Venizelism ( el, Βενιζελισμός) was one of the major political movements in

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wi ...

from the 1900s until the mid-1970s.

Main ideas

Named after

Eleftherios Venizelos Eleftherios Kyriakou Venizelos ( el, Ελευθέριος Κυριάκου Βενιζέλος, translit=Elefthérios Kyriákou Venizélos, ; – 18 March 1936) was a Greek statesman and a prominent leader of the Greek national liberation move ...

, the key characteristics of Venizelism were: *Greek

irredentism Irredentism is usually understood as a desire that one state annexes a territory of a neighboring state. This desire is motivated by ethnic reasons (because the population of the territory is ethnically similar to the population of the parent sta ...

: The support of the

Megali Idea The Megali Idea ( el, Μεγάλη Ιδέα, Megáli Idéa, Great Idea) is a nationalist and irredentist concept that expresses the goal of reviving the Byzantine Empire, by establishing a Greek state, which would include the large Greek popu ...

. *

Greek nationalism Greek nationalism (or Hellenic nationalism) refers to the nationalism of Greeks and Greek culture.. As an ideology, Greek nationalism originated and evolved in pre-modern times. It became a major political movement beginning in the 18th century, ...

(

liberal nationalism Civic nationalism, also known as liberal nationalism, is a form of nationalism identified by political philosophers who believe in an inclusive form of nationalism that adheres to traditional liberal values of freedom, tolerance, equality, in ...

) *

Liberal democracy Liberal democracy is the combination of a liberal political ideology that operates under an indirect democratic form of government. It is characterized by elections between multiple distinct political parties, a separation of powers into ...

: Venizelists represented upcoming urban classes that were against the old conservative establishment, which also had close ties with the palace. *Pro-Western: Alliance with the Entente against the Central Powers during WWI, and with the Allies during WWII. Also pro-Western during the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because t ...

, but later diverged with direct confrontation between Greek nationalist forces in Cyprus against British colonial forces. *

Republicanism Republicanism is a political ideology centered on citizenship in a state organized as a republic. Historically, it emphasises the idea of self-rule and ranges from the rule of a representative minority or oligarchy to popular sovereignty. ...

: Despite Venizelos' moderation regarding the monarchy, most of his supporters were in favour of a Republic, on the French standards. * Mixed economic policies: from

economic liberalism Economic liberalism is a political and economic ideology that supports a market economy based on individualism and private property in the means of production. Adam Smith is considered one of the primary initial writers on economic libera ...

social democracy Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote s ...

policies. * Anti-Bolshevism: Venizelos rejected the bolshevik system and was the main introducer of the ''

Idionymon ''Idionymon'' ( el, ιδιώνυμο, literally "that which has its own name", also translated as "special illegal act" or '' delictum sui generis''), is a Greek legal term referring to a criminal offense which is treated distinctly from the gener ...

'' anticommunist law in 1929. In a speech he had delivered in the Greek parliament he had stated that socialism is democratic and

Bolshevism Bolshevism (from Bolshevik) is a revolutionary socialist current of Soviet Marxist–Leninist political thought and political regime associated with the formation of a rigidly centralized, cohesive and disciplined party of social revolution, ...

authoritarian. In the contemporary sense the ideology incorporates

national liberalism National liberalism is a variant of liberalism, combining liberal policies and issues with elements of nationalism. Historically, national liberalism has also been used in the same meaning as conservative liberalism (right-liberalism). A s ...

civic nationalism Civic nationalism, also known as liberal nationalism, is a form of nationalism identified by political philosophers who believe in an inclusive form of nationalism that adheres to traditional liberal values of freedom, tolerance, equality, i ...

liberal democracy Liberal democracy is the combination of a liberal political ideology that operates under an indirect democratic form of government. It is characterized by elections between multiple distinct political parties, a separation of powers into ...

pro-Europeanism Pro-Europeanism, sometimes called European Unionism, is a political position that favours European integration and membership of the European Union (EU).Krisztina Arató, Petr Kaniok (editors). ''Euroscepticism and European Integration''. Polit ...

