In June, the Powers seemed at last inclined to take strong measures against the Athens Government. Venizelists were being constantly arrested in Greece and the Allies insulted, so that a naval demonstration was decided on, together with the landing of a strong contingent of Allied troops to be sent from Salonica. But Britain and France were not in absolute agreement as to the line of action to be taken, while both Governments hesitated before deciding on measures capable of provoking an open rupture and of driving Greece definitely into the arms of the Central Empires. Nor was there complete understanding between General Sarrail and the French Admiral, Dartige du Fournet, as each of them wished to have the operations under his own control. But when the troops were embarked at Salonica and ready to sail for the Piræus, M. Skouloudis resigned (June 20th), and was succeeded by M. Zaïmis, a statesman apparently more favourable to the Entente; the King thereupon accepted the Allies’ Note demanding the demobilization of part of the army, the withdrawal of all Greek troops from Macedonia and Thessaly, and the cession to the Allies of the fleet and a certain amount of war material—with the firm intention of doing nothing of the kind. The expedition was therefore suspended.
In August, 1916, Venizelos was already contemplating a revolutionary movement at Salonica, under the protection of the Allies, but he did not yet dare to act, hesitating at the thought of provoking civil war. His followers were bolder, and on August 30th an insurrection against the Athens Government broke out, under the leadership of Colonels Zimbrakakis and Mazarakis, the ex-Prefect Argyropoulo and M. Tsanas. The gendarmerie and the artillery joined the insurgents, whereas the infantry, commanded by Colonel Tricoupis, Chief of the Staff of the III Corps, remained faithful to the King. There were some encounters on the Place d’Armes, near the barracks, and General Sarrail seized the occasion to order the immediate evacuation of Salonica by the Royalist troops, “to liberate Macedonia from all armed forces who were vassals of Germany.”[24] The Committee of Public Safety, with the assent of Sarrail, took possession of the administration, and Colonel Zimbrakakis summoned Venizelos to Salonica. The latter arrived on September 9th, unhindered by the Royal Government. According to General Sarrail, with whom other observers are also in agreement on this point, there was a tacit understanding between Constantine and Venizelos. There is, however, no proof of it, and the personal hostility which had long existed between the two seems to incompatible with such a supposition. But it is certain that with the arrival of Venizelos at Salonica that city was secured for Greece, whatever the outcome of the war might be, and with Salonica the future of the kingdom was also assured. If the Central Empires won, King Constantine might count, owing to his anti-Entente policy, on their benevolence, whereas if the Allies won Venizelos might claim anything of them. If Constantine had been a little more astute he might have taken advantage of this curious situation, in his own interest.
Venizelos, with General Danglis and Admiral Coundouriotis, constituted a “triumvirate” which assumed authority under the name of “Provisional Government of National Defence.” Its rule was limited to Greek Macedonia (except the territories beyond the Struma occupied by the Bulgarians and Germans), Crete and the other islands of the Archipelago. Even in those territories the new Government had many adversaries, and without the support of the Armée d’Orient and of the Allied fleets it would have been unable to hold its own, because its professedly interventionist attitude was not very popular. Epirus, the Greeks of Koritza, and Thessaly hesitated, and Sarrail, in order to avoid conflicts between Greeks, created the so-called Neutral Zone between Macedonia and Thessaly. This territory was never violated, a fact which proved advantageous to King Constantine, as it prevented the penetration of Venizelist elements into the kingdom.
Venizelos at once set to work to raise an army capable of fighting by the side of the Allies in Macedonia. It was a case not only of creating an army out of nothing, but also of rehabilitating Greece from the discredit which the ambiguous policy of the King, her intriguing politicians, and the inadequate sense of dignity and lack of political instinct of a great part of the army and of the people, had cast on her. Deserted as he was by almost everyone in Greece, the undertaking seemed well nigh impossible, and the fact that he succeeded at all is a proof of his eminent qualities as well as of unhoped for good luck.
On September 22, 1916, a first Greek battalion was formed and sent to the Struma incorporated in a French unit under a British Command. On November 14th it was joined by two more battalions, and thus the first regiment was formed. In March, 1917, two more regiments were created, and the three constituted a division which was called the Serres Division, because the first nucleus was formed of men belonging to the old Serres Division who had escaped after the surrender of the IV Corps. During the spring, drafts from the islands arrived and were formed into a second division—that of the Archipelago, and some months later the Cretan Division also arrived. The three divisions were welded into an Army Corps, known as the National Defence Army Corps; this was in fact the National Defence Army, commanded by General Zimbrakakis (whom we have seen as Colonel).[25] Immense efforts had been necessary to achieve this result. In Macedonia, real Greeks were few, and not all of them very keen on intervention; the other elements of the population were decidedly opposed to it, or, like the Turks, openly pro-German. Everybody did their best to evade military service, with such pretexts as commerce, work necessary for the Allied armies, propaganda, or the production of documents and certificates of some neutral nationality acquired with lightning speed.
The National Defence Government had to resort to every kind of violence to raise even a few volunteers. General Sarrail has published in the article already quoted a series of telegrams from that Government to the local authorities in the various territories which had recognized Venizelos containing very stringent instructions to force the inhabitants to join the colours.[26]
HILL 1075. ARTILLERY CAMP.
ARTILLERY O.P.