Stylianos Gonatas, General, Senator and Prime Minister of Greece

Stylianos Gonatas (Greek: Στυλιανός Γονατάς, 1876 – 1966) was a Greek military officer and Prime Minister of Greece in 1922-1924. Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly Greece (Ελλάδα transliterated: Elláda, historically, Ellás,) officially the Hellenic Republic (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία This is a list of the heads of government of the modern Greek state from its establishment during the Greek Revolution to the present day

Early life and military career

Gonatas was born on August 15, 1876 in Patra. Events 778 - The Battle of Roncevaux Pass, at which Roland is killed Year 1876 ( MDCCCLXXVI) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap year He entered the Military Academy in 1892 and graduated in 1897. As a Lieutenant, he participated in the Macedonian Struggle (1907-1909), and became aide-de-camp to Colonel Nikolaos Zorbas immediately following the 1909 Goudi Revolt. The Greek Struggle for Macedonia 1904-1908 (in Greek language: Μακεδονικός Ἀγῶν " Macedonian Struggle " is how the Greeks describe He also participated in the 1912-13 Balkan Wars and in the Allied Expedition to the Ukraine in 1919. The Balkan Wars were two wars in South-eastern Europe in 1912–1913 in the course of which the Balkan League ( Bulgaria, Montenegro, Greece The Allied intervention was a multi-national military expedition launched in 1918 during the Russian Civil War and World War I Subsequently, he was took part in the Asia Minor Campaign with the rank of Colonel, first as a staff officer and later as divisional commander.

The September 1922 Revolt

In August 1922, the Greek Army suffered a catastrophic defeat at the hands of the Turks, which forced it to evacuate Anatolia in great haste. In Greece, this disaster led to a political crisis, and military revolts broke out in September amongst the evacuated troops in Thessaloniki, Chios and Lesbos, headed primarily by Venizelist officers. Thessaloniki (Θεσσαλονίκη), Thessalonica, or Salonica is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of Macedonia Chios (Χίος pronounced ˈçio̞s alternative transliterations Khíos and Híos) is the fifth largest of the Greek islands, situated Lesbos (Λέσβος also transliterated Lesvos, Midilli is a Greek island located in the northeastern Aegean Sea. Venizelism was one of the major political movements in Greece from the 1900s until the mid 1970s

The army contingents in Lesbos formed a Revolutionary Committee headed by Colonel Gonatas, which dispatched by airplane the following demands to Athens: the dismissal of the government, the dissolution of Parliament, the holding of new elections, and the abdication of King Constantine in favour of the Diadoch, Prince George. Athens (ˈæθənz Αθήνα Athina,) the Capital and largest city of Greece, dominates the Attica periphery as one of the world's Constantine I King of the Hellenes (Κωνσταντίνος A' Βασιλεύς των Ελλήνων - 11 January 1923 was King of Greece from 1913 to 1917 and from Early life first period of kingship and exile George was born at the royal villa at Tatoi, near Athens, the eldest son of Constantine I King of the Hellenes The revolutionary movement swiftly spread to other centres of old and new Greece, aided by the Fleet, which had joined their cause. The cabinet immediately resigned, and on September 27 King Constantine abdicated for the second time in the course of his career, and the Diadoch succeeded to the throne of Greece as King George II.

On September 28 the revolutionary troops, headed by their leaders, Colonels Nikolaos Plastiras and Gonatas, entered Athens amidst wild scenes of enthusiasm. Nikolaos Plastiras ( Νικόλαος Πλαστήρας) ( November 4, 1883 - July 26, 1953) was a General of the The revolutionary committee which took charge selected Alexandros Zaimis as Prime Minister, but as he was out of the country, Sotirios Krokidas was appointed as interim Prime Minister. Alexandros Zaimis (Αλέξανδρος Ζαΐμης ( 9 November 1855 – 15 September 1936) was a Greek Politician. Sotirios G Krokidas (Σωτήριος Γ Κροκίδας (1852 1924 was an interim Prime Minister of Greece in 1922

As prime minister

The first cabinet formed under the regime of the Revolutionary Committee (which had established itself as the real master of Greece with King George II merely as a figurehead) underwent several slight changes, the chief of which was caused by the refusal of Zaimis to retain the premiership (which remained vacant, with Sotirios Krokidas as acting premier), and after having been in power for less than two months resigned on November 24, chiefly owing to internal differences arising from the Trial of the Six (ex-ministers, statesmen, and military leaders tried by a revolutionary tribunal on the charges of high treason). See also 1922 in Greece On August 27, 1922 the Turkish forces entered the city of Smyrni in Asia Minor which was previously annexed to Greece The British government, through its minister in Athens, Lindley, urged that the accused should be treated leniently. While certain members of the cabinet were prepared to accept the British suggestion, the more irreconcilable elements refused to submit to what they considered as foreign intervention in Greek internal affairs, and the cabinet accordingly resigned. On November 27, 1922, a new cabinet, composed exclusively of members of the Revolutionary Committee and of the republican group which formed the committee's most active supporters, was appointed. Events 1095 - Pope Urban II declares the First Crusade at the Council of Clermont Year 1922 ( MCMXXII) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Colonel Gonatas was appointed premier, and Konstantinos Rentis, one of the leaders of the republican group, as acting minister for foreign affairs. ^[1]