republicanism Republicanism is a political ideology centered on citizenship in a state organized as a republic. Historically, it emphasises the idea of self-rule and ranges from the rule of a representative minority or oligarchy to popular sovereignty. ...

secularism Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on secular, naturalistic considerations. Secularism is most commonly defined as the separation of religion from civil affairs and the state, and may be broadened to a si ...

centrism Centrism is a political outlook or position involving acceptance or support of a balance of social equality and a degree of social hierarchy while opposing political changes that would result in a significant shift of society strongly to the ...

radical centrism Radical centrism (also called the radical center, the radical centre or the radical middle) is a concept that arose in Western nations in the late 20th century. The '' radical'' in the term refers to a willingness on the part of most radical ce ...

and generally moves from centre-right to social democracy.

History

Liberal Party

Venizelos' liberal party ruled Greece from 1910 until 1916. That year, determined to enter

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

on the entente side, Venizelos rebelled against the king and formed a

Provisional Government of National Defence The Provisional Government of National Defence (), also known as the State of Thessaloniki (Κράτος της Θεσσαλονίκης), was a parallel administration, set up in the city of Thessaloniki by former Prime Minister Eleftherios Ven ...

in Thessaloniki. Venizelos regained full control of the country in 1917 and ruled until losing the 1920 elections. The strongest support for Venizelism came in the "New Greece" gained after the Balkan Wars of 1912–1913 consisting of Crete, Thrace, Epirus, the North Aegean islands, and Macedonia. By contrast, people in "Old Greece" tended to be more much royalist. The fact that in 1916 King

Constantine I Constantine I ( , ; la, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, ; ; 27 February 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337, the first one to convert to Christianity. Born in Naissus, Dacia Mediterran ...

had allowed the Bulgarians to occupy parts of Macedonia and had been willing to contemplate giving up all of recently gained "New Greece" in the north to the Bulgarians to weaken the Venizelist movement cemented the identification of people in northern Greece with Venizelism. Refugees from Turkey also tended to be strongly Venizelist, at least until the 1930s and the signing of the Greco-Turkish friendship agreement by Venizelos (1930). Voters started to favour a balance between Venizelos and Constantine I. This crisis period for Venizelos occurred when Greece experienced a lagging economy, growing political corruption, profiteering by the few, and eight continuous years of mobilization. After a crisis period (including two short-lived pro-Venizelist military governments after

Nikolaos Plastiras Nikolaos Plastiras ( el, Νικόλαος Πλαστήρας; 4 November 1883 – 26 July 1953) was a Greek general and politician, who served thrice as Prime Minister of Greece. A distinguished soldier known for his personal bravery, he ...

1922 revolution) the liberals returned to power from 1928 until 1932. Venizelists Sophoklis Venizelos and Georgios Papandreou formed the core of the

Greek government in exile The Greek government-in-exile was formed in 1941, in the aftermath of the Battle of Greece and the subsequent occupation of Greece by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. The government-in-exile was based in Cairo, Egypt, and hence it is also referr ...

during the Axis Occupation of Greece (1941–1944), and held power a number of times in the 1950s.

Centre Union

Georgios Papandreou created the

Centre Union The Centre Union ( el, Ἕνωσις Κέντρου ''Énōsis Kéntrou'', abbreviated ΕΚ) was a major centrist political party in Greece, created in 1961 by Georgios Papandreou.Clogg, 1987, pp. 39–40 History The Centre Union was a politi ...

party in 1961, as a coalition of old Venizelists and progressive politicians. In 1963 the party was elected and held power until 1965, when its right wing broke ranks in the events known as the '' Apostasia''. The current Union of Centrists claims to be the ideological continuation of the old party Centre Union.

