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Pavlos Kountouriotis was appointed Regent of the Second Hellenic Republic

 


HISTORY OF ATHENS

The Mid-War Period
The second Hellenic Republic

 

On 16 December 1923, elections were called anew, where the Liberals were victorious in an overwhelming majority but without the participation of the Royalists, who opted for abstention. Three days later, King George left the country, while Pavlos Kountouriotis was appointed Regent. A little bit later, Venizelos, responding to the mass appeals of his supporters, returned to the country and consolidated his electoral success.

The tempestuous clashes that occurred, during the 4th Constitutional Assembly, between Venizelos and Papanastasiou (by now leader of the anti-Royalist party and leader of the party of Republic Union), constituted the indication for party swings among the ruling party. With the resignation of Venizelos and the ensuing split of his party, Papanastasiou took over authority and put the processes of official deposition of the royal dynasty into effect.

Alexandros Papanastasiou and Eleftherios Venizelos - Photographic Archive of the Hellenic Literary and Historical Archive in AthensOn 25 March 1924, the National Assembly proclaimed Greece a Republic, while a bit later, on 13 April, the plebiscite, with an overwhelming percentage (69,5%), condoned the change of constitution. The leader of the People's Party, Panayis Tsaldaris, refused to accept it, a fact that, with the exception of Ioannis Metaxas, resulted to the non-recognition of the constitutional change by the anti-Venizelist bloc.

At the time, across Europe, the political situation was also unsettled. Athens, and the whole country, was divided by the conflict between the supporters and the opponents of Venizelos, the leader of the Liberal party, which initiated the country’s development and modernization between the second and the fourth decades of the 20th century. Those who opposed Venizelos were generally in favor of the monarch, which had been abolished between 1924 and 1935. Although the majority of native Athenians opposed Venizelos, most of the refugees supported him since his government had taken measures for their relief. Top


The First Republican Government

The republican constitution, already from the first days of its establishment, could not effectively consolidate itself. Extended cases of arbitrariness and political negligence contributed to the downfall of the first republican government of Alexandros Papanastasiou, in 1924. After a political tug-of-war, Themistoklis Sophoulis became prime minister but the rioting that occurred in the Navy corps during summer soon terminated the life of this government as well.

TimelineThe state management was assigned this time to Andreas Michalakopoulos (7/10/1924), who eliminated a new military coup but did not manage to avoid the escalation of violent and bloody labor mobilizations. In the framework of parliament sessions, the Republicans denounced the foundation of "Fascist" societies by Georgios Kondylis, minister of the Interior and powerful man of the regime. The latter's resignation, paved the way for a new coup, this time by General Theodoros Pangalos. Top

  

   HISTORY OF ATHENS
  ATHENS IN MODERN TIMES
  MID-WAR PERIOD
  SECOND HELLENIC REPUBLIC

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