Greece - The Protagonists

Kingdom of Greece, Hellas - The Protagonists of WWI and Minor Asia Campaign:

No:	Personalities / Leaders	Photos:	Title / Stature / Dates & Comments:
1.	King Konstantinos I, (1868-1923)		King, (18/3/1913-12/6/1917) & (15/12/1920-27/9/1922). His first reign was closely connected with the liberation of Macedonia from Bulgarians (Balkans Wars). He was first abdicated in 1917 for himself and his eldest son;he resumed the throne in 1920 after the death of his second son Alexandros I. His second reign was connected with an unofficial movement, also known as the Committee of "National Defence" (Amyna) - an idea of a separate Hellenic state in Minor Asia (Megali Idea) - a project instigated by Venizelists military officers, which revealed the sharp divisions existed in Hellenic society between the "Venizelists" and "Royalists". He was finally abdicated in 1922 by a revolutionary movement in favour of his eldest son Georgios II.
2.	King Alexandros I, (1893-1920)		King, (12/6/1917-25/10/1920). His parents were King Konstantinos I and Queen Sofia (born Princess of Prussia). He became King following his father's first abdication. On 4/11/1919 he married (morganatically) Aspasia Manos (4/9/1896-7/8/1972). She was granted the style and title HRH Princess of Greece on 10/9/1922. On 20/10/1920 he died after having been bitten by a monkey. On 15/12/1920 his father Konstantinos ''I'' became again King after a plebiscite.
3.	Ph.D. Alexandros Thr. Zaimis, (1855-1936)		Minister of Justice (1890), President of the Parliament (1895-1896), Warden of National Bank of Greece(1914-1921). Prime Minister: (1897, 1902, 1904) - under King Georgios I, (24/9/1915-25/10/1915), (9/6/1916-3/9/1916), (21/4/1917-14/6/1917) - under King Konstantine I., (29/9/1922-1922), (4/12/1926-17/8/1927), (17/8/1927-8/2/1928), (8/2/1928-4/7/1928). President of the Hellenic Republic (15/12/1929-11/10/1935).
4.	Eleftherios Venizelos, (1864-1936)		P.M., (6/10/1910-25/2/1915), (10/8/1915-24/9/1915), (14/6/1917-4/11/1920), (11/1/1924-6/2/1924), (4/7/1928-26/5/1932), (5/6/1932-4/11/1932), (16/1/1933-6/3/1933). The first quarter of the 20th century is closely connected with the political rise of El. Venizelos. A brilliant and crafty politician whose name was correlated with a new generation opposing to the supporters of Greece being a Kingdom. His undoubted diplomatic skills and patriotism helped Greece to survive both during the Great War (WWI) and the Balkans Wars as well as before and after Minor Asia Campaign. It was he who convinced and led Greece to join the Entente Alliance (the winners of WWI) and successfully negotiated and ratified both the Sevres and Lausanne Treaties in favor of Hellenic Nation.
5.	Nikolaos S. Politis (1872 - 1942)		Foreign Minister in Venizelos & Zaimis Governments, 1920-22, P.M., (13/10/1923-10/1/1924)
6.	Dimitrios G. Rallis, (1844-1921)		Lawyer. Minister of Education (1875), Minister of Justice (1882), P.M., (30/4/1897-3/10/1897), (11/7/1903 - 19/12/1903), (22/6/1905-21/12/1905), (29/7/1909-28/8/1909)- under King Georgios I, (4/11/1920-24/1/1921)- under King Konstantinos I. During his stormy political career he opposed El. Venizelos, most time from the opposition. He also participated in several Ministerial positions during Skouloudis (1915) and Zaimis (1916) cabinets, until his death in 1921, shortly after being appointed as a P.M. for 5th time.
7.	Nikolaos Kalogeropoulos, (1853-1927)		P.M., (24/1/1921-26/3/1921) - under King Konstantinos I. Foreign Minister in Triantafyllakos Government (1922)
8.	Ion Dragoumis, (1878-1920)		Diplomat, Intellectual & Writer. Together with P. Melas, he leaded the struggle for the liberation of Macedonia. He also played a leading role in organizing and unite the Greek population in Constantinople and Anatolia. During 1917 he has been exiled for 2 years by the Venizelos Government. Inspirator and supporter of "Megali Idea" together with Penelope Delta, another prominent member of the Greek Society which mostly focused on reforming the educational system of modern Greece and nurse children via her patriotic literature. I. Dragoumis expressed his own proposal on Hellenic nationalism, and consequently on foreign policy and the concept of national integration. The Blood of Martyrs and Heroes-1907, Those still living-1911, The Greek Civilization-1914. He was murdered by anti-Royalists in Athens (1920), revealing with the most sound and awkward way the petulance of dithers and rages into the divided Hellenic society.
