The Venizelos Era
On 7 October, 1908, the Greek population in Crete repudiated all connection with Turkey and declared for union with Greece. An executive committee of five persons was appointed to carry on the government provisionally in the name of the King, until his officials took it over. The interference of the powers and the prolonged opposition of Turkey produced a strong feeling of disgust and the young officers, convinced that the national interests had been sacrificed to the exigencies of party politics, began to form a "Military League," in 1909, making it the organ of the people in their struggle against the politicians. They demanded radical reforms, the reorganization of the army and navy, the exclusion of the royal princes from their military commands, and the bestowal of the Ministries of War and Marine upon officers.
At this moment a new and powerful figure arrived upon the stage of Greek politics, M. Venizelos, a native of Crete. There will be those who object to the description of M. Venizelos as a leader of democracy. Is not his record, these protestants will point out, one of militant imperialism, of exclusive nationalism? True enough. The democracy of which M. Venizelos was a leader and a prototype is the democracy, not of the Russian, but of the French revolution; and the democracy of the French revolution was militant and imperialistic. It was not narrowly national; but it was the father of modern nationalism. The democratic ideal of M. Venizelos was a Greater Greece, uniting within its boundaries all the redeemed groups and segments of the Hellenic race, governed by an all-Hellenic parliament. It is a political, as distinguished from a social, concept of democracy; its stamp is of the year 1848 rather than of 1922.
Mr. Justice Brandeis once referred to Secretary Hughes as one of the most enlightened minds of the eighteenth century. One may call Venizelos one of the greatest statesmen of the early nineteenth century, - perhaps the greatest statesman of the spirit, born of French parentage in the Germany of Stein and Hardenberg and Korner, carried at once to victory and defeat by the Allied arms at Leipzig, stifled by the Congress of Vienna, resurrected and downed again in 1849. Of all European countries that spirit rose to full fruition in Italy alone. The Balkan war of 1912, which brought M. Venizelos to European prominence, was the last wingbeat but one of the national risorgimento of the nineteenth century. The last was the phase of the World War which liberated the oppressed races of AustriaHungary and restored Poland. The difference between the democracy of President Masaryk of Czechoslovakia and that of Premier Venizelos of Greece is the difference between the economic development of Western and Eastern Europe respectively, AD 1918.
The political adviser of the League, Venizelos proposed the summons of a National Assembly to revise the Constitution. Upon the resignation of M. Dragoumes. after the opening of the National Assembly, he became prime minister to King George. The "Second Revisionary National Assembly" which met on 21 January, 1911, adopted the revised Constitution on 11 June. From this time the regeneration of the country is dated.
Venizelos also brought about the Greco-Bulgarian treaty in 1912 and in the same year a declaration of war on Turkey. The Greeks obtained a victory at Sarantaporon in Southern Macedonia on 22 October, took Preveza, Metsovo, and Khimara in Epirus, hoisted their flag over Mount Athos, and prevented the Turkish fleet from leaving the Dardanelles and the Turkish, transports from crossing the /Egean. They also took possession of most of the Turkish islands in the ^Egean, including Mytilene and Chios, but not of the Southern Sporades (Dodecanese). Samos declared its union with Greece. A two days' struggle at Yenitsa ended in another Greek victory. On 8 November, 1912, the Greeks anticipated the Bulgarians by entering Salonica and ending the Turkish domination of 482 years over the city. Even after her three allies signed the armistice at Chatalja on 3 December, Greece continued hostilities, although participating in the Balkan Conference at London. Outside the Dardanelles the Greeks defeated the Turkish fleet; in Epirus they took Parga. Finally Yanina surrendered to them. The Greek forces occupied Samos and entered Argyrokastron. In the midst of these triumphs King George was assassinated at Salonica, 18 March, 1913, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Constantine.
By the treaty of London (30 May, 1913), Greece obtained all the Turkish territories west of the Enos-Midia line, except Albania and Crete. The dissatisfaction caused by the division of spoils led to a renewal of the war (30 June) by simultaneous Bulgarian attacks on the Servians and the Greeks, with the object of separating the two allies who on 1 June had signed the treaty of alliance, accompanied by a military convention which King Constantine, subsequently violated during the European War. The general staff ordered the Bulgarian troops garrisoning Salonica to lay down their arms and upon their refusal besieged their houses. A three days battle ended in a complete defeat of the Bulgarians. Advancing further, the Greeks took Doiran and Strumitsa and entered Seres, while their navy took Kavala and sent up a detachment to Drama. Soon Macedonia, with a large strip of the Thracian coast, including Dedeagatch, Makri, and Porto Lagos, was in their hands.
