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| Macedonia - coveted by the Ottomans, Serbia, Bulgaria and Greece. Still an unresolved bone of contention in 2017. |
Compared to the stalemate of the western
Front, the unstable patchwork of nations contained within the Balkan Peninsula
had seen tremendous movements across frontiers and reversals of fortune. In
1914 the Serbians humiliatingly repulsed Austria’s punitive invasion, and held
their own until late 1915 when German intervention crushed their resistance and
overwhelmed their country (see Post 29/9/2015). Vengeful Austria, alongside a Bulgarian
intervention to the east pushed the remains of the Serbian army and much of the
population over the mountains to the Albanian coast. Surviving soldiers were
evacuated to Greek islands, to re-appear alongside Allied forces later in the
war. Bulgaria’s opportunist entry to the war aimed to regain land she had lost
during the Balkan Wars of 1912 and 1913. By joining with the Central Powers,
Bulgaria had to put aside her claims to Western Turkey, but did take advantage
of the pursuit of retreating Serbs to occupy northern Albania in December 1915.
The unfortunate Albania - only recognised
as an independent state in 1912 – suffered more than any from the complexity of
Balkan politics. Despite neutrality in the main conflict, it was steadily
dismantled. Occupied in the north by Bulgarian and Austrian forces, it was
invaded from the east by Greece as early as 1914, to support a Greek minority controlled
region of Epirus. This, in turn was overtaken by an extension of the French
front in Salonika, and an invasion of Italian troops in the south to create an
‘autonomous’ Albanian republic of Korce, which both parties squabbled over. By
mid-1916 the small remaining independent central Albania was obliged to declare
war on Austria-Hungary and await the outcome.
To the south east, the Greek tragedy
continued gradually to unfold.
Like her neighbour Albania, Greece
encountered more problems from a bogus neutrality than declaring for one side
or the other. We have seen (Post 27/10/2015) how two strong individuals effectively
split the country in two. Eleftherios Venizelos had continuously struggled
against the Constitutional Monarch to bring Greece into the war on the side of
the Allies.
King Constantine’s avowed neutral stance belied his Germanophile
tendencies and his covert actions in favour of his cousin, Kaiser Wilhelm II.
Ironically, his friendship with another cousin - Tsar Nicholas - afforded him a
degree of protection against overthrow. By the end of 1916 (see Post 23/12/2016) Greece
was, effectively, partitioned, with Venizelos leading a pro-Allied government
of national defence in the north, based in Salonika (Thessaloniki today), and
the King and anti-Venizelists governing in Athens and the south. The Allied
navies were blockading Athens to enforce the King’s promises re neutrality.
This situation was not sustainable.
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| A portrait of Constantine I of Greece in 1914 |
Sarrail’s garrison in Salonika,
established in late 1915 as a vague strategic alternative to the failure at
Gallipoli, had expanded over time. With Venizelos in close proximity, it was
becoming active again in Macedonia - volatile but vitally important for
communications in all directions. Unsuccessful initial moves in 1916 to the
north east to support Rumania against the Bulgarians (see Post 2/10/2016) culminated in
the capture of Monastir (today Bitola) in southern Macedonia in November. In
early 1917 an expanded front was held by Sarrail’s forces from Monastir in the
south, to the Struma Valley, leading up to Lake Doira, 90 miles north east of
Salonika. The right (western) flank of this front was held by British forces,
led by General Milne. In April Sarrail announced to his forces that they were
going on to the offensive. There seemed no great strategic purpose, other than
to join the Allied efforts on the Western Front and the presumed Russian
offensive on the Eastern Front (although no-one knew what was really going on
there). The French and Italians were to strengthen their positions in Albania
and Milne’s forces were to move into Macedonia, pushing the Bulgarians back
past the fortress at Doira, near the lake. An all too familiar pattern
followed. The initial bombardment on 24th April enabled the Allied
forces to gain their first objective almost everywhere. This was followed by
slower progress against well prepared mountain defences, and accompanying heavy
casualties. Anticipating summer heat, and the high risk of outbreaks of
dysentery and malaria, Sarrail soon called off the offensive and consolidated
his defences along the paltry new ground he had captured. Before long, large
numbers of troops were recalled to northern Greece to monitor the rapidly
changing political situation there.
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| Eleftherios Venizelos 1864-1936 A giant of modern Greek history |
From the crisis at the end of 1916,
Constantine’s Government in Athens was led by Lambros - under pressure from the
allied shipping blockade to act with strict neutrality, and faced by a
strengthening Venizelos government and army in the north. Still civil unrest
continued, and the King encouraged pro-German propaganda. Lambros resigned, to
be replaced by the equally ineffective Zaimis. As Venizelos grew stronger it
appeared by the end of May that the King’s days were numbered. He was isolated,
and could no longer rely on supportive moves from his cousins. By June the
Italians occupied enough of Albania to block his only remaining direct
communication route with the Central Powers. On 6th June, Jonnart, a
high ranking French diplomat, was landed on the southern Greek coast as the
presumptive High Commissioner for an Allied protectorate. He advanced to Athens
where, on the 11th, he summoned Prime Minister Zaimis, issuing an
ultimatum for a constitutional government that would guarantee the safety of
the Allied forces in Salonika. Zaimis resigned in favour of Venizelos, who
hurried south to Athens to assume his new role. Constantine was left with no
choice but to abdicate, in favour of his son Prince Alexander. Constantine was
expelled from Greece, joining a number of exiled monarchs in truly neutral
Switzerland.
Venizelos set about uniting his country
behind the Allies, and behind the new King. It was a remarkable achievement,
and he would become Prime Minister several more times during Greece’s turbulent
post-war times. Buchan, in his partial way, waxes lyrical about him: “His work lay in a narrow area, and his problems
were on a small scale compared with those that faced his colleagues in Western Europe;
but in the mental and moral endowments of the statesman he had no superior, and
perhaps no equal, among living men”*
* Buchan: A History of the Great War. Vol 3 p505
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