National Schism - The Clash and Schism of Greece

The Clash and Schism of Greece

See also: Movement of National Defence and Noemvriana

The resignation caused political dissension in Greece, a diplomatic battle between the King and Venizelos' supporters forced a general election in June 1915. These elections were won by Venizelos' Liberal Party and he resumed his post as Prime Minister, however Constantine refused to ratify the appointment of the new government until August.

During this time the Serbian-Bulgarian conflict deepened until Bulgaria declared war on Serbia, which posed an immediate threat to the newly gained province of Macedonia, including the strategically important port of Thessaloniki. Venizelos asked Constantine for permission to formalize a defense treaty with Serbia in the interests of protecting the Greek border from direct Bulgarian attack. Constantine agreed but only on the condition that Greece was actually attacked. After his inability to sway Constantine to act against Bulgaria, Venizelos took a new route by allowing British and French troops to land in Macedonia in preparation for their attack on Gallipoli, Turkey. This caused disarray in the Greek government and Venizelos took advantage of this by forcing through a parliamentary motion (with a 37 vote margin) to declare war on Bulgaria.

The dispute between the Greek Prime Minister and the King reached its height shortly after and the King invoked the Greek constitutional right that gave the monarch the right to dismiss a government unilaterally. In December 1915 Constantine forced Venizelos to resign for a second time and dissolved the Liberal-dominated parliament, calling a new election. Venizelos left Athens and moved back to his native Crete.

The Liberals boycotted this second election, which undermined the new Royalist government's position, as it was seen as a government directly appointed by the King, disregarding popular opinion. The tension between the 2 parties grew gradually over the course of the following year with both sides taking a more radical and divisive approach to the situation. Public opinion was not nearly as clearly divided during this period. When French and British forces landed in Thessaloniki (as invited by Venizelos earlier) against Constantine's wishes the Greek people supported the King's view that the Allies had violated the country's sovereignty. However, later on, when the Central Powers took control of eastern Macedonia in May 1916, the public took similar outrage at the King's inability to defend Greek territory.

August 30, 1916, saw a coup against the Royalist government by Ethniki Amyna (Εθνική Άμυνα, National Defence), a secret pro-Venizelist military organization based in Thessaloniki. The coup succeeded to the extent that a second provisional government of Greece was formed by the group in Thessaloniki. With the backing of the Entente, Venizelos returned to the Greek mainland from Crete to lead the new provisional government at the head of a triumvirate. He declared: "we are not against the King, but against the Bulgarians". Towards the end of 1916 France and Britain, after failing to persuade the royalist government to enter the war too, officially recognized the Ethniki Amyna government as the lawful government of Greece.

In retaliation against Ethniki Amyna a royalist paramilitary unit called the "Reservists" (Επίστρατοι) was formed. Led by Colonel Ioannis Metaxas (one of Constantine's closest aides and a future dictator of Greece) the group targeted Venizelist people in Athens and nearby areas, culminating in the Noemvriana, the "November events", which were ignited by an armed confrontation between Greek reservists and French marines.

Ιn retaliation, the Venizelos National Defence Government and the Entente instituted a naval blockade, seized the royalist fleet and demanded the partial disarmament of the royalist forces and their withdrawal to the Peloponnese. The blockade lasted 106 days in total, during which time no goods were allowed to enter or leave royalist-controlled ports that were under the control of the Athens government. This was to set a precedent for much of the future conflict in Greece.