
On 16 August 1916 there was a rally in Athens, (Movement of National Defence), where with the support of the allied army, which had landed in Thessaloniki under the command of General Maurice Sarrail, Venizelos announced to the public his complete disagreement with Crown's policies. On 30 August 1916, Venizelos' followers organized a military coup in Thessaloniki, and proclaimed the "Temporary Government of National Defence". There, they founded a new "state" including Northern Greece, Crete and the Aegean Islands, with the support of the Entente.
Towards the end of 1916 France and Britain, after failing to persuade the royalist government of Alexandros Zaimis to enter the war, officially recognized the National Defence government as the lawful government of Greece, and moreover decided to remove King Constantine, and place his son Alexander in the throne of Greece. After, a naval blockade to major coastal Greek cities and threats of bombardment of Athens, by Entente's ships, King Constantine self-exiled to Switzerland on 11 June 1917.[42][43]
[edit] Greece joins World War I
In 29 May 1917, after the exile of Constantine to Switzerland and the succession of his second son Alexander, Venizelos returned to Athens and allied with the Entente and declared war on the Central Powers. Greek military forces (though divided between supporters of the monarchy and supporters of Venizelos) began to take part in military operations against the Bulgarian army on the border. By the fall of 1918, the Greek army, with nine divisions, was the largest part of the Allied army in Greece.
Under the command of French General Franchet d'Esperey, a combined French, Serbian, Greek and British army launched a major offensive against the Bulgarian and German army, starting on 14 September 1918. The Bulgarian army quickly gave up their defensive positions and began retreating back towards Bulgaria. On 30 September, the Bulgarian government asked for an armistice. The army then attacked north and defeated the German and Austrian forces that tried to halt his offensive and by October 1918 the Allied army had recaptured all of Serbia and was preparing to invade Hungary proper. The offensive halted only because the Hungarian leadership offered to surrender in November 1918.
Even though the Greek army ended up playing a small role in one of the final campaigns of World War I, Greece earned a seat at the Paris Peace Conference.
[edit] Conclusion of World War I & Treaty of Sèvres
- See also: Treaty of Neuilly and Treaty of Sèvres
Following the conclusion of World War I, Venizelos took part in the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, as Greece's representative. During his absence from Greece for almost two years, he acquired a reputation as an international statesman of considerable stature.[2][3] President Woodrow Wilson was said to have placed Venizelos first in point of personal ability among all delegates gathered in Paris to settle the terms of Peace in 1919.[44]
In July 1919 he reached agreement with the Italians on the cession of the Dodecanese and secured an extension of the Greek area of occupation in Anatolia. The Treaty of Neuilly (27 November 1919) with Bulgaria (November 1919) and the Treaty of Sèvres (10 August 1920) with Turkey (August 1920) were triumphs both for Venizelos and for Greece.[2][45][46] As the result of these treaties, Greece acquired Western Thrace, Eastern Thrace, Smyrna, the Aegean islands Imvros, Tenedos and Dodecanese except Rhodes.[45]
On his journey home, he faced an assassination attack at the Gare de Lyon railway station in Paris.[47] After his recovery he returned in Greece, where he was welcomed as a hero because he had liberated areas with Greek populations.
[edit] 1920 electoral defeat and withdrawal from politics
- See also: Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922)
Despite the war victory, he lost the November 1920 elections, and King Constantine was recalled by a plebiscite. The defeat may perhaps be attributed to Venizelos' loss of popularity during his long absence, the continued maintenance of martial law, and the continuing hostilities with Turkey.[3][46] This caused great dissatisfaction to the newly liberated populations in Asia Minor. As a result of his defeat, Venizelos left for Paris, withdrawing from politics.
Following the defeat of the Greek army by the Turks (1922) in Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922), and the subsequent armed insurrection, led by General Nikolaos Plastiras and General Stylianos Gonatas, King Constantine was dethroned (and succeeded by his eldest son, George), and six royalist leaders were executed.[3] Venizelos assumed the leadership of the Greek delegation that negotiated peace terms with the Turks. He signed the Treaty of Lausanne with Turkey on 24 July 1923. After an insurrection led by General Ioannis Metaxas forced King George II into exile, Venizelos returned to Greece and became prime minister once again. However, he left again in 1924 after quarreling with anti-monarchists.
During these absences from power, he translated Thucydides into modern Greek, although the translation and incomplete commentary were only published in 1940, after his death.
[edit] Return to power in 1928 and subsequent exile
In the elections held on 5 July 1928, Venizelos's party regained power and forced the government to hold new elections on 19 August of the same year; this time his party won 228 out of 250 places in Parliament. During this period Venizelos succeeded in restoring normal relations with all of Greece's Balkan neighbors. His domestic position was weakened, however, by the effects of the Great Depression in the early 1930s; and in the elections of 1932 he was defeated, by the People's Party under Panagis Tsaldaris. The political climate became more tense, and in 1933 Venizelos was the target of a second assassination attempt. The pro-royalist tendencies of the government led to an attempted military coup in March 1935, under the leadership of Venizelos and General Nikolaos Plastiras. After the coup's failure, Venizelos left Greece once more.
After his departure, trials and executions of prominent Venizelists were carried out, and he himself sentenced to death in absentia. The severely weakened Second Hellenic Republic was abolished in October 1935 and George II returned to the throne, following a rigged referendum.
