Eleftherios Venizelos Totally Explained

Everything about Eleutherios Venizelos totally explained

Eleftherios Venizelos (full name Elefthérios Kyriákou Venizélos, Greek: Ελευθέριος Κυριάκου Βενιζέλος) (Mournies Chania, 23 August 1864 - Paris, 18 March 1936) was one of the greatest statesmen of modern Greece. He played a significant role in the autonomy of the Cretan State and later in the union of Crete with Greece. Also under his leadership, Greece doubled in area and population during the Balkan wars (1912–13) with the liberation of Macedonia, Epirus and brought Greece on the side of the Allies in the World War I. When the Cretan revolution of 1866 broke out, Venizelos' family fled to the island of Syros, due to the participation of his father in the revolution. They were not allowed to return to Crete, and stayed in Syros until 1872, when the Sultan granted an amnesty.
He spent his final year of secondary education at a school in Ermoupolis in Syros from which he received his Certificate in 1880. In 1881 he enrolled at the Law School of the University of Athens and got his degree in Law with excellent grades. He returned in Crete in 1886. There he worked as a lawyer in Chania. Throughout his life he'd a passion for reading, and was constantly improving his skills in English and French.

Entry into politics

The situation in Crete during Venizelos' early years was fluid. The Turkish government was undermining the reforms, which were made under international pressure, while the Cretan desired to see the Sultan abandoning "the ungrateful infidels". However, the Muslims of Crete, who identified with Ottoman Turkey, were not satisfied by these reforms, as in their view the administration was delivered to the hands of the Christian Greek inhabitants of the island. In practice, the Ottoman Empire failed to enforce the provisions of the Pact, thus fueling the tensions between the two communities; instead, the Ottoman authorities attempted to maintain order by the dispatching substantial military reinforcements in the 1880-1896 period. Throughout that period, the Cretan Question was a major issue of friction in the relations of independent Greece with the Ottoman Empire.
In January 1897, violence and disorder was escalating on the island, thus polarizing the population. Massacres against the Christian population took place in Chania The Greek government, pressured by public opinion, intransigent political elements, extreme nationalist groups (for example Ethniki Etairia) and the Great Powers reluctant to intervene, decided to send warships and personnel to assist the Cretan Greeks. and its commanding officer, Colonel Timoleon Vassos declared that he was taking over the island "in the name of the King of the Hellenes" and that he was announcing the union of Crete with Greece. Venizelos spent the night in Akrotiri and a Greek flag was raised. The Turkish forces requested help from the foreign admirals and attacked the rebels, thus the ships of the Great Powers bombarded the rebel positions at Akrotiri. A shell threw down the flag, which was raised up again immediately, accompanied by the excited shouts from the crews of Greek warships, which were anchored off shore, but unable to intervene. The mythologizing became more pronounced when we come to his actions in that February, as the following quotes display:
Stephanos Dragoumis (Venizelos' indication) for forming a new government, which would lead the country to elections. In the elections of 8 August 1910, Venizelos was elected members of the Parliament, with Venizelos himself representing Athens. His founded his political party, Komma Fileleftheron (Liberal Party). On 2 October 1910, he formed a government and started to reorganize the economic, political, and national affairs of the country.

The Balkan Wars

Background

At the time there were diplomatic contacts with Turks to initiate reforms in Macedonia and in Thrace, which at the time were under the control of Ottoman Empire, for improving the living conditions of the Christian populations. Failure of the reforms would leave the only option of removing Turkey from the Balkans, an option that most Balkan countries shared. This last option appeared feasible to Venizelos, because Turkey was under a constitutional transition and its administrative mechanism was disorganized and weakened. Also, there was no fleet capable to transport forces from Asia Minor to Europe, while the Greek fleet was dominating the Aegean Sea. Venizelos didn't want to make any immediate major movements in the Balkans, until the Greek army and navy were reorganized (an effort that had begun from the last government of Georgios Theotokis) and the Greek economy is recovered.
   Once the campaign in Macedonia was complete, however, a large part of the Greek army under the Crown Prince was redeployed to Epirus, and in the Battle of Bizani the Ottoman positions were overcome and Ioannina taken on 22 February 1913. but also it was the only choice for Greece, due to combination of the strong Anglo-French control of the Mediterranean and the geographical distribution of the Greek population, could have ill effects in the case of a naval blockade, as he characteristically remarked:
Alexander, Venizelos returned to Athens and allied with the Entente and declared war on the Central Powers. Greek military forces (though divided between supporters of the monarchy and supporters of Venizelos) 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, a combined French, Serbian, Greek and British army 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 army then attacked north and defeated the German and Austrian forces that tried to halt his offensive and by October 1918 the Allied army had recaptured all of Serbia and was preparing to invade Hungary proper. The offensive halted only because the Hungarian leadership offered to surrender in November 1918.
   Even though the Greek army ended up playing a small role in one of the final campaigns of World War I, Greece earned a seat at the Paris Peace Conference.

Conclusion of World War I & Treaty of Sèvres

Following the conclusion of World War I, Venizelos took part in the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, as Greece's representative. During his absence from Greece for almost two years, he acquired a reputation as an international statesman of considerable stature. After his recovery he returned in Greece, where he was welcomed as a hero because he'd liberated areas with Greek populations.

1920 electoral defeat and withdrawal from politics

This caused great dissatisfaction to the newly liberated populations in Asia Minor. As a result of his defeat, Venizelos left for Paris, withdrawing from politics.
Following the defeat of the Greek army by the Turks (1922) in Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922), and the subsequent armed insurrection, led by General Nikolaos Plastiras and General Stylianos Gonatas, King Constantine was dethroned (and succeeded by his eldest son, George), and six royalist leaders were executed. Venizelos assumed the leadership of the Greek delegation that negotiated peace terms with the Turks. He signed the Treaty of Lausanne with Turkey on 24 July 1923. After an insurrection led by General Ioannis Metaxas forced King George II into exile, Venizelos returned to Greece and became prime minister once again. However, he left again in 1924 after quarreling with anti-monarchists.
During these absences from power, he translated Thucydides into modern Greek, although the translation and incomplete commentary were only published in 1940, after his death.

Return to power in 1928 and subsequent exile

In the elections held on 5 July 1928, Venizelos'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 Parliament. During this period Venizelos succeeded in restoring normal relations with all of Greece's Balkan neighbors. His domestic position was weakened, however, by the effects of the Great Depression in the early 1930s; and in the elections of 1932 he was defeated, by the People's Party under Panagis Tsaldaris. The political climate became more tense, and in 1933 Venizelos was the target of a second assassination attempt. The pro-royalist tendencies of the government led to an attempted military coup in March 1935, under the leadership of Venizelos and General Nikolaos Plastiras. After the coup's failure, Venizelos left Greece once more.
After his departure, trials and executions of prominent Venizelists were carried out, and he himself sentenced to death in absentia. The severely weakened Second Hellenic Republic was abolished in October 1935 and George II returned to the throne, following a rigged referendum.

Exile and death

Venizelos left for Paris, where he died in 1936 while staying at the Hotel Ritz. 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 was taken by the destroyer Pavlos Kountouriotis to Chania, avoiding Athens so as not to cause unrest. He was subsequently buried in Akrotiri in Crete with much ceremony.

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