Epistratoi

Panhellenic Union of Epistratoi Πανελλήνια Ένωση Επιστράτων
Leaders	Ioannis Metaxas Ioannis Sagias Konstantinos Hößlin
Dates of operation	1916–1920
Country	Kingdom of Greece
Ideology	Greek nationalism Monarchism Antivenizelism Germanophilia
Size	up to 20,000
Opponents	Triple Entente Venizelists
Battles and wars	World War I National Schism Noemvriana

TheEpistratoi(Greek:Επίστρατοι,"Reservists" ) were aroyalistparamilitaryorganization inGreeceduringWorld War I,in the context of theNational Schism.They played a major role in theNoemvrianaof 1916.

They are considered the first mass political organization in the country, monarchist, directed against the liberal bourgeoisie and foreign intervention.

Establishment

The official title of the organization was thePanhellenic Association of Reservists(Πανελλήνιος Ένωση Επιστράτων).The PAR was founded in early June 1916 and spread rapidly across the country, along with the general demobilization imposed by theEntente Cordialeon KingConstantine I.The precursor and nucleus of the PAR was the Association of Reservist Non-Commissioned Officers, which was founded in November 1913.That association succeeded in thwarting a draft law proposed byEleftherios Venizelos' liberal government which excluded the reservist non-commissioned officers of older classes from the right of promotion to the rank of officer. After that, the reservist sergeant Georgios Kamarinos seems to have conceived the idea of organizing all the conscripted reservists in the spring of 1916.

On May 30, the organization's charter was signed by 20 founding members. The charter was written by I. Theofilakis and the vote was held on June 5. The purpose of the PAR, as stated in its charter, was twofold: the provision for the reservists and their families, and the education of the Greek people on national issues.

Membership and identity of the movement

The movement had, informally, the character of amilitiaand at the same time the formal structure of a mass political organization. It had many similarities with the first Italian, German and Austrian fascist movements,such as the use of violence, the former military status of their members as a common basis, their aversion to liberalism and theirpetite bourgeoisiemembership. The movement's failure to develop into a fully-fledged fascist movement is due to the fact that in their fight againstVenizelism,theEpistratoirelying in some way on the working class, that they were against Greece's entry in World War I, and strongly supportive of the monarchy.Ioannis Metaxasis considered the main organizer and behind-the-scenes leader of theEpistratoimovement.The members of the Epistratoi would take an oath and promise faithful loyalty to King Constantine.

Activity

TheEpistratoiemerged and acted during the period of theNational Schismin Greece. The movement was a state-sanctioned paramilitary group from 1916 to 1917 and continued its action until 1920, the year in which the royalistsreturned to power.Its spread was rapid. The official activity of theEpistratoiwas initially limited to presence at church events, e.g. on the rescue of the king from the fire atTatoi Palace,but from the first moment it was clear that their goal was the suppression of Constantine’s opponents. The movement's role became clear in November 1916, when they defended the king and the capital byrepelling the landingof British and French troops inAthensandPiraeus.They then started violent mass persecutions against Venizelists,resulting in many victims, including many refugees, mainly from Asia Minor.

End

With the coming of Venizelos in power in June 1917, most of the leaders were exiled to Corsica by the French. In 1919 a Greek military court sentenced to deathDousmanis,Metaxas (in absentia), Pesmazoglou, Hößlin (Esslin), Sagias, but the sentences were not executed.

Bibliography

• Ventiris, G., Η Ελλάς του 1910 – 1920. Ιστορική μελέτη, vol. 2, Ίκαρος, Athens.
• Divani, L., 2014. Η «ύπουλος θωπεία». Ελλάδα και ξένοι, 1821 – 1940, Καστανιώτης, Athens.
• Kostis, K., 2013. Τα κακομαθημένα παιδιά της Ιστορίας. Η διαμόρφωση του νεοελληνικού κράτους, 18ος – 21ος αι., Πόλις, Athens.
• Mavrogordatos, G., 1996. Εθνικός διχασμός και μαζική οργάνωση.1. Οι Επίστρατοι του 1916, Αλεξάνδρεια, Athens.