Constantine I of Greece
Constantine I was King of Greece from 18 March 1913 to 11 June 1917 and again from 19 December 1920 to 27 September 1922. The eldest son of George I of Greece, he succeeded to the throne following his father's assassination in 1913.
Educated in Greece and later in Germany, Constantine was an admirer of Prussian militarism. As the crown prince, he was commander-in-chief of the Hellenic Army during the unsuccessful Greco-Turkish War of 1897. Later and under the leadership of Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos, he led successfully the Greek forces in the Balkan Wars of 1912–1913, in which Greece expanded, doubling in area and population.
He was married to Sophia of Prussia, a younger sister of Wilhelm II, the Emperor of Germany. During his reign, Constantine's pro-German aligned interests led him to twice refuse Venizelos' popular elected mandates for Greece to join World War I on the side of Allies. Constantine unconstitutionally dismissed his Prime Minister, causing the National Schism. The country was split between the pro-Venizelos New Greece and the royalist Old Greece, driving deep social cleavages and brought Greece at the brink of civil war. In late 1916, his pro-German policies led to the unconditional surrender of Fort Roupel and the loss of much of newly conquered Macedonian territories to Bulgaria. Also his military staff organized paramilitary units to terrorize Venizelos' supporters, and these groups opened fire against Allied troops in Athens in an incident later known as the Noemvriana. After a five-month naval blockade of Athens by France and Great Britain that caused famine, Constantine abdicated, despite strong popular support for continued resistance. His second son, Alexander, succeeded him. After Alexander's death, Venizelos' defeat in the 1920 legislative elections, and a plebiscite in favor of his return, Constantine was reinstated.
The royalist governments that succeeded Venizelos, continued the unsuccessful Greco-Turkish War of 1919–1922 that ended in the irrevocable destruction of Greek communities in Asia Minor. Constantine I abdicated the throne in favor of his eldest son George II in September 1922, after an army revolt of Venizelist officers. He went to exile, dying in Sicily, Italy on 11 January 1923.
Early life
Constantine was born on 2 August 1868 in Athens. He was the eldest son of King George I and Queen Olga. His birth was met with an immense wave of enthusiasm: the new heir apparent to the throne was the first Greek-born member of the family. As the ceremonial cannon on Lycabettus Hill fired the royal salute, huge crowds gathered outside the Palace shouting what they thought should rightfully be the newborn prince's name: "Constantine". This was both the name of his maternal grandfather, Grand Duke Konstantin Romanov of Russia, and the name of the "King who would reconquer Constantinople", the future "Constantine XII, legitimate successor to the Emperor Constantine XI Palaiologos", according to popular legend. He was inevitably christened "Constantine" on 12 August, and his official style was the Diádochos. The most prominent university professors of the time were handpicked to tutor the young Crown Prince: Ioannis Pantazidis taught him Greek literature; Vasileios Lakonas mathematics and physics; and Constantine Paparrigopoulos history, infusing the young prince with the principles of the Megali Idea. On 30 October 1882 he enrolled in the Hellenic Military Academy. After graduation he was sent to Berlin for further military education, and served in the German Imperial Guard. Constantine also studied political science and business in Heidelberg and Leipzig. In 1890 he became a Major general, and assumed command of the 3rd Army Headquarters in Athens.Olympics and confrontations with Trikoupis
In January 1895, Constantine caused political turmoil when he ordered army and gendarmerie forces to break up a street protest against tax policy. Constantine had previously addressed the crowd and advised them to submit their grievances to the government. Prime Minister Charilaos Trikoupis asked the King to recommend that his son avoid such interventions in politics without prior consultation with the government. King George responded that the Crown Prince was, in dispersing protesters, merely obeying military orders, and that his conduct lacked political significance. The incident caused a heated debate in Parliament, and Trikoupis finally resigned as a result. In the following elections Trikoupis was defeated, and the new prime minister, Theodoros Deligiannis, seeking to downplay hostility between government and the Palace, regarded the matter closed.The organization of the first modern Olympics in Athens was another issue which caused a Constantine-Trikoupis confrontation, with Trikoupis opposed to hosting the Games. After Deligiannis's electoral victory over Trikoupis in 1895, those who favored a revival of the Olympic Games, including the Crown Prince, prevailed. Subsequently, Constantine was instrumental in the organization of the 1896 Summer Olympics; according to Pierre de Coubertin, in 1894 "the Crown Prince learned with great pleasure that the Games will be inaugurated in Athens." Coubertin assured that "the King and the Crown Prince will confer their patronage on the holding of these Games." Constantine later conferred more than that; he eagerly assumed the presidency of the 1896 organizing committee. At the Crown Prince's request, wealthy businessman George Averoff agreed to pay approximately one million drachmas to fund the restoration of the Panathinaiko Stadium in white marble.
