KING BY PLEBISCITE: GEORGE OF GREECE

Press, Volume LXXXII, Issue 24982, 17 September 1946, Page 6

KING BY PLEBISCITE: GEORGE OF GREECE

THE BALKANS

THH uUcle In in. -OH»rvW.” P'-HK. . s ' r '- 5 , <u a—tember 1, the day of the voting w Inch restored the Greek Monai?R* (Published by Arrangement.)

To-day the male adults amongst a population oi 6,000,000—■ dusty peasants from the vineyards argumentative merchants, workers tom factories —will be making the clear, warm air of Greece noisy with their antique tongue as they gp to vote. They are voting about a genUeman, aged 56, who can be seen regularly amongst the diners at Claridges Hotel in Brook street. He is not: particularly distinguished-looking —medium height, spectacled, thinning fair hair, J iea yy" jowled. If he had not so many foreign medals, one might have said a rather .wealthy colonel in a quiet job at the War Office. . King George the Second of the Hellenes (whose claim to this title will almost certainly be confirmed by the present plebiscite) is not Greek in blood or appearance. When Greece was first proclaimed a Kingdom (on May 7, 1832), after being for centuries a part of the Turkish Empire. Prince Otho, son of Ludwig of Bavaria, was chosen as King. A military coup deposed him in 1862, and tne next king was Prince William George of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glilck-ihurg, a younger son of the King of Denmark. He was assassinated m 1912 and succeeded by his son Consumtine, whose mother was Princess Olga Romanoff of Russia. Constantine married Princess Sophia Hohenzollem, sister of the Kaiser; the present King is their son. In 1917, because of the Dardanelles, Greece was a pivotal point of the first World War, King Constantine, who was considered too favourable to nis brother-in-law the Kaiser, was forced to abdicate; but he wae not replaced by the heir, George. The Allies chose his younger brother, Alexander. This young man died in 1920 from the bite of a monkey, and his father returned. But Constantine this time lasted only two years. His unsuccessful war in Asia Minor, resulting in the expulsion of all •Greeks from Turkey, led to his own expulsion at the hands of General Gonatis (to-day a Royalist Cabinet Minister in Athens). A Troubled Reign The present George then became King for iae first time. It was a most awkward moment. The monarchy was associated with the recent fiasco in Asia Minor and somewhat with the defeated Kaiser: republics were being set up all over Europe. George’s first Government was in fact republican in sympathy, its leading figures being “Venizehst” generals (Venizelos, the great Liberal of his father’s reign, was the Greek equivalent of, say, Lloyd GeorgeT; Trouble started almost at once. A group of Royalist generals attempted to overthrow she Government by force, but were put down: the King was im- • plicated in their plot. An angry Government had George escorted to a ship, and proclaimed Greece a Republic. That was tn 1924. George’s exile and the Republic’s life were to last 11 years. ~ during most of these years George lived at Bi*own’s Hotel, London reading newspapers and books on strategy, receiving friends, occasioning no scandal and little gossip, passing a quiet, almost bourgeois life. His kingship was not recognised by the Court of St. James, to which the Greek Republic nad sent an ambassador.

The Kondylin Plebiscite Then, in 1935, intrigue and violence broke out once more in Athens The Liberal Venizelists were this time guilty of attempting a coup against the Conservative Populists in Power. General Kondyhs, Minister of War, proclaimed himself Regent and held a plebiscite which produced the unbelievable result of 97.5 per cent in favour of King George’s return. The world took little notice—after all. Hitler was at that time staggering us by a new degree of corruption and violence in politics, beside which the Kondyhs putsch appeared oldfashioned and almost harmless. 193 - 5 Ge o1 ** moved into his royal Athenian residence for the second Ume as king. To start with he behaved as he had watched our royalty behave from his observation post in Brown s j Hotel—constitutionally. This produced one amusing result. Three Ko«dyUs’ 97.5 per S pro-royalist plebiscite, King George held scrupulously fair parliamentary elections, which brought the Republican parties back in the majority. He continued in this background role until, six months later, the Liberals proposed forming a coalition Govem-

ment with a clear majority u. in the 20 Communist of the Royalist Party GeneS A advised action, pointing colleague, Kondylis, hfd army of all non-royalist offlew* $ the success of a coup was «;uS George concurred. On August a Metaxas became dictator abolish’ constitution, dissolved parha-Ti?4 claimed royal authority for regime. ’•w The Metaxas Rezjm« Metaxas was not a khiiwniu. created a new party and prisoned his King; he was aSrA royalist general who used th. y 1 to make the King and his friend, of the country. His regime wJt’* totalitarian than Mussolini!* 1 3 George’s responsibility for ft greater than was Victor When Mussolini attacked October, 1940, King GeoMe-wd? 18 eral Metaxas declared war on our The Greeks valiantly pushed Italian army back into AlbanU iwl" had not sided with the then victSS Axis, and his people fought him against Fascism. Hw was redeemed and he won ing support of Mr Chumhifi ” For seven months the Gres** Mussolini out and won a similar to that of the Finns in thefar hopeless struggle. The Mussolini and the Finn vewmg Shr side-wars were oddly similar in dtanJ ter and in popular appeal for When the Germans also stbJJL Greece, in April? 1941, it was mafc the British Army who didtoed The Greeks were beaten awMOT said, because of an order from q Mini? ter sending the whole armv ® kJ? which caused confusion. King left via Crete and Egypt for honourSk exile as the head of his In the war years one Greak Cabinet followed the otfttr. George did not show hlmaeif great statesman or a n«n-peliti a ] Monarch, like Haakon of Norway > continued in his unfortunate rok virtual head of the Royalist Party j has been said of Mr Churchill fit m he had not become leader of the C®. servative Party, but had chosen tabes non-party national figure, his miflwwfc would be greater to-day. Qwtahfr King George of the Hellenes cmS.' ted such an &ror. Meanwhile, inside Greece then wu a queer situation. The Germam and half-starved the country, hat tte Greek resistance was polftMyAw It soon developed into two factions—one Communist-led 101 fg I other Royalist-led. The BriM ttutl arms and liaison officers to Jugoslavia—on the principle of Wafas I all willing to fight the enenv, I The Civil War | As the war ended, the CommuW-1 led Greeks (EAM) saw with I Tito’s success next door. So & lie-1 cumber, 1944, when libmtioa tai I come, they made an attempt to ieifi | power by violence. A bloody chi! I war, with EAM as the aggresior, » I suited. Greece might haw MM I Jugoslavia into the Soviet orbit, wfe ■ her political freedom definitely endtf. I if the’ British had done nottoiffjK I we struck. EAM was defeatefitMi I liberal Government wag finally » | stalled. I But the reality of Greek politics I always tended to be that the etittns ■ are active and the centre weak, Grade- K ally the Royalists captured the “rare- K taker” Government. The violence 4 R EAM and fear of civil war gave ftte g backing in the country. Parliament- | ary methods and freedom of oppaftfon j became questionable, in spite .Of ■ presence of British troopa s ting of maqy questions in tfiMwi S Royalist rule of the counti.va fact, causing unease In AthenßlM to 1 London. Could the story been | wise? If we had not armedjta | resistance movement; if we 1 sisted that King George in exfig to E not act as a party leader; if ■ applied all our efforts to estaNMtKfl in autumn. 1944, the ewenpyfg working democracy—food, nwjk ■ and fair government—might Mtt ■ succeeded? No one knows. are faced with the coMB«JWi of a war-time policy set in that are not peaceful. The wyg situation is .one of our chief King George at Claridges may called on to show greater wisdom wwg his advisers have ever counWMY. g