Eleftherios Kyriakou Venizelos (full name Elefthérios Kyriákou
Venizélos, Greek: Ελευθέριος Κυριάκου
Βενιζέλος, pronounced [elefˈθerios cirˈʝaku
veniˈzelos]; 23 August 1864[1] – 18 March 1936) was an eminent
Greek leader of the Greek national liberation movement and a
charismatic statesman of the early 20th century remembered for his
promotion of liberal-democratic policies.[2][3][4] As leader of the
Liberal Party, he was elected several times, in total eight, as Prime
Minister of Greece, serving from 1910 to 1920 and from 1928 to 1933.
Venizelos had such profound influence on the internal and external
affairs of
Greece

Greece that he is credited with being "the maker of modern
Greece",[5] and is still widely known as the "Ethnarch".
His first entry into the international scene was with his significant
role in the autonomy of the
Cretan State

Cretan State and later in the union of
Crete

Crete with Greece. Soon, he was invited to
Greece

Greece to resolve the
political deadlock and became the country's Prime Minister. Not only
did he initiate constitutional and economic reforms that set the basis
for the modernization of Greek society, but also reorganized both army
and navy in preparation of future conflicts. Before the
Balkan Wars

Balkan Wars of
1912–1913, Venizelos' catalytic role helped gain
Greece

Greece entrance to
the Balkan League, an alliance of the Balkan states against Ottoman
Turkey. Through his diplomatic acumen,
Greece

Greece doubled its area and
population with the liberation of Macedonia, Epirus, and most of the
Aegean islands.
In
World War I

World War I (1914–1918), he brought
Greece

Greece on the side of the
Allies, further expanding the Greek borders. However, his pro-Allied
foreign policy brought him into direct conflict with the monarchy,
causing the National Schism. The Schism polarized the population
between the royalists and Venizelists and the struggle for power
between the two groups affected the political and social life of
Greece

Greece for decades.[6] Following the Allied victory, Venizelos secured
new territorial gains, especially in Anatolia, coming close to
realizing the Megali Idea. Despite his achievements, he was defeated
in the 1920 General Election, which contributed to the eventual Greek
defeat in the Greco-Turkish War (1919–22). Venizelos, in
self-imposed exile, represented
Greece

Greece in the negotiations that led to
the signing of the Treaty of Lausanne, and the agreement of a mutual
exchange of populations between
Greece

Greece and Turkey.
In his subsequent periods in office Venizelos succeeded in restoring
normal relations with Greece's neighbors and expanded his
constitutional and economical reforms. In 1935 he resurfaced from
retirement to support a military coup. Its failure severely weakened
the Second Hellenic Republic, the republic that he had created.
Contents
1 Origins and early years
1.1 Ancestors
1.2 Family and education
1.3 Entry into politics
2 Political career in Crete
2.1
Cretan

Cretan uprising
2.1.1 Background
2.1.2 Events at Akrotiri
2.1.3 War in Thessaly
2.1.4 Conclusion
2.2 Autonomous
Cretan

Cretan State
2.3 Revolution of Theriso
3 Political career in Greece
3.1
Goudi

Goudi military revolution of 1909
3.2 Reforms in 1910–1914
3.3 Balkan Wars
3.3.1 Background
3.3.2 Balkan League
3.3.3
First Balkan War

First Balkan War – The first conflict with Prince Constantine
3.3.4 Second Balkan War
3.4
World War I

World War I and Greece
3.4.1 Dispute over Greece's role in World War I
3.4.2 National Schism
3.4.3 "Noemvriana" –
Greece

Greece enters World War I
3.4.4 Conclusion of World War I
3.4.5
Treaty of Sèvres

Treaty of Sèvres and assassination attempt
3.5 1920 electoral defeat, self-exile and the Great Disaster
3.6 Return to power (1928–32): Greco-Turkish alliance, assassination
attempt and subsequent exile
4 Death
5 Legacy
6 Personal life and family
6.1 Venizelos/Mitsotakis family tree
7 See also
8 Gallery
9 Notes
10 Citations
11 References
12 External links
Origins and early years[edit]
Ancestors[edit]
The house of Venizelos in Mournies.
In the 18th century, the ancestors of Venizelos, named Cravvatas,
lived in Mystras, in southern Peloponnese. During the Ottoman raids in
the peninsula in 1770, a member of the Cravvatas family, Venizelos
Cravvatas, the youngest of several brothers, managed to escape to
Crete

Crete where he established himself. His sons discarded their
patronymic and called themselves Venizelos. The family was of Laconic,
Maniot, and
Cretan

Cretan origin.[7]
Family and education[edit]
See also: § Venizelos/Mitsotakis family tree
Portrait of Kyriakos Venizelos, father of Eleftherios.
Eleftherios was born in Mournies, near
Chania

Chania (formerly known as
Canea) in then-Ottoman
Crete

Crete to Kyriakos Venizelos (la), a Cretan
merchant and revolutionary, and Styliani Ploumidaki.[8] When the
Cretan

Cretan revolution of 1866 broke out, Venizelos' family fled to the
island of Syros, due to the participation of his father in the
revolution.[7] They were not allowed to return to Crete, and stayed in
Syros

Syros until 1872, when
Abdülaziz

Abdülaziz granted an amnesty.
He spent his final year of secondary education at a school in
Ermoupolis
.jpg/540px-Posidonos,_Ermoupoli_841_00,_Greece_-_panoramio_(1).jpg)
Ermoupolis in
Syros

Syros from which he received his Certificate in 1880. In
1881 he enrolled at the
University of Athens

University of Athens Law School and got his
degree in Law with excellent grades. He returned to
Crete

Crete in 1886 and
worked as a lawyer in Chania. Throughout his life he maintained a
passion for reading and was constantly improving his skills in
English, Italian, German, and French.[7]
Entry into politics[edit]
The situation in
Crete

Crete during Venizelos' early years was fluid. The
Ottoman empire

Ottoman empire was undermining the reforms, which were made under
international pressure, while the Cretans desired to see the Sultan,
Abdul Hamid II, abandon "the ungrateful infidels".[9] Under these
unstable conditions Venizelos entered into politics in the elections
of 2 April 1889 as a member of the island's liberal party.[8] As a
deputy he was distinguished for his eloquence and his radical
opinions.[10]
Political career in Crete[edit]
See also: History of Crete
Cretan

Cretan uprising[edit]
Background[edit]
The numerous revolutions in Crete, during and after the Greek War of
Independence (1821, 1833, 1841, 1858, 1866, 1878, 1889, 1895,
1897)[11] were the result of the Cretans' desire for
Enosis

Enosis — Union
with Greece.[12] In the
Cretan

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.[citation needed] 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

Greeks in
Crete

Crete as a means of limiting their desire to rise up against
their Ottoman overlords.[13] However the Muslims of Crete, who
identified with Ottoman Turkey, were not satisfied with these reforms,
as in their view the administration of the island was delivered to the
hands of the Christian Greek population. In practice, the Ottoman
Empire failed to enforce the provisions of the Pact, thus fueling the
existing tensions between the two communities; instead, the Ottoman
authorities attempted to maintain order by the dispatching of
substantial military reinforcements during 1880–1896. Throughout
that period, the
Cretan

Cretan Question was a major issue of friction in the
relations of independent
Greece

Greece with the Ottoman Empire.[citation
needed]
In January 1897 violence and disorder were escalating on the island,
thus polarizing the population. Massacres against the Christian
population took place in Chania[14][15][16][17] and
Rethimno.[17][18][19] The Greek government, pressured by public
opinion, intransigent political elements, extreme nationalist groups
such as Ethniki Etaireia,[20] and the reluctance of the Great Powers
to intervene, decided to send warships and army personnel to defend
the
Cretan

Cretan Greeks.[21] The
Great Powers

Great Powers had no option then but to
proceed with the occupation of the island, but they were late. A Greek
force of about 2,000 men had landed at
Kolymbari

Kolymbari on 3 February
1897,[22] and its commanding officer, Colonel
Timoleon Vassos

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

Crete with
Greece.[23] This led to an uprising that spread immediately throughout
the island. The
Great Powers

Great Powers decided to blockade
Crete

Crete with their
fleets and land their troops, thus stopping the
Greek army

Greek army from
approaching Chania.[24]
Events at Akrotiri[edit]
Venizelos at Akrotiri, 1897.
Venizelos, at that time, was in an electoral tour of the island. Once,
he "saw
Canea

Canea in flames",[25] 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' subsequent actions
at Akrotiri form a central set-piece in his 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.[14] Venizelos spent the night in
Akrotiri and a
Greek flag was raised. The Ottoman forces requested
help from the foreign admirals and attacked the rebels, with the ships
of the
Great Powers

Great Powers bombarding the rebel positions at Akrotiri. A
shell threw down the flag, which was raised up again immediately. 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![26]
”
“
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?[27]
”
“
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"[28]
”
“
Under the smooth diplomat of today is the revolutionist who prodded
the Turks out of
Crete

Crete and the bold chieftain who camped with a little
band of rebels on a hilltop above
Canea

Canea and there he defied the
consuls and the fleets of all the [Great] Powers![29]
”
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.[30] The letter was deliberately
leaked to international newspapers, evoking emotional reactions in
Greece

Greece and in Europe, where the idea of Christians, who wanted their
freedom, being bombarded by Christian vessels, caused popular
indignation. Throughout western Europe much popular sympathy for the
cause of the Christians in
Crete

Crete was manifested, and much popular
applause was bestowed on the Greeks.[24]
War in Thessaly[edit]
Further information: Greco-Turkish War (1897)
Ethnic composition of the
Balkans

Balkans according to the Atlas Général
Vidal-Lablache, Librairie Armand Colin, Paris, 1898.
Ethnic composition map of the
Balkans

Balkans by the Greek diplomat Ioannis
Gennadius,[31] published by the English cartographer E. Stanford in
1877.
The
Great Powers

Great Powers sent a verbal note on 2 March to the governments of
Greece

Greece and the Ottoman Empire, presenting a possible solution to the
"
Cretan

Cretan Question", under which
Crete

Crete to become an autonomous state
under the suzerainty of the Sultan.[9] The Porte replied on 5 March,
accepting the proposals in principle, but on 8 March the Greek
government rejected the proposal as a non-satisfactory solution and
instead insisted on the union of
Crete

Crete with
Greece

Greece as the only
solution.[citation needed]
Venizelos, as a representative of the
Cretan

Cretan rebels, met the admirals
of the
Great Powers

Great Powers on a Russian warship on 7 March 1897. Even though
no progress was made at the meeting, he persuaded the admirals to send
him on a tour of the island, under their protection, in order to
explore the people's opinions on the question of autonomy versus
union.[32] At the time, the majority of the
Cretan

Cretan population
initially supported the union, but the subsequent events in Thessaly
turned the public opinion towards autonomy as an intermediate
step.[citation needed]
In reaction to the rebellion of
Crete

Crete and the assistance sent by
Greece, the Ottomans had relocated a significant part of their army in
the
Balkans

Balkans to the north of Thessaly, close to the borders with
Greece.[33]
Greece

Greece in reply reinforced its borders in Thessaly.
However, irregular Greek forces, who were members of the Ethniki
Etairia (followers of the Megali Idea) acted without orders and raided
Turkish outposts,[34] leading the
Ottoman Empire

Ottoman Empire to declare war on
Greece

Greece on 17 April. The war was a disaster for Greece. The Turkish
army was better prepared, in large part due to the recent reforms
carried out by a German mission under Baron von der Goltz, and the
Greek army

Greek army was in retreat within weeks. The
Great Powers

Great Powers again
intervened and an armistice was signed in May 1897.[35]
Conclusion[edit]
The defeat of
Greece

