Periklis Drakos (

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 ...

: Περικλής Δράκος) was a

chieftain of 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 ...

Biography

Drakos was born in

Kavala Kavala (, ''Kavála'' ) is a city in northern Greece, the principal seaport of eastern Macedonia and the capital of Kavala regional unit. It is situated on the Bay of Kavala, across from the island of Thasos and on the A2 motorway, a one-and ...

in the late 19th century. He started his armed action during the

, initially collaborating with the ''National Center of

Xanthi Xanthi is a city in the region of Western Thrace, northeastern Greece. It is the capital of the Xanthi regional unit of the region of East Macedonia and Thrace. Amphitheatrically built on the foot of Rhodope mountain chain, the city is divided ...

''. Among other things, his mission was to transfer guns to other Greek rebels. Later, he set up an armed body that operated in the regions of Kavala and Xanthi. He was associated with the murder of Iliya Hadzhigeorgiev, a member of the Bulgarian Committee in Xanthi.Η παιδεία στην Ανατολική Μακεδονία, Ο Ελληνικός Φιλολογικός Σύλλογος Κωνσταντινουπόλεως και η Αδελφότης ''Ηώς'' Προσοτσάνης (1870-1880), Γ. Κ. Παπάζογλου, Δημοκρίτειο Πανεπιστήμιο Θράκης, ''Μακεδονικά Χρονικά'', Εταιρεία Μακεδονικών Σπουδών
/ref> His armed group took part in 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 ...

under the command of Konstantinos Mazarakis-Ainian, Vasileios Papakostas and

Georgios Galanopoulos Georgios (, , ) is a Greek name derived from the word ''georgos'' (, , "farmer" lit. "earth-worker"). The word ''georgos'' (, ) is a compound of ''ge'' (, , "earth", "soil") and ''ergon'' (, , "task", "undertaking", "work"). It is one of the most ...

. He was firstly sent to

Chalkidiki Chalkidiki (; , alternatively Halkidiki), also known as Chalcidice, is a peninsula and regional unit of Greece, part of the region of Central Macedonia, in the geographic region of Macedonia in Northern Greece. The autonomous Mount Athos reg ...

to strengthen the body of Ioannis Ramnalis against the Ottoman forces and then sent to

Nigrita Nigrita () is a city and a municipality in the Serres (regional unit), Serres regional unit, Macedonia (Greece), Macedonia, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Visaltia, of which it is the seat and a munic ...

to support Georgios Giaglis against the

Bulgarians Bulgarians (, ) are a nation and South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Bulgaria and its neighbouring region, who share a common Bulgarian ancestry, culture, history and language. They form the majority of the population in Bulgaria, ...

. There, the Bulgarian army did not recognize the forces of Georgios Giaglis and Periklis Drakos as belonging to the

Hellenic Army The Hellenic Army (, sometimes abbreviated as ΕΣ), formed in 1828, is the army, land force of Greece. The term Names of the Greeks, '' Hellenic'' is the endogenous synonym for ''Greek''. The Hellenic Army is the largest of the three branches ...

—and thus, under the terms of the

Balkan League The League of the Balkans was a quadruple alliance formed by a series of bilateral treaties concluded in 1912 between the Eastern Orthodox kingdoms of Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia and Montenegro, and directed against the Ottoman Empire, which still ...

, as co-combatants—and asked to occupy the city. Following the refusal of the Macedonian chieftains, the Bulgarians attacked, but in the battle that followed, they were defeated. In the

Second Balkan War The Second Balkan War was a conflict that broke out when Kingdom of Bulgaria, Bulgaria, dissatisfied with its share of the spoils of the First Balkan War, attacked its former allies, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia and Kingdom of Greece, Greece, on 1 ...

, Drakos and his group took part in several battles against the Bulgarian forces.

References

Sources

* Αρχείο Διεύθυνσης Εφέδρων Πολεμιστών Αγωνιστών Θυμάτων Αναπήρων (ΔΕΠΑΘΑ), Αρχείο Μακεδονικού Αγώνα, φ. Δ-33 *

John S. Koliopoulos Ioannis or John S. Koliopoulos (, 1942–2022)was a Greek historian, born in the village of Votani, Kastoria Kastoria (, ''Kastoriá'' ) is a city in northern Greece in the modern regions of Greece, region of Western Macedonia. It is the capit ...

(editor), Αφανείς, γηγενείς Μακεδονομάχοι, Εταιρεία Μακεδονικών Σπουδών, University Studio Press, Thessaloniki, 2008, p. 66 {{DEFAULTSORT:Drakos, Periklis Greek people of the Macedonian Struggle Greek Macedonians People from Kavala Greek military personnel of the Balkan Wars