1922 in Greece
Encyclopedia
See also:
1921 in Greece
, other events of 1922, 1923 in Greece and the Timeline of Greek history.
----
The year 1922 was the most calamitous in the whole history of modern Greece
. It witnessed the shattering of hopes and aspirations nourished by Hellenism ever since the first days of its struggle for independence and the realization of the dream of a free Hellas, the centenary of which had just been celebrated; more particularly of the idea of a greater Greece with which the name of Eleftherios Venizelos
has been so closely associated ever since his first call to power in 1910. From a Balkan power of dominant magnitude Greece was thrown back into the unenviable position she occupied after the disastrous Greco-Turkish War of 1897.
and Venizelists
, which found its most notable expression in the controversy between the Athens government and the Constantinople Phanar in connection with the election in December 1921 of Mgr. Meletios Metaxakis, an ardent supporter of Venizelos, as ecumenical patriarch. Athens refused to recognize Mgr. Metaxakis as spiritual head of the church in Greece proper, and the synodical court in Athens went so far as to condemn him to be deprived of his ecclesiastical rank and interned in the Monastery of Zante.
, Lord Curzon of Kedleston, and Carlo Schanzer was opened in Paris, and one of its first steps was to propose to the Greeks and Turks a three months' armistice in Asia Minor together with the establishment of a neutral zone between the warring armies, pending negotiations for the conclusion of peace. At the same time it advocated the evacuation of the whole of Asia Minor by the Greeks, the establishment of a special regime for the Smyrna
area, and the placing of racial minorities under the protection of the League of Nations
. It further drew up plans for the demilitarization of the Straits and a rectification of the Turkish-Greek frontier in Eastern Thrace between the neighbourhood of Ganos on the Sea of Marmora and a point on the Bulgarian frontier in the western part of the Stranja mountains, leaving Rodosto to the Turks and placing Baba-Eske and Kirk Kilisse on the Greek side of the border, Greece thus retaining Adrianople. The Angora government expressed its readiness to enter into an armistice on condition that Smyrna should be immediately evacuated by the Greeks, and that the evacuation of Asia Minor should be completed within four months. The Greek government, while nominally accepting the Allied proposals, made hasty preparations for the formation, under the auspices of the Greek military leaders, of a special "Government of Ionia" (hinterland of Smyrna) on the same general lines as the Angora Nationalist government, while simultaneously an organization of Greeks resident abroad, consisting mainly of Venizelist elements and calling itself the "League for National Defense", issued an appeal to Greeks all over the world to oppose the evacuation of Asia Minor by the Greek army. Meanwhile no attempt was made to carry out the Allied proposals in practice, and for nearly three months the situation in Asia Minor remained in suspense, no official armistice being concluded, while at the same time active hostilities on the front were limited to small skirmishes between the outposts of the two armies.
resigned in March, and was succeeded by Nikolaos Stratos
, a moderate royalist, who, however, gave place once more to Gounaris. The latter in his turn resigned for a second time, before being a month in office, on May 12, and was again succeeded by Stratos, who, after holding the premiership for a short time, made way for a coalition cabinet under Petros Protopapadakis
, which included among its members both Stratos and Gounaris.
Speaking in the House of Commons on the Near Eastern situation on August 4, David Lloyd George
strongly supported Greek claims to Asia Minor and Eastern Thrace, and paid a glowing tribute to Greek arms. Excerpts from the British premier's speech were published in a Greek army order of the day and distributed among the Greek troops in Asia Minor. Having failed to carry out the Constantinople coup, King Constantine's government once more reverted to the plan for the proclamation of an independent Ionia. At the same time a last attempt was made by the Allies to convoke a Near East conference (this time to be held in Venice, in September) of representatives of the Great Powers and the two belligerents to discuss terms of peace. Before, however, these steps could lead to any result, military events supervened, which entirely transformed the situation.
and other important posts, and in less than a fortnight what had from the first been a somewhat serious reverse to Greek arms developed into a debacle of unexpected magnitude, which left the Greek government no alternative but to order the immediate withdrawal of the army from Asia Minor and to address an appeal to the Allies to intervene with the object of procuring a cessation of hostilities. The Turks refused an armistice, and the Greek army was forced to embark while still being pursued by the victorious enemy, who entered Smyrna on September 9. Thousands of Greek refugees streamed to the coast from all parts of Anatolia, fleeing from the revenge of the Turks. The total number transported to various parts of Greece with the assistance of the Greek authorities and the Allies amounted to nearly 1,000,000.
