Viktor Dousmanis
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Viktor Dousmanis (, 1861–1949) was a
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 ...
officer, who rose to the rank of
Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...
. He distinguished himself as a staff officer during 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 became a leading monarchist during the
National Schism The National Schism (), also sometimes called The Great Division, was a series of disagreements between Constantine I of Greece, King Constantine I and Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos over Kingdom of Greece, Greece's foreign policy from 19 ...
, serving three terms as Chief of the Hellenic Army General Staff.


Life

He was born in
Corfu Corfu ( , ) or Kerkyra (, ) is a Greece, Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands; including its Greek islands, small satellite islands, it forms the margin of Greece's northwestern frontier. The island is part of the Corfu (regio ...
in c. 1861, a descendant of a branch of the Albanian Dushmani family that had emigrated to the island in the 15th century; he is the elder brother of Sofoklis Dousmanis and grandson of Antonio Dusmani. He entered the
Hellenic Military Academy The Hellenic Army Academy (, ΣΣΕ), commonly known as the Evelpidon, is a military academy. It is the Officer cadet school of the Greek Army and the oldest third-level educational institution in Greece. It was founded in 1828 in Nafplio by Io ...
, from which he graduated on 11 July 1883 as an Engineer 2nd Lieutenant. Promoted to Lieutenant in 1886 and Captain in 1890, he participated in the
Greco-Turkish War of 1897 The Greco-Turkish War of 1897 or the Ottoman-Greek War of 1897 ( or ), also called the Thirty Days' War and known in Greece as the Black '97 (, ''Mauro '97'') or the Unfortunate War (), was a war fought between the Kingdom of Greece and the O ...
as an officer in the staff of the Army of Thessaly under the Greek Commander-in-Chief, Crown Prince Constantine. After the war, he was charged with writing the official report. In 1899–1904, he served as section head of the Staff Service of the Greek Ministry of Military Affairs, and in 1904, with the foundation of the Army General Staff, he was transferred to the newly created General Staff Corps. Among his duties there was the organization of the National Defence Fund (Ταμείον Εθνικής Αμύνης). He was promoted to Major in 1906 and Lt. Colonel in 1909. During 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 ...
of 1912–1913 against the
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 ...
, he was chief of operations for the main Greek force, the Army of Thessaly, again under Crown Prince Constantine. 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 ...
against
Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...
in the summer of 1913, he served as chief of staff to the field army, again under Constantine, who had by now become King. In the same year, he was promoted to Colonel and then to Major General. In early 1914 he was appointed Chief of the General Staff Service, but resigned in November after a quarrel with Prime Minister
Eleftherios Venizelos Eleftherios Kyriakou Venizelos (, ; – 18 March 1936) was a Cretan State, Cretan Greeks, Greek statesman and prominent leader of the Greek national liberation movement. As the leader of the Liberal Party (Greece), Liberal Party, Venizelos ser ...
over the issue of Greece's entry into
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 ...
. Venizelos favoured siding with the Entente Powers, especially Britain, for the upcoming Gallipoli Campaign while Dousmanis, a believer in the victory of
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
, advocated neutrality. In February 1915, however, Venizelos was forced to resign over the same issue by King Constantine, and Dousmanis resumed his post, which he held until mid-August 1916. Having sided with Constantine during the
National Schism The National Schism (), also sometimes called The Great Division, was a series of disagreements between Constantine I of Greece, King Constantine I and Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos over Kingdom of Greece, Greece's foreign policy from 19 ...
, in June 1917, when Venizelos assumed the governance of the country and led it to war on the side of the Entente, Dousmanis, along with other prominent monarchists, was deported to
Corsica Corsica ( , , ; ; ) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the Regions of France, 18 regions of France. It is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of the Metro ...
. Returning to Greece after the end of the war, in 1919 he was sentenced by a Venizelist court martial to life imprisonment for
high treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its d ...
. Following Venizelos' downfall in the November 1920 elections, he was released from prison, and, promoted to Lt. General, he was re-appointed as Chief of the General Staff in April 1921, during the Asia Minor Campaign against
Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
. He held this post until October 1921, and again from 22 August 1922, when the Greek front in
Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...
collapsed in the face of the Turkish offensive, until 15 September, when he was forced to resign along with the government by the Venizelist-led 11 September 1922 Revolution from the defeated Greek troops. He was permanently discharged on 2 November 1922, and dedicated his last years to writing on military and historical issues. He died in 1949. He was awarded Serbian Order of the White Eagle among other decorations.


Works

*''Γεωδαισία'' ("Geodesy") *''Στρατηγικαί τακτικαί οδηγίαι'' ("Strategic tactical instructions") *''Ιστορία του πολέμου του 1913'' ("History of the War of 1913") *''Iστορία και Γεωγραφία της Θεσσαλίας'' ("History and Geography of Thessaly") *''Η Εσωτερική Όψις της Μικρασιατικής Εκστρατείας'' ("The Inner View of the Asia Minor Campaign")


References


Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dousmanis, Viktor 1860s births 1949 deaths Chiefs of the Hellenic Army General Staff Viktor Greek people of Albanian descent Greek military personnel of the Balkan Wars Greek military personnel of the Greco-Turkish War (1897) Greek military personnel of the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922) Greek military personnel of World War I Greek military writers Greek monarchists Greek prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Hellenic Army lieutenant generals Greek exiles People convicted of treason against Greece Military personnel from Corfu People from Corfu United States of the Ionian Islands people