Greece and the Allies | Page 3

third is a collection of Notes concerning
transactions in which he took part. All three are of the highest value for
the eventful period of the Skouloudis Administration from November,
1915, to June, 1916.
Journal Officiel, 24-30 October, 1919, containing a full report of the
Secret Committee of the French Chamber which sat from 16 June to 22
June, 1916.
Next in importance, though not inferior in historic interest, come some
personal narratives, of which I have also availed myself, by leading
French actors in the drama:
Du Fournet: "Souvenirs de Guerre d'un Amiral, 1914-1916." By
Vice-Admiral Dartige du Fournet, Paris, 1920.
Sarrail: "Mon Commandement en Orient, 1916-1918." By General
Sarrail, Paris, 1920.
Regnault: "La Conquête d'Athènes, Juin-Juillet, 1917." By General
Regnault, Paris, 1920.
{x}
Deville: "L'Entente, la Grèce et la Bulgarie. Notes d'histoire et
souvenirs." By Gabriel Deville, Paris, 1919. The author was French
Minister at Athens till August, 1915, and the portions of his work

which deal with his own experiences are worth consulting.
Jonnart: "M. Jonnart en Grèce et l'abdication de Constantin." By
Raymond Recouly, Paris, 1918. Though not written by the High
Commissioner himself, this account may be regarded as a semi-official
record of his mission.
The only English publications of equal value, though of much more
limited bearing upon the subject of this work, which have appeared so
far are:
The Dardanelles Commission Reports (Cd. 8490; Cd. 8502; Cmd. 371),
and the Life of Lord Kitchener, by Sir George Arthur, Vol. III, London,
1920.
Some trustworthy contributions to the study of these events have also
been made by several unofficial narratives, to which the reader is
referred for details on particular episodes. The absence of reference to
certain other narratives is deliberate.

{xi}
CONTENTS
PAGE INTRODUCTION - - - - - 1
CHAPTER I.
- - - - - 7
CHAPTER II.
- - - - - 17
CHAPTER III.
- - - - - 21

CHAPTER IV.
- - - - - 33
CHAPTER V.
- - - - - 50
CHAPTER VI.
- - - - - 65
CHAPTER VII.
- - - - - 76
CHAPTER VIII.
- - - - - 85
CHAPTER IX.
- - - - - 95
CHAPTER X.
- - - - - 105
CHAPTER XI.
- - - - - 114
CHAPTER XII.
- - - - - 123
CHAPTER XIII.

- - - - - 139
CHAPTER XIV.
- - - - - 152
CHAPTER XV.
- - - - - 162
CHAPTER XVI.
- - - - - 172
CHAPTER XVII.
- - - - - 177
CHAPTER XVIII.
- - - - - 186
CHAPTER XIX.
- - - - - 200
CHAPTER XX.
- - - - - 207
CHAPTER XXI.
- - - - - 217 AFTERWORD - - - - - - 230 INDEX - - - - - - 239

{1}

GREECE AND THE ALLIES
1914-1922
INTRODUCTION
Ingenious scholars, surveying life from afar, are apt to interpret
historical events as the outcome of impersonal forces which shape the
course of nations unknown to themselves. This is an impressive theory,
but it will not bear close scrutiny. Human nature everywhere responds
to the influence of personality. In Greece this response is more marked
than anywhere else. No people in the world has been so completely
dominated by personal figures and suffered so grievously from their
feuds, ever since the day when strife first parted Atreides, king of men,
and god-like Achilles.
The outbreak of the European War found Greece under the sway of
King Constantine and his Premier Eleutherios Venizelos; and her
history during that troubled era inevitably centres round these two
personalities.
By the triumphant conduct of the campaigns of 1912 and 1913, King
Constantine had more than effaced the memory of his defeat in 1897.
His victories ministered to the national lust for power and formed an
earnest of the glory that was yet to come to Greece. Henceforth a halo
of military romance--a thing especially dear to the hearts of men--shone
about the head of Constantine; and his grateful country bestowed upon
him the title of {2} Stratelates. In town mansions and village huts
men's mouths were filled with his praise: one dwelt on his dauntless
courage, another on his strategic genius, a third on his sympathetic
recognition of the claims of the common soldier, whose hardships he
shared, and for whose life he evinced a far greater solicitude than for
his own.
But it was not only as a leader of armies that King Constantine
appealed to the hearts of his countrymen. They loved to explain to
strangers the reason of the name Koumbaros or "Gossip," by which
they commonly called him. It was not so much, they would say, that he

had stood godfather to the children born