Greco-Turkish War and aftermath
Constantine was the commander-in-chief of the Army of Thessaly in the Greco-Turkish War of 1897, which ended in a humiliating defeat. In its aftermath, the popularity of the monarchy fell, and calls were raised in the army for reforms and the dismissal of the royal princes, and especially Constantine, from their command posts in the armed forces. The simmering dissent culminated in the Goudi coup in August 1909. In its aftermath, he and his brothers were dismissed from the armed forces, only to be reinstated a few months later by the new prime minister, Eleftherios Venizelos, who was keen on gaining the trust of King George. Venizelos was ingenious in his argumentation: "All Greeks are rightly proud to see their sons serve in the army, and so is the King". What was left unsaid was that the royal princes' commands were to be on a very tight leash.Balkan Wars
Overview
In 1912 with the formation of the Balkan League, Greece was ready for war against the Ottoman Empire and Prince Constantine became Chief of the Hellenic Army.Ottoman planning anticipated a two-prong Greek attack east and west of the impassable Pindus mountain range. They accordingly allotted their resources, equally divided, in a defensive posture to fortify the approaches to Ioannina, capital of Epirus, and the mountain passes leading from Thessaly to Macedonia. This was a grave error. The war plan by Venizelos and the Greek General Staff called for a rapid advance with overwhelming force towards Thessaloniki with its important harbor. A small Greek force of little more than a division, just enough to forestall a possible Turkish redeployment eastwards, was to be sent west as the "Army of Epirus".
At the same time the bulk of the Greek infantry and artillery made a rapid advance against the Turks in the east. In the event, the Greek plan worked well. Advancing on foot, the Greeks soundly defeated the Turks twice, and were in Thessaloniki within 4 weeks. The Greek plan for overwhelming attack and speedy advance hinged upon another factor: should the Hellenic Navy succeed in blockading the Turkish fleet within the Straits, any Turkish reinforcements from Asia would have no way of quickly reaching Europe. The Ottomans would be slow to mobilize, and even when the masses of troops raised in Asia were ready, they were able to go no further than the outskirts of Constantinople, fighting the Bulgarians in brutal trench warfare. With the Bulgarians directing the bulk of their force towards Constantinople, the capture of Thessaloniki would ensure that the railway axis between these two main cities was lost to the Turks, causing loss of logistics and supplies and severe impairment of command and control capability. The Turks would be hard placed to recruit locals, as their loyalties would be liable to lie with the Balkan Allies. Ottoman armies in Europe would be quickly cut off and their loss of morale and operational capability would lead them toward a quick surrender.
Macedonian Front
Previously the Inspector General of the Army, Constantine was appointed commander-in-chief of the "Army of Thessaly" when the First Balkan War broke out in October 1912. He led the Army of Thessaly to victory at Sarantaporos. At this point, his first clash with Venizelos occurred, as Constantine desired to press north, towards Monastir, where the bulk of the Ottoman army lay, and where the Greeks would rendezvous their Serb allies. Venizelos, on the other hand, demanded that the army capture the strategic port city of Thessaloniki, the capital of Macedonia, with extreme haste, so as to prevent its fall to the Bulgarians. The dispute resulted in a heated exchange of telegrams. Venizelos notified Constantine that "... political considerations of the utmost importance dictate that Thessaloniki be taken as soon as possible". After Constantine impudently cabled: "The army will not march on Thessaloniki. My duty calls me towards Monastir, unless you forbid me", Venizelos was forced to pull rank. As prime minister and war minister, he outranked Constantine and his response was famously three words long, a crisp military order to be obeyed forthwith: "I forbid you". Constantine was left with no choice but to turn east, and after defeating the Ottoman army at Giannitsa, he accepted the surrender of the city of Thessaloniki and of its Ottoman garrison on 27 October, less than 24 hours before the arrival of Bulgarian forces who hoped to capture the city first.The capture of Thessaloniki against Constantine's whim proved a crucial achievement: the pacts of the Balkan League had provided that in the forthcoming war against the Ottoman Empire, the four Balkan allies would provisionally hold any ground they took from the Turks, without contest from the other allies. Once an armistice was declared, then facts on the ground would be the starting point of negotiations for the final drawing of the new borders in a forthcoming peace treaty. With the vital port firmly in Greek hands, all the other allies could hope for was a customs-free dock in the harbor.