The Macedonian campaign

by Luigi Villari

To face p. 140.

But in any case this Government had to be considered an ally; France and Britain recognized it officially and sent diplomatic agents to Salonica as their representatives, although they did not break off relations with the Athens Government. Italy never recognized the new Government, a fact which was the cause of disagreement between us and our Allies. The Greeks of both persuasions did not fail to take advantage of this lack of unity in the Allies’ policy, and incidents between them and all the Allies were by no means infrequent. The Salonica Venizelists were particularly incensed against us. Their Press did not scruple to attack us in the most violent and coarsest manner, circulating the most idiotic libels, such as the statement that the Italian Government was starving the inhabitants of the Dodecannese to death, when it was notorious that it was feeding them and selling them food below cost price, so that prices were lower in those islands than in Italy. A more serious incident was the absolutely unprovoked murder, by a Greek sergeant, of two unarmed Italian soldiers of the Territorial Militia while they were washing clothes in a stream. The assassin was discovered and arrested by our carabinieri and handed over to the Greek authorities for punishment. The Greek court acquitted him and the Public Prosecutor actually exalted him as a hero! The British, too, were irritated against the Greeks, and even the French, who protected them officially, in private conversation expressed the greatest contempt for them. General Sarrail states that, as soon as it had been recognized by France and Britain, the National Defence Government tried to revive a number of old claims for preposterous indemnities demanded by Salonica natives for requisitions or doubtful damages. The Finance Minister at one moment had even decreed that the State Treasury was to refuse French bank notes, so that the C.A.A. had to buy drachmæ at the rate of 80 for 100 francs, even when the money was to be spent for the Venizelist Army.

On September 11th the Zaïmis Cabinet, which was moderately pro-Entente, fell and was succeeded by that of M. Kalogheropoulo, but as the Allies refused to treat with the latter, it too fell on October 4th. Professor Lambros then became Premier, with a frankly anti-Ally policy, and thus we come to the catastrophe of December 1st. The Greek Government, after having undertaken to withdraw the troops from Thessaly and to hand over the fleet and war material, failed to do so. After endless shuffling, the Allied fleets were sent to the Piræus and a policy of coercion was decided on. As a pledge for the cession of war material, the Government was to hand over 10 mountain batteries at once. Admiral Dartige had certain strategic points in Athens and the road between the capital and the Piræus occupied by detachments of French seamen with machine guns. Then he went himself to Athens, and communicated his plan of operations to the King.[27] Suddenly there was a general burst of rifle fire. The detachment at the Zappeion and those along the Athens-Piræus road were surrounded by Greek soldiers, as were also the Allied legations. The French seamen had fallen into a regular ambush, and 200 of them were killed. Admiral Dartige and several detachments of seamen were taken prisoners and escorted to the Piræus. Both he and the Foreign Ministers then agreed to accept six batteries instead of ten, while the rest of the material was to be handed over on December 15th.

General Sarrail received the most contradictory instructions (which he quotes textually in his memoirs). Whereas the French G.H.Q. and the Government ordered him to take the military measures necessary to re-establish the prestige of the Entente in Greece and sent out the 16th Colonial Division, which he was to reinforce with other troops from Salonica, the French Minister at Athens and Admiral Dartige, anxious for the safety of the foreign colonies, insisted on nothing being done. Sarrail himself wanted to take action, occupying various strategic points in Greece and blowing up the railway bridges at Corinth and Lamia. The French Government had entrusted General Sarrail with the conduct of the operations to be carried out in Greece, but Admiral Dartige had held back the 16th Division. The British and Italian Governments were adverse to any energetic action against King Constantine because, in view of the general military situation and of that on the Macedonian front in particular, they thought that it would be dangerous to brusquer les choses. Thus, while the Greek Government had suppressed all the Allied controls, the Athens wireless station began to communicate with Sofia once more, and the Venizelists were subjected to the most ferocious persecution, the Allies presented a fresh ultimatum to Greece (these documents now came to be called pen-ultimatums) on December 14th, demanding merely the withdrawal of the troops from Thessaly, without mentioning the cession of war material or claiming any satisfaction for the massacre of December 1st. The Greek Government accepted without hesitation, and the 16th Colonial Division departed for Salonica.

