Greece and the Allies | Page 3

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.
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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.

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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 to his soldiers during the campaigns, but rather that his relations with the rank and file of the people at large were marked by the intimate interest of a personal companion.
In peace, as in war, he seemed a prince born to lead a democratic people. With his tall, virile figure, and a handsome face in which strength and dignity were happily blended with simplicity, he had a manner of address which was very engaging: his words, few, simple, soldier-like, produced a wonderful effect; they were the words of one who meant and felt what he said: they went straight to the hearer's heart because they came straight from the speaker's.
Qualities of a very different sort had