9.	Dimitrios Gounaris, (1867-1922)		P.M., (25/2/1915-10/8/1915) & (26/3/1921-2/3/1922) & (2/3/1922-3/5/1922). Founder and Leader of the political party of "Nationalism" (after 1/1/1920 was renamed to "Popular Party"), the major opponent of the political party of "Liberals" leaded by El. Venizelos. The Popular Party was the most famous right-wing party in longevity in the political history of Greece, having for its motto and aspiration "a Greece of three Continents and seven Seas". Gounaris was executed for high treason (15/11/1922) after the defeat of Greece in Asia Minor , being one of the six members in the famous "Trial of the Six", which took place after Smyrna's holocaust.
10.	Georgios Baltatzis (1868-1922)		President of the 'Macedonian Committee' (1900-1908). Foreign Minister under Nikolaos Theotokis (1908), D. Gounaris (1915,1921) & P. Protopapadakis governments (1922). After the Asia Minor disaster, Baltatzis was put on trial by the revolutionary government and executed on November 28, 1922 at Goudi, Athens, along with Dimitrios Gounaris, Nikolaos Stratos, Petros Protopapadakis, Nikolaos Theotokis and General Georgios Hadjianestis ("Trial of the Six")
11.	Pavlos Kountouriotis (1854-1935)		Admiral, Minister of Navy (1916-1919), Vicegerent & 1st President of the modern Hellenic Republic, (25/3/1924-18/03/1926) & (22/8/1926-10/12/1929). His dareful and skilful achievements in the naval war during WWI and the Balkans Wars proclaimed him an incontestable leader of the Aegean Sea. Not only he liberated all the Aegean islands including Imvros and Tenedos (given to Turkey after the Treaty of Lausanne), but also he put to fight the Turkish Fleet towards Dardanellia Straits, where, for many years it didn't came out again. Together with El. Venizelos and General Daglis he comprised the triumvir of the "National Defense", declared in Thessalonica (1916). After the death of King Alexandros I, he undertook the leadership of the country as Vicegerent, leading the country to elections (11/1920). The Greek State recognizing his endeavors and struggles for freedom he proclaimed him as President of the Fist Hellenic Republic.
12.	King Georgios II, (1890-1947)		King, (27/9/1922-25/3/1924) & (3/11/1935-1/4/1947). (Born as: HRH Georgios Prince of Greece and Denmark since March 18th, 1913). Crown Prince of Greece, 18/3/1913 - 11/6/1917 and since 19/12/1920. King of the Hellenes, 27/9/1922 (left Greece, 25/3/1923; restored to the throne, 3/11/1935; forced to leave Greece again following the German invasion, 23/4/1941; recalled to the throne, 28/9/1946).
13.	Leonidas Paraskevopoulos (1860-1936)		Commander-in Chief of the Hellenic army between the end of the WWI and until the second year of the Asia Minor Campaign. Under his ingenious command the Hellenic troops recaptured Eastern Thrace and western Asia Minor. He extended their occupation zone, from the greater Smyrna area, south to Aydini and west to Kios. He resigned from his office in November 1920 after the defeat of the "Liberals" in the general elections and has been discharged at his own request. He was replaced with the royalist Anastasios Papoulas. After the Asia Minor disaster, Paraskevopoulos entered politics and served as President of the Senate (1929).
14.	Anastasios Papoulas(1859-1935)		Commander in Chief - Lieutenant General of Asia Minor Army (11/1920-5/1922). In this post he had demonstrated considerable strategic and leadership skills and worked for the achievement of a spirit of national unity in the politically divided army. He had in many cases to confront the interventions of agents of the general staff, the palace and the King himself, who had played according to his opinion a fatal role in the outcome of the war. In May 1922 he resigned (also demobilized from the army), disappointed by the political decisions of the Royalists. He served as witness for the prosecution in the "Trial of the Six" in November 1922. He was executed for treason on March 24, 1935
15.	Georgios Hatzianestis (1863-1922)		The last Commander in Chief - Lieutenant General of Asia Minor Army. He appointed by the Royalists at a time that the Greek Army was at the verge of dissolution. He succeeded General A. Papoulas but he couldn't do anything to prevent the catastrophe as well as to reorganize and unite the collapsing Front. After the debacle of the Asia Minor Army he had been arrested by the Revolutionary Government of Plastiras-Gonatas. He stood a trial (The trial of the Six) where he was found guilty and co-responsible for the Catastrophe. He was finally cashiered and executed on 15/11/1922. The political passions of the time led to his condemnation, along with the other accused, although no act of deliberate treason could be proven.