was entrusted by the king with the formation of a new ministry. After two days spent in negotiations he failed in his task, and Nikolaos Triantaphyllakos
, the ex-high commissioner of Greece at Constantinople, was summoned, and succeeded with difficulty in forming a makeshift government. In the meantime excitement and dissatisfaction were steadily growing among the population, and strict measures were necessary for the maintenance of order. On September 26 martial law was proclaimed, following the revolt in Salonika of 8,000 troops and their officers, who sent word to Athens demanding the abdication of King Constantine
and the imprisonment of the former prime ministers, Gounaris and Stratos. This revolt was followed by that of troops stationed in the islands of Mytilene, Chios, and Crete. The army contingents in Mytilene formed a Revolutionary Committee headed by Colonel Stylianos Gonatas
, which despatched by aeroplane the following demands to Athens: the dismissal of the government, the dissolution of the Chamber, the holding of new elections, and the abdication of King Constantine in favour of the Diadoch. The revolutionary movement swiftly spread to other centres of old and new Greece and to the Greek gunboats stationed at Mytilene and in and about the port of Piraeus. The cabinet immediately resigned, and on September 27 King Constantine abdicated for the second time in the course of his career, and the Diadoch succeeded to the throne of Greece as King George II
.
and Nicholas
, the ex-king's brothers, and to arrest all prominent premiers, politicians, and military and naval leaders of the Constantinist faction, such as Gounaris, Stratos, Protopapadakis, and Theotokis, Admiral Goudas, General Papoulas, etc. A telegram was despatched by the Revolutionary Committee to Venizelos in Paris requesting him to collaborate with the new government in the attempt to rescue Greece from the catastrophe in which she had been involved by King Constantine and his advisers, and a new cabinet was formed with Alexandros Zaimis
, as premier, and Nikolaos Sokrates Politis, as foreign minister - both Venizelists. Venizelos, in his reply, intimated that for the time being he would confine himself merely to representing his country's interests abroad, and refused any actual participation in the new government. On September 30 ex-King Constantine, ex-Queen Sofia, and Prince Nicholas, with other members of the royal family, left Greece for Italy, the ex-King never to return.
as acting premier), and after having been in power for less than two months resigned on November 24, chiefly owing to internal differences arising from the trial of the ex-ministers, statesmen, and military leaders by a revolutionary tribunal on the charges of high treason. The British government, through its minister in Athens, Lindley, urged that the accused should be treated leniently. While certain members of the cabinet were prepared to accept the British suggestion, the more irreconcilable elements refused to submit to what they considered as foreign intervention in Greek internal affairs, and the cabinet accordingly resigned, and was replaced by one composed exclusively of members of the Revolutionary Committee and of the republican group which formed the committee's most active supporters. Colonel Gonatas, one of the leaders of the Revolutionary Committee, was appointed premier, and Konstantinos Rentis, one of the leaders of the republican group, as acting minister for foreign affairs. On November 27 the trial by the revolutionary court martial of the ex-ministers and military leaders was concluded. Six of the accused - Gounaris
, Theotokis, Valtatzis, Stratos
, Protopapadakis
, and General Hatzianestis
- were sentenced to death and executed the next morning, while Admiral Goudas and General Stratigos were sentenced to imprisonment for life. Following the execution of Gounaris and his companions the British government instructed the British minister at Athens to ask for his passports and leave Greece; nor had diplomatic relations between the two countries been renewed by the end of the year. Shortly after the execution of the six ministers the ex-king's brother Prince Andrew was tried by the same tribunal and sentenced to banishment for life from Greece. The prince and his family left Greece on December 4 for London.
1921 in Greece
1921 in Greece
See also:1920 in Greece, other events of 1921, 1922 in Greece and the Timeline of Greek history.----The end of 1920 with the death of the King of Greece, Alexander, the fall of Eleftherios Venizelos and the dramatic return of King Constantine I to the throne, brought Greece once more to the fore in...
, other events of 1922, 1923 in Greece and the Timeline of Greek history.
----
The year 1922 was the most calamitous in the whole history of modern Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
. It witnessed the shattering of hopes and aspirations nourished by Hellenism ever since the first days of its struggle for independence and the realization of the dream of a free Hellas, the centenary of which had just been celebrated; more particularly of the idea of a greater Greece with which the name of Eleftherios Venizelos
Eleftherios Venizelos
Eleftherios Venizelos was an eminent Greek revolutionary, a prominent and illustrious statesman as well as a charismatic leader in the early 20th century. Elected several times as Prime Minister of Greece and served from 1910 to 1920 and from 1928 to 1932...
has been so closely associated ever since his first call to power in 1910. From a Balkan power of dominant magnitude Greece was thrown back into the unenviable position she occupied after the disastrous Greco-Turkish War of 1897.