Greece in the Greco-Turkish war, costing small
territorial losses at the border line in northern
Thessaly

Thessaly and an
indemnity of £4,000,000,[35] turned into a diplomatic victory. The
Great Powers

Great Powers (Britain, France, Russia, and Italy), following the
massacre in
Heraklion

Heraklion on 25 August,[17][36][37] imposed a final
solution on the "
Cretan

Cretan Question";
Crete

Crete was proclaimed an autonomous
state under Ottoman suzerainty.[citation needed]
Venizelos played an important role towards this solution, not only as
the leader of the
Cretan

Cretan rebels but also as a skilled diplomat with
his frequent communication with the admirals of the Great Powers.[37]
The four
Great Powers

Great Powers assumed the administration of Crete; and Prince
George of Greece, the second son of King George I of Greece, became
High Commissioner, with Venizelos serving as his minister of Justice
from 1899 to 1901.[38]
Autonomous
Cretan

Cretan State[edit]
See also:
Cretan

Cretan State
The council of
Crete

Crete in which Venizelos participated. He is the second
from the left.
Prince George was appointed High Commissioner of the
Cretan State

Cretan State for
a three-year term.[38] 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

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.[citation
needed]
Prince George decided 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".[39] 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

Great Powers rejected his
request.[38][39]
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.[38]
Relations between the two men became increasingly soured, and
Venizelos repeatedly submitted his resignation.[40]
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

Great Powers were still present, and that the
Great Powers

Great Powers were governing through their representative, the Prince.
Venizelos suggested that once the Prince's service expired, then the
Great Powers

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 their representatives, then the union with
Greece

Greece would be easier to achieve. This proposal was exploited by
Venizelos' opponents, who accused him that he wanted
Crete

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.[38]
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".[38][41] 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

Theriso Revolution, whose leader
he was.[citation needed]
Revolution of Theriso[edit]
Further information:
Theriso

Theriso revolt
Venizelos at the beginning of the 20th century.
On 10 March 1905, the rebels gathered in
Theriso

Theriso and declared "the
political union of
Crete

Crete with
Greece

Greece as a single free constitutional
state";[42] the resolution was given to the Great Powers, where it was
argued that the illegitimate provisional arrangement was preventing
the island's economic growth and that the only logical solution to the
"
Cretan

Cretan Question" was the unification with Greece. The High
Commissioner, with the approval of the Great Powers, replied to the
rebels that military force would be used against them.[38] However,
more deputies joined with Venizelos in Theriso. The Great Powers'
consuls met with Venizelos in
Mournies

Mournies in an attempt to achieve an
agreement, but without any results.[citation needed]
A speech by Venizelos on 25 March 1905.
The committee for the drafting of a new constitution for
Crete

Crete in
1906–07.
The revolutionary government asked that
Crete

Crete be granted a regime
similar to that of Eastern Rumelia. On 18 July, the Great Powers
declared martial law, but that did not discourage the rebels. On 15
August, the regular assembly in
Chania

Chania voted in favor of most of the
reforms that Venizelos proposed. The Great Powers' consuls met
Venizelos again and accepted the reforms he had proposed. This led to
the end of the
Theriso

Theriso revolt and to the resignation of Prince George
as the High Commissioner.[citation needed] The
Great Powers

Great Powers assigned
the authority for selecting the island's new High Commissioner to King
George I of Greece, thereby de facto nullifying the Ottoman
suzerainty. An ex-Prime Minister of Greece, Alexandros Zaimis, was
chosen for the place of High Commissioner, and Greek officers and
non-commissioned officers were allowed to undertake the organization
of the
Cretan

Cretan Gendarmerie. As soon as the Gendarmerie was organized,
the foreign troops began to withdraw from the island. This was also a
personal victory for Venizelos, who as a result achieved fame not only
in
Greece

Greece but also in Europe.[38]
Following the
Young Turk

Young Turk Revolution,
Bulgaria

Bulgaria declared its
independence from the
Ottoman Empire

Ottoman Empire on 5 October 1908, and one day
later Franz Joseph,
Emperor of Austria

Emperor of Austria announced the annexation of
Bosnia-Herzegovina. Encouraged by these events, on the same day, the
Cretans in turn rose up. Thousands of citizens in
Chania

Chania and the
surrounding regions on that day formed a rally, in which Venizelos
declared the union of
Crete

Crete with Greece. Having communicated with the
government of Athens, Zaimis left for
Athens

Athens before the
rally.[citation needed]
An assembly was convened and declared the independence of Crete. The
civil servants were sworn in the name of King George I of Greece,
while a five-member Executive Committee was established, with the
authority to control the island on behalf of the King and according to
the laws of the Greek state. Chairman of the committee was Antonios
Michelidakis and Venizelos became Minister of Justice and Foreign
Affairs. In April 1910 a new assembly was convened and Venizelos was
elected chairman and then Prime Minister. All foreign troops departed
from
Crete

Crete and power was transferred entirely to Venizelos'
government.[43][clarification needed]
Political career in Greece[edit]
Goudi

Goudi military revolution of 1909[edit]
Further information:
Goudi

Goudi coup
"After I finished my studies in
Athens

Athens I returned home and hung out my
bandolier. I had not tried many cases in the court of my home island
before it became necessary for me to take up arms against the Turkish
government. Although my father was born in Greece, I was considered an
Ottoman subject -therefore a rebel- because my mother was born under
the Turkish flag. At the end of the revolution, I returned again to my
hometown and resumed my practice. I did not have time, however, to go
far with it, for I had to take up arms again and go to the mountains.
I soon reached the point where I had to decide whether I ought to be a
lawyer by profession and a revolutionary at intervals or a
revolutionary by profession and a lawyer at intervals... I naturally
became a revolutionary by profession."
Venizelos speaking at a banquet given in his honour by the foreign
press at the Peace Conference in 1919.[44][45]
In May 1909, a number of officers in the
Greek army

Greek army emulating the
Young Turk

Young Turk Committee of Union and Progress, sought to reform their
country's national government and reorganize the army, thus creating
the Military League. The League, in August 1909, camped in the
Athenian suburb of
Goudi

Goudi with their supporters forcing the government
of
Dimitrios Rallis

Dimitrios Rallis to resign and a new one was formed with
Kiriakoulis Mavromichalis. An inaugurating period of direct military
pressure upon the Chamber followed, but initial public support to the
League quickly evaporated when it became apparent that the officers
did not know how to implement their demands.[46] The political
dead-end remained until the League invited Venizelos from
Crete

Crete to
undertake the leadership.[47]
Popular lithograph celebrating the coup's success.
Greece

Greece steps
triumphantly over the dead monster of the old-party system, cheered by
the army and the people.
Venizelos went to
Athens

Athens and after consulting with the Military League
and with representatives of the political world, he proposed a new
government and Parliament's reformation. His proposals were considered
by the King and the Greek politicians dangerous for the political
establishment. However, King George I, fearing an escalation of the
crisis, convened a council with political leaders, and recommended
them to accept Venizelos' proposals. After many postponements the King
agreed to assign
Stephanos Dragoumis

Stephanos Dragoumis (Venizelos' indication) to form a
new government that would lead the country to elections once the
League was disbanded.[48] In the elections of 8 August 1910, almost
half the seats in the parliament were won by Independents, who were
newcomers to the Greek political scene. Venizelos, despite doubts as
to the validity of his Greek citizenship and without having campaigned
in person, finished at the top at the electoral list in Attica. He was
immediately recognized as the leader of the independents and thus he
founded the political party,
Komma Fileleftheron (Liberal Party). Soon
after his election he decided to call for new elections in hope of
winning an absolute majority. The old parties boycotted the new
election in protest[46] and on 11 December 1910, Venizelos' party won
307 seats out of 362, with most of the elected citizens being new in
the political scene. Venizelos formed a government and started to
reorganize the economic, political, and national affairs of the
country.[citation needed]
Reforms in 1910–1914[edit]
Venizelos tried to advance his reform program in the realms of
political and social ideologies, of education, and literature, by
adopting practically viable compromises between often conflicting
tendencies. In education, for example, the dynamic current in favor of
the use of the popular spoken language, dimotiki, provoked
conservative reactions, which led to the constitutionally embedded
decision (Article 107) in favor of a formal "purified" language,
katharevousa, which looked back to classical precedents.[49]
On 20 May 1911, a revision of the Constitution was completed, which
focused on strengthening individual freedoms, introducing measures to
facilitate the legislative work of the Parliament, establishing of
obligatory elementary education, the legal right for compulsory
expropriation, ensuring permanent appointment for civil servants, the
right to invite foreign personnel to undertake the reorganization of
the administration and the armed forces, the re-establishment of the
State Council and the simplification of the procedures for the reform
of the Constitution. The aim of the reform program was to consolidate
public security and rule of law as well as to develop and increase the
wealth-producing potential of the country. In this context, the long
planned "eighth" Ministry, the Ministry of National Economy, assumed a
leading role. This Ministry, from the time of its creation at the
beginning of 1911, was headed by Emmanuel Benakis, a wealthy Greek
merchant from
Egypt

Egypt and friend of Venizelos.[49] Between 1911 and 1912
a number of laws aiming to initiate labor legislation in
Greece

Greece were
promulgated. Specific measures were enacted that prohibited child
labor and night-shift work for women, that regulated the hours of the
working week and the Sunday holiday, and allowed for labor
organizations.[50] Venizelos also took measures for the improvement of
management, justice and security and for the settlement of the
landless peasants of Thessaly.[49]
Balkan Wars[edit]
Further information: Balkan Wars
Background[edit]
The boundaries of the Balkan states before the Balkan Wars.
At the time there were diplomatic contacts with the
Ottoman Empire

Ottoman Empire to
initiate reforms in Macedonia and in Thrace, which at the time were
under the control of the Ottoman Empire, for improving the living
conditions of the Christian populations. Failure of such reforms would
leave as a single option to remove Turkey from the Balkans, an idea
that most Balkan countries shared. This scenario appeared realistic to
Venizelos, because Turkey was under a constitutional transition and
its administrative mechanism was disorganized and weakened.[51] There
was also no fleet capable of transporting forces from
Asia Minor

Asia Minor to
Europe, while in contrast the Greek fleet was dominating the Aegean
Sea. Venizelos did not want to initiate any immediate major movements
in the Balkans, until the
Greek army

Greek army and navy were reorganized (an
effort that had begun from the last government of Georgios Theotokis)
and the Greek economy was revitalized.[52] In light of this, Venizelos
proposed to Turkey to recognize the Cretans the right to send deputies
to the Greek Parliament, as a solution for closing the Cretan
Question. However, the
Young Turks

Young Turks (feeling confident after the
Greco-Turkish war in 1897) threatened that they would make a military
walk to Athens, if the
Greeks

Greeks insisted on such claims.[citation
needed]
Balkan League[edit]
Further information: Balkan League
With the Serbian Prime Minister
Nikola Pasic

Nikola Pasic in 1913
Venizelos, seeing no improvements after his approach with the Turks on
the
Cretan

Cretan Question and at the same time not wanting to see Greece
remain inactive as in the Russo-Turkish War in 1877 (where Greece's
neutrality left the country out of the peace talks), he decided that
the only way to settle the disputes with Turkey, was to join the other
Balkan countries, Serbia,
Bulgaria

Bulgaria and Montenegro, in an alliance
known as the Balkan League. Crown Prince Constantine was sent to
represent
Greece

Greece to a royal feast in Sofia, and in 1911 Bulgarian
students were invited to Athens.[53] These events had a positive
impact and on 30 May 1912
Greece

