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Identifier

000440784

Title

Ελληνικός στρατός, 1935-1945 : η μετάβαση από τον αλυτρωτισμό στην αυτόνομη περεμβατικότητα

Alternative Title

The hellenic Army, 1935-1945 : the transition from irredentism to autonomous

Author

Σακελλαρόπουλος, Αναστάσιος

Thesis advisor

Λούκος Χρήστος

Reviewer

Αβδελά Έφη
Πετμεζάς Σωκράτης
Βόγλης Πολυμέρης
Καλλιβρετάκης Λεωνίδας
Ριζάς Σωτήρης
Σπηλιωτοπούλου Μαρία

Abstract

The political intervention of the Hellenic Army was a decisive factor in the shaping of Greece’s political scene since 1909. From that point, either directly or indirectly, groups of officers were extensions of political factions acting on their behalf. In March 1935, Venizelist army and naval officers organised and carried out a military coup aimed at overthrowing the elected conservative government. The failure of the military coup results in significant changes to the structure of the army command and to changes in the political scene. The political balance within the army is significantly disrupted due to the demotion and dismissal of hundreds of Venizelist army officers. The army command was subsequently closely connected with the crown. The ideological identity of the officers changes, it is no longer associated with irredentism, which was carried by the Venizelist officers, it also effaces the existence of a strong intergenerational relationship between senior Venizelist officers and junior officers. This relationship had allowed the continuous renewal of the anti-royal elements within the army. After the events above, the Dictatorship of Metaxas implements a general corporatism; this creates a fascination amongst the junior officers towards an autonomous, from the state, political system. The successful Greek-Italian war renewed the military prestige of the officers, united the society, renewed the popularity of the army. At the same time, the way the war was conducted made the generals operating on the front autonomous from the central political and state leadership. This resulted in the initiative for capitulation to the German forces but also the formation of the first cooperation government with the foreign occupiers. The Battle of Crete, despite its short duration, introduced Greece to the particular circumstances of the Second World War with elements such as the military involvement of civilians and the connection of the British military efforts with the conquered Greeks. The move of the official government to the Middle East and the gradual formation of Greek exiled military and naval forces on the side of the British in the battle against the Axis allows Greece to maintain its presence during the course of the war. Within the Greek exiled army, the British allowed and perhaps supported the inclusion of dismissed officers of the 1935 coup. This results in a conflict between the Venizelist officers and the pro-royal officers. A new factor in this conflict is the introduction of leftist groups, with communist leaders, that start acting against the pro-royal and pro-Metaxas elements of the army. A number of pro-Venizelist officers are connected with the leftist groups forming a grouping that the pro-royals can organise against. The junior officers especially identify the centrists/ Venizelists with a potential communist overthrow. The three factions within the exiled army aim to control it in order to be in the position to control the future political landscape of post-liberation Greece for the benefit of their factions. The failed leftist coup in April 1944 in Egypt will result in the dissolution of the Greek units and the creation of a single new one that is solely loyal to the crown. These developments formed a new element, the beginning of the autonomy of the junior officers and their political radicalization, first within the army. The last stop in this direction will be the military conflict of December 1944 in Athens. The conditions and the result of this conflict will be the catalyst for the creation of the belief that the army is entitled to have an interventionist role; this role will no longer be in service of political factions but in service of the army itself.

Language

Greek

Subject

Hellenic army

Middle East

Officers

Royalists-republicans-lefts-communists

Second woeld war

The political role of the army

Αξιωματικοί

Β' Παγκόσμιος Πόλεμος

Ελληνικός στρατός