Greece (7)

In May, 1916, the Germans and Bulgarians crossed the Greek frontier
and demanded the surrender of several Greek forts. When the commander
of one of them proposed to fight, the German general told him to call
up his government at Athens over the long distance telephone. He did
so and was ordered to give up the fort peaceably to the invaders. We
have already seen what the answer of the Belgians had been on a like
occasion. To be sure, the French and English were already occupying
Greek soil, but they had come there under permission of the prime
minister of Greece to do a thing which Greece herself had solemnly
promised that she would do, namely, to defend Serbia from the Bulgars.

This surrender of Greek territory to the hated Bulgarians was too much
for Venizelos. He gave out a statement to the Greek people in which he
declared that the king had disobeyed the constitution and was ruling
as a tyrant; that he was betraying his country to the Germans and
Bulgars and that all loyal Greeks should refuse to obey him. At
Salonika, under the protection of the British and French, together
with the admiral of the Greek navy and one of the chief generals in
the army, Venizelos set up a new government--a republic of Greece.

Shortly after this the commander of a Greek army corps in eastern
Macedonia, acting under orders from King Constantine, surrendered his
men to the Germans, along with all their artillery, stores, and the
equipment which had been furnished to them by the French to defend
themselves against the Germans! In the meantime, the Bulgarians had
seized Kavala.

The control of the Adriatic Sea had been a matter of jealousy between
the Italians and Austrians even during the years when they were
partners in the Triple Alliance. Even before Italy entered the war on
the side of France and England, her government, fearing the Austrians,
had sent Italian troops to seize Avlona. The Prince of Albania,
finding that he was not wanted, had deserted that country, and there
had been no government at all there since the outbreak of the great
war. However, the presence of this Italian garrison prevented the
forces of the central powers from advancing southward along the
Adriatic coast.

Gradually, France and England increased their forces at Salonika. The
gallant defender of Verdun, General Sarrail, was sent to command the
joint army. During the summer of 1916, Italians came there to join the
French and British. A hundred thousand hardy young veterans, survivors
of the Serbian army, picked up by allied war ships on the coast of
Albania, were refitted and carried by ship around Greece to Salonika.
Here they joined General Sarrail's army, rested and refreshed, and
frantic for revenge on the Germans and Bulgars. Several thousands of
the Greek troops, following the leadership of Venizelos, deserted the
king and joined the allies.

Meanwhile, in Athens one prime minister after another tried to steer
the ship of state. The people of Greece were in a turmoil. The great
majority of them were warm friends of France and England--all of them
hated the Turks. The pro-German acts of the king, however, provoked
the French and English to such an extent that they frequently had to
interfere in Athens. The Greek people resented this interference and
on one or two occasions fights broke out when allied sailors marched
through the streets of the capital. Matters reached a climax in June,
1917. The governments of France, England, and Italy felt that they
could stand the treacherous conduct of King Constantine no longer.
They knew that he was assisting Germany in every possible way. They
knew that their camp was full of spies who were reporting all their
movements to the Bulgarians. They felt that at the first chance he
would order his army to attack Sarrail in the rear. They finally sent
an ultimatum to him ordering him to give up the throne to his second
son. The oldest son, the crown prince, having been educated in Germany
and sharing King Constantine's pro-German sentiments, was barred from
succeeding his father. This seemed a high-handed thing to do but there
was no other way out of a difficult situation. Constantine had allowed
his sympathies with his wife's brother to prevent his country from
carrying out her solemn treaty; had ruled like an absolute monarch;
had plotted with all his power for the overthrow of Russia, France,
and England, the three countries which had won Greece its independence
in the first place and which still desired its people to have the
right to rule themselves.

The guns of the allied fleet were pointed at Athens. More than half of
the Greek people favored Venizelos and the Entente as against the king
and Germany. A second[8] time within four months a European
monarch who was out of sympathy with his subjects was forced to resign
his crown.

With Constantine out of the way, there was nothing to prevent the
return to Athens of Venizelos. With great enthusiasm the people hailed
his coming, as, once more prime minister, he summoned the members of
parliament lawfully elected in 1915, and took control of the
government.

In July, 1917, the Greek government announced to the world that,
henceforth, Greece would be found in the war on the side of France,
Great Britain, and the other nations of the Entente.