Greece and the Kingdom of
Bulgaria

Bulgaria signed a
treaty that ensured mutual support in case of a Turkish attack on
either country. Negotiations with Serbia, which Venizelos had
initiated to achieve a similar agreement, were concluded in early
1913,[54] before that there were only oral agreements.[55]
Montenegro

Montenegro opened hostilities by declaring war on Turkey on 8 October
1912. On 17 October 1912,
Greece

Greece along with her Balkan allies declared
war on Turkey, thus joining the First Balkan War.[54] On 1 October, in
a regular session of the Parliament Venizelos announced the
declaration of war to Turkey and accepting the
Cretan

Cretan deputies, thus
closing the
Cretan

Cretan Question, with the declaration of the union of
Crete

Crete with Greece. The Greek population received these developments
very enthusiastically.[citation needed]
First Balkan War

First Balkan War – The first conflict with Prince Constantine[edit]
Further information: First Balkan War
Venizelos with Constantine
The outbreak of the First Balkan war caused Venizelos a great deal of
trouble in his relations with Crown Prince Constantine. Part of the
problems can be attributed to the complexity of the official relations
between the two men. Although Constantine was a Prince and the future
King, he also held the title of army commander, thus remaining under
the direct order of the Ministry of Military Affairs, and subsequently
under Venizelos. But his father, King George, in accordance to the
constitutional conditions of the time had been the undisputed leader
of the country. Thus in practical terms Venizelos' authority over his
commander of the army was diminished due to the obvious relation
between the Crown Prince and the King.[citation needed]
In these conditions the army started a victorious march to Macedonia
under the commands of Constantine. Soon the first disagreement between
Venizelos and Constantine emerged, and it concerned the aims of the
army's operations. The Crown Prince insisted on the clear military
aims of the war: to defeat the opposed Ottoman army as a necessary
condition for any occupation, wherever the opponent army was or was
going; and the main part of the Ottoman army soon started retreating
to the north towards Monastir. Venizelos was more realistic and
insisted on the political aims of the war: to liberate as many
geographical areas and cities as fast as possible, particularly
Macedonia and Thessaloniki; thus heading east. The debate became
evident after the victory of the
Greek army

Greek army at Sarantaporo, when the
future direction of the armys' march was to be decided. Venizelos
intervened and insisted that Thessaloniki, as a major city and
strategic port in the surrounding area, should be taken at all costs
and thus a turn to the east was necessary.[citation needed] In
accordance to his views, Venizelos sent the following telegraph to the
General Staff:
“
Salonique à tout prix![56]
”
Territorial changes as a result of the First Balkan war, as of April
1913.
and tried to keep frequent communication with the key figure, the
King, in order to prevent the Prince from marching north.[56]
Subsequently, although the
Greek army

Greek army won the Giannitsa battle
situated 40 km west of Salonika, the Constantine's hesitation in
capturing the city after a week had passed, led into an open
confrontation with Venizelos. Venizelos, having accurate information
from the Greek embassy in
Sofia

Sofia about the movement of the Bulgarian
army towards the city, sent a telegram to Constantine in a strict
tone, holding him responsible for the possible loss of Thessaloniki.
The tone in Venizelos' telegram and that in the answer from
Constantine that followed to announce the final agreement with the
Turks, is widely considered as the start of the conflict between the
two men that would lead
Greece

Greece into the
National Schism

National Schism during World
War I. Finally on 26 October 1912, the
Greek army

Greek army entered
Thessaloniki, shortly ahead of the Bulgarians.[57] But soon a new
reason of friction emerged due to Venizelos' concern about
Constantine's acceptance of the Bulgarian request to enter the city. A
small Bulgarian unit, which soon became a full division moved into the
city and immediately started an attempt to establish a condominium in
spite of initial assurances to the contrary, showing no intentions to
leave. After Venizelos' protest Constantine asked him to take the
responsibility (as a prime minister) by ordering him to force them
out, but that was hardly an option since that would certainly lead to
confrontation with the Bulgarians. To Venizelos' view, since
Constantine allowed the
Bulgarians

Bulgarians to enter the city, he now passed
the responsibility of a possible conflict with them to him, in an
attempt to deny his initial fault. To Constantine, it was an attempt
by Venizelos to get involved in clearly military issues. Most
historians agree that Constantine failed to see the political
dimensions of his decisions. As a consequence both incidents increased
mutual misunderstanding, shortly before Constantine's accession to the
throne.[citation needed]
Once the campaign in Macedonia was completed, a large part of the
Greek army

Greek army under the Crown Prince was redeployed to Epirus, and in the
Battle of Bizani

Battle of Bizani the Ottoman positions were overcome and Ioannina
taken on 22 February 1913. Meanwhile, the Greek navy rapidly occupied
the
Aegean islands
.svg/500px-Location_map_of_AegeanIslands_(Greece).svg.png)
Aegean islands still under Ottoman rule. After two victories, the
Greek fleet established naval supremacy over the Aegean preventing the
Turks from bringing reinforcements to the Balkans.[58][59]
On 20 November, Serbia,
Montenegro

Montenegro and
Bulgaria

Bulgaria signed a truce treaty
with Turkey. It followed a conference in London, in which
Greece

Greece took
part, although the
Greek army

Greek army still continued its operations in the
Epirus

Epirus front. The conference led to the Treaty of London between the
Balkan countries and Turkey. Τhese two conferences gave the first
indications of Venizelos' diplomatic efficiency and realism. During
the negotiations and facing the dangers of Bulgarian maximalism,
Venizelos succeeded in establishing close relations with the Serbs. A
Serbian-Greek military protocol was signed on the 1 June 1913 ensuring
mutual protection in case of a Bulgarian attack.[citation needed]
Second Balkan War[edit]
Further information: Second Balkan War
Demonstration in
Greece

Greece during the
Balkan Wars

Balkan Wars with the words "Long
Live Venizelos".
Venizelos with other participants in
Bucharest

Bucharest peace treaty
negotiations
Despite all this, the
Bulgarians

Bulgarians still wanted to become a hegemonic
power in the
Balkans

Balkans and made excessive claims to this end, while
Serbia

Serbia asked for more territory than what was initially agreed with
the Bulgarians.
Serbia

Serbia was asking for a revision of the original
treaty, since it had already lost north
Albania

Albania due to the Great
Powers' decision to establish the state of Albania, in an area that
had been recognized as a Serbian territory of expansion under the
prewar Serbo-Bulgarian treaty.
Bulgarians

Bulgarians also laid claims on
Thessaloniki
.jpg/440px-Thessaloniki-Arch_of_Galerius_(eastern_face).jpg)
Thessaloniki and most of Macedonia. In the conference of London,
Venizelos rebuffed these claims, citing the fact that it had been
occupied by the Greek army,[60] and that
Bulgaria

Bulgaria had denied any
definite settlement of territorial claims during the pre-war
discussions, as it had done with Serbia.[citation needed]
The rupture between the allies, due to the Bulgarian claims, was
inevitable, and
Bulgaria

Bulgaria found herself standing against
Greece

Greece and
Serbia. On 19 May 1913, a pact of alliance was signed in Thessaloniki
between
Greece

Greece and Serbia. On 19 June, the
Second Balkan War

Second Balkan War began
with a surprise Bulgarian assault against Serbian and Greek
positions.[61] Constantine, now King after his father's assassination
in March, neutralized the Bulgarian forces in
Thessaloniki
.jpg/440px-Thessaloniki-Arch_of_Galerius_(eastern_face).jpg)
Thessaloniki and pushed
the Bulgarian army further back with a series of hard-fought
victories.
Bulgaria

Bulgaria was overwhelmed by the Greek and Serbian armies,
while in the north the
Romanian army

Romanian army was marching towards Sofia; the
Bulgarians

Bulgarians asked for truce. Venizelos went to Hadji-Beylik, where the
Greek headquarters were, to confer with Constantine on the Greek
territorial claims in the peace conference. Then he went to Bucharest,
where a peace conference was assembled. On 28 June 1913 a peace treaty
was signed with Greece, Montenegro,
Serbia

Serbia and Romania on one side and
Bulgaria

Bulgaria on the other. Thus, after two successful wars,
Greece

Greece had
doubled its territory by gaining most of Macedonia, Epirus,
Crete

Crete and
the rest of the Aegean Islands,[62] although the status of the latter
remained as yet undetermined and a cause of tension with the
Ottomans.[citation needed]
World War I

World War I and Greece[edit]
See also: World War I,
Balkans

Balkans Campaign (World War I), Gallipoli
Campaign, and Macedonian front (World War I)
Dispute over Greece's role in World War I[edit]
Bust of
Eleftherios Venizelos

Eleftherios Venizelos in Belgrade, Serbia.
With the outbreak of
World War I

World War I and the Austro-Hungarian invasion in
Serbia, a major issue started regarding the participation or not of
Greece

Greece and
Bulgaria

Bulgaria in the war.
Greece

Greece had an active treaty with
Serbia

Serbia which was the treaty activated in the 1913 Bulgarian attack
that caused the Second Balkan War. That treaty was envisaged in a
purely Balkan context, and was thus invalid against Austria-Hungary,
something on which both Venizelos and Constantine agreed.[citation
needed]
The situation changed when the Allies, in an attempt to help Serbia,
offered
Bulgaria

Bulgaria the Monastir–
Ochrid

Ochrid area of
Serbia

Serbia and the Greek
Eastern Macedonia (the Serres–Kavalla–Drama areas) if she joined
the Entente. Venizelos, having received assurances over
Asia Minor

Asia Minor if
the
Greeks

Greeks participated in the alliance, agreed to cede the area to
Bulgaria.[63]
But Constantine's anti-Bulgarism made such a transaction impossible.
Constantine refused to go to war under such conditions and the men
parted. As a consequence
Bulgaria

Bulgaria joined the
Central Powers

Central Powers and
invaded Serbia, an event leading to Serbia's final collapse. Greece
remained neutral. Venizelos supported an alliance with the Entente,
not only believing that Britain and France would win, but also that it
was the only choice for Greece, because the combination of the strong
Anglo-French naval control over 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![64]
”
On the other hand, Constantine favored the
Central Powers

Central Powers and wanted
Greece

Greece to remain neutral.[65] 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.[66]
In 1915,
Winston Churchill

Winston Churchill (then First Lord of the Admiralty)
suggested to
Greece

Greece to take action in
Dardanelles

Dardanelles on behalf of the
allies.[67] 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.[66]
Venizelos' party won the elections and formed a new
government.[citation needed]
National Schism[edit]
Main articles: National Defence coup d'état, National Schism, and
Provisional Government of National Defence
See also: Venizelism
The "Triumvirate of National Defence" in Thessaloniki. L-R: Admiral
Pavlos Kountouriotis, Venizelos, and General Panagiotis Danglis.
Even though Venizelos promised to remain neutral, after the elections
of 1915, he said that Bulgaria's attack on Serbia, with which Greece
had a treaty of alliance, obliged him to abandon that policy. The
dispute between Venizelos and the King reached its height shortly
after that and the King invoked a Greek constitutional provision that
gave the monarch the right to dismiss a government unilaterally.
Meanwhile, using the excuse of saving Serbia, in October 1915, the
Entente disembarked an army in Thessaloniki.[68]
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

Athens and moved back to Crete. Venizelos did not take part in
the elections, as he considered the dissolution of Parliament
unconstitutional.[69][70]
The 1st Battalion of the National Defence army marches before the
White Tower on its way to the front.
On 26 May 1916 the Fort Rupel (a significant military fort in
Macedonia) was unconditionally surrendered by the royalist government
to Germano-Bulgarian forces.[71] This produced a deplorable
impression. The Allies feared a possible secret alliance between the
royalist government and
Central Powers