Continued Strife
The first months of 1922 were marked by the continuation of the strife between ConstantinistsConstantine I of Greece
Constantine I was King of Greece from 1913 to 1917 and from 1920 to 1922. He was commander-in-chief of the Hellenic Army during the unsuccessful Greco-Turkish War of 1897 and led the Greek forces during the successful Balkan Wars of 1912–1913, in which Greece won Thessaloniki and doubled in...
and Venizelists
Venizelism
Venizelism was one of the major political movements in Greece from the 1900s until the mid 1970s.- Ideology :Named after Eleftherios Venizelos, the key characteristics of Venizelism were:*Opposition to Monarchy...
, which found its most notable expression in the controversy between the Athens government and the Constantinople Phanar in connection with the election in December 1921 of Mgr. Meletios Metaxakis, an ardent supporter of Venizelos, as ecumenical patriarch. Athens refused to recognize Mgr. Metaxakis as spiritual head of the church in Greece proper, and the synodical court in Athens went so far as to condemn him to be deprived of his ecclesiastical rank and interned in the Monastery of Zante.
Negotiations for Peace
In the meantime the efforts of the Allies to negotiate a peace settlement between Greece and the Turkish Nationalists which had been commenced in the previous year, were continued. A meeting of British, French, and Italian statesmen to discuss Near Eastern affairs and the revision of the Sèvres Treaty was unofficially announced to take place early in February, but was postponed. On March 22, however, a conference of Allied foreign ministers consisting of Raymond PoincaréRaymond Poincaré
Raymond Poincaré was a French statesman who served as Prime Minister of France on five separate occasions and as President of France from 1913 to 1920. Poincaré was a conservative leader primarily committed to political and social stability...
, Lord Curzon of Kedleston, and Carlo Schanzer was opened in Paris, and one of its first steps was to propose to the Greeks and Turks a three months' armistice in Asia Minor together with the establishment of a neutral zone between the warring armies, pending negotiations for the conclusion of peace. At the same time it advocated the evacuation of the whole of Asia Minor by the Greeks, the establishment of a special regime for the Smyrna
Izmir
Izmir is a large metropolis in the western extremity of Anatolia. The metropolitan area in the entire Izmir Province had a population of 3.35 million as of 2010, making the city third most populous in Turkey...
area, and the placing of racial minorities under the protection of the League of Nations
League of Nations
The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...
. It further drew up plans for the demilitarization of the Straits and a rectification of the Turkish-Greek frontier in Eastern Thrace between the neighbourhood of Ganos on the Sea of Marmora and a point on the Bulgarian frontier in the western part of the Stranja mountains, leaving Rodosto to the Turks and placing Baba-Eske and Kirk Kilisse on the Greek side of the border, Greece thus retaining Adrianople. The Angora government expressed its readiness to enter into an armistice on condition that Smyrna should be immediately evacuated by the Greeks, and that the evacuation of Asia Minor should be completed within four months. The Greek government, while nominally accepting the Allied proposals, made hasty preparations for the formation, under the auspices of the Greek military leaders, of a special "Government of Ionia" (hinterland of Smyrna) on the same general lines as the Angora Nationalist government, while simultaneously an organization of Greeks resident abroad, consisting mainly of Venizelist elements and calling itself the "League for National Defense", issued an appeal to Greeks all over the world to oppose the evacuation of Asia Minor by the Greek army. Meanwhile no attempt was made to carry out the Allied proposals in practice, and for nearly three months the situation in Asia Minor remained in suspense, no official armistice being concluded, while at the same time active hostilities on the front were limited to small skirmishes between the outposts of the two armies.
Internal Situation
The internal situation during the spring and early summer of 1922 also remained more or less stationary, except for a series of minor cabinet crises. Dimitrios GounarisDimitrios Gounaris
Dimitrios Gounaris was the Prime Minister of Greece from March 10, 1915 to August 23, 1915 and April 8, 1921 to May 16, 1922...
resigned in March, and was succeeded by Nikolaos Stratos
Nikolaos Stratos
Nikolaos Stratos was a Prime Minister of Greece for a few days in May, 1922. He was later tried and executed for his role in the Catastrophe of 1922.-Early political career:...
