Eleftherios Venizelos
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Elefthérios Venizélos (Greek: Ελευθέριος Βενιζέλος) (23 August 1864 - 18 March 1936) was probably the most significant politician of modern Greece.
[edit] Education and entry into politics
Born in Murniés near Haniá, Crete, he studied law at the University of Athens, then returned to Crete where he was elected to the local Assembly for the Liberal Party.
[edit] The Cretan uprising
Venizelos was in favor of Cretan enosos, or Union with Greece and fought in the Cretan rebellion of 1897. The uprising ended with Crete being granted autonomy by the Ottoman Empire. British, Russian, Italian and Austro-Hungarian battle ships and marines came to Crete to force the Turkish army out of the island. Under pressure from the European powers, Prince George of Greece was made High Commissioner of the island with Venizélos serving as his councilor of justice. The European powers helped Prince George to create a Cretan Gendarmerie in order to enforce the law.
Venizelos helped draft the Cretan constitution and became a member of the government under Prince George, the high commissioner of the island.
[edit] Falling out with Prince George
Prince George and Venizélos soon had a falling out because George, a staunch royalist, assumed absolute power. Venizélos became leader of the opposition, and when matters came to a head, led an armed insurgency, which eventually forced the prince to leave the island. He was replaced by former Greek prime minister Alexandros Zaimis.
[edit] Election to the Greek Parliament
In 1910, in Athens, the Parliament was dissolved in a political crisis. Venizélos moved to Athens and in the elections of 8 August 1910, he and his team were elected members of the Parliament. His founded his political party, "Komma Fileleftheron" (Liberal Party) at this time. On 2 October 1910, he formed a government and started to reorganize the economic, political, and national affairs of the country.
Because of his prudence in shaking-up the army and fleet, the country was well prepared for the Balkan Wars of 1912-1913, and thus it became possible to liberate the Northern territories of Epirus, Macedonia, and the Aegean Islands. The debates of Venizélos with Prince Constantine I on the route of the Army and which cities should be first liberated are very well known. This was the first conflict between Venizélos and Constantine, who shortly became king after his father's assassination in 1913.
[edit] Dispute over Greece's role in World War I
The next conflict between Constantine and Venizélos was during World War I.
Though Greece remained neutral for the first years, Venizélos supported the an alliance with the Entente, believing that Britain and France would win. On the other hand Constantine wanted to remain neutral. In a series of debates, Venizélos resigned on 21 February 1915. Venizélos's party again won the elections and formed a government. Though Venizélos promised to remain neutral, Bulgaria's attack on Serbia, with which Greece had an alliance treaty, obliged him to abandon that policy. A major dispute with the king caused him to resign again. At the next elections he didn't take part as he considered the dissolution of the Parliament unconstitutional. Meanwhile, with the excuse of saving Serbia, the Allies disembarked an army in Thessaloniki.
[edit] The National Schism
This debate between Venizélos and Constantine was the cause of the National schism, which was a social wound for the country over many decades. In 1916 Venizélos's followers organized a military movement in Thessaloniki, called the "Temporary Government of National Defence". There they founded a new state including Northern Greece and Aegean Islands.
[edit] Return to Athens
In May 1917, after the exile of Constantine (his second son Alexander succeeded him), Venizélos returned to Athens and allied with the Entente. Greek military forces (though divided between supporters of the monarchy and supporters of Venizélos) began to take part in military operations against the Bulgarian army on the border. By the fall of 1918, the Greek army with nine divisions was the largest part of the Allied army in Greece.
Under the command of French General Franchet d'Esperey, Allied forces launched a major offensive against the Bulgarian and German army starting on 14 September 1918. The Bulgarian army quickly gave up their defensive positions and began retreating back towards Bulgaria. On 30 September, the Bulgarian government asked for an armistice. The Greek army ended up playing a small role in one of the final campaigns of World War I.
[edit] Negotiation of postwar treaties
Following the conclusion of World War I, Venizélos took part in the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 and as Greece's representative signed the Treaty of Neuilly (27 November 1919) and the Treaty of Sèvres (10 August 1920). As the result of these treaties Greece acquired (very temporarily) Eastern Thrace and Smyrna. On his journey home he faced an assassination attack at the Gare de Lyon railway station in Paris. After his recovery he returned in Greece, where he was welcomed as a hero because he had liberated areas with Greek populations.
[edit] 1920 electoral defeat and withdrawal from politics
Despite the war victory, he lost the November 1920 elections, to the great dissatisfaction of the newly liberated populations in Asia Minor. As a result of his defeat, he left for Paris, withdrawing from politics.
Following the Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922), as the representative of Greece, he signed the Treaty of Lausanne with Turkey on 24 July 1923.
[edit] Return to power in 1928 and subsequent exile
In the elections held on 5 July 1928, Venizélos's party regained power and forced the government to hold new elections on 19 August of the same year; this time his party won 228 out of 250 places in the Parliament. Venizélos governed Greece until 1932. In 1933 he was the target of a second assassination attempt. This was followed by disorder that led to the creation of the military movement led by Venizélos and General Nikolaos Plastiras in 1935. The movement failed, and as a result Venizélos was exiled.
After his departure, trials and executions of prominent supporters of Venizelos are carried out along with the Abolition of "Kingless Democracy" and return of George II to the throne following a referendum which some allege was rigged.
[edit] Exile and death
He left for Paris, where he died in 1936 while staying at the Hôtel Ritz Paris. A crowd of supporters from the local Greek community in Paris accompanied his body to the railway station prior to its departure for Greece.
His body taken by the destroyer "Pavlos Kountoyriotis" to Chania, avoiding Athens so as not to cause unrest. His body was subsequently buried in Akrotiri in Crete with much fanfare.
[edit] See also
| Preceded by: Stephanos Dragoumis | Prime Minister of Greece 18 October 1910 - 10 March 1915 | Succeeded by: Dimitrios Gounaris |
| Preceded by: Dimitrios Gounaris | Prime Minister of Greece 23 August 1915 - 7 October 1915 | Succeeded by: Alexandros Zaimis |
| Preceded by: Alexandros Zaimis | Prime Minister of Greece 27 June, 1917 - 18 November 1920 | Succeeded by: Dimitrios Rallis |
| Preceded by: Stilianos Gonatas | Prime Minister of Greece 24 January 1924 - 19 February 1924 | Succeeded by: Georgios Kaphantaris |
| Preceded by: Alexandros Zaimis | Prime Minister of Greece 4 July 1928 - 26 May 1932 | Succeeded by: Alexandros Papanastasiou |
| Preceded by: Alexandros Papanastasiou | Prime Minister of Greece 5 June, 1932 - 3 November 1932 | Succeeded by: Panagis Tsaldaris |
| Preceded by: Panagis Tsaldaris | Prime Minister of Greece 16 January 1933 - 6 March 1933 | Succeeded by: Alexandros Othonaios |
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