Central Powers placing in grave danger of
their armies in Macedonia. On the other hand, the surrender of Fort
Rupel for Venizelos and his supporters meant the beginning of the
destruction of Greek Macedonia. Despite German assurances that the
integrity of the Kingdom of
Greece

Greece would be respected they were unable
to restrain the Bulgarian forces, which had started dislocating the
Greek population, and by 4 September
Kavala

Kavala was occupied.[72]
On 16 August 1916, during a rally in Athens, and with the support of
the allied army that had landed in
Thessaloniki
.jpg/440px-Thessaloniki-Arch_of_Galerius_(eastern_face).jpg)
Thessaloniki under the command of
General Maurice Sarrail, Venizelos announced publicly his total
disagreement with the Crown's policies. The effect of this was to
further polarize the population between the royalists (also known as
anti-Venezelists), who supported the crown, and Venizelists, who
supported Venizelos. On 30 August 1916,
Venizelist

Venizelist army officers
organized a military coup in Thessaloniki, and proclaimed the
"Provisional Government of National Defence". Venizelos along with
Admiral
Pavlos Kountouriotis

Pavlos Kountouriotis and General
Panagiotis Danglis

Panagiotis Danglis agreed to
form a provisional government and on 9 October they moved to
Thessaloniki
.jpg/440px-Thessaloniki-Arch_of_Galerius_(eastern_face).jpg)
Thessaloniki and assumed command of the National Defence to oversee
the Greek participation in the allied war effort. The triumvirate, as
the three men became known, had formed this government in direct
conflict with the
Athens

Athens political establishment.[73] There they
founded a separate "provisional state" including Northern Greece,
Crete

Crete and the Aegean Islands, with the support of the Entente.[74]
Primarily, these areas comprised the "New Lands" won during the Balkan
Wars, in which Venizelos enjoyed a broad support, while "Old Greece"
was mostly pro-royalist. The National Defence government started
assembling an army for the Macedonian front and soon participated in
operations against the
Central Powers

Central Powers forces.[citation needed]
"Noemvriana" –
Greece

Greece enters World War I[edit]
Further information: Noemvriana
French troops in Athens, with the Acropolis in the background, after
the Noemvriana.
In the following months after the creation of provisional government
in
Thessaloniki
.jpg/440px-Thessaloniki-Arch_of_Galerius_(eastern_face).jpg)
Thessaloniki in late August, negotiations between the Allies and
king intensified. The Allies wanted further demobilisation of the
Greek army

Greek army as a counterbalance of the unconditional surrender of Fort
Rupel by the royalist government and military evacuation of Thessaly
to insure the safety of their troops in Macedonia. On the other hand,
the king wanted assurances that the Allies would not officially
recognise Venizelos' provisional government or further support it,
guarantees that Greece's integrity and neutrality would be respected,
and a promise that any war material surrendered to the Allies would be
returned after the war.[75]
The Franco-British use of Greece's territory in co-operation with the
Venizelos government i[›] throughout 1916 was opposed in royalist
circles and therefore increased the Constantine's popularity, and
caused much excitement and several anti-Allied demonstrations took
place in Athens.[73] Moreover, a growing movement had been developed
in the army among lower officers, led by military officers Ioannis
Metaxas and Sofoklis Dousmanis, determined to oppose disarmament and
the surrender of any war materials to the Allies.[76]
Venizelos reviews a section of the
Greek army

Greek army on the Macedonian front
during the First World War, 1918. He is accompanied by Admiral Pavlos
Koundouriotis (left) and General
Maurice Sarrail

Maurice Sarrail (right).
The Allies' pressure on the government of
Athens

Athens continued. On the
next day, 24 November, du Fournet presented a new ultimatum ending on
1 December to the government of
Athens

Athens demanding the immediate
surrender of at least ten mountain batteries.[77] The admiral made a
last effort to persuade the king to accept France's demands. He
advised the king that according to his orders he would land an Allied
contingent, with aim to occupy certain positions in
Athens

Athens until his
demands were satisfied.[77] In reply, the King claimed that he was
pressed by the army and the people not to submit to disarmament, and
refused to make any commitment. However, he promised that the Greek
forces would receive orders not to fire against the Allied
contingent.[78] Despite the gravity of the situation both the royalist
government and the Allies let the events take their own course. The
royalist government decided to reject the admiral's demands on 29
November and armed resistance was organised. By 30 November military
units and royalist militia (the epistratoi, "reservists") from
surrounding areas have been recalled and gathered in and around Athens
(in total over 20,000 men[79][80][81]) and occupied strategic
positions, with orders not to fire unless fired upon.[78] On the other
hand, the Allied authorities failed in their assessment of the
prevailing temper. A diplomat characteristically insisted that the
Greeks

Greeks were bluffing, and in the face of force they would "bring the
cannons on a plater"; a viewpoint that Du Fournet also shared.[78]
Greek lithograph depicting Venizelos along with the principal Allied
leaders of World War I, David Lloyd George, Georges Clemenceau,
Ferdinand Foch and Woodrow Wilson.
The Allies landed a small contingent in
Athens

Athens on 1
December [O.S. 18 November] 1916. However, it met organized
resistance and an armed confrontation took place for a day till a
compromise was reached. After the evacuation of the Allied contingent
from
Athens

Athens the following day, a royalist mob raged though the city
for three days targeting supporters of Venizelos. The incident became
known as the
Noemvriana

Noemvriana in Greece, which was using the Old Style
calendar at the time, and drove a deep wedge between the Venizelists
and their political opponents, deepening what would become known as
the National Schism.[citation needed]
After the armed confrontation in Athens, on 2 December [O.S. 19
November] 1916, Britain and France officially recognised the
government under Venizelos as the lawful government, effectively
splitting
Greece

Greece into two separate entities.[82] On 7
December [O.S. 24 November] 1916, Venizelos' provisional
government officially declared war on the Central Powers.[83][84] In
reply, a royal warrant for the arrest of Venizelos was issued and the
Archbishop of Athens, under pressure by the royal house,[85]
anathematised him.[86] The Allies unwilling to risk a new fiasco, but
determined to solve the problem, established a naval blockade around
southern Greece, which was still loyal to the king, and that caused
extreme hardship to people in those areas.[87] In June France and
Great Britain decided to invoke their obligation as "protecting
powers", who had promised to guarantee a constitutional form for
Greece

Greece at the time the Kingdom was created, to demand the king's
resignation.[88] Constantine accepted and on the 15 June 1917 went to
exile, leaving his son Alexander on the throne as demanded (whom the
Allies considered as pro-Entente), instead of his elder son and crown
prince, George.[89][90] His departure was followed by the deportation
of many prominent royalists, especially army officers such as Ioannis
Metaxas, to exile in France and Italy.
The course of events paved the way for Venizelos to return in Athens
on 29 May 1917 and Greece, now unified, officially entered the war on
the side of the Allies. Subsequently, the entire
Greek army

Greek army was
mobilized (though tensions remained inside the army between supporters
of the monarchy and supporters of Venizelos) and began to participate
in military operations against the
Central Powers

Central Powers army on the
Macedonian front.[citation needed]
Conclusion of World War I[edit]
See also: Battle of Skra-di-Legen, Armistice of Thessalonica,
Armistice of Mudros, and Occupation of Constantinople
Painting depicting Greek military units in the
World War I

World War I Victory
Parade in Arc de Triomphe, Paris. July 1919.
By the fall of 1918, the
Greek army

Greek army numbering 300,000 soldiers, was
the largest single national component of the Allied army in the
Macedonian front.[91] The presence of the entire
Greek army

Greek army gave the
critical mass that altered the balance between the opponents in the
Macedonian front. Under the command of French General Franchet
d'Espèrey, a combined Greek, Serbian, French and British force
launched a major offensive against the Bulgarian and German army,
starting on 14 September 1918. After the first heavy fighting (see
Battle of Skra) the
Bulgarians

Bulgarians gave up their defensive positions and
began retreating back towards their country. On 24 September the
Bulgarian government asked for an armistice, which was signed five
days later.[92] The Allied army then pushed north and defeated the
remaining German and Austrian forces that tried to halt the Allied
offensive. By October 1918 the Allied armies had recaptured all of
Serbia

Serbia and were preparing to invade Hungary. The offensive was halted
because the Hungarian leadership offered to surrender in November 1918
marking the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian empire. The breaking
of the Macedonian front was one of the important breakthroughs of the
military stalemate and helped to bring an end to the War.
Greece

Greece was
granted a seat at the Paris Peace Conference under Venizelos.[93]
Treaty of Sèvres

Treaty of Sèvres and assassination attempt[edit]
See also: Paris Peace Conference (1919), Greek landing at Smyrna, and
Treaty of Sèvres
Photo of the members of the commission of the League of Nations
created by the Plenary Session of the Preliminary Peace Conference,
Paris, France 1919. Venizelos is on the right.
Following the conclusion of World War I, Venizelos took part in the
Paris Peace Conference of 1919 as Greece's chief representative.
During his absence from
Greece

Greece for almost two years, he acquired a
reputation as an international statesman of considerable
stature.[3][4] President
Woodrow Wilson

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.[94]
Map of Greater
Greece

Greece after the Treaty of Sèvres, when the Megali
Idea seemed close to fulfillment, featuring Eleftherios Venizelos.
In July 1919, Venizelos reached an agreement with the Italians on the
cession of the Dodecanese, and secured an extension of the Greek area
in the periphery of Smyrna. The
Treaty of Neuilly

Treaty of Neuilly with
Bulgaria

Bulgaria on 27
November 1919, and the
Treaty of Sèvres

Treaty of Sèvres with the
Ottoman Empire

Ottoman Empire on 10
August 1920, were triumphs both for Venizelos and for
Greece.[3][95][96] As the result of these treaties,
Greece

Greece acquired
Western Thrace, Eastern Thrace, Smyrna, the
Aegean islands
.svg/500px-Location_map_of_AegeanIslands_(Greece).svg.png)
Aegean islands Imvros,
Tenedos

Tenedos and the
Dodecanese

Dodecanese except Rhodes.[95]ii[›]
The assassination attempt by Greek royalists at the Gare de Lyon.
In spite of all this, fanaticism continued to create a deep rift
between the opposing political parties and to impel them towards
unacceptable actions. On his journey home on 12 August 1920, Venizelos
survived an assassination attack by two royalist soldiers at the Gare
de Lyon railway station in Paris.[97] This event provoked unrest in
Greece, with
Venizelist

Venizelist supporters engaging in acts of violence
against known anti-Venizelists, and provided further fuel for the
national division. The persecution of Venizelos' opponents reached a
climax with the assassination of the idiosyncratic anti-
Venizelist

Venizelist Ion
Dragoumis[66] by paramilitary Venizelists on 13 August.[98] After his
recovery Venizelos returned to Greece, where he was welcomed as a
hero, because he had liberated areas with Greek populations and had
created a state stretching over "five seas and two continents".[66]
1920 electoral defeat, self-exile and the Great Disaster[edit]
See also: Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922), Great Fire of Smyrna, 1922
Revolution, and Treaty of Lausanne
Venizelos on the journey back to Greece, injured from the Paris
assassination attempt
King Alexander died of blood poisoning caused by a monkey bite, two
months after the signing of the treaty, on 25 October 1920. His death
revived the constitutional question of whether
Greece