, a moderate royalist, who, however, gave place once more to Gounaris. The latter in his turn resigned for a second time, before being a month in office, on May 12, and was again succeeded by Stratos, who, after holding the premiership for a short time, made way for a coalition cabinet under Petros Protopapadakis
Petros Protopapadakis
-Life and work:Born in 1854 in Apeiranthos, Naxos, Protopapadakis studied mathematics and engineering in Paris but was keenly interested in politics. He was a professor at the Scholi Evelpidon, the military academy of Greece....
, which included among its members both Stratos and Gounaris.
Attempted Peace
Undaunted by the failure of the Paris conference, the French government made another attempt to bring Turkey and Greece to terms in the earlier part of July, when it put forward a proposal for the holding of a preliminary meeting of Turkish and Greek representatives in the presence of Allied commissioners. The Greek government, however, informed the Allies that Greece, after having in vain shown every disposition to facilitate a solution of the Eastern problem, would now reserve liberty of action and seek some direct solution. This announcement was followed by a note handed to the Allies on July 29, in which the Greek government declared its intention of occupying Constantinople with Greek troops, and thus forcing the Turks to conclude peace. This last note was duly followed by the landing of 25,000 Greek troops at Rodosto and corresponding military preparations for the carrying out of the proposed coup, according to a plan elaborated by General Hatzianestis, who had succeeded General Papoulas as commander-in-chief of the Greek armies. On being warned by the British government of the serious consequences that would follow such a step, the Greek minister of foreign affairs gave a positive assurance that on no account would Greece occupy Constantinople without Allied sanction, which was, as a matter of fact, refused.Speaking in the House of Commons on the Near Eastern situation on August 4, David Lloyd George
David Lloyd George
David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor OM, PC was a British Liberal politician and statesman...
strongly supported Greek claims to Asia Minor and Eastern Thrace, and paid a glowing tribute to Greek arms. Excerpts from the British premier's speech were published in a Greek army order of the day and distributed among the Greek troops in Asia Minor. Having failed to carry out the Constantinople coup, King Constantine's government once more reverted to the plan for the proclamation of an independent Ionia. At the same time a last attempt was made by the Allies to convoke a Near East conference (this time to be held in Venice, in September) of representatives of the Great Powers and the two belligerents to discuss terms of peace. Before, however, these steps could lead to any result, military events supervened, which entirely transformed the situation.
Commencement of General Offensive
On August 26 the Turkish Nationalist forces under the command of Mustafa Kemal Pasha attacked the Greek lines south and northeast of Afium-Karahissar. The operations gradually developed into a general offensive against the Greek forces, which were compelled two days later to evacuate the place. The loss of this key position was swiftly followed by the retreat of the Greek forces from EskişehirEskisehir
Eskişehir is a city in northwestern Turkey and the capital of the Eskişehir Province. According to the 2009 census, the population of the city is 631,905. The city is located on the banks of the Porsuk River, 792 m above sea level, where it overlooks the fertile Phrygian Valley. In the nearby...
and other important posts, and in less than a fortnight what had from the first been a somewhat serious reverse to Greek arms developed into a debacle of unexpected magnitude, which left the Greek government no alternative but to order the immediate withdrawal of the army from Asia Minor and to address an appeal to the Allies to intervene with the object of procuring a cessation of hostilities. The Turks refused an armistice, and the Greek army was forced to embark while still being pursued by the victorious enemy, who entered Smyrna on September 9. Thousands of Greek refugees streamed to the coast from all parts of Anatolia, fleeing from the revenge of the Turks. The total number transported to various parts of Greece with the assistance of the Greek authorities and the Allies amounted to nearly 1,000,000.
Government Crisis
The Greek debacle in Asia Minor was naturally followed by a government crisis in Greece proper. The cabinet resigned on September 8, and Nikolaos KalogeropoulosNikolaos Kalogeropoulos
Nikolaos Kalogeropoulos was a Greek politician and briefly Prime Minister of Greece.Kalogeropoulos was born in Chalkida, Euboea, and studied law in Athens and Paris. He was elected a Member of the Hellenic Parliament a total of ten times representing Euboea and served as minister in several...
was entrusted by the king with the formation of a new ministry. After two days spent in negotiations he failed in his task, and Nikolaos Triantaphyllakos
Nikolaos Triantaphyllakos
Nikolaos Triantafyllakos was a Prime Minister of Greece during a tumultuous time in Greek history in September 1922.He represented the prefecture of Arcadia in the Hellenic Parliament...
