Georgios Soulios (; 1885–1927) was a

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

guerrilla fighter of the early 20th century. He participated in the

Macedonian Struggle The Macedonian Struggle was a series of social, political, cultural and military conflicts that were mainly fought between Greek and Bulgarian subjects who lived in Ottoman Macedonia between 1893 and 1912. From 1904 to 1908 the conflict was p ...

, the

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans, Balkan states in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan states of Kingdom of Greece (Glücksburg), Greece, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, Kingdom of Montenegro, M ...

, and in the struggle for the establishment of the

Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus The Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus () was a short-lived, self-governing entity founded in the aftermath of the Balkan Wars on 28 February 1914, by the local Greek population in southern Albania ( Northern Epirotes). The area, known as ...

Early life

Soulios was born in 1885, in the village of Orman Ciflik, just north of

Korçë Korçë (; sq-definite, Korça) is the List of cities and towns in Albania, eighth most populous city of Albania and the seat of Korçë County and Korçë Municipality. The total population of the city is 51,152 and 75,994 of Korçë municipal ...

(then

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

, in present-day

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

).Kaphetzopoulos, Flokas, Dima-Dimitriou, 2000
p. 184
/ref>

Career

Macedonian Struggle and Balkan Wars He joined the Greeks Struggle for Macedonia in 1906, where he would operate as a member of Georgios Tsontos' armed band. The next year, he would become a chieftain of his own band which operated in the regions of Korytsa and

Western Macedonia Western Macedonia (, ) is one of the thirteen Regions of Greece, administrative regions of Greece, consisting of the western part of Macedonia (Greece), Macedonia. Located in north-western Greece, it is divided into the regional units of Greece ...

, where he would fight the Bulgarian

Komitadji Komitadji, Comitadji, or Komita (plural: Komitadjis, Comitadjis, or Komitas) ( Bulgarian, Macedonian and , , , , pl. , , ) was a collective name for members of various rebel bands ( chetas) operating in the Balkans during the final period of th ...

s and

Ottomans Ottoman may refer to: * Osman I, historically known in English as "Ottoman I", founder of the Ottoman Empire * Osman II, historically known in English as "Ottoman II" * Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empir ...

until the Commencement of the

First Balkan War The First Balkan War lasted from October 1912 to May 1913 and involved actions of the Balkan League (the Kingdoms of Kingdom of Bulgaria, Bulgaria, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, Kingdom of Greece, Greece and Kingdom of Montenegro, Montenegro) agai ...

. He would also go on to became part of the personal guard of the local Orthodox Bishop of Korytsa, Germanos. He participated in the

, as a guerrilla leader and took part in the Greek occupation of Korytsa. North Epirote Struggle for Autonomy The following cession of his homeland to the newly established

Principality of Albania The Principality of Albania () was a monarchy from 1914 to 1925. It was headed by Wilhelm, Prince of Albania, and located in modern Albania in the Balkans, Balkan region of Europe. The Ottoman Empire owned the land until the First Balkan Wa ...

catalyzed the uprising in the region of

Northern Epirus Northern Epirus (, ; ) is a term used for specific parts of southern Albania which were first claimed by the Kingdom of Greece in the Balkan Wars and later were associated with the Greek minority in Albania and Greece-Albania diplomatic relation ...

(in modern southern Albania) against this decision and lead to the declaration of the Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus in March 1914. After the establishment of the newly arrived Albanian authorities in Korytsa, which were accompanied by Dutch officers of the

International Gendarmerie The International Gendarmerie was the first law enforcement agency of the Principality of Albania. It was established by the decision of the ambassadors of the six Great Powers that participated in the London Conference of 1913, London Peace Confe ...

, a local uprising broke out in favor of the Northern Epirus movement. Soulios was one of the leaders of the uprising, however, he was wounded in combat during an attempt to storm the enemy police headquarters of the city. Later Years In 1916, during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, the French Army that controlled the city, declared the Autonomous Albanian Republic of Korce. Soulios was arrested and sent to concentration camps in France. After the end of the war he moved to Greece and lived in the village of Marina,

Florina Prefecture Florina (, ''Perifereiakí Enótita Flórinas'') is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the modern regions of Greece, region of Western Macedonia, in the geographic regions of Greece, geographic region of Macedonia, Greece. Its capit ...

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Soulios, Georgios 1885 births 1927 deaths Northern Epirus independence activists Greek revolutionaries Greek prisoners of war People from Korçë People of the Macedonian Struggle World War I prisoners of war held by France