Greece should be a
monarchy or a republic and transformed the November elections into a
contest between Venizelos and the return of the exiled king
Constantine, Alexander's father. In the elections anti-Venizelists,
most of them supporters of Constantine, secured 246 out of 370
seats.[99] The defeat came as a surprise to most people and Venizelos
failed even to get elected as an MP.[66] Venizelos himself attributed
this to the war-weariness of the Greek people that had been under arms
with almost no intermission since 1912. Venizelists believed that the
promise of demobilization and withdrawal from
Asia Minor

Asia Minor was the most
potent weapon of opposition. Abuse of power by Venizelists in the
period of 1917–1920 and prosecution of their adversaries were also a
further cause for people to vote in favor of the opposition.[100]
Thus, on 6 December 1920, King Constantine was recalled by a
plebiscite.[66] This caused great dissatisfaction not only to the
newly liberated populations in
Asia Minor

Asia Minor but also to the Great Powers
who opposed the return of Constantine.[99] As a result of his defeat
Venizelos left for Paris and withdrew from politics.[101]
Caricature related to the 1920 parliamentary election, depicting
Venizelos and his main political opponent Dimitrios Gounaris.
Once the anti-Venizelists came to power it became apparent that they
intended to continue the campaign in Asia Minor. However, dismissal of
the war experienced pro-
Venizelist

Venizelist military officers for petty
political reasons[99] and underestimating the capabilities of the
Turkish army,[101] influenced the subsequent course of the war. Italy
and France also found a useful pretext in the royal restoration for
making peace with Mustafa Kemal (leader of the Turks). By April 1921
all
Great Powers

Great Powers had declared their neutrality;
Greece

Greece was alone in
continuing the war.[102] Kemal launched a massive attack on 26 August
1922 and the Greek forces were routed to Smyrna, which soon fell to
the Turks on 8 September 1922 (see Great Fire of Smyrna).[102]
Eleftherios Venizelos

Eleftherios Venizelos on the cover of Time magazine, 18 February 1924.
Following the defeat of the
Greek army

Greek army by the Turks in 1922 and the
subsequent armed insurrection led by Colonels
Nikolaos Plastiras

Nikolaos Plastiras and
Stylianos Gonatas, King Constantine was dethroned (and succeeded by
his eldest son, George), and six royalist leaders were executed.[4]
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. The effect of this was that more
than a million
Greeks

Greeks (Christians) were expelled from Turkey, in
exchange for the more than 500,000 Turks (Muslims) expelled from
Greece, and
Greece

Greece was forced to give up claims to eastern Thrace,
Imbros

Imbros and
Tenedos

Tenedos to Turkey. This catastrophe marked the end of the
Megali Idea. After a failed pro-royalist insurrection led by General
Ioannis Metaxas

Ioannis Metaxas forced King George II into exile, Venizelos returned
to
Greece

Greece and became prime minister once again. However, he left again
in 1924 after quarreling with anti-monarchists.[citation needed]
During these absences from power, he translated
Thucydides

Thucydides into modern
Greek, although the translation and incomplete commentary were only
published in 1940, after his death.[citation needed]
Return to power (1928–32): Greco-Turkish alliance, assassination
attempt and subsequent exile[edit]
See also: 1935 Greek coup d'état attempt
In the elections held on 5 July 1928, Venizelos' 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 attempted to end Greece's
diplomatic isolation by restoring normal relations with the country's
neighbors. His efforts proved to be successful in the cases of the
newly founded
Kingdom of Yugoslavia

Kingdom of Yugoslavia and Italy. Firstly Venizelos
signed an agreement on 23 September 1928 with
Benito Mussolini

Benito Mussolini in
Rome, and then he started negotiations with Yugoslavia which resulted
in a Treaty of Friendship signed on 27 March 1929. An additional
protocol settled the status of the Yugoslav free trade zone of
Thessaloniki
.jpg/440px-Thessaloniki-Arch_of_Galerius_(eastern_face).jpg)
Thessaloniki in a way favorable to Greek interests.[103] Nevertheless,
despite the co-ordinated British efforts under
Arthur Henderson

Arthur Henderson in
1930–1931, full reconciliation with
Bulgaria

Bulgaria was never achieved
during his premiership.[104] Venizelos was also cautious towards
Albania, and although bilateral relations remained at a good level, no
initiative was taken by either side aiming at the final settlement of
the unresolved issues (mainly related with the status of the Greek
minority of South Albania).[105]
Venizelos with
Kemal Atatürk

Kemal Atatürk in Ankara; October 27, 1930.
Venizelos, wearing his typical side cap, sitting at his desk (1930).
Venizelos' greatest achievement in foreign policy during this period
was the reconciliation with Turkey. Venizelos had expressed his will
to improve the bilateral Greek–Turkish relations even before his
electoral victory, in a speech in
Thessaloniki
.jpg/440px-Thessaloniki-Arch_of_Galerius_(eastern_face).jpg)
Thessaloniki (July 23, 1928). Eleven
days after the formation of his government, he sent letters to both
the prime minister and the minister of foreign affairs of Turkey
(
İsmet İnönü

İsmet İnönü and Tevfik Rüştü respectively), declaring that
Greece

Greece had no territorial aspirations to the detriment of their
country. İnönü's response was positive and Italy was eager to help
the two countries reach an agreement. Negotiations however stalled
because of the complicated issue of the properties of the exchanged
populations. Finally, the two sides reached an agreement on April 30,
1930; on October 25, Venizelos visited Turkey and signed a treaty of
friendship. Venizelos even forwarded Atatürk's name for the 1934
Nobel Peace Prize,[106] highlighting the mutual respect between the
two leaders.[107] The German
Chancellor
.jpg/440px-Angela_Merkel_(2008).jpg)
Chancellor Hermann Müller described the
Greek-Turkish rapprochement as the "greatest achievement seen in
Europe since the end of the Great War". Nevertheless, Venizelos'
initiative was criticized domestically not only by the opposition but
also by members of his own party that represented the Greek refugees
from Turkey. Venizelos was accused of making too many concessions on
the issues of naval armaments and of the properties of the
Greeks

Greeks who
were expelled from Turkey according to the Treaty of Lausanne.[108]
In 1929, the Venizelos government, in an effort to avoid reactions
from the lower-classes whose conditions had worsened due to wave of
immigration, introduced the so-called
Idionymon (#4229), a law that
restricted civil liberties and initiated the repression against
unionism, left-wing supporters and communists.[citation needed]
His domestic position was weakened, however, by the effects of the
Great Depression

Great Depression in the early 1930s;[109] 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.[110] The pro-royalist
tendencies of the new government led to two
Venizelist

Venizelist coup attempts
by General Nikolaos Plastiras: one in 1933 and the other in 1935. The
failure of the latter proved decisive for the future of the Second
Hellenic Republic. After the coup's failure Venizelos left
Greece

Greece once
more, while in
Greece

Greece trials and executions of prominent Venizelists
were carried out and he himself was sentenced to death in absentia.
The severely weakened
Republic

Republic was abolished in another coup in
October 1935 by General
Georgios Kondylis

Georgios Kondylis and George II returned to
the throne following a rigged referendum in November.[111]
Death[edit]
Venizelos left for Paris and on 12 March 1936 wrote his last letter to
Alexandros Zannas. He suffered a stroke on the morning of the 13th and
died five days later in his flat at 22 rue Beaujon.[112] A crowd of
supporters from the local Greek community in Paris accompanied his
body to the railway station prior to its departure for
Greece.[citation needed]
His body was taken by the destroyer
Pavlos Kountouriotis

Pavlos Kountouriotis to Chania,
avoiding
Athens

Athens in order not to cause unrest. A great ceremony with
wide public attendance accompanied his burial at Akrotiri,
Crete.[citation needed]
Legacy[edit]
Venizelos' gravestone in Akrotiri, near Chania, Crete.
A statue in Theriso, Crete.
One of the main contributions of Venizelos to Greek political life was
the creation, in 1910, of the Liberal Party, which contrasted with the
Greek parties of that period. Until the early twentieth century, the
Greek parties were inspired by the protecting powers (French or
English Party for example) or clustered around a political
personality, such as Charilaos Trikoupis. The Liberal Party was based
around the ideas of Venizelos (and the military coup of Goudi), but it
survived its creator. In addition, the birth of a leading party would
coincide with the birth of an opposing party. The opposing party was
reflected around the personality of the king, but that survived the
various abolitions of the monarchy.[113] Venizelism, from its
inception, is essentially a liberal Republican movement, which opposes
anti-venizelist monarchist and conservative ideologies. These two
competed for power throughout the inter-war period.[114]
Its main ideas, adapted from its creator, were: opposition to the
monarchy; the defence of the Megali Idea; formation of alliances with
western democratic countries, in particular the United Kingdom and
France against Germany during the First and Second World Wars, and
later with the United States against the Soviet Union during the Cold
War; and finally a protectionist economic policy.[115]
Themistoklis Sofoulis

Themistoklis Sofoulis was, from the 1920s, the successor of Venizelos
as leader of the Liberal Party, which survived policy failures, exile
and ultimately death of the historical founder. In 1950, the son of
Venizelos, Sophoklis Venizelos, succeeded as head of the Liberal Party
at a time when an agreement was formed with the populists (name of the
royalist party) against the communists during the civil war. The
Center Union (
Enosis

Enosis Kendrou), founded in 1961 by Georgios Papandreou,
became the ideological descendant of the Liberal Party. The Center
Union eventually fade in the late 1970s and was replaced by a party
further to the left,
Panhellenic Socialist Movement

Panhellenic Socialist Movement of Andreas
Papandreou.[116]
Personal life and family[edit]
In December 1891 Venizelos married Maria Katelouzou, daughter of
Eleftherios Katelouzos. The newlyweds 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 also had the birth of their two children,
Kyriakos (el) in 1892 and Sofoklis in 1894. Their married life
was short and marked by misfortune. Maria died of post-puerperal fever
in November 1894 after the birth of their second child. Her death
deeply affected Venizelos and as sign of mourning he grew his
characteristic beard and mustache, which he retained for the rest of
his life.[8]
After his defeat in the November elections of 1920 he left for Nice
and Paris in self-imposed exile. In September 1921, twenty-seven years
after the death of his first wife Maria, he married Helena Schilizzi
(sometimes referred to as Elena Skylitsi or Stephanovich) in London.
Advised by police to be wary of assassination attempts, they held the
religious ceremony in private at Witanhurst, the mansion of family
friend and socialite, Lady Domini Crosfield. The Crosfields were well
connected and Venizelos met Arthur Balfour,
David Lloyd George

David Lloyd George and the
arms dealer
Basil Zaharoff
_cropped.jpg/440px-Zaharoff,_Basil_(Meurisse_1928)_cropped.jpg)
Basil Zaharoff in subsequent visits to the house.[citation
needed]
The married couple settled down in Paris in a flat at 22 rue
Beaujon.[clarification needed] He lived there until 1927 when he
returned to Chania.[8]
Venizelos/Mitsotakis family tree[edit]
Main members of the Venizelos/Mitsotakis family.[117] Prime Ministers
of
Greece

Greece are highlighted in light blue.
Kyriakos Venizelos (la)
(1816–1883)
Styliani Ploumidaki
(1830–1897)
Eleftherios Venizelos
(1864–1936)
Katigo Venizelou
(1858–1934)
Constantine "Costis" Mitsotakis (el)
(1845–1898)
Kyriakos Venizelos
(1894–1964)
Sofoklis Venizelos
(1894–1964)
Kyriakos Mitsotakis (el)
(1892–1942)
Stavroula Ploumidaki[118]
(1896–1983)
Nikitas Venizelos
(b. 1930)
Konstantinos Mitsotakis
(1918–2017)
Marika Giannoukou
(1930–2012)
Pavlos Bakoyannis
(1935–1989)
Dora Bakoyannis
née Mitsotaki
(b. 1954)
Kyriakos Mitsotakis
(b. 1968)
Kostas Bakoyannis
(b. 1978)
See also[edit]
Greece

