Georgios Kondylis
Georgios Kondylis (Greek: Γεώργιος Κονδύλης; August 14, 1878 – February 1, 1936) was a general of the Greek army and Prime Minister of Greece. He was nicknamed Keravnos, Greek for "Thunder" or "Thunderbolt".
Georgios Kondylis Γεώργιος Κονδύλης | |
|---|---|
 Georgios Kondylis as colonel, ca. 1919. | |
| Prime Minister of Greece | |
| In office August 23, 1926 – December 4, 1926 | |
| President | Pavlos Kountouriotis |
| Preceded by | Athanasios Eftaxias |
| Succeeded by | Alexandros Zaimis |
| In office October 10, 1935 – November 30, 1935 | |
| Monarch | George II |
| Preceded by | Panagis Tsaldaris |
| Succeeded by | Konstantinos Demertzis |
| Minister for War of Greece | |
| In office 12 March 1924 – 11 June 1924 | |
| Monarch | George II |
| Preceded by | Nikolaos Triantaphyllakos |
| Succeeded by | Theodoros Pangalos |
| Personal details | |
| Born | August 14, 1878 Proussos, Evrytania, Greece |
| Died | February 1, 1936 (aged 57) Athens, Greece |
| Nationality |  |
| Political party | National Democratic Party |
| Military service | |
| Nickname(s) | Thunder |
| Allegiance | .svg.png){kind=small} |
| Branch/service | Hellenic Army |
| Years of service | 1896–1924 |
| Rank |  |
| Battles/wars | Macedonian Struggle, Balkan Wars, World War I, Allied Expedition to the Ukraine, Asia Minor Campaign |
Military career
Kondylis was born in Proussós. He enlisted in the army as a volunteer in 1896, and fought with the Greek expeditionary corps in Crete. He was later commissioned and participated in the Macedonian Struggle (1904–1908) leading his own guerrilla band, and was promoted to captain during the Balkan Wars (1912–1913). He supported the Movement of National Defence of Eleftherios Venizelos during the First World War, rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel. A firm Venizelist, he opposed the restoration of King Constantine I in 1920, fleeing to Constantinople together with other Venizelist officers and organizing there the "Democratic Defence" (Δημοκρατική Άμυνα). He returned after the 1922 Revolution as a major general, suppressed the royalist revolt of 1923, retired from the army, and became involved in politics.
Political career
He was elected to Parliament at the 1923 elections for the constituency of Rodope, initially for the Democratic Union, and later founded the National Republican Party (Εθνικό Δημοκρατικό Κόμμα), renamed in 1928 National Radical Party (Εθνικό Ριζοσπαστικό Κόμμα). He was war minister from March to June 1924. On August 24, 1926, he overthrew the dictatorship of Theodoros Pangalos in a bloodless coup and formed a government, proclaiming elections for November. Notably, his party did not participate in these. In the elections of August 1928, voters elected nine of his party's candidates as MPs, and he was elected in Kavala.
During this time, Kondylis began moving rightward. In 1932 he became war minister again in return for his support of the Populist government, a post he retained after the Populists were reelected in 1933. From this post he was instrumental in crushing the March 1935 Venizelist revolt. In the period immediately following the revolt, Kondylis became the real power in the country. He sacked numerous pro-republican soldiers and civil servants, and condemned Venizelos to death in absentia.
By now, Kondylis was one of the strongest proponents of restoring the monarchy. However, he opposed Prime Minister Panagis Tsaldaris' call for a referendum. On October 10, 1935, Kondylis and several other officers called on Tsaldaris and forced him to resign. Kondylis forced President Alexandros Zaimis to name him the new premier. Later that day, Kondylis forced Zaimis to resign, declared himself Regent, abolished the Republic and staged a plebiscite on November 3 for the return of the monarchy.
The official tally showed that 98 percent of the voters supported the return of George II—an implausibly high total that could have only been obtained through massive fraud. Indeed, the vote took place under less-than-secret conditions. Voters were given the choice of dropping a blue piece of paper in the ballot box if they supported the monarchy, and a red one if they supported the republic. Those who supported the republic risked being beaten up. Under those circumstances, it took a brave Greek to vote "no." By this time, Kondylis had turned so far to the right that he now openly sympathized with fascism. He hoped to echo Benito Mussolini's example in Italy, in which Victor Emmanuel III had been reduced to a puppet.[1]
George returned to Greece on 25 November, and retained Kondylis as prime minister. Kondylis soon quarreled with the king, who was not content to be a mere puppet, and resigned five days later. In the January 1936 elections, he cooperated with Ioannis Rallis and managed to have fifteen MPs elected. Soon after, however, he died of a heart attack on February 1, 1936, in Athens. His nephew, George Kondylis Jr., became a general in the Greek army and later fought against the Axis during the German invasion of Greece. He was awarded Serbian Order of the White Eagle.[2]
References
- By the Grace of God, TIME Magazine, November 18, 1935
- Acović, Dragomir (2012). Slava i čast: Odlikovanja među Srbima, Srbi među odlikovanjima. Belgrade: Službeni Glasnik. p. 601.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
External links
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Konstantinos Gondikas |
Minister for Military Affairs 12 March – 9 June 1924 |
Succeeded by Theodoros Pangalos |
| Preceded by Georgios Roussos |
Minister for the Interior 7 October 1924 – 15 June 1925 |
Succeeded by Georgios Maris |
| Preceded by Athanasios Eftaxias |
Prime Minister of Greece (caretaker) 26 August – 4 December 1926 |
Succeeded by Alexandros Zaimis |
| Preceded by Charalambos Tseroulis |
Minister for Military Affairs (caretaker) 26 August – 4 December 1926 |
Succeeded by Alexandros Mazarakis-Ainian |
| Preceded by Ioannis Leonidas |
Minister for Naval Affairs (caretaker) 26 August – 4 December 1926 |
Succeeded by Alexandros Kanaris |
| Preceded by Theodoros Chavinis |
Minister for Military Affairs 4 November 1932 – 16 January 1933 |
Succeeded by Georgios Katechakis |
| Preceded by Alexandros Othonaios |
Minister for Military Affairs 10 March 1933 – 10 October 1935 |
Succeeded by Alexandros Papagos |
| Vacant Title last held by Andreas Michalakopoulos(in the 1929–32 Venizelos cabinet) |
Deputy Prime Minister of Greece 5 April – 10 October 1935 |
Succeeded by Ioannis Theotokis |
| Preceded by Panagis Tsaldaris |
Prime Minister of Greece 10 October – 30 November 1935 |
Succeeded by Konstantinos Demertzis |
| Preceded by Sofoklis Dousmanis |
Minister for Naval Affairs 10–16 October 1935 |
Succeeded by Georgios Rallis |
Authority control  |
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