Goudi coup The Goudi coup ( ) was a military coup d ' état that took place in Greece on the night of , starting at the barracks in Goudi , a neighbourhood on the eastern outskirts of Athens . The coup was a pivotal event in modern Greek history , as it led to the arrival of Eleftherios Venizelos in Greece and his eventual appointment as Prime Minister . At one stroke , this put an end to the old political system , and ushered in a new period . Henceforth and for several decades , Greek political life would be dominated by two opposing forces : liberal , republican Venizelism and conservative , monarchist anti - Venizelism . The coup itself was the result of simmering tensions in Greek society , which reeled under the effects of the disastrous Greco - Turkish War of 1897 , financial troubles , a lack of necessary reforms and disillusionment with the established political system . Emulating the Young Turks , several junior Army officers founded a secret society , the Military League . With Colonel Nikolaos Zorbas as their figurehead , on the night of 15 August , the Military League , having gathered together its troops in the Goudi barracks , issued a pronunciamiento to the government demanding an immediate turnaround for the country and its armed forces . King George I gave in and replaced Prime Minister Dimitrios Rallis with Kyriakoulis Mavromichalis , without however satisfying the insurgents , who resorted to a large public demonstration the following month . When a stalemate was reached , the coup leaders appealed to a new and providential figure , the Cretan Eleftherios Venizelos , who respected democratic norms in calling for new elections . After his allies ’ twin victories in the Hellenic Parliament in August and November 1910 , Venizelos became Prime Minister and proceeded with the reforms demanded by the coup ’ s instigators . Greece at the beginning of the 20th century . The Congress of Berlin in 1878 and especially the Constantinople Conference of 1881 had been successes for Greek diplomacy . There , the country had won Thessaly and part of Epirus . In order to continue achieving the Megali Idea , Greece then turned to Macedonia and Crete , but met with severe setbacks . Military humiliations . From 1895 , following the Hamidian massacres of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire ; Cretan Christians , then under Ottoman domination , demanded self - government on their island under the protection of the great powers . Massacres of Christians by Muslims led Greece to intervene , first by accepting the departure of volunteers from its shores , then by more and more directly sending part of its fleet , followed by troops at the beginning of 1897 just when Cretans themselves declared " enosis " ( union with Greece ) . The intervention of the European powers ( France , Great Britain , Italy , Russia , Austria - Hungary and Germany ) forced Greece to back down . The opposition criticised the feebleness and indecisiveness of the government , which declared war on the Ottomans at the beginning of April . Fighting lasted a month , which gave its name to the conflict ( the Thirty Days ’ War ) ; the Greek defeat was thorough . Although Greece lost only small amounts territory on its northern border , it was forced to pay huge war reparations of 4 million Ottoman pounds to the victor . Coming on the heels of the public insolvency declared in 1893 , it meant that Greece had to accept an International Financial Control commission ( Διεθνής Οικονομικός Έλεγχος ) , which in effect diverted the Greek state ' s main income sources ( state monopolies and port customs tariffs ) to the repayment of Greece ' s public loans . Crete however became an autonomous state under international supervision , while remaining under the Sultan ’ s suzerainty . Macedonia . Macedonia was a region disputed between Greece , the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria ( created at the Congress of Berlin ) . On , the feast day of the Prophet Elijah ( Bulg . " Ilinden " ) , the Ilinden – Preobrazhenie Uprising , sponsored by the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization , began . The uprising failed , and Turkish reprisals were severe , with 2 , 000 killed and villages and homes razed . Following these events , many Greeks became concerned with the level of Bulgarian activity in Macedonia . The " Ethniki Etairia " ( National Society ) was set up , which sent armed bands of Greeks ( " makedonomakhoi " ) , tacitly aided by the government in Athens , which provided financial support through its consular agents such as Ion Dragoumis and training from military advisers such as Pavlos Melas . This began what is known in Greece as the " Macedonian Struggle " , where Greeks clashed with Bulgarian " komitadjis " , while both sides clashed with the Ottoman army and gendarmerie . Reprisals took many forms , including pillage , arson and assassination . Deeply concerned , the Western powers decided to intervene . The eventual plan was for an administrative reorganisation of the region that would allow for an ethnic - based partition . Thus , each of the ethnic groups concerned sought to strengthen its position so as to gain a maximum of territory when the potential partition came . The successes and sacrifices of young