Greece portal
Biography portal
History of Modern Greece
Gallery[edit]
Venizelos father's shop in Chania.
Venizelos in 1935
Building 22 rue Beaujon in Paris where Venizelos died.
A statue in
Thessaloniki
.jpg/440px-Thessaloniki-Arch_of_Galerius_(eastern_face).jpg)
Thessaloniki (sculpt. Giannis Pappas).
Notes[edit]
^ i: The most pronounced violation was when the Allies
occupied the island of
Corfu

Corfu and used it as a base to gather the
remains of the Serbian army. The Allies informed
Athens

Athens of their
intention a few hours before the first ships reaching the island.[119]
^ ii:
Rhodes

Rhodes became a part of
Greece

Greece in 1949.
Citations[edit]
^ Note:
Greece

Greece officially adopted the
Gregorian calendar

Gregorian calendar on 16
February 1923 (which became 1 March). All dates prior to that, unless
specifically denoted, are Old Style.
^ Kitromilides, 2006, p. 178
^ a b c 'Liberty Still Rules', Time, Feb. 18, 1924
^ a b c "Venizélos, Eleuthérios". Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
2008.
^ Duffield J. W., The New York Times, October 30, 1921, Sunday link
^ "Intrigue in Greece". The Argus. Melbourne. 4 July 1916. p. 7.
Retrieved 29 November 2012 – via National Library of
Australia.
^ a b c Chester, 1921, p. 4
^ a b c d Mitsotaki, Zoi (2008). "Venizelos the Cretan. His roots and
his family". National Foundation Research. Archived from the original
on 2007-05-18.
^ a b Ion, 1910, p. 277
^ Kitromilides, 2006, pp. 45, 47
^ Kitromilides, 2006, p. 16
^ Clogg, 2002, p. 65
^ "Pact of Halepa". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 2008.
^ a b Kitromilides, 2006, p. 58
^ Lowell Sun (newspaper), 6/2/1897, p. 1
^ Holland, 2006, p. 87
^ a b c Papadakis, Nikolaos E. (2008). "
Eleftherios Venizelos

Eleftherios Venizelos His path
between two revolutions 1889–1897". National Foundation Research.
Archived from the original on 2007-05-18.
^ Holland, 2006, p. 91
^ Chester, 1921, p. 35
^ Chester, 1921, p. 34
^ Kitromilides, 2006, p. 30
^ Kitromilides, 2006, p. 62
^ Kerofilias, 1915, p. 14
^ a b Dunning, Jun. 1987, p. 367
^ Chester, 1921, pp. 35–36
^ Gibbons, p. 24
^ Kerofilias, 1915, pp. 13–14
^ Leeper, 1916, pp. 183–184
^ Anne O'Hare, McCormark, Venizelos the new Ulysses of Hellas, The New
York Times Magazine, 2 September, p. 14
^ Kitromilides, 2006, pp. 63–64
^ Understanding life in the borderlands: boundaries in depth and in
motion, I. William Zartman, 2010, p.169
^ Kitromilides, 2006, p. 65
^ Rose, 1897, pp. 2–3
^ Dunning, June 1897, p. 368
^ a b Dunning Dec. 1897, p. 744
^ Ion, 1910, p. 278
^ a b Kitromilides, 2006, p. 68
^ a b c d e f g h Manousakis, George (2008). "Eleftherios Venizelos
during the years of the High Commissionership of Prince George
(1898–1906)". National Foundation Research. Archived from the
original on 2007-09-27.
^ a b Kerofilias, 1915, pp. 30–31
^ Kerofilias, 1915, p. 33
^ Chester, 1921, p. 82
^ Chester, 1921, p. 95
^ Archontaki, Stefania (2008). "1906–1910, The Preparation and
Emergence of Venizelos on the Greek Political Stage – Venizelos as
Prime Minister". National Foundation Research. Archived from the
original on 2007-09-27.
^ Gibbons pp. 35–7
^ Alastos p. 38
^ a b Mazower, 1992, p. 886
^ "Military League". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 2008.
^ Chester, 1921, pp. 129–133
^ a b c Gardika-Katsiadaki, Eleni (2008). "Period 1910 – 1914".
National Foundation Research. Archived from the original on
2007-05-18.
^ Kyriakou, 2002, pp. 491–492
^ Hall, 2000, pp. 1–9
^ Kitromilides, 2006, p. 141
^ Chester, 1921, p. 150
^ a b Kitromilides, 2006, p. 145
^ Hall, 2000, p. 13
^ a b Chester, 1921, pp. 159–160
^ Hall, 2000, pp. 61–62
^ Chester, 1921, pp. 161–164
^ Hall, 2000, p. 17
^ Chester, 1921, p. 169
^ "Bulgaria, The Balkan Wars". Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
2008.
^ Tucker, 1999, p. 107
^ Kitromilides, 2006, p. 154
^ Seligman, 1920, p. 31
^ "
World War I

World War I – Greek Affairs". Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
2008.
^ a b c d e f Theodorakis, Emanouil; Manousakis George (2008). "First
World War 1914–1918". National Foundation Research. Archived from
the original on 2007-05-18.
^ Firstworldwar.com The Minor Powers During World War One – Greece
^ "Constantine I". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 2008.
^ Chester, 1921, p. 271
^ Kitromilides, 2006, p. 122
^ Leon, 1974, pp. 356–7
^ Leon, 1974, p. 381
^ a b Kitromilides, 2008, p. 124
^ Clogg, 2002, p. 87
^ Leon, 1974, p. 422
^ Leon, 1974, p. 428
^ a b Leon, 1974, p. 434
^ a b c Leon, 1974, p. 435
^ Chester, 1921, p. 293
^ Seligman, 1920, p. 139
^ Ion, 1918, pp. 796–812
^ Burg, 1998, pp. 145–6
^ Vatikotes, 1998 p. 98
^ Burg, 1998, p.145
^ Kitromilides, 2006, p. 367
^ Hickey, 2004, p. 87
^ Clogg, 2002, p. 89
^ Gibbons, 1920, p. 299
^ Chester, 1921, pp. 295–304
^ Land of Invasion, TIME, 4 Nov 1940
^ Chester, 1921, p. 311
^ The Encyclopædia Britannica, 1922, p. 308
^ Chester, 1921, pp. 312–3
^ Chester, 1921, p. 6
^ a b Kitromilides, 2006, p. 165
^ Chester, 1921, p. 320
^ "Venizelos shot, twice wounded by
Greeks

Greeks in Paris". New York Times.
13 August 1920. p. 1.
^ Kitromilides, 2006, p. 129
^ a b c Clogg, 2002, p. 95
^ Kitromilides, 2006, p. 131
^ a b Theodorakis, Emanouil; Manousakis George (2008). "Period
1920–1922". National Foundation Research. Archived from the original
on 2007-05-18.
^ a b Clogg, 2002, p. 96
^ Karamanlis, 1995, p. 55, 70
^ Karamanlis, 1995, pp. 144–146
^ Karamanlis, 1995, pp. 158–160
^ Nobel Foundation. The Nomination Database for the Nobel Prize in
Peace, 1901–1955.nobelprize.org
^ Clogg, 2002, p. 107
^ Karamanlis, 1995, pp. 95–97
^ Black, 1948, p. 94
^ Clogg, 2002, p. 103
^ Black, 1948, pp. 93–96
^ Manolikakis, 1985, pp. 18–22; Hélène Veniselos, A l'ombre de
Veniselos (Paris, 1955)
^ Koliopoulos, 2002, p. 53-54
^ Legg, p. 188-189
^ Contogeorgis, 1996, p. 379-404
^ Koliopoulos, 2002, p. 104
^
Constantine Mitsotakis

Constantine Mitsotakis institute. "Biography – Roots". Retrieved
2015-12-23.
^ Stavroula Ploumidaki is also a first cousin, once removed, of
Eleftherios Venizelos
^ Leon, 1974, pp. 315–6
References[edit]
Books
Abbott, G. F. (2008).
Greece

Greece and the Allies 1914–1922. London:
Methuen & co. ltd. ISBN 978-0-554-39462-6.
Alastos, D. (1942). Venizelos, Patriot, Statesman, Revolutionary.
London: P. Lund, Humphries & co.
Bagger, E. S. (1922). Eminent Europeans; studies in continental
reality (PDF). G.P. Putnam's Sons.
Burg, D. F. (1998). Almanac of World War I. Lexington: University
Press of Kentucky. ISBN 0-8131-2072-1.
Chester, S. M. (1921). Life of Venizelos, with a letter from His
Excellency M. Venizelos (PDF). London: Constable.
Clogg, R. (2002). A Concise History of Greece. London: Cambridge
University Press. ISBN 0-521-00479-9.
Contogeorgis, G. (1996). Histoire de la Grèce. Nations d'Europe.
ISBN 2-218-03841-2.
Dutton, D. (1998). The Politics of Diplomacy: Britain and France in
the
Balkans

Balkans in the First World War. I.B. Tauris.
ISBN 978-1-86064-079-7.
Fotakis, Z. (2005). Greek naval strategy and policy, 1910–1919.
London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-35014-3.
Gibbons, H. A. (1920). Venizelos. Houghton Mifflin Company.
Hall, Richard C. (2000). The Balkan Wars, 1912–1913: Prelude to the
First World War. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-22946-4.
Hickey, M. (2007). First World War: Volume 4 The Mediterranean Front
1914–1923. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 1-84176-373-X.
Holland, R. F.; Makrides D. (2006). The British and the Hellenes:
Struggles for mastery in the Eastern Mediterranean 1850–1960. Oxford
University Press. ISBN 0-19-924996-2.
Karamanlis, Kostas Al. (1995).
Eleftherios Venizelos

Eleftherios Venizelos and the External
Relations of
Greece

Greece 1928–1930 (in Greek). Athens: Papazisis'
Editions.
Karolidis, P. (1974). The History of the Greek Nation (Volume XVI) (in
Greek). Athens: Ekdotike Athenon. ISBN 960-213-101-2.
Kerofilias, C. (1915). Eleftherios Venizelos, his life and work (PDF).
John Murray.
Kitromilides, P. (2006). Eleftherios Venizelos: The Trials of
Statesmanship. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
ISBN 0-7486-2478-3.
Koliopoulos, G.; Veremis, T. (2002). Greece : the modern
sequel : from 1831 to the present. New York: NYU Press.
ISBN 0-8147-4767-1.
Legg, K. R. (1969). Politics in modern Greece. Stanford University
Press. ISBN 0-8047-0705-7.
Leon, G. B. (1974).
Greece

Greece and the
Great Powers

Great Powers 1914–17.
Thessaloniki: Institute of Balkan Studies.
Manolikakis, Giannis (1985). Eleftherios Venizelos: his unknown life.
Athens.
Markezinis, S. (1968). Political History of modern Greece, Volume 4
(in Greek). Athens: Papyros.
Michalopoulos,Dimitris (2012)Eleutherios Venizelos. An outline of his
life and time, Saarbrücken: Lambert Academic Publishing.
ISBN 978-3-659-26782-6
Paxton, Hibben (1920). Constantine I and the Greek People. New York:
The Century Co. ISBN 978-1-110-76032-9.
Pentzopoulos, D.; Smith M. L. (2002). The Balkan exchange of
minorities and its impact on Greece. C. Hurst & Co Publishers.
ISBN 1-85065-674-6.
Price, Crawfurd (1917). Venizelos and the war, a sketch of
personalities and politics (PDF). London: Simpkin.
Rose, W. K. (2003, with 1st ed. 1987). With the
Greeks

