Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-01-05
BACKGROUND OF EVENTS
BY PAUL ]. COLLINS.

cies and was recalled to become presi-
dent of the Assembly. lie soon Of
Tended the Military League by de
nouncinG the expulsion of the King
and Queen and was ordered by the
militarists to leave Greece within il
hours. Then followed the overthrow
of the kafandaris cabinet and the
proclamation of the Republic Of
Greece on March %, 1924-which was
the 103d anniversary of Greek inde-
pendence from Turkey, proclaimed
March %, 1921.
This proclamation of the republic
was made by two generals-kondylis
and Pangalos-by support alone Of
the army, though. to preserve form.
it was made subject to a plebiscite
which was to follow. An election did
follow three weeks later. in which the
royalists were SO restricted that the
outcome was inevitable.
Then followed charges of great dis
elimination within the army. by
which the stay-at- homes who had had
no battle experience in the Turkish
war We're promoted while the battle
heroes We're ignored. Pappanastas-
siou was premier and Gen. kondylis
war minister. Charges of a serious
character were made against kondy-
lis and the scandals which followed
swept the cabinet out of power.
Press reports charged the Nenize-
lists with robbing the relief funds in
tended for the refugees from Turkey.
and out of all the turmoil Pangalos
seized the premiership, to save the
possible return of the monarchy. The
opposition to the rule of Pangalos is
led by Gen. Ioannis. who was chief
Of OF Of 70
victorious Balkan wars. and was OBJ
posed to the campaign against the
Turks. which ended in a fiasco and
the Turkish burning of Smyrna
X :; ::
Americans have Il tie with the
throne Of Greece since the marriage
Constantine. and the marriage of her
son with King Constantine's niece
Princess Nenia. The latter are
living on Long Island, and in their
home is now visiting Prince Paul.
son of Constantine. to whom Veni-
zelos offered the throne after the
death of Alexander: Paul declined
the offer.
In connection with the Greek de-
feat in Smyrna and Asia Minor.
there is a bit of history of direct
! interest to Americans, as related by
b. P. Salmon, head of the relief
organization, american Friends
of Greece He states that Mr.
Nenizelos informed him that it was
at the suggestion of President
Woodrow Wilson that, the League of
Nations took the mandate over
Smyrna from Italy and gave 1t to
Greece. This has not hitherto been
published.
While a suspended constitution
cuts little figure. so long as it re-
maius imperative, it is significant
to note that the provision for Il
Senate in the Republican constitu-
ton is based not entirely on terri
torial distribution of the Senators
but is similar to the basis of the
Soviets One-third of the Senators
are elected by community vote. the
rest are chosen by trades and pro-
observation-disclosures, university profes-
sors and workers guilds. Much of
the present opposition to the con-
stitution is due to political disap-
prevail of this Sovietism of class con-
troll.
There are some who expect the
Assembly to be reelected soon-the
Senate this month and the Legislature
March 7-and that it will convene
March %. the national anniversary.
Yet Dictator Pangalos. last Satur-
day, in a speech to army officers
said that, for reasons that he would
make public, he was compelled TO
modify his attitude as from tomor-
row. and henceforth he would assume
entire responsibility for the govern
ment of the country, and rely solely
upon the power of the army and the
national conscience in order to save
Greece"
1t was Pangalos who commanded
the Turkish campaign: it was Pan
galos who was dictator during the
recent invasion of Bulgaria, stopped
and penalized by the League OF
Nations. He is alleged by his
enemies to be lingo" trusting dan,
gerously to military power.
Copyright. 1925. by Paul v. Collins,