Second Hellenic Republic

The Second Hellenic Republic is a modern historiographical term used to refer to the Greek state during a period of republican governance between 1924 and 1935. To its contemporaries it was known officially as the Hellenic Republic ( el, Ἑλληνικὴ Δημοκρατία ) or more commonly as Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς , ''Hellas''). It occupied virtually the coterminous territory of modern Greece (with the exception of the Dodecanese) and bordered Albania, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Turkey and the Italian Aegean Islands. The term ''Second Republic'' is used to differentiate it from the First and Third republics.

The fall of the monarchy was proclaimed by the country's parliament on 25 March 1924. A relatively small country with a population of 6.2 million in 1928, it covered a total area of . Over its eleven-year history, the Second Republic saw some of the most important historical events in modern Greek history emerge; from Greece's first military dictatorship, to the short-lived democratic form of governance that followed, the normalisation of Greco-Turkish relations which lasted until the 1950s, and to the first successful efforts to significantly industrialise the nation.

The Second Hellenic Republic was abolished on 10 October 1935, and its abolition was confirmed by referendum on 3 November of the same year which is widely accepted as having been mired with electoral fraud. The fall of the Republic eventually paved the way for Greece to become a totalitarian single-party state, when Ioannis Metaxas established the 4th of August Regime in 1936, lasting until the Axis occupation of Greece in 1941.

Name

When the Republic was proclaimed on 25 March 1924, the official name adopted for the country was ''Hellenic State'' ( el, Ἑλληνικὴ Πολιτεία). However, the name was changed to ''Hellenic Republic'' ( el, Ἑλληνικὴ Δημοκρατία) on 24 May 1924 by vote of the Parliament. Accordingly, the title of the country's head of state was changed from ''Governor'' ( el, Κυβερνήτης) to ''President of the Republic'' ( el, Πρόεδρος της Δημοκρατίας). This was done to avoid any confusion as to the meaning of the terms. The word Δημοκρατία (dimokratía), used in the official name to mean Republic, translates as "democracy" as well.

In everyday speech the country was simply known as Greece. In the official variant of Greek that was the language of state, known as Katharevousa, this was Ἑλλάς (). In Demotic, or 'popular Greek', it was Ἑλλάδα (). Sometimes, the name Hellas was used in English as well.

History

National Schism and the republican question

The collapse of the Hellenic Army in Asia Minor was quickly followed by the collapse of the government. Public outrage at the Asia Minor disaster, as Greece's defeat in the war became known, was partially reflected in the military coup which followed it. The coup, orchestrated by army officers, took the name ''The Revolution''. Although The Revolution itself did not abolish the monarchy, one of its first acts was to shut down all the royalist newspapers as well as use the Armed Forces to prosecute known royalists (including Ioannis Metaxas, who was forced to flee abroad). The decision whether or not to abolish the monarchy is one which divided Greek society, as even some Liberal Party supporters, including the Party's founder, Eleftherios Venizelos, spoke out in favour of retaining the monarchy as a safety net against instability.

After the defeat of Greece by the Turkish National Movement (the "Asia Minor Catastrophe") of 1922, the defeated army revolted against the royal government. Under Venizelist officers like Nikolaos Plastiras and Stylianos Gonatas, King Constantine I was again forced to abdicate, and died in exile in 1923. His eldest son and successor, King George II, was soon after asked by the parliament to leave Greece so the nation could decide what form of government it should adopt. In a 1924 plebiscite, Greeks voted to create a republic. These events marked the culmination of a process that had begun in 1915 between King Constantine and his political nemesis, Eleftherios Venizelos.

However, and despite the plebiscite, in the closing chapter of his ''History of the Greek Nation from Antiquity until 1930'', Pavlos Karolidis notes that although the question of the form of government had been settled formally, it remained unresolved in the national consciousness. He goes on to add that "the regime change was carried out by men who imposed their preferred form of government posthaste as representatives of the sovereign people so as to educate them, but this is considered by many not to be a true expression of the national conscience and will".