16.	Nikolaos Stratos, (1872-1922)		Lawyer. P.M.(3/5/1922-9/5/1922) & Foreign Minister - under King Konstantinos I. Although he participated as a Minister of Interior (1909) in Rallis Cabinet, his controversial political views made him to join the "Liberals Party" of Venizelos and serve as a Minister of Marine (1912). Though, in 1916 he founded the "National Conservative Party" and opposed Venizelos by declaring his neutrality during WWI (a view also supported by King Konstantinos I). His premiership during the disastrous 1922 impeached him to the famous military Court ("Trial of the Six"), where he was found guilty and finally executed.
17.	Aristides Stergiades (1861-1950)		Resident High Commissionaire of Smyrna (25/1/1920-28/8/1922), the "enigmatic figure". Appointed by Venizelos for this post, from which he had not been removed not even by his opponents after the 1920 elections. He did not believe in the feasibility of the Asia Minor campaign estimating that the whole operation would result to a harsh war between Greeks and Turks with inestimable consequences for Greece. Ever since his arrival his relations with the Greek population were problematic. Determined to not accept interventions in his work neither by the notables of Smyrna nor the Metropolis not even from Athens, he soon displeased everybody devoted to the command of the prime-minister for the achievement of a climate of peaceful co-existence between Greeks and Turks, who interpreted his stance as biased against them and favouring the Turks. He frequently had bitter disputes with the military administration concerning the field of its responsibilities and incensed the Asia Minor inhabitants. In the summer of 1922 he was probably the only person aware of the situation and the imminent Catastrophe. He had made representations to Athens for the dispatch of ships that would convey the Christian populations. When Catastrophe came about, he had been accused of having concealed the truth from the inhabitants and of not giving them the chance to take measures for their transport and salvation. A few days before the Catastrophe he was sending messages to the local representatives of the High Commission not to encourage the Greek populations to depart after the debacle of the front. He departed from Smyrna with a British ship (!) to eventually settle in Nice in France until his death.
18.	Petros Protopapadakis, (1854-1922)		P.M., (9/5/1922-28/8/1922) - under King Konstantinos I.. PhD. of Polytechnics in Athens and Paris. Minister of Economics (1915) in Stef. Dragoumis Cabinet. Minister of Provisions & Economics in Kalogeropoulos (1/1921) and Gounaris (3/1921) governments. During his incumbent as Minister he came across the difficulty of raising funds from abroad for the continuation of Asia Minor Campaign. Due to the denial of the "Allies" for supporting Greece with Loans he invented a form for "a compulsory internal loan" by splitting the banknotes into two pieces(!). This unexpected "innovation" is still remembered by Greeks with a feeling of "funny sorrow" for the economic depression that overrun Greece at that time. In May of 1922 he became Premier amid a shivery political climate which pre-signified the upcoming disaster. His government fell apart together with the defeat of the Hellenic Army in Asia Minor. He was finally executed after standing in the notorious "Trial of the Six" raised by the revolutionary Government.
19.	Nikolaos Triantafyllakos, (1855-1939)	n/a	P.M., (28/8/1922-16/9/1922)- under King Konstantinos I.
20.	Sotirios Krokidas, (1852-1924)	n/a	P.M., (17/9/1922-14/11/1922) - under King Georgios II. A "moderate" politician appointed as a interim Premier by the revolutionary movement of N. Plastiras & St. Gonatas.
21.	Stylianos Gonatas, (1876-1966)		Colonel, P.M., (14/11/1922-11/1/1924). President (11/4/1926-18/8/1926). He was one of the leading members of the revolutionary committee formed from the defeated army of Asia Minor Campaign, After assuming power he set up a shadow civilian cabinet, which was replaced by a military government in November, and demanded King Constantine's I abdication for the shake of King George II and afterwards to Vicegerent Pavlos Kountouriotis. Venizelos declined to participate in the revolution. He led the country to democratic elections where he finally resigned by delivering the power to the democratically elected government of Venizelos.
