TheTrial of the Six(Greek:Δίκη των Έξ(ι),Díki ton Éx(i)) or theExecution of the Sixwas the trial fortreason,in late 1922, of theAnti-Venizelistofficials held responsible for theGreek military defeat in Asia Minor.The trial culminated in the death sentence and execution of six of the nine defendants.
Trial of the Six | |
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Started | 13 October 1922 |
Decided | 28 November 1922 |
Verdict |
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Charge | High treason |
Court membership | |
Judge sitting | Alexandros Othonaios |
Background
editOn 9 September 1922, Turkish military and guerilla forces entered the city of Smyrna (nowİzmir), inAsia Minor,which was previouslyoccupiedby Greece by theTreaty of Sèvres.Hundreds of thousands of Greek residents from Asia Minor fled to Smyrna seeking transportation across the sea to escape the advancing Turks. The pro-royalist government in Athens lost control of the situation and could only watch as the events unfolded. The retreating Greek "Army of the East" abandoned Smyrna on 8 September, the day before the Turkish Army moved in. Transportation arrived late and in too small numbers relative to the number of people trying to flee, resulting in chaos and panic. In a chaotic and bloody battle which would come to be known as the "Greco-Turkish War",Greece lost the Asia Minor land mandate to Turkey. Those who survived the bloody evacuation of the area would spend the rest of their lives as refugees.(Greek:Μικρασιατική Καταστροφή,Mikrasiatiki Katastrophi).
Coup
editAnti-royalist factions, seizing the moment of public outrage, moved against the Pro-Royalist government and a militarycoup d'étatunfolded in Athens and the Aegean Islands. Backed by an angry civil response to the defeat in the fields of battle, on 11/24 September 1922, ColonelsNikolaos PlastirasandStylianos Gonatasformed a "Revolutionary Committee" that demanded the abdication of KingConstantine(considered responsible for the defeat). They demanded as well the resignation of the royalist government, and the punishment of those responsible for the military disaster. The coup was aided byVenizelistGeneralTheodoros Pangalos,then stationed in Athens. Backed by massive demonstrations in the capital, the coup was successful: two days later, on 13/26 September, when Plastiras and Gonatas disembarked in the port ofLauriumwith the military units they commanded,King Constantineabdicated on 14/27 September in favour of his first-born son,Georgeand sailed forSicily,where he died four months later. The government ministers were arrested and the new king consented to a new administration, one favorable to the coup.
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Eleftherios Venizelos,placed as exterior representative of Greece
Trial
editOn 25 October 1922 (12 October on the "old style" Greek calendar in use at the time), the junta constituted an "extraordinarymilitary tribunal",which convened on 13 November (31 October) in the thenparliament buildingand carried out a 15 day trial in which the five most senior members of the overthrown administration (Dimitrios Gounaris,Georgios Baltatzis (el),Nikolaos Stratos,Nikolaos Theotokis (el), andPetros Protopapadakis) and GeneralGeorgios Hatzianestis(last commander-in-chief of the Asia Minor campaign) were tried forhigh treason,convicted, and sentenced to death. They were executed a few hours after the verdict was handed down, and before its publication on 28 November 1922 (15 November). According to the decision, the six with their support for the return of exiled Constantine to the throne and with their decisions during the war against Kemal, damaged the national interests and strained the relations with theAllies,leading the country to the defeat. The decision was previously taken to the office ofPlastiras,"leader of the revolution" to sign. When the decision was published it started with "In the name of the King of Hellenes George II".[1]
Two defendants, AdmiralMichail Goudas(el) and GeneralXenophon Stratigos,received a life imprisonment sentence. Theex-king's brother,Prince Andrew,also a senior commanding officer in the failed campaign, had been indicted as well but was inCorfuat the time. He was arrested, transported to Athens, tried by the same tribunal a few days later, and found guilty of the same crimes and sentenced to death. His sentence was then mitigated to banishment from Greece for life as he was found to be "completely lacking in high military command experience" (Greek: "της τελείας απειρίας περί την διοίκησιν ανωτέρων μονάδων" ).[2]The prince and his family (which included his infant son – carried in a wooden vegetable crate –Prince Philip, later the Duke of Edinburgh) were evacuated on the British warship,HMS Calypsoon December 4, leavingCorfuisland forBrindisi.
Punishments
edit-
Dimitrios Gounaris,death
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Petros Protopapadakis,death
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Nikolaos Stratos,death
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GeneralGeorgios Hatzianestis,death
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Georgios Baltatzis(el), death
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Nikolaos Theotokis(el), death
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Xenophon Stratigos,life imprisonment
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Michael Goudas(el), life imprisonment
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Prince Andrew,exile
Aftermath
editThe embassies of Sweden, Netherlands and United Kingdom objected and tried to cancel the punishments without success. After the executions, and in response, theUnited Kingdomwithdrew its ambassador to Greece for some time.[citation needed]
The executions were a kind of shock for the Greek conservatives, while they exacerbated the conflict between the royalists and the liberals the next decades, at least until the establishment of the4th of August Regime.
In 1932, during a speech in parliament, Prime MinisterVenizelossupported that the victims were indeed not guilty "for treason", but he couldn't and wouldn't condemn any revolutionary officers of the military tribune, because they acted in patriotic and virtuous way.
Overturned
editIn 2010, Greek courts annulled the convictions due to new evidence and then also dismissed the charges for high treason for the six due to the limitation period. Former prime minister Petros Protopapadakis’ grandson was able to present new evidence in court that had been absent in the 1922 trial and which was deemed sufficient for a retrial.[3]
The lawsuit to overturn the previous convictions for high treason was made in an effort to rewrite school textbooks that had been unfair to the six, and promote the belief that the six had been scapegoats to appease public anger at the humiliation that the Greeks had suffered in the Asia Minor Catastrophe and that they (who had no desire to see Greek forces defeated) had been in reality just victims of circumstances they were unable to control.[4]
References
edit- ^"Το κείμενον της καταδικαστικής αποφάσεως δια την Μικρασιατικήν συμφοράν".Έθνος(in Greek). 1922-11-15. p. 3.
- ^Ιστορία του Ελληνικού Έθνους(in Greek). Vol. ΙΕ. Athens: Εκδοτική Αθηνών. 1978. p. 259.
- ^"Αθώοι οι καταδικασθέντες της «Δίκης των Έξι» του 1922, αποφαίνεται ο Άρειος Πάγος".in.gr(in Greek). 2010-10-20.Retrieved2022-08-31.
- ^Nicholas Paphitis (October 20, 2010)."Greek court reverses traitor convictions from 1922".TheStar.Associated Press.RetrievedAugust 31,2017.