officers such as Melas restored the image of part of the army . In turn , the meddling of the European powers in internal Ottoman affairs contributed to the outbreak of the Young Turk Revolution of July 1908 , which put an end to the Greek - Bulgarian clashes in Macedonia . Consequences of the Young Turk Revolution . Greece at the time was still embroiled in the Cretan question . In 1905 , Eleftherios Venizelos had led the Theriso revolt against High Commissioner George of Greece , who had been appointed by the European powers , and demanded " enosis " . In 1906 , the Prince resigned , and a new Commissioner , the former Greek Prime Minister Alexandros Zaimis , was installed . The Young Turk Revolution pushed the Cretans to unilaterally proclaim definitive " enosis " , taking advantage of the absence of the new High Commissioner . Anti - Greek demonstrations took place in Turkey , where the press launched a similar campaign . The European powers displayed hostility toward Greece , while Georgios Theotokis ’ government was subject to increasing criticism . His replacement with Rallis had little effect . The new prime minister hastened to show signs of goodwill toward the Turkish ambassador and the Western powers . Wishing to avoid a new Greco - Turkish war , he criticised the “ Cretan revolutionaries ” and declared his willingness to abide by the Great Powers ’ decisions . Indignation toward the government ’ s weaknesses and timorous attitude mounted , among the populace as well as in the army , above all among the young officers who had fought in Macedonia . The idea of imitating the Young Turk officers began to spread . Economic and social situation . Greece had been in economic crisis for decades . Public debt ( owed above all to the Great Powers ) dating back to the War of Independence reached new heights in the 1890s . At that point the government of Charilaos Trikoupis recognised that the country was bankrupt by deciding to lower the public debt to 30 % of its value , which angered the creditors , particularly the European powers . At the same time , export of the Zante currant entered a crisis . A new phenomenon then began : emigration of the working population . The number of emigrants ( especially to the United States ) went from 1 , 108 in 1890 to 39 , 135 in 1910 ( of 2 . 8 million inhabitants ) ; significantly , remittances from America and Egypt fell amid economic slowdown in 1908 . Economic growth was too slow for the workers and farmers who left to seek work elsewhere . Until that time , only highlanders and landless island dwellers had left . However , this economic growth did lead to the creation , as elsewhere in Europe in the same period , of a middle class born out of industrial development , of growth in the number of bureaucrats ( linked to political clientelism ) and to an urban explosion . In the mid - 1900s , this middle class could not understand why the country was prosperous while the state ’ s finances were in such poor shape . Politicians , also dissatisfied with government policy , reacted as well . In 1906 , a group of youngish radicals nicknamed the " Japanese Group " ( Ομάς Ιαπώνων ) , in reference to the dynamism of the Meiji period , formed around the titular leadership of Stephanos Dragoumis , with Dimitrios Gounaris its moving spirit . It criticised the old oligarchy that was ruining the country and demanded radical reforms . The group of “ sociologists ” ( Κοινωνιολόγοι ) , especially influenced by Marxism , also called for modernisation of the state apparatus and the economy . The coup . The Military League . The Military League ( Στρατιωτικός Σύνδεσμος ) was formed in October 1908 out of two groups : one of Army NCO s ( with members including future generals Nikolaos Plastiras and Georgios Kondylis ) and one of junior officers around Theodoros Pangalos . They were motivated by a variety of reasons : a desire for reforms that was prevalent in wide parts of society was combined with frustration at the slow rate of promotions and the absence of meritocracy , especially among graduates of the Military Academy . Other officers from the Army , the Navy and the gendarmerie joined up later , and by June 1909 , had spread out over the Greek military . At that time the Military League ’ s demands were limited to an increased military budget , its reorganisation and modernisation , as well as the dismissal of the Princes from the Army . Although the Theotokis government had increased supplies of arms and munitions , he had also reinstated Crown Prince Constantine , who had led the Army in the 1897 war , as Chief Inspector of the Army . Also , despite demands , he had authorised only a few officers to pursue further studies in France and Germany . Army action . The Military League , now numbering about 1 , 300 , began by engaging in a form of lobbying by putting pressure on those in power . It had already scored a success with the July 1909 resignation of Theotokis , its " bête noire " and a symbol of the parliamentary clientelism it hated . But his successor Dimitrios Rallis immediately alienated the League by paying tribute to Constantine ’ s major role in the war of 1897 , by recalling all officers present in Macedonia , by demanding Great Power intervention in Crete and by arresting over a dozen of the