Georgios Kondylis

Γεώργιος ΚονδύληςRegent of GreeceIn office
10 October – 25 November 1935Prime MinisterHimselfPreceded byAlexandros Zaimis
(as President of Greece)Succeeded byGeorge II
(as King of the Hellenes)Prime Minister of GreeceIn office
10 October – 30 November 1935MonarchGeorge II (Nov 1935)RegentHimself (Oct - Nov 1935)Preceded byPanagis TsaldarisSucceeded byKonstantinos DemertzisIn office
23 August – 4 December 1926PresidentPavlos KountouriotisPreceded byAthanasios EftaxiasSucceeded byAlexandros ZaimisDeputy Prime Minister of GreeceIn office
5 April – 10 October 1935PresidentAlexandros ZaimisPrime MinisterPanagis TsaldarisPreceded byAndreas MichalakopoulosSucceeded byIoannis TheotokisMinister of Naval AffairsIn office
10 – 16 October 1935MonarchGeorge IIPrime MinisterHimselfPreceded bySofoklis DousmanisSucceeded byGeorgios RallisIn office
26 August – 4 December 1926PresidentPavlos KountouriotisPrime MinisterHimselfPreceded byIoannis LeonidasSucceeded byAlexandros KanarisMinister of Military AffairsIn office
10 March 1933 – 10 October 1935PresidentAlexandros ZaimisPrime MinisterPanagis TsaldarisPreceded byAlexandros OthonaiosSucceeded byAlexandros PapagosIn office
4 November 1932 – 16 January 1933PresidentAlexandros ZaimisPrime MinisterPanagis TsaldarisPreceded byTheodoros ChavinisSucceeded byGeorgios KatechakisIn office
26 August – 4 December 1926PresidentPavlos KountouriotisPrime MinisterHimselfPreceded byCharalambos TseroulisSucceeded byAlexandros Mazarakis-AinianIn office
12 March – 9 June 1924PresidentPavlos KountouriotisPrime MinisterAlexandros PapanastasiouPreceded byKonstantinos GondikasSucceeded byTheodoros PangalosMinister of the InteriorIn office
7 October 1924 – 15 June 1925PresidentPavlos KountouriotisPrime MinisterAndreas MichalakopoulosPreceded byGeorgios RoussosSucceeded byGeorgios Maris Personal detailsBorn14 August 1878
Proussos, Kingdom of GreeceDied1 February 1936 (aged 57)
Athens, Kingdom of GreeceNationality GreekPolitical partyNational Democratic PartyAwards Order of the Redeemer
Order of George I
War Cross
Medal of Military Merit
Legion of Honour
Croix de Guerre
Distinguished Service Order
Order of the White Eagle
Medal for BraveryNickname(s)Thunder
ΚεραυνόςMilitary serviceAllegiance Kingdom of GreeceBranch/service Hellenic ArmyYears of service1896–1923Rank Lieutenant GeneralBattles/wars

Georgios Kondylis (Greek: Γεώργιος Κονδύλης; 14 August 1878 – 1 February 1936) was a Greek general, politician and prime minister of Greece. He was nicknamed Keravnos, Greek for "thunder" or "thunderbolt".

Military career

Kondylis was born in Proussós. He enlisted in the army as a volunteer in 1896, and fought with the Greek expeditionary corps in Crete. He was later commissioned and participated in the Macedonian Struggle (1904–1908) leading his own guerrilla band, and was promoted to captain during the Balkan Wars (1912–1913). He supported the Movement of National Defence of Eleftherios Venizelos during the First World War. He was notorious for his cruel oppression of a loyalist revolt in Chalkidiki (Sept 1916),^[1] rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel. A firm Venizelist, he opposed the restoration of King Constantine I in 1920, fleeing to Constantinople together with other Venizelist officers and organizing there the "Democratic Defence" (Δημοκρατική Άμυνα). He returned after the 1922 Revolution as a major general, suppressed the royalist revolt of 1923, retired from the army, and became involved in politics.

