View source for Provisional Government of National Defence

{{Short description|1916-1917 provisional government in Northern Greece}}
{{more citations needed|date=December 2009}}
{{Infobox country
| native_name            = Προσωρινή Κυβέρνηση Εθνικής Αμύνης<br/> Κράτος της Θεσσαλονίκης
| conventional_long_name = Provisional Government of National Defence
| common_name            = State of Thessaloniki
| era                    = [[World War I]]{{-}}[[National Schism]]
| government_type        = [[Provisional government|Provisional]] [[Venizelism|Venizelist]] state
| status                 = Venizelist-dominated government (recognized by the [[Triple Entente]] in December 1916 as the lawful Greek government)
| status_text            = 
| event_start            = [[National Defence coup d'état]]
| year_start             = 1916
| date_start             = 17 August
| event1                 = 
| date_event1            = 
| event_end              = Abdication of [[Constantine I of Greece|Constantine I]]
| year_end               = 1917
| date_end               = 29 May
| p1                     = Kingdom of Greece
| flag_p1                = Hellenic Kingdom Flag 1935.svg
| s1                     = Kingdom of Greece
| flag_s1                = Hellenic Kingdom Flag 1935.svg
| image_flag             = Flag of Greece (1828-1978).svg
| image_coat             = 
| symbol                 = 
| national_motto         = 
| common_languages       = [[Greek language]]
| religion               = [[Greek Orthodox Church|Greek Orthodox]]
| image_map              = Operations at the border of Greece and Serbia during WW1.jpg
| capital                = [[Thessaloniki]]
| title_representative   = [[Prime Minister of Greece|Prime Minister]]
| representative1        = [[Eleftherios Venizelos]]
| year_representative1   = 1916-17
| representative2        = 
| year_representative2   = 
| representative3        = 
| year_representative3   = 
| title_deputy           = Triumvirate of National Defence
| deputy1                = [[Eleftherios Venizelos]]<br>[[Pavlos Kountouriotis]]<br>[[Panagiotis Danglis]]
| year_deputy1           = 1916-17
| currency               = [[Modern drachma|Greek drachma]] (₯)<br>[[French franc]]
}}

The '''Provisional Government of National Defence''' ({{Langx|el|Προσωρινή Κυβέρνηση Εθνικής Αμύνης|'Prosoriní Kyvérnisi Ethnikís Amýnis}}), also known as the '''State of Thessaloniki''' (Κράτος της Θεσσαλονίκης), was a parallel administration, set up in the city of [[Thessaloniki]] by former Prime Minister [[Eleftherios Venizelos]] and his supporters during [[World War I]], in opposition and rivalry to the official royal government in [[Athens]].

The establishment of this second Greek state had its origins in the debate over Greece's [[Greece in World War I|entry]] into the war on behalf of the [[Allies of World War I|Entente]], as advocated by Venizelos, or a Germanophile neutrality as preferred by King [[Constantine I of Greece|Constantine I]]. This dissension soon began to divide Greek society around the two leaders, beginning the so-called "[[National Schism]]". In 17 August 1916,<ref>Note: Greece officially [[Adoption of the Gregorian calendar#Adoption in Eastern Europe|adopted]] the [[Gregorian Calendar]] on 16 February 1923 (which became 1 March). All dates prior to that, unless specifically denoted, are [[Old Style and New Style dates|Old Style]].</ref> as parts of eastern [[Macedonia (Greece)|Macedonia]] were not defended by the royal government against a [[Battle of Struma|Bulgarian invasion]], [[Venizelism|Venizelist]] officers of the [[Hellenic Army]] launched an Entente-supported [[National Defence coup d'état|coup]] in Thessaloniki. After a brief hesitation, Venizelos and his principal supporters joined the uprising and began the establishment of a second Greek government in the north of the country, which entered the war on the side of the Entente. The National Defence government endured until 29 May 1917, when the Entente powers forced Constantine I to abdicate, and allowed Venizelos to return to Athens as Prime Minister of a unified country. Nevertheless, the establishment of the National Defence government deepened the rift of the National Schism, which would plague Greek political life for over a generation, and contribute to the [[Asia Minor Catastrophe]].