These events undoubtedly weakened the prestige of the Entente in the East, because it was clearly seen that the Allies were by no means agreed as to the policy to be followed and that they dare not take strong measures. This consequently strengthened King Constantine and the pro-German and neutralist elements. The only thing that the Allies did decide to do was to impose a blockade on Greece, which aroused great irritation against them without being sufficient to reduce the Athens Government to obedience. At the Rome Conference in January, 1917, at which General Sarrail had been present, although little attention was paid to him, no conclusion concerning Greece was arrived at, except that of doing nothing for the present. But the situation at Athens rendered that of the Armée d’Orient ever more difficult, and it was necessary to find some solution for the former if the Macedonian front were to be made safe. The Greek Government, although it had withdrawn its troops from Thessaly, left many officers and strong detachments of gendarmerie there, which might serve as cadres for the reservists. From the Peloponnese many soldiers were allowed to go to Thessaly on leave. Whereas at Athens provisions were lacking, they were being concentrated in abundance in the north; every now and then the control officers, who had been re-established, found arms and ammunition depots. Bands, comprising soldiers and reservists, were also formed.[28] It was to oppose these bands and to prevent them from penetrating into the Neutral Zone that General Sarrail sent detachments to Kozani and Grevena. But the Greek question continued to provoke inter-Allied incidents; according to Sarrail, General Phillips, the Chief of the British Military Mission in Greece, tried to minimize the importance of the trickery and chicanes of the Greeks; even two French officers supported King Constantine—General Bousquier, Chief of the French Military Mission at Athens, and General Baumann at Corfu (always according to the French C.-in-C.).

The Greeks at Salonica having assumed a truculent attitude towards ourselves, the Italian troops received orders that, while they were to avoid giving rise to any incidents, they were to ensure respect for the Italian name and uniform. An Italian soldier who, having been insulted without the slightest provocation by a Greek, gave him a sound thrashing, received an encomium and a reward. General Petitti, in accordance with instructions from his own Government, did not recognize the National Defence Government in any way, and merely exchanged visiting cards with M. Venizelos, to whom he had been introduced by the Italian Consul. But he refused to allow forced recruiting for the National Defence Army among the inhabitants of the Italian area in the Krusha Balkan. Subsequently our Command agreed that the native labourers in our employ, if subject to military service, should be exchanged with others who were exempt from such duties. Colonel Bodrero, commanding the Italian garrison at Salonica, was, however, on terms of friendship with M. Venizelos, and saw him often. He also assisted at a religious ceremony of a political Venizelist character at Santa Sofia, at a moment when it was reported that Italy was about to recognize the Provisional Government. But nothing came of these avances.

Finally, in April, the Powers decided to occupy Thessaly, and General Sarrail received instructions to keep himself in readiness for the operation, but the date was not yet fixed. He was then ordered to proceed to Thessaly after the offensive in Macedonia, scheduled for May, had been carried out. At first the intention was merely to secure the harvest in Thessaly, both because it would be useful for the Armée d’Orient, and because it would render the blockade of Greece more effective. But Sarrail wished to go much further; he actually proposed to upset King Constantine and establish a republic in Greece with Venizelos as President. To this, however, both Britain and Italy raised strong objection; two monarchies were certainly not going to co-operate in upsetting another one, especially in view of the Russian situation. After protracted discussions, it was agreed that Constantine should be forced to abdicate, and that his son Prince Alexander should be placed on the throne, with Venizelos as Prime Minister. The conduct of the Allied action in Greece was entrusted to M. Jonnart, former Governor-General of Algeria, as High Commissioner for the Entente. Even Sarrail was placed under his orders, which did not please the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief in the Orient. On June 3rd he sent a detailed report on the situation to M. Jonnart, to whom he submitted the plan of operations which he proposed to execute. On the 6th, Jonnart reached Salonica to make his final arrangements with Sarrail and Venizelos. In order to avoid any possibility of resistance on the part of King Constantine, it was decided to occupy simultaneously Thessaly to secure the harvest, the Isthmus of Corinth to prevent the troops in the Peloponnesus, who were faithful to the King, from entering Continental Greece, and the Piræus with a view to advancing on Athens and forcing the King to abdicate.

