Georgios Kondylis

His Excellency
Georgios Kondylis
Γεώργιος Κονδύλης

Georgios Kondylis as Colonel, ca. 1919.
Prime Minister of Greece
In office
October 10, 1935  November 30, 1935
Monarch George II
Preceded by Panagis Tsaldaris
Succeeded by Konstantinos Demertzis
In office
August 23, 1926  December 4, 1926
President Pavlos Kountouriotis
Preceded by Athanasios Eftaxias
Succeeded by Alexandros Zaimis
Minister for War of Greece
In office
12 March 1924  11 June 1924
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 Greece Greek
Political party National Democratic Party
Spouse(s) Laura Boaventura
Religion Greek Orthodox
Military service
Nickname(s) Thunder
Allegiance Greece Kingdom of Greece
Service/branch Hellenic Army
Years of service 1896–1924
Rank Major General
Battles/wars Macedonian Struggle, Balkan Wars, Allied Expedition to the Ukraine, Asia Minor Campaign

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".

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 (19041908) leading his own guerrilla band, and was promoted to Captain during the Balkan Wars (19121913). 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.

Kondylis in 1932

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.

References

  1. By the Grace of God, TIME Magazine, November 18, 1935
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
26 August – 4 December 1926
Succeeded by
Alexandros Zaimis
Preceded by
Charalambos Tseroulis
Minister for Military Affairs
26 August – 4 December 1926
Succeeded by
Alexandros Mazarakis-Ainian
Preceded by
Ioannis Leonidas
Minister for Naval Affairs
(pro tempore)

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
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