==Background: Greece 1914&ndash;1916==
{{Details|National Schism}}
Greece had emerged victorious from the 1912-1913 [[Balkan Wars]], with her territory almost doubled, but found itself in a difficult international situation. The status of the Greek-occupied eastern Aegean islands was left undetermined, and the [[Ottoman Empire]] continued to claim them, leading to a naval arms race and mass expulsions of ethnic Greeks from Anatolia. In the north, [[Kingdom of Bulgaria|Bulgaria]], defeated in the [[Second Balkan War]], harbored revanchist plans against Greece and [[Kingdom of Serbia|Serbia]]. The two countries were bound by a treaty of alliance which promised military assistance in case of a Bulgarian attack, but in August 1914, the danger would emerge from a different quarter altogether: the [[Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand]] led to the declaration of war by [[Austria-Hungary]] on Serbia and the outbreak of the [[First World War]].

[[File:M 132 10 Venizelos acclamé à Mytilène.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Arrival of Venizelos in [[Mytilini]], June 1916]]
[[File:153 6 acclamation de la foule à Salonique de Venizelos.jpg|thumb|200px|Proclamation of the Venizelist government in [[Thessaloniki]], September 1916]]
[[File:Demonstracii niz Solun.jpg|thumb|200px|Demonstration]]
[[File:Triumvirate.jpg|thumb|200px|The National Defence government: the Triumvirate  with collaborators on 29 September 1916 (O.S.)]]

Greece, like Bulgaria, initially maintained neutrality, but as the war continued, both warring camps began wooing the two countries. At this point the first rifts appeared among the Greek leadership: [[Prime Minister of Greece|Prime Minister]] [[Eleftherios Venizelos]], at the helm since 1910 of a modernising government looking towards the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|British]] and [[French Third Republic|French]] models, supported entry in the war on the side of the [[Triple Entente|Entente]], while King [[Constantine I of Greece|Constantine I]], who had been educated in [[German Empire|Germany]], married to Kaiser [[Wilhelm II]]'s sister and a deep admirer of [[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussia]]n  militarism, anticipated a German victory. Aware that Greece was vulnerable to the [[Royal Navy|British Fleet]], he advocated a course of neutrality.

In early 1915 the British offered Greece "territorial concessions in [[Asia Minor]]" if it would participate in the upcoming [[Gallipoli Campaign]]. Venizelos supported this idea, but run into the opposition from the King and his military advisors. As a result, Venizelos submitted his resignation on {{OldStyleDate|6 March|1915|21 February}}, and was replaced by a {{ill|Cabinet of Dimitrios Gounaris (1915)|el|Κυβέρνηση Δημητρίου Γούναρη 1915|lt=royalist-leaning government}} led by [[Dimitrios Gounaris]]. The [[Liberal Party (Greece)|Liberal Party]] won the subsequent [[Greek legislative election, May 1915|May 1915 elections]] and Venizelos again formed a {{ill|Cabinet of Eleftherios Venizelos (1915)|el|Κυβέρνηση Ελευθερίου Βενιζέλου 1915|lt=government}} on {{OldStyleDate|23 August|1915|10 August}}. When Bulgaria mobilized against Serbia in September 1915, Venizelos ordered a Greek counter-mobilization and called upon the Anglo-French to establish themselves in [[Thessaloniki]] (then widely known as ''Salonica'') as to aid Serbia. Indeed, the Allies began landing on 22 September 1915{{which calendar|date=October 2019}} and started entrenching themselves at the {{ill|Salonica camp|fr|Camp de Salonique}}.{{efn|The entrenched camp of Salonica became the location of present-day [[Zeitenlik]] Allied military cemetery and memorial park.}} The King unconstitutionally dismissed Venizelos and the parliament, making the breach between the two men and their followers irreparable. The Liberals boycotted the [[Greek legislative election, December 1915|December 1915 elections]]. In the same month, the French, with the permission of Venizelos, occupied [[Corfu]], where the remains of the Serbian Army were gathered before being sent to Thessaloniki. In view of these events, a clandestine "Revolutionary Committee of National Defence" was formed in Thessaloniki by a group of prominent Liberals and representatives of all over [[Macedonia (Greece)|Macedonia]], including [[Konstantinos Angelakis]] ([[mayor of Thessaloniki]]), {{ill|Alexandros Zannas|el|Αλέξανδρος Ζάννας}} and {{ill|Periklis A. Argyropoulos|fr|Periklís Argyrópoulos (1881-1966)}} (representatives of [[Thessaloniki prefecture|Thessaloniki]]), {{ill|Dimitrios Dingas|el|Δημήτριος Δίγκας}} and {{ill|Dimitrios Pazis|bg|Димитриос Пазис}} (representatives of [[Serres prefecture|Serres]]), [[Nikolaos Manos]] (representative of [[Kozani prefecture|Kozani]]), [[Panayiotis Grekos]] (representative of [[Florina prefecture|Florina]]), {{ill|Georgios Zervos|el|Γεώργιος Ζερβός}} (representative of [[Drama prefecture|Drama]]), Major General [[Emmanouil Zymvrakakis (Army general)|Emmanouil Zymvrakakis]] and others. The group acknowledged Venizelos as its leader, and began approaching officers of the Army and the [[Cretan Gendarmerie]].