First years

The Republic was proclaimed on 25 March 1924 by the Parliament; the chosen date was very significant as the Greek War of Independence is traditionally celebrated on 25 March. Following the proclamation of the change in form of government from constitutional monarchy (βασιλευομένη δημοκρατία, literally '' crowned republic'') to republic (αβασίλευτη δημοκρατία, literally ''uncrowned republic''), a referendum was held proclaimed for 13 April 1924. Voters were asked whether they "approve of the decision of the National Assembly that Greece be reorganised into a Republic on the parliamentary model". Voting was to be secret, although the requirement that "yes" votes be cast with white ballots and "no" votes with yellow ones defeated the purpose of secrecy.

The results of the referendum were a clear victory for the Republican campaign: 69.9% in favour of a republic and 30.1% in favour of the monarchy; these results were almost identical to the results of the 1974 referendum (69.2% in favour, 30.8% against) which finally abolished the monarchy. Newspapers from a wide range of the political spectrum noted a lack of violence, implying a lack of electoral intimidation in favour of one side or another. The newspaper ''Forward'' wrote that the vote was "historic for the order which prevailed during the voting time", ''Skrip'' commented that people refrained from "any action which could be seen as a provocation" and that "the military measures akenmade this easier", while the Communist Party's ''Rizospastis'' commented on the "relative calm" that prevailed in the electoral district of Athens. '' Makedonia'' added that so many people disregarded the yellow "no" ballots, that the floors inside the electoral centers and the streets around were littered with them. Meanwhile, the decree of 1924 "on the safeguard of the republican regime" introduced the jail sentence for a minimum of six months for advocating in public the return of the monarchy, disputing the results of the referendum or publishing slander against the founders of the republic. In an interview following the referendum, then-Prime Minister Alexandros Papanastasiou defended government plans to pass such a decree, saying that the government must be allowed to move forward with its reforms without any sort of hindrance for a limited amount of time.

The fragile nature of the young Greek republic became evident from the first year of its existence. While the Parliament was still debating the new constitution ( see below), General Theodoros Pangalos organised a coup. When asked by the Minister of the Military whether he was planning to overthrow the government, Pangalos replied "of course I will carry out a coup". His plot was set to motion on 24 June 1925, and soon prevailed throughout the country with little or no resistance from government forces.

British cartoon depicting the Greco-Bulgarian war incident of 1925 with the League of Nations intervening

Following his coup, Pangalos was sworn in as Prime Minister by the acting Governor of Greece ( Pavlos Kountouriotis) and demanded that the Parliament give him a vote of confidence. Surprisingly, he received the vote of confidence with 185 of the 208 Members of Parliament present voting in favour, including Alexandros Papanastasiou (the Prime Minister before Pangalos' coup) and Georgios Kondylis.

Meanwhile, relations between Bulgaria and Greece were cold, and this escalated into a full-blown conflict by October 1925. A clash along the Greco-Bulgarian border on 18 October led to the Pangalos dictatorship ordering the III Army Corps to invade Bulgaria. Bulgaria, being unable to defend itself sufficiently, and with the Greek army on the outskirts of Petrich, turned to the League of Nations. Eventually, the League of Nations condemned the Greek invasion and ordered Greece to pay £47,000 (£2.7 million in 2017) to Bulgaria as compensation. Greece complied with the ruling and withdraw from Bulgaria, but not before 50 people had lost their lives in the short conflict. Further, Greece protested at the double standards that existed for dealing with such incidents, ones for small countries and ones for Great Powers like Italy, which occupied Corfu in the Corfu Incident just two years prior. Moreover, there was a growing democratic deficit in Greece between liberal democracy as enshrined in the Constitution, and as implemented in practice; over 1,000 political activists, mostly communists were exiled to remote Aegean islands under the Pangalos dictatorship, and the situation did not improve after his fall. A new law targeting trade union activism was passed in 1929, commonly known as the '' Idionymon'', and some 16,000 activists were brought before criminal procedures in the period 19291936, with 3,000 exiled to remote islands.