Political career

He was elected to Parliament at the 1923 elections for the constituency of Rodope, initially for the Democratic Union, and later founded the National Republican Party (Εθνικό Δημοκρατικό Κόμμα), renamed in 1928 National Radical Party (Εθνικό Ριζοσπαστικό Κόμμα). He was war minister from March to June 1924. On 24 August 1926, he overthrew the dictatorship of Theodoros Pangalos in a bloodless coup and formed a government, proclaiming elections for November. Notably, his party did not participate in these. In the elections of August 1928, voters elected nine of his party's candidates as MPs, and he was elected in Kavala.

During this time, Kondylis began moving rightward. In 1932 he became war minister again in return for his support of the Populist government, a post he retained after the Populists were reelected in 1933. From this post he was instrumental in crushing the March 1935 Venizelist revolt. In the period immediately following the revolt, Kondylis became the real power in the country. He sacked numerous pro-republican soldiers and civil servants, and condemned Venizelos to death in absentia.

By now, Kondylis was one of the strongest proponents of restoring the monarchy. However, he opposed Prime Minister Panagis Tsaldaris' call for a referendum. On 10 October 1935, Kondylis and several other officers called on Tsaldaris and forced him to resign. Kondylis forced President Alexandros Zaimis to name him the new premier. Later that day, Kondylis forced Zaimis to resign, declared himself Regent, abolished the Republic and staged a plebiscite on 3 November for the return of the monarchy.

The official tally showed that 98 percent of the voters supported the return of George II—an suspiciously high total that was likely obtained through fraud. Indeed, the vote took place under less-than-secret conditions. Voters were given the choice of dropping a blue piece of paper in the ballot box if they supported the monarchy, and a red one if they supported the republic. Those who supported the republic risked being beaten up. Under those circumstances, it took a brave Greek to vote "no". By this time, Kondylis had turned so far to the right that he now openly sympathized with fascism. He hoped to echo Benito Mussolini's example in Italy, in which Victor Emmanuel III had been reduced to a puppet.^[2]

George returned to Greece on 25 November, and retained Kondylis as prime minister. Kondylis soon quarreled with the king, who was not content to be a mere puppet, and resigned five days later. In the January 1936 elections, he cooperated with Ioannis Rallis and managed to have fifteen MPs elected. Soon after, however, he died of a heart attack on 1 February 1936, in Athens. His nephew, Georgios Kondylis Jr., became a general in the Hellenic army and later fought against the Axis during the German invasion of Greece.

He was awarded Serbian Order of the White Eagle.^[3]

References

External links

• Newspaper clippings about Georgios Kondylis in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW

Political offices
Preceded by Konstantinos Gondikas	Minister for Military Affairs 12 March – 9 June 1924	Succeeded by Theodoros Pangalos
Preceded by Georgios Roussos	Minister for the Interior 7 October 1924 – 15 June 1925	Succeeded by Georgios Maris
Preceded by Athanasios Eftaxias	Prime Minister of Greece (caretaker) 26 August – 4 December 1926	Succeeded by Alexandros Zaimis
Preceded by Charalambos Tseroulis	Minister for Military Affairs (caretaker) 26 August – 4 December 1926	Succeeded by Alexandros Mazarakis-Ainian
Preceded by Ioannis Leonidas	Minister for Naval Affairs (caretaker) 26 August – 4 December 1926	Succeeded by Alexandros Kanaris
Preceded by Theodoros Chavinis	Minister for Military Affairs 4 November 1932 – 16 January 1933	Succeeded by Georgios Katechakis
Preceded by Alexandros Othonaios	Minister for Military Affairs 10 March 1933 – 10 October 1935	Succeeded by Alexandros Papagos
Vacant Title last held by Andreas Michalakopoulos (in the 1929–32 Venizelos cabinet)	Deputy Prime Minister of Greece 5 April – 10 October 1935	Succeeded by Ioannis Theotokis
Preceded by Panagis Tsaldaris	Prime Minister of Greece 10 October – 30 November 1935	Succeeded by Konstantinos Demertzis
Preceded by Sofoklis Dousmanis	Minister for Naval Affairs 10–16 October 1935	Succeeded by Georgios Rallis