League ' s members for insubordination on 12 August . The arrest of League officers precipitated events : either the League would act now , or it would be dissolved by a government . The League searched for support among the senior officers , and Colonel Nikolaos Zorbas was chosen as its figurehead . On 14 August , Pangalos liberated two of the arrested officers , thereby provoking Rallis into ordering a clampdown and the arrest of all league members . On the same night , the League set in motion its bloodless coup . The League members were gathered in the Goudi barracks : several hundred junior officers , non - commissioned officers , simple soldiers , gendarmes and civilians threatened to march on Athens if their demands were not met . The armed forces , in particular the young officers , sent Rallis ’ government a pronunciamento containing their demands ( the previous day , Rallis had declined to receive a deputation seeking to hand over the manifesto ) . Part of it was purely internal in nature : for instance , the soldiers challenged the promotion system , with its limited prospects for advancement . Another part was political and demanded profound reforms in the country : in its political functioning , as well as social , economic and military . The troops called for naval and land rearmament , and asked that the Navy and War ministers belong to the military . The insurgents did not call for the King ’ s abdication or the abolition of the monarchy , remaining loyal subjects . Neither did they announce a military dictatorship or even wish to change the government . They respected the institutions of parliamentary government . However , the officers did demand that the royal princes , chiefly the Crown Prince Constantine , on whom they blamed the defeat of 1897 , be relieved of their posts and expelled from the army . Finally , the League called for a lowering of tax burdens . The prime minister opened " pro forma " negotiations with the revolutionaries who , in order to speed them up , resorted to the people of Athens . Popular demands . A large popular demonstration , organised and supervised by the soldiers , took place in the streets of Athens on 14 September 1909 . The demonstrators , who had come from Athens and the Piraeus , demanded the imposition of a revenue tax , protectionism , the granting of tenure to bureaucrats ( so they would no longer depend on politicians for their jobs ) , better working conditions and the condemnation of usury . King George I , unwilling to follow in the footsteps of his predecessor Otto , who had been forced from the throne under similar circumstances in 1862 , pushed Prime Minister Rallis to resign and replaced him with Kyriakoulis Mavromichalis . Stalemate . The negotiations dragged on , and Colonel Zorbas lacked the political skills to keep up with the seasoned veterans on the government side . Mavromichalis , in securing passage of a large number of mildly reformist bills , implemented part of the programme demanded by the Military League , this time under threat of an actual military takeover . Thus , the general staff was reorganised and those close to Constantine ( such as Ioannis Metaxas ) were removed while budget cuts were made in order to finance army modernisation . But his government clearly showed that the old system endured : only Finance Minister Athanasios Eftaxias had reformist ideas . With the revolution running out of steam , the League began to crumble . It was not a real political movement : its ideology and programme lacked coherence ; its leaders were popular but unskilled . They were above all soldiers ill at ease outside their barracks . The League had known how to link its corporatist demands to public discontent by using populist and nationalist slogans , but it unsettled the bourgeoisie . Although it saw the necessity of modernising the country , the middle classes feared the drift towards a military dictatorship , considered deleterious to the normal progress of affairs . The appeal to Venizelos . Some of the officers went to Crete , which they knew well , either from having participated in the earlier events or in the formation of its civil guard during the period of autonomy . There , they had also been able to see the political talents of the man who had been Prime Minister of Crete since 9 May 1909 : Eleftherios Venizelos . When Prince George of Greece was High Commissioner of Crete , he had found himself in opposition to Venizelos . This gave the latter an anti - dynastic aura that attracted the Goudi insurgents ; he was also seen as free from association with the mainland oligarchy ’ s chaos , corruption and incompetence . Starting in October 1909 they had sent him an emissary to sound out his intentions , also suggesting to him that he take the office of Prime Minister of Greece . However , Venizelos did not wish to appear as the soldiers ’ man , either in Greece or abroad . Neither did he wish to clash head - on with King George I and the “ old ” political parties . He thus advised them to proceed with legislative elections and entrust implementation of the reform programme to the new assembly . He went to Athens on and was greeted in Piraeus harbour by eager officers . In January , a Crown Council gathered together the main leaders of the political