Greeks in Thessaly.
Adamant Media Corporation. ISBN 1-4021-0628-9. Check date
values in: date= (help)
Seligman, V. J. (1920). Victory of Venizelos (PDF).
Tsichlis, Vasileios S. E. (2007). The
Goudi

Goudi movement and Eleutherios
Venizelos (in Greek). Polytropon. ISBN 960-8354-69-2.
Tucker, Spencer C.; Wood, L. M.; Murphy, J. D. (1999). The European
Powers in the First World War: An Encyclopedia. Taylor & Francis.
ISBN 0-8153-3351-X.
Vatikotes, P. (1998). Popular autocracy in Greece, 1936–41: a
political biography of general Ioannis Metaxas. London: Routledge.
ISBN 978-0-7146-4869-9.
Venizelos, E.; Anthony S.; Xanthaky, Sakellarios N. G. (1916). Greece
in Her True Light: Her Position in the World-wide War as Expounded by
E. Venizelos (PDF). New York.
Journals
Black, Cyril E. (January 1948). "The Greek Crisis: Its Constitutional
Background". The Review of Politics. 10 (1): 84–99.
doi:10.1017/S0034670500044521. JSTOR 1404369.
Dunning, Wm. A. (June 1897). "Record of Political Events". Political
Science Quarterly. The Academy of Political Science. 12 (3):
352–380. doi:10.2307/2140141. JSTOR 2140141.
Dunning, Wm. A. (December 1897). "Record of Political Events".
Political Science Quarterly. The Academy of Political Science. 12 (4):
734–756. doi:10.2307/2139703. JSTOR 2139703.
Ion, Theodore P. (April 1910). "The
Cretan

Cretan Question". The American
Journal of International Law. American Society of International Law. 4
(2): 276–284. doi:10.2307/2186614. JSTOR 2186614.
Kyriakidou, Maria (2002). "Legislation in Inter-war
Greece

Greece Labour Law
and Women Workers: A Case Study of Protective" (PDF). European History
Quarterly. 32 (4): 489. doi:10.1177/0269142002032004147.
Leeper, A. W. A. (1916). "Allied Portraits: Eleftherios Venizelos".
The New Europe I.
Mazower, M. (December 1992). "The Messiah and the Bourgeoisie:
Venizelos and Politics in Greece, 1909–1912". The Historical
Journal. 35 (4): 885–904. doi:10.1017/S0018246X00026200.
JSTOR 2639443.
Political offices
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
Dimitrios Gounaris
Minister of Foreign Affairs
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
Anastasios Charalambis
Minister for Military Affairs
27 June 1917 – 18 November 1920
Succeeded by
Dimitrios Gounaris
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
Party political offices
New title
Chairman of the Liberal Party
1910–1936
Succeeded by
Themistoklis Sophoulis
Awards and achievements
Preceded by
John Hessin Clarke
Cover of Time Magazine
18 February 1924
Succeeded by
Bernard M. Baruch
External links[edit]
Media related to
Eleftherios Venizelos

Eleftherios Venizelos at Wikimedia Commons
Quotations related to
Eleftherios Venizelos

Eleftherios Venizelos at Wikiquote
v
t
e
Eleftherios Venizelos
Family
Kyriakos Venizelos
Sofoklis Venizelos
Helena Schilizzi
Nikitas Venizelos
Konstantinos Mitsotakis
Politics
Venizelism

Venizelism (Liberal Party)
Democratic education
Greek Constitution of 1911
Balkan League
Greek nationalism
Megali Idea
Anti-communism

Anti-communism (Idionymon)
Events
Cretan

Cretan State
Theriso

Theriso revolt
Goudi

Goudi coup
French military mission to
Greece

Greece (1911–14)
Balkan Wars
London Conference of 1912-13
Macedonian Front
National Defence coup d'état
Provisional Government of National Defence
National Schism
Noemvriana
Greece

Greece in WWI
Occupation of Constantinople
Allied intervention in Ukraine
Paris Peace Conference, 1919
Greek landing at Smyrna
Greco-Turkish War (1919–22)
Population exchange between
Greece

Greece and Turkey
1935 Greek coup d'état attempt
Military support
Cretan

Cretan Gendarmerie
Military League
National Defence Army Corps
Nikolaos Plastiras
Theodoros Pangalos
Pavlos Kountouriotis
Panagiotis Danglis
Emmanouil Zymvrakakis
Leonidas Paraskevopoulos
Treaties
Greek-Serbian Alliance of 1913
Treaty of London (1913)
Treaty of
Bucharest

Bucharest (1913)
Treaty of Athens
Venizelos–Tittoni agreement
Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine
Treaty of Sèvres
Treaty of Lausanne
Greco-Turkish Friendship Agreement
Establishments
Hellenic Air Force
Hellenic Coast Guard
Remembrance
Eleftherios Venizelos

Eleftherios Venizelos Historical Museum
Eleftherios Venizelos

Eleftherios Venizelos Museum of Chalepa
Eleftherios Venizelos

Eleftherios Venizelos Foundation
Eleftherios Venizelos

Eleftherios Venizelos (film)
Athens International Airport

Athens International Airport "Eleftherios Venizelos"
Eleftherios Venizelos

Eleftherios Venizelos (sculpture)
v
t
e
Heads of government of Greece
First Hellenic Republic
(1822–1832)
Mavrokordatos
P. Mavromichalis
Kountouriotis
And. Zaimis
I. Kapodistrias
A. Kapodistrias
Kingdom of
Greece

Greece (Wittelsbach)
(1833–1862)
Sp. Trikoupis
Mavrokordatos
Kolettis
von Armansperg
von Rudhart
King Otto
Mavrokordatos
King Otto
A. Metaxas
Kanaris
Mavrokordatos
Kolettis
Tzavelas
Kountouriotis
Kanaris
Kriezis
Mavrokordatos
D. Voulgaris
Miaoulis
Kolokotronis
Kingdom of
Greece

Greece (Glücksburg)
(1863–1924)
D. Voulgaris
Moraitinis
Z. Valvis
Kyriakos
Roufos
D. Voulgaris
Kanaris
Z. Valvis
Kanaris
Koumoundouros
Deligeorgis
Roufos
D. Voulgaris
Koumoundouros
Deligeorgis
Roufos
D. Voulgaris
Koumoundouros
Moraitinis
D. Voulgaris
Thr. Zaimis
Deligeorgis
Koumoundouros
Thr. Zaimis
D. Voulgaris
Deligeorgis
D. Voulgaris
Ch. Trikoupis
Koumoundouros
Deligeorgis
Koumoundouros
Deligeorgis
Koumoundouros
Kanaris
Koumoundouros
Ch. Trikoupis
Koumoundouros
Ch. Trikoupis
Koumoundouros
Ch. Trikoupis
Diligiannis
D. Valvis
Ch. Trikoupis
Diligiannis
Konstantopoulos
Ch. Trikoupis
Sotiropoulos
Ch. Trikoupis
Deligiannis
Diligiannis
D. Rallis
Al. Zaimis
G. Theotokis
Al. Zaimis
Diligiannis
G. Theotokis
D. Rallis
G. Theotokis
Diligiannis
D. Rallis
G. Theotokis
D. Rallis
K. Mavromichalis
Dragoumis
El. Venizelos
Gounaris
El. Venizelos
Al. Zaimis
Skouloudis
Al. Zaimis
Kalogeropoulos
El. Venizelos2
Lambros
Al. Zaimis
El. Venizelos
D. Rallis
Kalogeropoulos
Gounaris
Stratos
Protopapadakis
Triantafyllakos
Charalambis
Krokidas
Gonatas
El. Venizelos
Kafantaris
Second Hellenic Republic
(1924–1935)
Papanastasiou
Sofoulis
Michalakopoulos
Pangalos1
Eftaxias1
Kondylis3
Al. Zaimis
El. Venizelos
Papanastasiou
El. Venizelos
P. Tsaldaris
El. Venizelos
Othonaios3
P. Tsaldaris
Kingdom of
Greece

Greece (Glücksburg)
(1935–1973)
Kondylis1
Demertzis
I. Metaxas1
Koryzis
Tsouderos2
Tsolakoglou4
Logothetopoulos4
I. Rallis4
Bakirtzis2
S. Venizelos2
Svolos2
G. Papandreou (Sr.)
Plastiras
P. Voulgaris
Archbishop Damaskinos
Kanellopoulos
Sofoulis
Poulitsas3
K. Tsaldaris
Maximos
K. Tsaldaris
Sofoulis
Vafeiadis2
Zachariadis2
Partsalidis2
Diomidis
I. Theotokis3
S. Venizelos
Plastiras
S. Venizelos
Plastiras
Kiousopoulos3
Papagos
K. Karamanlis (Sr.)
Georgakopoulos3
K. Karamanlis (Sr.)
Dovas3
K. Karamanlis (Sr.)
Pipinelis
Sty. Mavromichalis3
G. Papandreou (Sr.)
Paraskevopoulos3
G. Papandreou (Sr.)
Novas
Tsirimokos
Stefanopoulos
Paraskevopoulos3
Kanellopoulos3
Military Junta
(1967–1974)
Kollias1
Papadopoulos1
Markezinis1
Androutsopoulos1
Third Hellenic Republic
(since 1974)
K. Karamanlis (Sr.)
G. Rallis
A. Papandreou
Tzannetakis
Grivas3
Zolotas
Mitsotakis
A. Papandreou
Simitis
K. Karamanlis (Jr.)
G. Papandreou (Jr.)
Papademos3
Pikrammenos3
Samaras
Tsipras
Thanou3
Tsipras
1Head of military/dictatorial government. 2Head of rival government
not controlling Athens. 3Head of emergency or caretaker government.
4Head of collaborationist government during the Axis occupation
(1941–44).
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Foreign Ministers of Greece
First Hellenic Republic
(1822–1832)
Negris§
Al. Mavrokordatos§
Glarakis§
Sp. Trikoupis§†
Kingdom of
Greece

Greece (Wittelsbach)
(1833–1862)
Sp. Trikoupis
Al. Mavrokordatos
Rizos-Neroulos
von Rudhart
Zografos
Paikos
Christidis
Rizos-Neroulos
P. Deligiannis
A. Metaxas
Mansolas
Sp. Trikoupis
Kolettis
Tzavelas
Kolettis
Tzavelas
Mansolas
Kolokotronis
Londos
Glarakis
Londos
P. Deligiannis
Paikos
Argyropoulos
Al. Mavrokordatos
Sp. Trikoupis
Rangavis
Palamidis
Thr. Zaimis
Krestenitis
Papalexopoulos
Christopoulos
Theocharis
Kingdom of
Greece