During the following year, Greece's official governments were hard-pressed to maintain the country's neutrality. The final straw came when, on {{OldStyleDate|25 May|1916|12 May}}, the Athens government, succumbing to [[German Empire|German]] pressure, ordered the surrender of the vital [[Rupel Fortress]] to the Germans and their Bulgarian Allies. In response, on {{OldStyleDate|3 June|1916|21 May}}, the pro-Entente Venizelists imposed martial law, effectively abolishing royal sovereignty in all of northern Greece. On {{OldStyleDateNY|18 August|3 August}}, the [[Struma operation|Bulgarian invasion]] of eastern [[Macedonia (Greece)|Macedonia]] commenced, facing little resistance, since the Athens government refused to condone any firm action. As a result, more than 6000 men of [[IV Army Corps (Greece)|IV Corps]] surrendered to the Germans on {{OldStyleDateNY|26 August|13 August}} and were deported to [[Görlitz]] in Germany. This surrender of hard-won territories with only token resistance, outraged most Greeks. At the same time, the establishment of the exiled [[Peter I of Serbia|Serbian King]] and his government in Thessaloniki in April, the presence of 120,000 Serbian troops in the Macedonian Front, accompanied by threats from the Entente that he would install a Serbian prefect in the city, raised fears that the city would be handed over to the Serbians.

==Uprising in Thessaloniki==
{{main|National Defence coup d'état}}
Incensed by the successive humiliations and the Bulgarian advance in Macedonia, several Greek officers had flocked to Thessaloniki and volunteered to raise troops and join the Allies. The local Allied commander-in-chief, [[Maurice Sarrail]], welcomed their initiatives, but little headway was made due to the opposition of the Greek government.<ref name="Enc496">{{cite book | script-title=el:Μεγάλη Στρατιωτική και Ναυτική Εγκυκλοπαιδεία. Τόμος Γ′: Δαβατηνός – Ιωσήφ |trans-title=Great Military and Naval Encyclopedia. Volume III | location = Athens | year = 1929 | language = Greek | page = 496}}</ref> On 16/29 August, the Lt. Colonel [[Konstantinos Mazarakis-Ainian]] tried to seize control of the [[11th Infantry Division (Greece)|11th Infantry Division]]'s mountain artillery battalion, and lead it to the front. This was opposed by Colonel [[Nikolaos Trikoupis]], the chief of staff and acting commander of [[III Army Corps (Greece)|III Army Corps]], who sent two companies to the artillery barracks at [[Mikro Karabournou]] that forced Mazarakis to abandon his attempt and withdraw from the barracks.<ref name="Enc496"/>

