Goudi coup
The Goudi coup (Greek: κίνημα στο Γουδί) was a military coup d'état that took place in Greece on the night of 28 August [O.S. 15 August] 1909,[1] starting at the barracks in Goudi, a neighborhood on the eastern outskirts of Athens. The coup was a pivotal event in modern Greek history, as it led to the arrival of Eleftherios Venizelos in Greece and his eventual appointment as Prime Minister. At one stroke, this put an end to the old political system, and ushered in a new period. Henceforth and for several decades, Greek political life would be dominated by two opposing forces: liberal, republican Venizelism and conservative, monarchist anti-Venizelism.
The coup itself was the result of simmering tensions in Greek society, which reeled under the effects of the disastrous Greco-Turkish War of 1897, financial troubles, a lack of necessary reforms and disillusionment with the established political system. Emulating the Young Turks, several junior Army officers founded a secret society, the Military League. With Colonel Nikolaos Zorbas as their figurehead, on the night of 15 August, the Military League, having gathered together its troops in the Goudi barracks, issued a pronunciamiento to the government demanding an immediate turnaround for the country and its armed forces.
King George I gave in and replaced Prime Minister Dimitrios Rallis with Kyriakoulis Mavromichalis, without however satisfying the insurgents, who resorted to a large public demonstration the following month. When a stalemate was reached, the coup leaders appealed to a new and providential figure, the Cretan Eleftherios Venizelos, who respected democratic norms in calling for new elections. After his allies' twin victories in the Hellenic Parliament in August and November 1910, Venizelos became Prime Minister and proceeded with the reforms demanded by the coup's instigators.
Coup[edit]
Military League[edit]
The Military League (Στρατιωτικός Σύνδεσμος) was formed in October 1908 out of two groups: one of Army NCOs (with members including future generals Nikolaos Plastiras and Georgios Kondylis) and one of junior officers around Theodoros Pangalos. They were motivated by a variety of reasons: a desire for reforms that was prevalent in wide parts of society was combined with frustration at the slow rate of promotions and the absence of meritocracy, especially among graduates of the Military Academy. Other officers from the Army, the Navy and the gendarmerie joined up later, and by June 1909, had spread out over the Greek military.
At that time the Military League's demands were limited to an increased military budget, its reorganisation and modernisation, as well as the dismissal of the Princes from the Army. Although the Theotokis government had increased supplies of arms and munitions, he had also reinstated Crown Prince Constantine, who had led the Army in the 1897 war, as Chief Inspector of the Army. Also, despite demands, he had authorised only a few officers to pursue further studies in France and Germany.[17][18]
Army action[edit]
The Military League, now numbering about 1,300, began by engaging in a form of lobbying by putting pressure on those in power. It had already scored a success with the July 1909 resignation of Theotokis, its bête noire and a symbol of the parliamentary clientelism it hated. But his successor Dimitrios Rallis immediately alienated the League by paying tribute to Constantine's major role in the war of 1897, by recalling all officers present in Macedonia, by demanding Great Power intervention in Crete and by arresting over a dozen of the League's members for insubordination on 12 August.[18]
Reformist policies[edit]
The reforms of the Venizelos government were numerous, and allowed Greece to modernise and thus be better prepared for the Balkan Wars and World War I. The King supported them, seeing in his prime minister the best hope of stemming the anti-monarchism that had surfaced in 1897 and gained renewed momentum in the 1908–1909 crisis.
To the people who wanted the assembly elected in 1910 to be a constituent assembly, Venizelos replied that he considered it more of a "revisionary assembly". The 50 constitutional amendments of 1911, prepared by a commission directed by Stephanos Dragoumis, led to the frequently expressed opinion that after this date, Greece had an entirely new fundamental law, the Greek Constitution of 1911. This revision reformed the status of property by allowing for expropriation in the national interest, opening up the possibility of land reform; 300,000 arpents (100,000 ha) were distributed to 4,000 farm families in Thessaly. Agricultural education was encouraged, as well as farming cooperatives, a Ministry of Agriculture was created and an agronomist named in each region. Bureaucrats were given greater security of tenure and hiring for civil service posts began to be done by public examination. Judges were protected by a Superior Magistracy Council. Social legislation ameliorated the condition of the working class: child labour was abolished, as was nighttime labour by women, and a minimum wage introduced for both; Sunday was made an obligatory day of rest; primary education was made free and compulsory; and a social insurance system was created. The right of labour unions to function was recognised. Stabilisation of the drachma once again allowed for foreign borrowing. The state budget showed a surplus in 1911 and 1912 after many years of deficit, and tax evasion was curbed. The tax on sugar was cut by 50% and a progressive income tax introduced. Taken together, the reforms helped neutralise the development of strong socialist and agrarian movements seen elsewhere in the Balkans in that period.[30] The army and navy were reorganised with help from France, which sent a military mission led by General Eydoux (Germany had reformed the Turkish Army). The navy was reorganised by a British mission that Admiral Tufnell headed. However, Venizelos, anxious to show that he was no military puppet, excluded soldiers from political life, released officers arrested for attempting to thwart the Goudi coup, and restored to Crown Prince Constantine (given the new post of inspector-general of the army), along with his brothers, their army posts. This angered the members of the defunct Military League, who for a time thought of recreating it; indeed of carrying out another coup.[25][31][32]