Greece (Glücksburg)
(1863–1924)
Diamantopoulos
Kalligas
D. Mavrokordatos
Diligiannis
Kalligas
P. Deligiannis
Diligiannis
Kalligas
Diligiannis
Boudouris
Vrailas-Armenis
Deligeorgis
Christopoulos
Koumoundouros
Deligeorgis
Valasopoulos
Valaoritis
Deligeorgis
Ch. Trikoupis
P. Deligiannis
Diligiannis
Valaoritis
Deligeorgis
Christopoulos
Thr. Zaimis
D. Voulgaris
Spiliotakis
I. Deligiannis
Ch. Trikoupis
Kontostavlos
Deligeorgis
Kontostavlos
Deligeorgis
Koumoundouros
Ch. Trikoupis
Diligiannis
Ch. Trikoupis
Diligiannis
Ch. Trikoupis
Koumoundouros
Rikakis
Ch. Trikoupis
Koumoundouros
Diligiannis
Louriotis
S. Dragoumis
L. Deligiorgis
Meletopoulos
S. Dragoumis
Kontostavlos
N. Deligiannis
Skouzes
Skouloudis
Al. Zaimis
Romanos
Al. Zaimis
Skouzes
G. Theotokis
D. Rallis
Romanos
Skouzes
Baltatzis
Christakis-Zografos
Mavromichalis
Kallergis
Gryparis
Koromilas
Panas
Streit
El. Venizelos
Christakis-Zografos
Gounaris
El. Venizelos
Al. Zaimis
Skouloudis
Al. Zaimis
Karapanos
Zalokostas
Al. Zaimis
Politis
D. Rallis
Kalogeropoulos
Baltatzis
Stratos
Baltatzis
Kalogeropoulos
Papanastasiou
Second Hellenic Republic
(1924–1935)
Roussos
Rendis
Roussos
Michalakopoulos
Hatzikyriakos
Rendis
Hatzikyriakos
Kanakaris-Roufos
Argyropoulos
Michalakopoulos
Karapanos
Argyropoulos
Michalakopoulos
Papanastasiou
Michalakopoulos
I. Rallis
Michalakopoulos
Mavroudis
Maximos
P. Tsaldaris
Maximos
P. Tsaldaris
Maximos
I. Theotokis
Kingdom of
Greece

Greece (Glücksburg)
(1935–1973/4)
Demertzis
I. Metaxas
Koryzis
Tsouderos
G. Papandreou (Sr.)
Sofianopoulos
P. Voulgaris
Politis
Kanellopoulos
Sofianopoulos
Rendis
K. Tsaldaris
Pipinelis
S. Venizelos
Plastiras
S. Venizelos
Politis
S. Venizelos
F. Dragoumis
Stefanopoulos
S. Theotokis
Averoff
Pesmazoglou
Averoff
Pesmazoglou
Averoff
Pipinelis
Oikonomou-Gouras
S. Venizelos
Xanthopoulos-Palamas
Kostopoulos
Melas
Tsirimokos
Stefanopoulos
Toumbas
Oikonomou-Gouras
Military Junta
(1967–1974)
Oikonomou-Gouras
Kollias
Pipinelis
Papadopoulos
Xanthopoulos-Palamas
Tetenes
Third Hellenic Republic
(since 1974)
Kypraios
Mavros
Bitsios
Papaligouras
G. Rallis
Mitsotakis
Charalambopoulos
K. Papoulias
G. Papoulias
Samaras
Mitsotakis
Papakonstantinou
K. Papoulias
Pangalos
G. Papandreou (Jr.)
Giannitsis
Molyviatis
Bakoyannis
G. Papandreou (Jr.)
Droutsas
Lambrinidis
Dimas
Molyviatis
Avramopoulos
Ev. Venizelos
Kotzias
Molyviatis
Kotzias
§ variously as Chief Secretary/General Secretary of State
† officially considered the first foreign minister of independent
Greece
v
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Liberalism

Liberalism in Greece
Ideology
Centrism
Liberalism
Modern Greek

Modern Greek Enlightenment
Liberal nationalism
Liberal democracy
Free trade
Venizelism
Megali Idea
Organizations
Liberal Club
National and Social Liberation
National Organization of Crete
Political Parties
Modernist Party
Liberal Party
National Unionist Party
Liberal Democratic Union
National Progressive Center Union
Progressive Party
Centre Union
Centre Union – New Forces
Union of the Democratic Centre
Party of New Liberals
Liberal Party (modern)
Democratic Renewal
Union of Centrists
The Liberals
Liberal Alliance
Democratic Alliance
Recreate Greece
Drasi
The River
People
Theophilos Kairis
Adamantios Korais
Dionysios Solomos
Alexandros Mavrokordatos
Charilaos Trikoupis
Ioannis Psycharis
Konstantinos Raktivan
Eleftherios Venizelos
Pavlos Kountouriotis
Themistoklis Sofoulis
Georgios Kafantaris
Georgios Papandreou
Sofoklis Venizelos
Panagiotis Kanellopoulos
Georgios Mavros
Konstantinos Stephanopoulos
Konstantinos Mitsotakis
Stefanos Manos
Historical events
Greek War of Independence
First National Assembly at Epidaurus
3 September 1843 Revolution
23 October 1862 Revolution
Theriso

Theriso revolt
Goudi

Goudi coup
Movement of National Defence
National Schism
11 September 1922 Revolution
1935 Greek coup d'état attempt
Greek resistance
Policies
Democratic education
Modernization
v
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e
Megali Idea
Background
Fall of Constantinople
Ottoman Greece
Greek War of Independence
Annexations
Ionian Islands

Ionian Islands (1864)
Thessaly

Thessaly (1881)
Crete

Crete (1912)
Epirus

Epirus (1912)
Macedonia (1912)
North
Aegean islands
.svg/500px-Location_map_of_AegeanIslands_(Greece).svg.png)
Aegean islands (1912)
Western
Thrace

Thrace (1919)
Dodecanese

Dodecanese (1947)
Temporary
acquisitions
Eastern
Thrace

Thrace (1920–23)
Imbros

Imbros and
Tenedos

Tenedos (1912–13, 1920–23)
Northern
Epirus

Epirus (1912–16, 1940–41)
Smyrna Zone
.svg/250px-State_Flag_of_Greece_(1863-1924_and_1935-1970).svg.png)
Smyrna Zone (1919–22 as dependency)
Other areas
Western
Asia Minor

Asia Minor (
Sanjak of
Balıkesir

Balıkesir and part of
Sanjak of Bursa
from Hüdavendigâr Vilayet,
Aidin Vilayet
_3.348_Smyrne_Vilayet.jpg/560px-CUINET(1894)_3.348_Smyrne_Vilayet.jpg)
Aidin Vilayet excluding
Denizli

Denizli Sanjak,
also
Troad
.jpg/600px-Walls_of_Troy_(1).jpg)
Troad region from Vilayet of the Archipelago, Asian parts of
Constantinople Vilayet
_4.615_Vilayet_of_Istanbul.jpg/560px-CUINET(1895)_4.615_Vilayet_of_Istanbul.jpg)
Constantinople Vilayet and Mediterranean coast from
Kastellorizo

Kastellorizo to
Antalya)
Constantinople
Cyprus
Eastern Rumelia
Pelagonia

Pelagonia (Monastiri region)
Gevgeli
Sazan Island
Pontus
Cappadocia/Karaman
Ideas
Greek nationalism
Hellenization
Enosis
People/Organizations
Ioannis Kolettis
Aristotelis Valaoritis
Ethniki Etaireia
Macedonian Committee
Dimitrios Kalapothakis
Pavlos Melas
Kostis Palamas
Penelope Delta
Ion Dragoumis
Eleftherios Venizelos
Themistoklis Sofoulis
Georgios Christakis-Zografos
Theodoros Pangalos
Northern
Epirus

Epirus Liberation Front
EOKA
Georgios Grivas
Events
Epirus

Epirus Revolt of 1854
Cretan

Cretan Revolt (1866–1869)
Cretan

Cretan Revolt (1878)
Epirus

Epirus Revolt of 1878
1878 Greek Macedonian rebellion
Macedonian Struggle
Greco-Turkish War (1897)
Theriso

Theriso revolt
Balkan Wars
Himara revolt of 1912
Autonomous
Republic

Republic of Northern Epirus
Provisional Government of National Defence
National Defence Army Corps
Greece

Greece in WWI
Occupation of Constantinople
Greek landing at Smyrna
Republic

Republic of Pontus
Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)
1931
Cyprus

Cyprus Revolt
Greece

Greece in WWII
Greco-Italian War
Cyprus

Cyprus Emergency
1974 Cypriot coup d'état
Treaties
Treaty of London (1864)
Treaty of Berlin (1878)
Convention of Constantinople (1881)
Treaty of Constantinople (1897)
Greek-Serbian Alliance of 1913
Treaty of London (1913)
Treaty of
Bucharest

Bucharest (1913)
Treaty of
Athens

Athens (1913)
Protocol of
Corfu

Corfu (1914)
Venizelos–Tittoni agreement (1919)
Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine

Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine (1919)
Treaty of Sèvres

Treaty of Sèvres (1920)
Treaty of Lausanne

Treaty of Lausanne (1923)
Treaty of Paris (1947)
v
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Greece

Greece during World War I
Background
Balkan Wars
Treaty of London (1913)
Treaty of
Bucharest

Bucharest (1913)
Protocol of Corfu
Events
1914: Serbian Campaign
1915: Gallipoli Campaign
Greek legislative election, May 1915
Macedonian Front
Greek legislative election, December 1915
1916: Roupel surrender
National Defence coup d'état
National
Schism
National
Defence
People: Eleftherios Venizelos
Panagiotis Danglis
Pavlos Kountouriotis
Georgios Kondylis
Themistoklis Sofoulis
Nikolaos Plastiras
Theodoros Pangalos
Leonidas Paraskevopoulos
Georgios Papandreou
Support:
Cretan

Cretan Gendarmerie
National Defence Army Corps
Cretan

Cretan Division
Archipelago Division
Serres

Serres Division
Allies of World War I
British Salonika Army
Maurice Sarrail
Louis Franchet d'Espèrey
Ideas: Pro-Entente
Megali Idea
Venizelism
Royal
government
People: Constantine I of Greece
Ioannis Metaxas
Dimitrios Gounaris
Viktor Dousmanis
Stefanos Skouloudis
Ion Dragoumis
Konstantinos Nider
Support: Hellenic Army
Epistratoi
Church of Greece
Ideas: Neutrality
Monarchism
Antivenizelism
Germanophilia
Events
1916:
Greece

Greece in WWI
Noemvriana
1917: Accession of Alexander of Greece
1918: Battle of Skra-di-Legen
Armistice of Salonica
Armistice of Mudros
Occupation of Constantinople
Aftermath
1919: Paris Peace Conference, 1919
Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War
Greek landing at Smyrna

Greek landing at Smyrna and Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)
Venizelos–Tittoni agreement
1920: Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine
Treaty of Sèvres
Greek legislative election, 1920
Greek referendum, 1920
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Provisional Government of National Defence
Ideas & Policies
Venizelism
Megali Idea
Pro-Entente
Anti-German sentiment
Greece

Greece in WWI
People
Eleftherios Venizelos
Panagiotis Danglis
Pavlos Kountouriotis
Georgios Kondylis
Nikolaos Plastiras
Theodoros Pangalos
Leonidas Paraskevopoulos
Emmanouil Zymvrakakis
Themistoklis Sophoulis
Nikolaos Politis
Georgios Papandreou
Andreas Michalakopoulos
Alexandros Mazarakis-Ainian
Konstantinos Angelakis
Alexandros Zannas
Dimitrios Psarros
Evripidis Bakirtzis
Nikolaos Christodoulou
Dimitrios Ioannou
Neokosmos Grigoriadis
Military support
National Defence Army Corps
Cretan

Cretan Gendarmerie
Cretan

Cretan Division
Archipelago Division
Serres

Serres Division
Allies of World War I
British Salonika Army
Maurice Sarrail
Louis Franchet d'Espèrey
Events
Macedonian Front
Roupel surrender
National Defence coup d'état
National Schism
Noemvriana
Anathema

Anathema to Venizelos
Accession of Alexander of Greece
Authority control
WorldCat Identities
VIAF: 30333252
LCCN: n79011262
ISNI: 0000 0001 2277 9340
GND: 118804146
SUDOC: 027548694
BNF: cb119565539 (data)
NLA: 35173611
NKC: jx20070502004
BNE: XX1709564
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