, the ex-high commissioner of Greece at Constantinople, was summoned, and succeeded with difficulty in forming a makeshift government. In the meantime excitement and dissatisfaction were steadily growing among the population, and strict measures were necessary for the maintenance of order. On September 26 martial law was proclaimed, following the revolt in Salonika of 8,000 troops and their officers, who sent word to Athens demanding the abdication of King Constantine
Constantine I of Greece
Constantine I was King of Greece from 1913 to 1917 and from 1920 to 1922. He was commander-in-chief of the Hellenic Army during the unsuccessful Greco-Turkish War of 1897 and led the Greek forces during the successful Balkan Wars of 1912–1913, in which Greece won Thessaloniki and doubled in...
and the imprisonment of the former prime ministers, Gounaris and Stratos. This revolt was followed by that of troops stationed in the islands of Mytilene, Chios, and Crete. The army contingents in Mytilene formed a Revolutionary Committee headed by Colonel Stylianos Gonatas
Stylianos Gonatas
Stylianos Gonatas was a Greek military officer and Venizelist politician and Prime Minister of Greece between 1922 and 1924.- Early life and military career :...
, which despatched by aeroplane the following demands to Athens: the dismissal of the government, the dissolution of the Chamber, the holding of new elections, and the abdication of King Constantine in favour of the Diadoch. The revolutionary movement swiftly spread to other centres of old and new Greece and to the Greek gunboats stationed at Mytilene and in and about the port of Piraeus. The cabinet immediately resigned, and on September 27 King Constantine abdicated for the second time in the course of his career, and the Diadoch succeeded to the throne of Greece as King George II
George II of Greece
George II reigned as King of Greece from 1922 to 1924 and from 1935 to 1947.-Early life, first period of kingship and exile:George was born at the royal villa at Tatoi, near Athens, the eldest son of King Constantine I of Greece and his wife, Princess Sophia of Prussia...
.
Revolutionary Committee
On September 28 the revolutionary troops, headed by their leaders, Colonel Plastiras and Colonel Gonatas, entered Athens amidst wild scenes of enthusiasm. One of the first steps taken by the Revolutionary Committee, which immediately took over the governancy of the country, was to order the expulsion from Greece of King Constantine and Queen Sofia and of the Princes AndrewPrince Andrew of Greece and Denmark
Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, was the seventh child and fourth son of King George I of Greece and Olga Constantinovna of Russia. He was a grandson of Christian IX of Denmark.He began military training at an early age, and was...
and Nicholas
Prince Nicholas of Greece and Denmark
Prince Nicholas of Greece and Denmark , of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, was the fourth child and third son of George I, King of the Hellenes, and of Queen Olga. He was known as "Greek Nicky" in the family to distinguish him from his cousin Czar Nicholas II of Russia...
, the ex-king's brothers, and to arrest all prominent premiers, politicians, and military and naval leaders of the Constantinist faction, such as Gounaris, Stratos, Protopapadakis, and Theotokis, Admiral Goudas, General Papoulas, etc. A telegram was despatched by the Revolutionary Committee to Venizelos in Paris requesting him to collaborate with the new government in the attempt to rescue Greece from the catastrophe in which she had been involved by King Constantine and his advisers, and a new cabinet was formed with Alexandros Zaimis
Alexandros Zaimis
Alexandros Zaimis was a former Greek Prime Minister, Minister of the Interior, Minister of Justice, and High Commissioner of Crete. He served as Prime Minister six times.-Early Life and Family:...
, as premier, and Nikolaos Sokrates Politis, as foreign minister - both Venizelists. Venizelos, in his reply, intimated that for the time being he would confine himself merely to representing his country's interests abroad, and refused any actual participation in the new government. On September 30 ex-King Constantine, ex-Queen Sofia, and Prince Nicholas, with other members of the royal family, left Greece for Italy, the ex-King never to return.