[[File:Restaurant Verdun, Thessaloniki 1916.jpeg|thumb|left|Restaurant "Verdun" in Thessaloniki, decorated in support of Venizelos and the National Defence regime, 1916.]]
This incident sparked the flame of a wider uprising on the next day, {{OldStyleDateNY|30 August|17 August}}, by the city's pro-Venizelist officers. Under the command of Lt. Colonel [[Epameinondas Zymvrakakis]], about 600 men of the [[Cretan Gendarmerie]] with three volunteer companies under Major [[Neokosmos Grigoriadis]] and thirty other officers blockaded the headquarters of III Corps. When a company under Colonel Vagias tried to break through the blockade, shots were fired that killed two gendarmes and wounded three others. In response, the Cretans fired back, killing or wounding three or four soldiers. The firefight was stopped by the intervention of French officers. Sarrail arrived on the scene soon after, and commanded all Greek officers who would not join the newly formed "National Defence Committee" uprising to be shipped to southern Greece. The loyalist troops were disarmed and interned in the hopes that they would join the uprising, but in the event most of them refused and had to be sent to southern Greece as well.<ref name="Enc496"/>

Individual officers from across northern Greece began to flock to Thessaloniki, and on {{OldStyleDateNY|15 September|2 September}}, the "National Defence" received its first substantial reinforcement, as Colonel [[Nikolaos Christodoulou]] arrived in the city with the remnants of IV Corps that had refused to surrender and instead withdrawn via [[Kavala]] and [[Samothrace]].<ref name="Enc496"/> Already on {{OldStyleDateNY|21 September|8 September}}, the volunteers under Major Grigoriadis formed the 1st Battalion of the "[[Army of National Defence]]", and departed for the front lines along the [[Strymon river]].<ref name="Enc497">{{cite book | script-title=el:Μεγάλη Στρατιωτική και Ναυτική Εγκυκλοπαιδεία. Τόμος Γ′: Δαβατηνός – Ιωσήφ |trans-title=Great Military and Naval Encyclopedia. Volume III | location = Athens | year = 1929 | language = Greek | pages = 496–497}}</ref>

==Establishment of the State of National Defence==
[[File:Review of the 1st Battalion of the National Defence army.jpeg|thumb|200px|Officers [[Emmanouil Zymvrakakis (army general)|Zymvrakakis]] and [[Nikolaos Christodoulou|Christodoulou]] inspect troops]]
[[File:A Salonique, le défilé du premier bataillon grec volontaire.jpg|thumb|right|200px|The 1st Battalion of the [[Army of National Defence]] marches before the White Tower on its way to the front.]]
[[File:Grcki brod nosac na torpeda.jpg|thumb|200px|A Greek torpado boat at the port]]
[[Image:Venizelos WWI 1918.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Venizelos inspects Greek troops on the [[Macedonian front (World War I)|Macedonian front]], accompanied by Admiral Kountouriotis and General Sarrail.]]

Venizelos himself with his closest aides left Athens on 12/25 September, initially for his home island of Crete, and from there via [[Chios]] and [[Lesbos]] to Thessaloniki, where he arrived on 24 September/7 October. Four days later, on 28 September/11 October, he formed a provisional government under the supreme leadership of a [[triumvirate]] comprising himself, General [[Panagiotis Danglis]] and Admiral [[Pavlos Koundouriotis]] (the "Triumvirate of National Defence", Τριανδρία της Εθνικής Αμύνης).<ref name="Enc497"/>

On 29 September/12 October, Maj Gen [[Emmanouil Zymvrakakis (Army general)|Emmanouil Zymvrakakis]] was appointed Army Minister (replaced on December 6 by Maj Gen [[Konstantinos Miliotis-Komninos]]) and on October 3 [[Nikolaos Politis]] was appointed Foreign Minister. On 6 October other ministries, euphemistically called "General Directorates" were established:

* [[Themistoklis Sophoulis]], Interior Minister
* {{Interlanguage link multi|Miltiadis Negrepontis|el|3=Μιλτιάδης Νεγρεπόντης}}, Finance Minister
* [[Thalis Koutoupis]], Minister of National Economy
* {{Interlanguage link multi|Dimitrios Dingas|el|3=Δημήτριος Δίγκας}}, Justice Minister
* Georgios Averof, Education Minister
* {{ill|Alexandros Kassavetis|el|Αλέξανδρος Κασσαβέτης}}, Transport Minister
* {{Interlanguage link multi|Leonidas Embeirikos|el|3=Λεωνίδας Ανδρ. Εμπειρίκος}}, Minister for Supply and Food Distribution
* {{ill|Spyridon Simos|el|Σπύρος Σίμος}}, Minister for the Refugees
* [[Andreas Michalakopoulos]], Minister for Public Estates and Resettlement