Later years and collapse

Kountouriotis was reinstated and reelected to the office in 1929, but was forced to resign for health reasons later that year. He was succeeded by Alexandros Zaimis, who served until the restoration of the monarchy in 1935.

Despite a period of stability and sense of well-being under the government of Eleftherios Venizelos on 4 July 1928 – 6 March 1933, the effects of the Great Depression were severely felt, and political instability returned. As the prospect of the return of the monarchy became more likely, Venizelist officers launched a coup in March 1935, which was suppressed by General Georgios Kondylis. On 10 October 1935, the chiefs of the Armed Forces overthrew the government of Panagis Tsaldaris and forced President Zaimis to appoint Kondylis prime minister in his place. Later that day, Kondylis forced Zaimis himself to resign, declared himself regent and abolished the republic. A heavily rigged plebiscite occurred on 3 November which resulted in an implausible 98% supporting the return of the monarchy. King George II returned to Athens on 23 November, with Kondylis as prime minister.

Politics

Law and order

The Constitution of 1927 is considered a progressive one for its time. Written to replace the Constitution of 1926, which was never implemented, it was passed in the parliament on 3 June 1927. The most profound change brought upon the country by the passing of the new constitution was the overthrow of the monarchy on a ''de jure'' level (the monarchy had been ''de facto'' abolished in the referendum of 1924). Article 2 established a republic (the word used in the constitution is "Δημοκρατία", which can mean both democracy and republic).

Parliament and franchise

The Old Parliament was the location of the country's legislature until 1932 when it was moved to the New Parliament.

The constitution of 1927 established a bicameral legislature. The two houses were the Chamber of Deputies ( el, Βουλή, ) and the Senate ( el, Γερουσία, ). Further, the constitution outlines the duties of the two houses and the number of parliamentarians. The lower house was to be made up of between 200 and 250 members elected in their constituency for four-year terms. The Senate had a more complex composition; Article 58 states that it is made up of 120 senators of which 92 were directly or indirectly elected by the people, 10 were elected by a joint session of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate and 18 were elected by 8 unions representing various vocations including merchants (1), industrialists (3), workers (5) and academics (1). Of the 92 senators directly or indirectly elected by the people, 90 were allocated to parliamentary constituencies of varying size for direct election and two were given to ethnic minorities for election through an electoral college: 1 for the Turks of Western Thrace and 1 for the Jews of Thessaloniki. Each senator served a nine-year term, while the composition of the Senate was renewed by 1/3 every three years. The salaries of members of parliament in both houses were the same.

Between 1924 and 1935, a total of six elections took place. The politics of the Second Republic were dominated by the republican Liberal Party, under the leadership of Eleftherios Venizelos, and the moderately conservative-monarchist People's Party under Panagis Tsaldaris. These parties were the primary means by which Greeks participated in the political life and they were not parties built on principles or class consciousness, but rather "parties of personalities" relying on charismatic leaders around which the base coalesced. The traditional Greek café was the battleground for everyday political discussions, and the high degree of personal involvement in political discussions set Greece apart from other constitutional countries. This created both positive and negative side effects; on the one hand the population was politically involved on a personal level, and therefore incentivised, but on the other this political involvement made the country highly critical.

In 1930, after five years of deliberation, suffrage was partially extended to women, who were now allowed the right to vote, but not stand for election, in local elections. The first opportunity to do so was given to them in the same year in Thessaloniki, where 240 women exercised their right. Nationwide the turnout of women remained low, with only approximately 15,000 participating in the local elections of 1934. The inclusion of women as candidates for election in numerous electoral lists was struck down by the courts with the argument that the law had only given women "a limited franchise". The table below illustrates the performance of the two major political parties in the parliamentary and senate elections that took place under the Second Republic.