Centrist Democratic Union

After the 1967–1974 Junta, Venizelists formed the

Centre Union – New Forces Centre Union – New Forces (EK-ND, Greek: ''Ένωσις Κέντρου-Νέες Δυνάμεις'' (Ε.Κ. – Ν.Δ.), ''Enosi Kentrou-Nees Dynameis'') was the continuation of the Centre Union party of George Papandreou after the military j ...

party, which then evolved into the Union of the Democratic Centre ( el, ΕΔΗΚ). While the Venizelist legacy was still popular, election results were disappointing as the abolition of the monarchy, the dilution of support for Greek nationalism after the seven years of the junta and the 1974

Turkish invasion of Cyprus The Turkish invasion of Cyprus began on 20 July 1974 and progressed in two phases over the following month. Taking place upon a background of intercommunal violence between Greek and Turkish Cypriots, and in response to a Greek junta-s ...

, and Karamanlis' move towards the political centre had blurred the differences between the liberals and their former conservative opponents, while the socialist

PASOK The Panhellenic Socialist Movement ( el, Πανελλήνιο Σοσιαλιστικό Κίνημα, Panellínio Sosialistikó Kínima, ), known mostly by its acronym PASOK, (; , ) is a social-democratic political party in Greece. Until 2012, it ...

party was gaining support at the left side of the spectrum. Most members of the

party with their leader

Georgios Mavros Georgios Mavros ( el, Γεώργιος Μαύρος) (Kastellorizo, 15 March 1909 – Athens, 6 May 1995) was a Greek jurist and politician. He served in several ministerial posts, and was Minister for Foreign Affairs and Deputy Prime Ministe ...

were absorbed by PASOK.

Legacy

Although the image of Venizelos is still very popular in Greece today, Venizelism is no longer a major force in Greek politics. Venizelos' prestige however and his ideology's connotations of republicanism, and progressive reforms means that most mainstream political forces claim his political heritage. There are few explicitly "Venizelist" movements today in Greece. In the 2004 elections for the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the Legislature, legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven Institutions of the European Union, institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and in ...

, the leading Venizelist party was the Union of Centrists, gaining only 0.54% of the Greek popular vote. An attempted revival of the original Liberal Party, under the same name, was founded in the 1980s by Venizelos' grandson,

Nikitas Venizelos Nikitas Venizelos ( el, Νικήτας Βενιζέλος; July 1930 – 12 February 2020) was a Greek shipping magnate and politician who ran Venezelos SA. He was involved also in politics. In the 1980s, he attempted a revival of the original l ...

Anti-venizelism

There were also various politicians of different political orientation during the 1910s (monarchists, conservatives, part of the clergy, but also socialists/communists of the newly founded SEKE) who were against Venizelos' policies. Some points of disagreement included the Venizelos' extreme pro- Entente stance during the World War I and the

National Schism The National Schism ( el, Εθνικός Διχασμός, Ethnikós Dichasmós), also sometimes called The Great Division, was a series of disagreements between King Constantine I and Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos regarding the forei ...

(which led to the division of the country between a venizelist and a royalist government), his policy about the

Megali idea The Megali Idea ( el, Μεγάλη Ιδέα, Megáli Idéa, Great Idea) is a nationalist and irredentist concept that expresses the goal of reviving the Byzantine Empire, by establishing a Greek state, which would include the large Greek popu ...

and its results (regarding the relations with

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...

and the Greeks who were still under Ottoman sovereignty) and later the

Treaty of Lausanne The Treaty of Lausanne (french: Traité de Lausanne) was a peace treaty negotiated during the Lausanne Conference of 1922–23 and signed in the Palais de Rumine, Lausanne, Switzerland, on 24 July 1923. The treaty officially settled the confl ...

and the

population exchange Population transfer or resettlement is a type of mass migration, often imposed by state policy or international authority and most frequently on the basis of ethnicity or religion but also due to economic development. Banishment or exile is a ...

. With antivenizelism sided also the religious minorities in Greece (Muslim, Jewish etc.), being in general of conservative political orientation.Isabelle Dépret, "Ioannis Metaxas and Religion (1938–41): Historical Experience and Current Debates in Greece", ''Cahiers balkaniques'', 42, 2014
In french Another common point of the antivenizelists was a criticism about the country's social and economical transformation/modernization, such as critics for political/economical mismanagement.