The first tasks of the new government were the establishment of an "[[Army of National Defence]]" to fight alongside the [[Allies of World War I|Allies]], and the consolidation of its rule in as much of [[Greece]] as possible. The Provisional Government declared war on the [[Central Powers]] on 24 November 1916{{which calendar|date=October 2019}}, and set out to recruit divisions for the Macedonian Front, something which was achieved with speed and often ruthlessness. Despite calls by some officers to abolish the monarchy and declare a Republic, Venizelos chose a more moderate path. He had declared: "we are not against the King, but against the Bulgarians".

The State of National Defence established control in Greek Macedonia, Crete and the northern Aegean islands; lands that were just recently liberated during the Balkan Wars. The reluctant and uneasy coexistence of the two Greek states was not destined to last, as the ''[[Noemvriana]]'' riots against Venizelists in [[Athens]] clearly illustrated that a rapprochement was now impossible. Early in 1917, the Venizelist state took also control of [[Thessaly]], after clashes against the royal army of Constantine.

The division of the country lasted for 9 months. On 15 June 1917{{which calendar|date=October 2019}} an Allied ultimatum forced [[Constantine I of Greece|King Constantine]] to abdicate in favour of his second-born son, [[Alexander of Greece|Alexander]], and, with the rest of his family, leave the country for [[Switzerland]]. Venizelos returned to [[Athens]], as head of a superficially reunified Greece, and led it to victory alongside the [[Allies of World War I|Allies]] in [[World War I]], but also in its entanglement in the subsequent [[Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922)|Asia Minor Campaign]]. As such, the immediate aims of the "National Defence" were met. But the revolution was also an expression of the wide rift between the quasi-Republican, progressive [[Venizelism|Venizelists]] and the conservative Royalists/Anti-Venizelists, and its outbreak marks also the beginning of the Greek [[National Schism]] which would leave a troublesome legacy to the country, as it continued in various forms up to the 1970s.

==In popular culture==
A popular song of the era celebrating the movement was performed by the musical Estudiantina of [[Smyrna]] named ''Tis aminis ta pedià'' (the lads of the Defence) or ''the Macedon''.

The song was performed also in the film ''[[Rebetiko (film)|Rebetiko]]'' of [[Costas Ferris]] in orchestration of [[Stavros Xarchakos]].

== Notes ==
{{notes}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBIPGlP6Oho The Great War - Romanian & Greek Weapons of World War 1 feat. C&Rsenal]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwP2-U3ZwFw The Great War - Greek Rifles and Pistols of World War 1 feat. C&Rsenal]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaeTv0GzjIc The Great War - A Crucial Test For Unity - Greece in WW1 I THE GREAT WAR Special]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzkBufZlytA The Great War - King Constantine I of Greece]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZ3atGlma1o Serbia Is Invaded Once Again - The Entente Lands in Greece I THE GREAT WAR Week 63]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZbaRmScn5o&index=4&list=PLB2vhKMBjSxP4G7pljFCWC9B2t_wo0twt Nivelle's Spring Offensive - Royal Conspiracy In Greece I THE GREAT WAR Week 131]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VO-IoR0PI8k/ The Merchant of Death - Basil Zaharoff I WHO DID WHAT IN WW1? -- The Great War]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6utTt8JWmlc/ Russia's New Offensive - The Russian Women's Battalion of Death I THE GREAT WAR Week 153 -- The Great War]

{{Cabinets of Greece}}
{{Military coups in Greece}}
{{Movement of National Defence}}
{{Greek Macedonia}}
{{Greece during World War I}}
{{Eleftherios Venizelos}}
{{Liberalism in Greece}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Provisional Government Of National Defence}}
[[Category:Provisional governments]]
[[Category:1916 in Greece]]
[[Category:1917 in Greece]]
[[Category:Greece in World War I]]
[[Category:Modern history of Greek Macedonia]]
[[Category:Politics of Thessaloniki]]
[[Category:Thessaloniki in World War I]]
[[Category:Eleftherios Venizelos]]
[[Category:1910s in Greek politics]]