22.	Georgios Kafandaris, (1873-1946)		Minister of Interior (1915) - under King Konstantinos I, Minister of Agriculture (1919), Minister of Justice (1924) and P.M., (6/2/1924-12/3/1924) - under President Pavlos Kountouriotis. Lawyer. Deputy member of "Liberals" since 1910. He followed Venizelos in the "National Defense" movement of 1916, where he represented Greece in the United States. He was the one who first spoke in public for the need of Greece to become a Republic and abolish Royalty. Under his premiership he supported the idea of a national referendum for an uncrowned democracy. His political career stands high well after his resignation from P.M., as he successfully managed the National Deficit Accounts, the Balance Sheet and the stabilization of the national currency as a minister of Finance in the ecumenical Government of Alex. T. Zaimis.
23.	Alexandros Papanastasiou, (1876-1936)		P.M., (12/3/1924-25/7/1924). The declaration of the first modern Democracy occurred (25.3.1924) under his Premiership. The first President of the modern Hellenic Republic was the Admiral & Vicegerent Pavlos Kountouriotis. P.M.(26/5/1932-5/6/1932).
24.	Themistocles Sofoulis, (1860-1949)		P.M., (25/7/1924-7/10/1924) - under the Presidency of P. Kountouriotis, (22/11/1945-4/4/1946), (7/9/1947-18/11/1948), (18/11/1948-20/1/1949), (20/1/1949-24/6/1949)
25.	Andreas Michalakopoulos (1876-1938)		P.M., (7/10/1924-15/6/1925) & (15/6/1925-26/6/1925). He was appointed Minister of War in 1918 and Minister of Agriculture in 1920. In 1924 he founded the party of "Conservative Liberals" and on 7th Oct 1924 he formed his government together with G. Kondylis. In 26th June 1925, after General Pangalos Coup d' Etat he resigned and he returned in 1926 as Minister of Foreign Affairs. In 1928 he served as Vice President of the Government. He also served as Minister of Foreign Affairs during Venizelos Government. He represented Greece at the League of Nations and participated in the negotiations of the Treaty of Lausanne with Venizelos.
26.	Nikolaos Plastiras (1883-1953)		Colonel. One of the three members of the 'Thessaloniki movement' (1916) which helped Greece to enter the WWI with the Allies (an idea strongly supported by E. Venizelos) and win the Bulgarians and Turks from Macedonia and Eastern Thraque (together with General P. Daglis, P. Kountouriotis). He played a major role both in the Ukrainian and Minor Asia Campaigns where his bravery and swarthy skin gave him the nickname of the "Black rider". After the disastrous result of the Minor Asia Campaign he leaded (together with St. Gonatas) the "Revolutionary Committee" of 1922, the regime which forced King Konstantinos I in exile. He took responsibility for the result of the 'Trial of the Six" which ld to the execution of the appellees. During the Revolution of '22 he succeeded in reshuffling the defeated Army, especially by reorganizing the Evros Army - an action that helped Greece to negotiate and finally ratify the Treaty of Lausanne with better terms. The following years after the establishment of the modern Hellenic Republic (25/3/1924) found Plastiras always in the "spotlight": He resisted in the dictatorship of Pangalos (1925-1926), but he was finally routed out of the country. In 1933, he once again resisted in an Anti-Venizelic major Coalition (leaded by Tsaldaris, Kondylis and Metaxas) by taking up the Ministry of Military. He finally conceded to yield and surrender among public disapproval of his action. After WWII he became Premier (3/1/1945 - 9/4/1945) where he resigned four months later amid a political scandal revealing his intention for neutrality during WWII.
27.	General Theodoros Pangalos (1878-1952)		He participated in the Balkan Wars, at 'Goudi movement' and at 'Thessaloniki movement' (1916). During Asia Minor campaign, he landed at Smyrna in May 1919 to serve together with Commander-in Chief L. Paraskevopoulos. He publicly confronted A. Stergiades, a contention which resulted in his 'volunteered' resignation and replacement. After Smyrna holocaust he participated in the "Revolutionary movement" (1922). In 1925 he led a Coup d' Etat which proclaimed him Prime Minister and subsequently President of the Republic until 1926.