[edit] Exile and death
Venizelos left for Paris, where he died in 1936 while staying at the Hotel Ritz. A crowd of supporters from the local Greek community in Paris accompanied his body to the railway station prior to its departure for Greece.
His body was taken by the destroyer Pavlos Kountouriotis to Chania, avoiding Athens so as not to cause unrest. He was subsequently buried in Akrotiri in Crete with much ceremony.
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ a b Kitromilides, 2006
- ^ a b c 'Liberty Still Rules', TIME, Feb. 18, 1924
- ^ a b c d e Venizélos, Eleuthérios. Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
- ^ a b c d e National Foundation Research "Family and roots of Eleftherios Venizelos"
- ^ Chester, 1921, p. 4
- ^ a b Theodore P. Ion, The American Journal of International Law, Vol. 4, No. 2. (Apr., 1910), p. 276-284.
- ^ Kitromilides, 2006, p. 45, 47
- ^ Kitromilides, 2006, p. 16
- ^ Pact of Halepa Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
- ^ a b Kitromilides, 2006, p. 58
- ^ Lowell Sun (newspaper), 6/2/1897, p. 1
- ^ Holland, 2006, p. 87
- ^ a b c National Foundation Research "The Path of Eleftherios Venizelos"
- ^ Holland, 2006, p. 91
- ^ Chester, 1921, p. 35
- ^ Chester, 1921, p. 34
- ^ Kitromilides, 2006, p. 30
- ^ a b c d Wm. A. Dunning, Political Science Quarterly, Vol. 12, No. 2 (Jun., 1897), pp. 352-380
- ^ Kerofilias, 1915, p. 14
- ^ a b c d Kitromilides, 2006, p. 59
- ^ Kitromilides, 2006, p.64
- ^ Wm. A. Dunning, Political Science Quarterly, Vol. 12, No. 4 (Dec., 1897), pp. 734-756
- ^ a b Kitromilides, 2006, p. 68
- ^ a b c d e f National Foundation Research "Eleftherios Venizelos in Crete"
- ^ a b Kerofilias, 1915, p. 30-31
- ^ Kerofilias, 1915, p. 33
- ^ Military League Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
- ^ a b Chester, 1921, p. 159-160
- ^ Pentzopoulos, 2002, p. 28, 132
- ^ a b c History of Greece Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
- ^ Chester, 1921, p. 161-164
- ^ Chester, 1921, p. 169
- ^ Bulgaria, The Balkan Wars Encyclopædia Britannica Online
- ^ Seligman, 1920, p. 31
- ^ The Times (London) 19 March 1913 p.6
- ^ World War I - Greek Affairs Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
- ^ a b National Foundation Research "First World War 1914-1918"
- ^ Firstworldwar.com The Minor Powers During World War One - Greece
- ^ Constantine I Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
- ^ Chester, 1921, p. 271
- ^ Kitromilides, 2006, p. 122
- ^ Chester, 1921, p. 295-304
- ^ Land of Invasion, TIME, 4 Nov 1940
- ^ Chester, 1921, p. 6
- ^ a b Kitromilides, 2006, p. 165
- ^ a b Chester, 1921, p. 320
- ^ New York Times, 13 August, 1920, p.1 link
[edit] References
- S. M. Chester, Life of Venizelos, with a letter from His Excellency M. Venizelos, Constable, London 1921, pdf
- R. F. Holland and Diana Makrides, The British and the Hellenes: Struggles for mastery in the Eastern Mediterranean 1850-1960, Oxford University Press, 2006, ISBN 0199249962
- C. Kerofilias, Eleftherios Venizelos, his life and work, John Murray, 1915 pdf
- P. Kitromilides, Eleftherios Venizelos: The Trials of Statesmanship, Edinburgh University Press, 2006, ISBN 0748624783
- D. Pentzopoulos and M. L. Smith The Balkan exchange of minorities and its impact on Greece, C. Hurst & Co Publishers, 2002, ISBN: 1850656746
- V. J. Seligman, Victory of Venizelos, 1920, pdf
| Preceded by Stephanos Dragoumis |
Prime Minister of Greece 18 October 1910 - 10 March 1915 |
Succeeded by Dimitrios Gounaris |
| Preceded by Dimitrios Gounaris |
Prime Minister of Greece 23 August 1915 - 7 October 1915 |
Succeeded by Alexandros Zaimis |
| Preceded by Alexandros Zaimis |
Prime Minister of Greece 27 June, 1917 - 18 November 1920 |
Succeeded by Dimitrios Rallis |
| Preceded by Stylianos Gonatas |
Prime Minister of Greece 24 January 1924 - 19 February 1924 |
Succeeded by Georgios Kaphantaris |
| Preceded by Alexandros Zaimis |
Prime Minister of Greece 4 July 1928 - 26 May 1932 |
Succeeded by Alexandros Papanastasiou |
| Preceded by Alexandros Papanastasiou |
Prime Minister of Greece 5 June, 1932 - 3 November 1932 |
Succeeded by Panagis Tsaldaris |
| Preceded by Panagis Tsaldaris |
Prime Minister of Greece 16 January 1933 - 6 March 1933 |
Succeeded by Alexandros Othonaios |