M. Jonnart immediately left for the Piræus. On June 8th, a French column commanded by General Venel advanced across the Neutral Zone into Thessaly, while a Franco-British-Russian force, commanded by General Régnault, embarked for the Piræus and the Isthmus of Corinth. In Thessaly there was no resistance, except at Larissa, where a Greek regiment opened fire on the French cavalry, but was soon reduced to impotence. On the 10th, M. Jonnart, who had established his quarters on board the French battleship Justice, had a meeting with M. Zaïmis, the new Greek Premier. The Isthmus of Corinth was occupied, and the ships conveying the troops destined for Athens were anchored off the Piræus. On the 11th, Jonnart, in the name of the Protecting Powers of Greece (France, Britain and Russia), sent an ultimatum to Zaïmis, in which the abdication of King Constantine was demanded, in order that Constitutional Government might be re-established in the country, as the Constitution had been violated by the illegal dissolution of the Chamber; the King himself was invited to choose his successor, who, however, was not to be the Diadoch on account of his notoriously anti-German sentiments. A reply was demanded within twenty-four hours. Constantine now realized that all resistance was useless—his own capital was within range of the guns of the fleet, and troops were ready to land at the Piræus. That same evening M. Zaïmis informed M. Jonnart that the ultimatum had been accepted unconditionally, and on the 12th he sent him the official reply of the Greek Government to the same effect. When the news of the King’s abdication became known in the city, there were some demonstrations in his favour; but the landing of the French and Russian troops (the British were at Corinth) removed all danger of a rising, In order to preclude any contact with the population and to draw off the attention of the crowd, some empty Royal motor cars, with the blinds down, issued from the main entrance of the Palace and drove towards the Zappeion, while the King and his family departed secretly at about 17 hrs. in the direction of the Royal villa of Tatoï, and thence proceeded to the little port of Oropos in the Eubœa Channel, where they embarked on the Royal yacht Sphacteria. Together with another vessel for the suite and the baggage, and escorted by two French destroyers, the Sphacteria sailed for Italy, whence the ex-King and his family went into exile in Switzerland.

In the meanwhile Prince Alexander, Constantine’s second son, who had been designated as successor, had taken the oath of allegiance to the Constitution. M. Jonnart then published a proclamation to the Greek people, announcing the raising of the blockade, the re-establishment of good relations between the Protecting Powers and Greece, and the imminent restoration of national unity. After a conversation with M. Jonnart, M. Zaïmis ordered the expulsion from Greece of a certain number of personages implicated in Constantine’s policy, including the ex-Premiers Gounaris, Skouloudis and Lambros, six other Ministers, General Dousmanis and another General, Colonel Metaxas, Assistant Chief of the Staff, and Admiral Hösslin, the head of the German propaganda service and several others—in all 160 people. Immediately after ascending the throne, King Alexander announced in a proclamation to the people that “he would follow in the glorious footsteps of his father,” which was not exactly what was desired, and the phrase had a somewhat disconcerting effect. But he corrected this faux pas directly after in a letter to M. Zaïmis in which he promised faithfully to respect the Constitution and declared himself ready to co-operate with the Protecting Powers for the pacification of public feeling and the reconciliation of the country (June 20th).

On the 21st the delegates of M. Venizelos met those of M. Zaïmis, and M. Venizelos himself arrived at Salamis, where he had a conversation with M. Jonnart on board the Justice. It was then decided to re-convoke the Chamber elected in 1915, in which the majority was Venizelist and had been illegally dissolved by Constantine. King Alexander having agreed to send for Venizelos, Zaïmis resigned (June 27th), and Venizelos re-entered Athens under the protection of French troops who had occupied all the strategic positions in the city, and of 400 Cretan gendarmes. The new Cabinet comprised Venizelos himself as Premier and Minister of War, Politis, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Repoulis (Interior), Admiral Coundouriotis (Marine), Empiricos (Communications), etc. Jonnart had authorized Venizelos to modify certain points of the Constitution and to suspend the permanency of the judiciary, so as to cleanse the State of Royalist[29] officials. The process was carried out without excessive squeamishness. Many officials, magistrates and officers were dismissed; the trials and convictions for political offences, and the sentences of deportation or exile were innumerable. The population, which had attacked the Venizelists after December 1st with the utmost ferocity, and with the complicity or the help of the authorities had committed the most diabolical cruelties against them, accepted the new régime without resistance, if without enthusiasm. There was still a strong Royalist party, comprising almost the whole of the upper class and a great part of the officers. But its chiefs having been arrested or deported, it was in no position to offer any resistance. The mass of the people, although less enthusiastic about Constantine than the higher classes, was hostile to Venizelos because he represented war, and they had no wish to fight. But there was also an ardently Venizelist minority, comprising some of the best elements of the country, who saw beyond mean party struggles and immediate material interests. It was this group which, with support of the Allies, ended by triumphing.