Omaha daily bee., 1916-02-06
GREEK KING CENTRAL FIGURE
Constantine, Born Fighter, and to
Dominate Should Greece Enter
the European War.
BORN AND BRED A SOLDIER

BORN AND BRED A SOLDIER
Correspondence Of The Associated Press.)
ATHENS. Greece. Nov. @.-should
Greece enter the European war arenl
some interesting military figures will be
added 20 those already in the martial
limelight. for Greece has seen quite =
few wars since the middle nineties-in-
deed. Il has seen little else. ana there has
Grown up among n certain class OF the
Greek people a strong military tradition.
70 the average Greek the great military
fisure OF his country r. Constantine !.
the king Of the Greeks But his greatness
rests rather on the tenacity and enthusi-
0sm with which he has constantly kept
a. the business OF building up Greek
army and the personal courage with
which he has taken the active command
OF his country's troops In tho last two
successful wars. That he n military
genius IN any sense. none of the real
military men Of the country pretend. The
real military genius Of Greece In the as
yet merely Balkan sphere OF his activi-
tics. is General Victor Dousmanis. gen
erai Of brigade. chief OF the general staff
OF Greece. In Greece only the king Is n
field marshal, and Constantine I Is field
marshal not only OF Greece, but OF Prus-
STA as well.
Generals War Record
For his age, General Dousmanis has
made rapid strides 20 arrive at the SUI
preme effective command Of the army
OF Gs.ocO men in timo Of peace and
roughly. 55o-oo men In time OF war. He
was born September >. 1861. on the Island
OF Corfu. He has been a professional
soldier ell his life. graduating from the
military school and entering the regular
army at once rs a second lieutenant In
1883, where he had a rapid rise In the
engineering branch OF the service.
When the war with Turkey was under
taken Ia 1871, Dousmanis had already
been captain seven years. He was at
tached to the general staff OF tho then
crown prince. now the king. As much
below medium stature as the king IL
abovs average height. as dark as the
king In blonde, ~ silent and unsmiilng
as the king Is expansive and genial. the
two we're in great contrast. through Gen.
eral Dousmanis Is seven years older than
his sovereign. Throughout that war and
the long years that followed in which
Prince Constantine planned and effected
the regeneration Of the Greek army.
pousrnanis was his right hand man. They
shared and stili share the same adj
miration for o. belief in the Prussian sys-
TEN. and despite the training OF the Greek
army as q whole by a French military
mission. King Constantine and his chief
OF staff have succeeded in putting upon
. 80 - .-g.1..
Prusslan stamp.
Becomes CHIEF of starr.
During the successful war against the
/ Ottoman empire In 1919 tho then Lieu
tenant Colonel Dousmanis was again at
/ tached TO the staff OF Crown Prince Con-
stantine and when the latter became
king he was made chief OF the general
staff a post which he held through the
war against Bulgaria and has held since.
| In addition. he was also his sovereign's
aide-de-camp IN the war and he tells q
story which the king himself confirms
that the two were with the young Crown
Prince George watching the battle OF
KiliSich from behind q cemetery wall
when a rifle bullet struck the gold wrist
watch on Prince Georges arm, clipping
the watch off neatly and smashing Il
beyond repair. though not even ieavins
scratch on the princes wrist Both
the king and his chief OF staff believe in
being where they can see what IL Coins
on in = battle.
speaking Of the honors which have from
time 10 time been bestowed upon him. 4
IL characteristic OF General Dousmanis
that he could only remember two-thai
/ A. - a. -.
Savior. q Greek order. and wears the
grand Gordon OF the Crown Of Prussia
An entirely different type is Genera
Constantine Moskopoulos, general OF di
vision, and commander Of the Third
Greek army. with headquarters at sa.
ionlki. He IL an older man than Genera
Dousmanis. having been born in constsn.
tinople dufing tho Crimean war. In 1854
lie. too, II a professional soldier. gradu
ating from the military academy in lsr
and entering the artillery corps. wher'
he mado a name for himself In tn
mountain artillery corpa
Specialist Ga One Line.
General Moskopoi,los IL a specialist Il
taking mountains. II Greece should eve
enter the war he will be most useful Z.
the European commanders In showin
tHcm now 10 Gct over tf0Chtceo PEAKS
He has no appearance of a rugEet
mountaineer, however-dandified. agree
able, talkative. little man. with upturned
waxed blonde moustache. gold wrls
watch and half dozen heavy rings OF
I his fingers.
Nevertheless. at the battle of saran
: dapoulo. in the war against Turkey IL
] 1872, already a general OF division. he re
oeivod the order from Crown Prince Con
a Htantine 10 cross Mount KanvOunian an
attack the Turks from the rear at Saran
{ dapouio. HIS men had TO march singh
file. and made line fourteen miles Ions
4 lie reached Rakhovo In the evening an,
$ attacked the enemy the following morn
. ing at o'clock. The struggle was on
o between mountain guns and field pieces
. and General Moskopoulos' mountain AZ
: tillery won the day. twenty-four OF tn
r Turkish pieces falling into the hands o
\ the Greeks In similar fashion the gen
erai crossed Mount verlious for the bat
!, tie OF Costanta. and Mount IAtEika, I
4 attack the fortress OF Vesanjoul.
z Turk u Amaaed.
The story Is told that at F1orina Gen
erai AioskopOulos appeared suddenly be
= fore the city and sent word 10 the Turk
n ish commander eouched IN the followsn
: terms: Surrender or ] shall attack a