movements , under the aegis of the King and of Venizelos . The latter played the role of mediator between the forces present : the King , the government , the parliament , the troops and the people . The solutions proposed by the Cretan prime minister were adopted : the convocation of an assembly tasked with constitutional revision ; and the resignation of the Mavromichalis government , to be replaced with a transitional government that would organise legislative elections . Leadership of the transitional government was given to Stephanos Dragoumis , considered an “ independent ” . Nikolaos Zorbas was made Minister of Land Forces . In exchange , Venizelos managed to convince the Military League to dissolve itself so as not to hinder the political process . In March 1910 , an initially reluctant sovereign called new elections ; three days later , the League announced its dissolution . Venizelos went back to Crete . Using his Cretan citizenship as a pretext ( the island had declared union with Greece but Greece had yet to recognise this ) , Venizelos did not take part in the elections , held in August 1910 . His allies nominated him for a seat in Atticoboeotia but he stayed away from the electoral campaign . He was on a diplomatic tour of Western Europe when he learned that he had been elected and that deputies allied to him had obtained a relative majority with 146 of 362 seats . He thus returned to Athens amid rapturous public acclaim ; the Dragoumis government resigned and Venizelos became prime minister in October 1910 . He surrounded himself with collaborators bent on reform policies and began to apply the programme of the Goudi revolutionaries , strongly backed by public opinion . The Austrian ambassador observed on 28 October 1910 : “ Venizelos is a sort of popular tribune and almost the dictator of Greece . The enthusiasm of the people , who acclaim him everywhere , is striking ” . He decided to call immediate new elections in order to strengthen his majority : the assembly elected in August continued to be dominated by the old politicians . These took place on . Venizelos was careful to present himself as an adversary of the “ old ” parties ( which boycotted the elections ) , but also as free from influence by the Military League that had sought him out after the Goudi coup . Thus he did not hesitate to take as an aide - de - camp Ioannis Metaxas , a " bête noire " of the League whom it had removed . Venizelos ’ Liberal Party won the elections with an overwhelming majority of 300 out of 362 deputies . Reformist policies . The reforms of the Venizelos government were numerous , and allowed Greece to modernise and thus be better prepared for the Balkan Wars and World War I . The King supported them , seeing in his prime minister the best hope of stemming the anti - dynasticism that had surfaced in 1897 and gained renewed momentum in the 1908 - 1909 crisis . To the people who wanted the assembly elected in 1910 to be a constituent assembly , Venizelos replied that he considered it more of a " revisionary assembly " . The fifty constitutional amendments of 1911 , prepared by a commission directed by Stephanos Dragoumis , led to the frequently expressed opinion that after this date , Greece had an entirely new fundamental law , the Greek Constitution of 1911 . This revision reformed the status of property by allowing for expropriation in the national interest , opening up the possibility of land reform ; were distributed to 4 , 000 farm families in Thessaly . Agricultural education was encouraged , as well as farming cooperatives , a Ministry of Agriculture was created and an agronomist named in each region . Bureaucrats were given greater security of tenure and hiring for civil service posts began to be done by public examination . Judges were protected by a Superior Magistracy Council . Social legislation ameliorated the condition of the working class : child labour was abolished , as was nighttime labour by women , and a minimum wage introduced for both ; Sunday was made an obligatory day of rest ; primary education was made free and compulsory ; and a social insurance system was created . The right of labour union s to function was recognised . Stabilisation of the drachma once again allowed for foreign borrowing . The state budget showed a surplus in 1911 and 1912 after many years of deficit , and tax evasion was curbed . The tax on sugar was cut by 50 % and a progressive income tax introduced . Taken together , the reforms helped neutralise the development of strong socialist and agrarian movements seen elsewhere in the Balkans in that period . The army and navy were reorganised with help from France , which sent a military mission led by General Eydoux ( Germany had reformed the Turkish Army ) . The navy was reorganised by a British mission that Admiral Tufnell headed . However , Venizelos , anxious to show that he was no military puppet , excluded soldiers from political life , released officers arrested for attempting to thwart the Goudi coup , and restored to Crown Prince Constantine ( given the new post of inspector - general of the army ) , along with his brothers , their army posts . This angered the members of the defunct Military League , who for a time thought of recreating it ; indeed of carrying out another coup .