Abstract
Entrance of Greece Into The World War I According to Ottoman Sources
As a result of the Goudi Coup and the coming of Eleftherios Venizelos in power, a great change began in Greece. Greece's great victory in the Balkan Wars strengthened the thought that Megali Idea could be realized, and this thought affected both statesmen and society. Venizelos, one of the most important advocates of this thought, saw the I. World War as an opportunity to realize Megali Idea and wanted to enter into the war with the Entente Powers, which was firmly believed would wining the war by him. On the other hand all Greek statesmen didn’t share the same view, Venizelos faced pro-German statesmen, especially King Constantine. Initially Venizelos departed from power, but came back to power after winning the elections held in June 1915. However, he resigned due to differences of opinion with King Constantine and remained out of politics by not participating in elections. This caused to begin the process called the National Schism. In this time interval, the Entente States put Greece under both economic and military contrains and occupied many parts of the country. The Ottoman ambasador in Athens Galip Kemalî Bey made an effort to quit Greece from the Entente States and to maintain its neutrality and even make an alliance with the Ottoman State. However, Venizelos who founded a separate government in Thessaloniki was the founder of the National Schism, and deposed King Constantine and included Greece in the war alongside the Entente Powers.
Keywords
Greece, First World War, Ottoman State, Galip Kemalî, Venizelos