Negotiations
On October 3 negotiations were opened at Mudania in Asia Minor between representatives of the Nationalist Turkish government on the one hand and the Allies and Greece on the other for the conclusion of an armistice. After serious division of opinion which nearly led to a complete breakdown, terms were finally signed on October 10. The Turks undertook to respect neutral zones on the European and Asiatic sides of the Straits, while the Allies guaranteed the evacuation of Eastern Thrace by the Greek army within fifteen days of the signing of the convention, the Greek troops to be replaced provisionally by Allied forces not exceeding seven battalions in total strength. The demarcation line between Greek Western Thrace and the part of Eastern Thrace reverting to Turkey in virtue of the armistice convention was fixed along the left bank of the Maritza from its outlet into Aegean Sea to the point where it crosses the frontier of Thrace into Bulgaria. The new conditions in the Near East created by the Greek debacle led the Italian government to proclaim the denunciation of Italo-Greek agreement of May 17, 1920, which provided for a settlement of the differences that had arisen between Greece and Italy regarding the Dodecanese Islands, a step which called forth a protest from the government of the United Kingdom.Inquiry
The inquiry into the causes of the Greek military debacle in Asia Minor and the search for its authors instituted by the Revolutionary Committee on its advent to power resulted in a number of new arrests of leading personalities. Thus, towards the end of October, the ex-king's brother, Prince Andrew, was arrested at Corfu on the charge of having disobeyed the orders of his military chiefs while commanding an army corps on the front. Kalogeropoulos, ex-premier, Valtatzis, ex-foreign minister, General Hatzianestis, ex-commander-in-chief, and others were also subsequently charged with high treason and imprisoned. On November 20 a conference of representatives of the Allies, Turkey, and Greece was opened at Lausanne for the purpose of the revision of the Sèvres Treaty and the final settlement of the Near Eastern problem. At the opening stages of the conference, Greece was represented by Venizelos.New Government
Little was heard of Greek internal affairs in the meantime, the attention of the whole nation being centred on Venizelos' efforts abroad to procure a settlement which should be as painless as possible for his country. The first cabinet formed under the regime of the Revolutionary Committee (which had established itself as the real master of Greece with King George II merely as a figurehead) underwent several slight changes, the chief of which was caused by the refusal of Zaimis to retain the premiership (which remained vacant, with Sotirios KrokidasSotirios Krokidas
Sotirios G. Krokidas was an interim Prime Minister of Greece in 1922. He was a law professor in Athens.When the Greek army was defeated in the Greco-Turkish War and the government of Petros Protopapadakis fell, Greece was plunged into a political crisis. In September, 1922, Nikolaos...
as acting premier), and after having been in power for less than two months resigned on November 24, chiefly owing to internal differences arising from the trial of the ex-ministers, statesmen, and military leaders by a revolutionary tribunal on the charges of high treason. The British government, through its minister in Athens, Lindley, urged that the accused should be treated leniently. While certain members of the cabinet were prepared to accept the British suggestion, the more irreconcilable elements refused to submit to what they considered as foreign intervention in Greek internal affairs, and the cabinet accordingly resigned, and was replaced by one composed exclusively of members of the Revolutionary Committee and of the republican group which formed the committee's most active supporters. Colonel Gonatas, one of the leaders of the Revolutionary Committee, was appointed premier, and Konstantinos Rentis, one of the leaders of the republican group, as acting minister for foreign affairs. On November 27 the trial by the revolutionary court martial of the ex-ministers and military leaders was concluded. Six of the accused - Gounaris
Dimitrios Gounaris
Dimitrios Gounaris was the Prime Minister of Greece from March 10, 1915 to August 23, 1915 and April 8, 1921 to May 16, 1922...
, Theotokis, Valtatzis, Stratos
Nikolaos Stratos
Nikolaos Stratos was a Prime Minister of Greece for a few days in May, 1922. He was later tried and executed for his role in the Catastrophe of 1922.-Early political career:...
, Protopapadakis
Petros Protopapadakis
-Life and work:Born in 1854 in Apeiranthos, Naxos, Protopapadakis studied mathematics and engineering in Paris but was keenly interested in politics. He was a professor at the Scholi Evelpidon, the military academy of Greece....
, and General Hatzianestis
Georgios Hatzianestis
Georgios Hatzianestis was a Greek general. He was born in Athens. From May 1922 to the end of the war that September, he was Commander-in-Chief of the Greek armies during the last months of the Greco-Turkish War .Following the Trial of the Six, Hatzianestis was executed for...
- were sentenced to death and executed the next morning, while Admiral Goudas and General Stratigos were sentenced to imprisonment for life. Following the execution of Gounaris and his companions the British government instructed the British minister at Athens to ask for his passports and leave Greece; nor had diplomatic relations between the two countries been renewed by the end of the year. Shortly after the execution of the six ministers the ex-king's brother Prince Andrew was tried by the same tribunal and sentenced to banishment for life from Greece. The prince and his family left Greece on December 4 for London.