1910-1920: Venizelos in the greek and the international political scene

21 Nov 1910-1920: Venizelos in the greek and the international political scene

1910: Eleftherios Venizelos became the President of the Cre­tan Assembly and Prime Minister of the Cretan State on May 2. Venizelos’s political friends submitted his candidacy in the Greek elections (August 8). He was elected first deputy for the constituency of Attica-Boeotia and was sworn in office as Prime Minister of Greece on October 6. New elections fol­lowed on November 28, in which the old traditional parties abstained and Venizelos gained a triumphant victory.

1911: Venizelos’s government initiated reforms and the eco­nomic and military reorganisation of the country. A new con­stitution and a state of law in Greece were established.

1912: March: Electoral victory of the Liberal Party. Defensive alliance signed between Greece and Bulgaria. Ultimatum pre­sented by Serbia and Bulgaria to Turkey (October 4). The First Balkan war. Victories of the Greek army. Thessaloniki liberat­ed (October 26). Naval battle of Elli won by Greek fleet (De­cember 3).

1913: Naval battle of Lemnos won by Greek fleet (January 5). Ioannina liberated (February 21). Assassination of King George in Thessaloniki (March 5). Peace treaty signed in Lon­don (May 17). Alliance treaty signed between Greece and Serbia (May 19). Bulgarian attack against Greece and Serbia (June 13), sig­nalling the outbreak of the Second Balkan war. Bulgaria de­feated. Treaty of Bucharest signed (July 28). The Greek State doubled its territorial surface. Venizelos’s increased popularity. Union of Crete with Greece (December 1).

1914: Outbreak of World War I. Eleftherios Venizelos foresaw the victory of the Entente and supported Greece’s entrance in­to the war.

1915: Venizelos’s proposal for the participation of Greece in the expedition of Gallipoli (February 16). Disagreement be­tween Venizelos and King Constantine. Resignation of the government (February 21). Gounaris government. Elections (May 31), in which the Liberals obtained a significant victory. Serious dissension between the Crown and Venizelos con­cerning Greece’s commitment towards Serbia. Venizelos re­signed. Formation of a government under Zaimis. British and French troops disembarked at Thessaloniki following a re­quest of Venizelos. Cyprus offered to Greece by Britain on condition that the former would participate in the war on the side of Entente. The proposal was rejected by the royalist Greek government.

1916: Rupel fortifications handed over to the Bulgarians. Out­break of a coup of the National Defence Movement in Thessa­loniki (August 29). Expansionist designs of Germans and Bul­garians tolerated by the royalist government in Athens. Venizelos left Athens to settle in Thessaloniki. A Provisional Government was set up in Thessaloniki exerting authority over Northern Greece, Crete and the islands of the Eastern Aegean Sea. Formation of an army fit for combat and its participation in the war. Skirmishes between Anglo-French troops and Greek army faithful to the King. Atrocities perpetrated by roy­alists at the expense of Venizelos’s supporters (the “November incidents”, November 18). Athens besieged by British and French armed forces.

1917: Abdication of King Constantine (May 30). King Alexander named as his successor. Venizelos arrived in Athens and took over authority as Prime Minister (June 14).

1918: Significant victories of the Greek army in Macedonia. Capitulation of Bulgaria (September 17) and Turkey (October 17). Armistice signed at Moudros.

1919: Paris Conference. Venizelos’s contribution to the victo­ry of the Allies internationally acknowledged. Landing of Greek army at Smyrna (May 2).

1920: Advance of Greek army to the interior of Asia Minor (conquest of Brussa) and to Chataldja in Eastern Thrace. Sig­nature of the Treaty of Sevres by Eleftherios Venizelos (July 28). Annexation of Eastern and Western Thrace and of the High Commission of Smyrna to Greece. «Greece of the two Continents and of the five Seas» achieved. Assassination at­tempt against Venizelos in Paris (Lyon railway station) by two royalist ex-officers. Death of King Alexander. General elec­tions and defeat of the Liberal Party (November 1). Self-exile of Venizelos in Paris.