The Treaty of Bukarest in 1913 made the mouth of the Mesta the eastern frontier of Greece, thus securing for her Kavala but leaving Xanthi for Bulgaria. By the decision of a commission appointed by the Powers, Greece lost part of northern Epirus, including Santi Quaranta, Khimara, Delvino, Premeti, Argyrokastron, and Koritsa, captured by the Greeks during the first Balkan War, together with the islet of Saseno in the Bay of Valona, which had belonged to Greece since 1864. The Powers recognized Greek sovereignty over the captured islands (except Tenedos, Imbros, and Castellorrizo, which were to be restored to Turkey) and those still occupied by the Italians, contingent upon the evacuation of the south of the new Albanian principality by the Greek forces. The northern Epirots, however, declared themselves autonomous, and formed a separate government. Although the Greek troops evacuated northern Epirus before the end of April, fighting continued between the Albanians and the autonomous forces. Finally a convention was signed on 17 May, 1914, entrusting the administration of the two provinces of Argyrokastron and Koritsa to the International Commission of Control for Albania.
The opening of the European War found Greece in the throes of a nationalistic feeling, hoping that by her timely aid she might be rewarded by the Greek-speaking cities of Asia Minor, then oppressed by Turkey. During the critical time at the Dardanelles, however, when the Allies would have welcomed the addition of Greek troops and ships, she hesitated, being dissatisfied with the promises of the Allies. Venizelos was ardently in favor of the Entente and eager to enter the war. On the other hand King Constantine, the husband of Queen Sophia, sister of the German emperor, declined to cede any territory to Bulgaria to satisfy the Bulgarian demand from the Allies and parted with his premier (15 March, 1915).
In August, however, Venizelos came into power, for the question now concerned Servia, who was being overwhelmed by Mackensen's forces, and to whom Greece was under treaty obligations. Practically from the first day of the World War Venizelos advocated Greek intervention on the side of the Entente. He pointed out to the King, in conversations and in memoranda, that Greece was bound by her defensive alliance with Serbia to send troops to the latter's aid; that apart from considerations of honour, to assist Serbia was vital for Greece, for a crushed Serbia could only mean an enlarged Bulgaria and a strengthened Turkey; that the victory of the Central Powers would re-establish Turkish hegemony in the Balkans, and that a Turkey thus bolstered up first would crush its own Greek subjects and then attack Greece; that Greece, with her disproportionately long coast line, her wideflung island possessions and her dependence on seaborne trade, was at the mercy of British naval power.
He also argued that it was important for Greece to get in ahead of Italy - he had little doubt that Italy would ultimately side with the Allies-because only in that manner could Greece obtain British and French sanction for her claims in Northern Epirus and the Dodecanese, claims that were in violent conflict with Italian aspirations.
On the other hand, he declared, by joining the Allies Greece would gain an opportunity, unlikely ever to recur, to settle accounts with Turkey for good; to unite under her sovereignty all the unredeemed sections of the Hellenic race-those of the coast of Asia Minor, of Thrace and of the islands, perhaps even Cyprus; to safeguard herself permanently against the danger of Bulgarian encroachments; to secure, finally, the friendship and assistance of England and France, the powers that, owing to their obvious mastery of the seas, would probably win the war.
The Allies landed at Salonica 150,000 troops ready to strike at the Bulgarians. But Venizelos had reckoned without his king and was for the second time forced to resign. Armed neutrality was proclaimed. Throughout October and November the Allies continued to bargain with King Constantine and his puppet ministers. In November the king dissolved his troublesome pro-Venizelos Parliament.
The armed neutrality made the situation of the Allies very precarious, situated as they were between the Bulgarian troops and the uncertain Greek forces. Finally the Allies resorted to coercion and seized the Greek telegraphs and postal system, the navy being seized in October by the French, who landed troops at Piraeus. Greece was blockaded. Venizelos repudiated his king, established a provisional government in Crete and Macedonia and on his own account declared war against Bulgaria (1916). In June, 1917, French and British troops entering Thessaly occupied Volo at Salonica and Larissa and seized the Isthmus of Corinth.
Greece entered World War I in 1917 on the side of the Allies. On 11 June Charles Jonnart, formerly French governor of Algeria and now named high commissioner of Greece, demanded the immediate abdication of King Constantine and the renunciation of the Crown Prince's right of succession. And so on 12 June Constantine abdicated the throne of Greece in favor of his second son, Alexander, and later Venizelos became Prime Minister. In July all diplomatic relations between the Central Powers were ruptured, and the Greek army stood ready for the great advance from Salonica. In September the troops attacked Bulgaria, seized Strumitza, and opened the way to the triumphant Allies. Bulgaria suddenly sued for peace.
The attention of the Greeks was now turned to national unity. At the Peace conference at Versailles in 1919 the Greek claim to the greater part of Aidin, including Smyrna in Asia Minor, was recognized and Greek troops were landed at that port with the approval of the powers. To her were also given the Dodecanese Islands which voted for union with Greece. With the consent of the Powers she has occupied part of Bulgarian (Western) Thrace.