Foreign relations

The Republic's foreign policy was largely shaped by the Premiership of Eleftherios Venizelos. Before his re-ascention to power in the 1928 legislative elections, Greece was faced with significant obstacles in its foreign policy: growing claims by Yugoslavia on Thessaloniki, bad relations with Bulgaria and Turkey, while relations with the Great Powers were at their lowest point since Greece was established in 1832. In co-operation with Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, as well as İsmet İnönü's government, a series of treaties were signed between Greece and Turkey in 1930 which, in effect, restored Greek-Turkish relations and established a de facto alliance between the two countries. As part of these treaties, Greece and Turkey agreed that the Treaty of Lausanne would be the final settlement of their respective borders, while they also pledged that they would not join opposing military or economic alliances and to stop immediately their naval arms race. The good relations established by the Republic would last until the 1950s.

In 1934, the government of Panagis Tsaldaris signed, in Athens, the Balkan Pact (or ''Balkan Entente''), a military alliance between Greece, Romania, Turkey and Yugoslavia, which further improved the Republic's relations with its Balkan neighbours, although the exclusion of Bulgaria and Albania left some matters unsettled. Eventually, however, Great Power politics derailed the Pact, which never brought the desired results.

Apart from an interest in regional stability and friendship, the Second Republic, through Venizelos, supported early initiatives for the creation of a European Union. In October 1929, as Prime Minister, Venizelos gave a speech outlining his government's support for Aristide Briand's efforts on the matter, saying that "the United States of Europe will represent, even without Russia, a power strong enough to advance, up to a satisfactory point, the prosperity of the other continents as well".

Throughout the Second Republic, Greece was a committed member of the League of Nations, Eleftherios Venizelos having played an important role in its creation in 1919. The country contributed over 1.5 million gold francs to the League's budget between 1927 and 1934, an average of 0.6% of each year's budget, and a number of Greeks were employed in various positions within the League through its history.

Regions

The regions of Greece in 1930

The Second Hellenic Republic was subdivided into 10 regions, which we would today call the traditional geographic regions of Greece. These varied widely in size and population. The most populous was Central Greece and Euboea, with 1.6 million people, followed closely by Macedonia (1.4 million), while the smallest were the Cyclades with 129,702 people. The largest in total area was Macedonia at , while the smallest were the Ionian Islands, at . The Ionian Islands were also Greece's most densely populated region, with a population density of .

Flags and symbols

x200px, The flags of Greece, from the ''Great Greek Encyclopedia'' (1934)

For most of its history, Greece had two distinct national flags which co-existed: a simple blue field with a white cross for use as a national flag on land, and a more complex design featuring nine blue and white stripes with a white cross on a blue field in the canton, for use on ships ( ensign) and on land when displayed abroad. Those flags were first adopted in 1822 during the Greek War of Independence. With the collapse of the monarchy and the creation of the Second Republic, all national symbols of Greece were modified to reflect a change to republican rule. The flags in particular saw the removal of the crowns, which had been placed in the middle of the white cross since 1863, while the national emblem was stripped of its mantle and pavilion, as well as its supporters, down to a simple escutcheon bearing a Greek cross. The blue and white colours were thought to symbolise the colour of the sky and the waves.

During the short-lived dictatorship of Theodoros Pangalos four symbols were added to the national emblem in the four quarters created by the cross: the head of Athena, symbolising the ancient Greek period; a helmet and spear, symbolising the Hellenistic period; a double-headed eagle, symbolising the Byzantine period; and a Phoenix rising from its ashes, symbolising the modern Greek period. A wreath of oak and laurel surrounded the emblem, symbolising power and glory respectively. This particular emblem was criticised for being inappropriate and violating heraldic rules before being replaced by the simple shield following the fall of Pangalos' dictatorship.

Military and police

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