The Gonatas government served until January 1924, when it resigned in favor of fellow-liberal Eleftherios Venizelos, who had returned from exile in Paris. Komma Fileleftheron ( Greek: Κόμμα Φιλελευθέρων - literally "Party of Liberals" usually translated as "Liberal Party" was one of the major Eleftherios Venizelos (full name Elefthérios Kyriákou Venizélos, Greek: Ελευθέριος Κυριάκου Βενιζέλος ( Mournies Paris (ˈpærɨs in English; in French) is the Capital of France and the country's largest city For his service, Gonatas was accorded the rank of Lieutenant General.

Later political career

After his service as Prime Minister, Gonatas resigned his commission in the army. In the same year, a Republic was proclaimed and the legislature expanded to include a second house: the Senate. The history of the Hellenic Republic constitutes three discrete republican periods in modern Greek History: 1822 - 1832, 1924 - Gonatas ran for and was elected to the Senate as a Liberal in the 1929 election representing Attica and Beotia. The Senate was a new institution introduced with the Greek Constitution of 1927. Attica (Αττική Attikí;) is a periphery (subdivision in Greece, containing Athens, the capital of Greece Boeotia, Beotia, or Bœotia ( Greek: Βοιωτία - English biːˈoʊʃiə formerly Cadmeis was a region of Ancient Greece, north of the He was re-elected and later served as President of the Senate from 1932 to its dissolution in 1935.

During the Nazi Occupation of Greece, Gonatas was imprisoned in the Haidari prison for the duration of the war. The Axis occupation of Greece during World War II ( Η Κατοχή, I Katochi, meaning "The Occupation" began in April After the war, Gonatas was freed and re-entered political life. When he quarrelled with Themistoklis Sophoulis, the leader of the Liberal Party, he formed his own party, the Party of National Liberals (Κόμμα Εθνικών Φιλελευθέρων) which contested the 1946 general election in coalition with the conservative People's Party. Themistoklis Sophoulis (1860-1949 (or Themistoklis Sofoulis, Greek: Θεμιστοκλής Σοφούλης) was a prominent centrist politician belonging These elections were marked by The marked abstention of voters caused by the abstention of Communist Party of Greece, and the effects of the civil war (1943-1944 The People's Party of Greece (GreekΛαїκό Κομμα Laiko Komma or Laikon Komma) was a conservative and pro-monarchist political party founded by Gonatas' party elected 30 members of Parliament. Having joined forces with the monarchist party, Gonatas committed himself to support the restoration of the monarchy in the 1946 plebiscite, which restored King George II to the throne. In 1946 a new Plebiscite took place about the form of Greece 's regime and the Greeks were asked again to decide whether they wanted a king or not

In the Konstantinos Tsaldaris government from 1946-1947, he served as Minister for Public Works. Konstantinos Tsaldaris (Κωνσταντίνος Τσαλδάρης (1884 in Alexandria, Egypt - 1970 in Athens) was a Greek politician and twice The Minister for the Environment Physical Planning and Public Works of Greece is a government minister responsible for the running of the Hellenic Ministry of Environment Physical Planning In the 1950 general election, Gonatas' party first allied with Napoleon Zervas' National Party of Greece but when he was discredited for his collaboration with the Nazis, Gonatas decided to run in coalition with the Liberal Party. The 1950 Greek legislative election was held on 5 March 1950. Napoleon Zervas ( Arta, May 17 1891 - 1957 was a Greek General and resistance leader during World War II. In this election, for the first time in his political career, Gonatas was not elected. He never sought public office again; continuing only to serve as former Prime Ministers did on the Crown Council advising the King until his death in 1966.

See also

• Corfu incident

References

The original version of this article was based οn the relevant article of Βικιπαίδεια, the Greek Wikipedia published under the GFDL. The Corfu Incident was a diplomatic emergency in 1923 between Greece and Italy under the newly empowered dictator Benito Mussolini. Sotirios G Krokidas (Σωτήριος Γ Κροκίδας (1852 1924 was an interim Prime Minister of Greece in 1922 The Prime Minister of Greece ( Πρωθυπουργός της Ελλάδος) is the Head of government of the Hellenic Republic and the leader of Eleftherios Venizelos (full name Elefthérios Kyriákou Venizélos, Greek: Ελευθέριος Κυριάκου Βενιζέλος ( Mournies The GNU Free Documentation License ( GNU FDL or simply GFDL) is a Copyleft License for free documentation designed by the Free Software (contributors)