After the war, Greece took part in the Allied occupation of Turkey, where many Greeks still lived. The treaty of Sevres which was handed to the Turkish delegates at Paris on 1 May, 1920, added greatly to Greek territory, as the Turks were to cede Thrace to Greece, except the sanjak (district) of Chatalja and the Derkos water-supply area, together with Tenedos and Imbros; to recognize as Greek those islands in the AEgean occupied by Greece; to abandon the administration of a considerable area in Asia Minor comprising Smyrna, Tireh, Odemish, Manisa, Akhissar, Bergama, and Aivali to Greece. The territory in question was to have a parliament of its own and could annex itself to Greece after five years, a plebiscite to be held after two years. The Nationalists under Mustapha Kemal refused to submit to the treaty in any form and drove the French out of Cilicia. So grave did the situation become that a Greek army, supported by French and British fleets, undertook to suppress the Turks in Asia Minor. The Allies refused to alter the Treaty of Sevres and gave the Turks, under threat of ejection from Europe, ten days in which to sign it. The period was further extended because of the differences between Greece and Italy over Albania, Adalia, and the islands of the Dodocanese.
In August, 1919 the two countries had entered into a convention defining their aspirations with regard to the Balkans and the Orient. If either failed to realize her aspirations, the convention was to be void. When Greek troops crossed into Adalian territory, on 22 July, 1919, Italy was aroused and denounced the convention. The matter was settled by the appointment of a special commission to delimit the Adalian boundary. Another convention signed on 10 August, 1920, between Italy and Greece, the two designated the Dodocanese as Greek with the exception of Castellorizzo and The Rhodes, possession of which would be determined by a plebiscite at the end of fifteen years.
Although the treaty of Sevres was signed by Greece on the same day, the dissatisfaction which it caused was so profound that the Allies, together with delegations from Greece and the rival governments of Turkey, met in London on 21 February, 1921, to consider the advisability of revising the treaty. Their proposal to give the Sultan sovereignty over Smyrna on condition that he respect its rights and liberties and grant local autonomy to each nationality in its population and allow the Greeks to retain a garrison in the town, was spurned by Greece who in March, 1921, launched a new offensive in Asia Minor in a single handed effort to force the Turks to conform to the terms of the original treaty of Sevres. She was unsuccessful and the war continued, with hardly a hope of a military decision. The theater of war was so vast and so ill-provided with means of communication, compared with the maximum forces and transport that either side can muster that there was little prospect that either would be able to defeat its opponent. Greece was waging war overseas, plunging herself deeper into debt in order to purchase supplies for her army, while the Turks were fighting for their home and living off the land for their supplies.
Events in Greece during 1920 revolved about dynastic and imperialistic problems. The attempted assassination of M. Venizelos in Paris (12 August, 1920), which was part of a scheme to restore Constantine to the throne, led to severe rioting in Greece. On 25 October, 1920, King Alexander died as a result of a bite from a monkey. His younger brother Paul was designated as his successor, but he refused the throne, much to the consternation of the Allies and of Premier Venizelos, who was driven from power in the new elections. On 5 December the Greek people voted overwhelmingly for the return of Constantine, their exiled king. The Allies, especially France and Italy,- chagrined at the turn of events, promptly cut off their financial support from Greece with the idea of throttling the nation.
Old Greece had up to 1912 an area of about 25,014 sq. miles, with a population of 4,732,000. The Balkan wars of 1912-3 added to the kingdom New Greece, consisting of Macedonia, Epirus, Crete and a number of islands in the Aegean extending over 16,919 sq. m., making the area of the country 41,933 sq. m. in all, in 1914, with a population of 4,776,000 in the census of 1920. After the Great War, Greece, with the consent of the Allied and Associated Powers, occupied part of Western Thrace and of the vilayet of Aidin in Asia Minor and retained all the islands for the time being. These new territories included Thrace, with a population of 665,000, the Dodecanese, with a population of 121,000, Northern Epirus, with a population of 200,000, and Ionia, with a population of 960,000.
In 1921 there were 219,000 Greeks in the island of Cyprus; and it was estimated that there were about 800,000 in Asia Minor outside Ionia (Pontus and Anatolia), 225,000 in other Balkan states, 150,000 in southern Russia, and 100,000 in Egypt; besides the Greek colonists, many of them naturalized in foreign countries, who were estimated to amount to 20,000 in western Europe, 6,ooo in India, Africa, etc.. and 250.000 in the United States of America. Emigration to the United States continued unabated after 1910. In 1914 45,881 emigrants from Greece entered the United States, and from 1915-20 the annual average was 26,500, or nearly 45,000, if all emigrants of Greek origin (from Egypt, Turkey and the Caucasus) are included. Between 1910 and 1920 the number of repatriated emigrants was about 6,000 a year. The number of Greek emigrants permanently established in N. America is said to approximate 500,000. Their remittances home were said in 1917 to amount to nearly £2,000,000 annually.
In 1921, the Greek army marched toward Ankara, but was defeated by Turkish forces led by Kemal Mustapha Ataturk and forced to withdraw. In an exchange of populations under the Treaty of Lausanne, more than 1.3 million refugees from Turkey poured into Greece, and nearly 800,000 Greek Turks were sent to Turkey. This large influx of people created enormous challenges for the Greek economy and society.
In 1922 Italy and France withdrew from Asia Minor, leaving Greece alone in the field.
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