Alexandros Papagos | |
|---|---|
| Αλέξανδρος Παπάγος | |
 Papagos as Prime Minister | |
| Prime Minister of Greece | |
| In office 19 November 1952 – 4 October 1955 | |
| Monarch | Paul |
| Preceded by | Dimitrios Kiousopoulos(caretaker) |
| Succeeded by | Konstantinos Karamanlis |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1883-12-09)9 December 1883 |
| Died | 4 October 1955(1955-10-04) (aged 71) |
| Political party | Greek Rally |
| Parent(s) | Leonidas Papagos Maria Averoff |
| Relatives | Georgios Averoff (great-uncle) |
| Alma mater | Royal Military Academy (Belgium) |
| Occupation | Minister for Military Affairs Minister for National Defence |
| Signature |  |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  Kingdom of Greece Second Hellenic Republic |
| Branch/service |  Hellenic Army |
| Years of service | 1906–1917 1920–1922 1926–1951 |
| Rank | .svg) Field Marshal |
| Commands | Commander-in-Chief of theHellenic Armed Forces Chief of theHellenic National Defense General Staff Chief of theHellenic Army General Staff |
| Battles/wars | |
| Part ofa series on |
| Conservatism in Greece |
|---|
 |
Ideologies |
Organisations |
Alexandros Papagos (Greek:Αλέξανδρος Παπάγος; 9 December 1883[1] – 4 October 1955) was aGreek military officer who led theHellenic Army inWorld War II and the later stages of the subsequentGreek Civil War.[2]
The only Greek army career officer to rise to the rank ofField Marshal, Papagos became the first Chief of theHellenic National Defence General Staff from 1950 until his resignation the following year. He then entered politics, founding the nationalistGreek Rally party and becoming the country'sPrime Minister after his victory in the1952 elections.
His premiership was shaped by theCold War and the aftermath of the Greek Civil War, and was defined by several key events, including Greece becoming a member ofNATO; U.S. military bases being allowed on Greek territory and the formation of a powerful and vehementlyanti-communist security apparatus. Papagos' tenure also saw the start of theGreek economic miracle, and rising tensions with Britain and Turkey during theCyprus Emergency over theCyprus issue.
Alexandros Papagos was born in Athens on 9 December 1883.[3][4] His father wasMajor GeneralLeonidas Papagos from the island ofSyros, who occupied senior posts during his military career, including Director of Personnel at the War Ministry andaide-de-camp to the King. His mother was Maria Averoff, daughter of the politician Dimitrios Averoff and niece of the magnateGeorge Averoff. As a result, Alexandros Papagos was born into the Greek social elite, with close ties to the royal palace.[4] He initially entered the Law School of theUniversity of Athens, but soon switched to a military career.[4] In 1902 he entered theBrussels Military Academy and followed it up with studies at the Cavalry Application School atYpres. He was commissioned as a cavalry second lieutenant in theHellenic Army on 15 July 1906.[3] In 1911 he married Maria Kallinski,[4] the daughter of Lt. GeneralAndreas Kallinskis-Roïdis.
Promoted to lieutenant in 1911, Papagos participated in theBalkan Wars of 1912–13 attached to the field headquarters of the Crown Prince, and from 1913, KingConstantine.[3][4] In 1913 he was promoted to captain.[3] After the Balkan Wars, he served in the 1st Cavalry Regiment and the staff ofIII Army Corps. Promoted to major in 1916, he was appointed as chief of staff of the Cavalry Brigade. A confirmedmonarchist, he was dismissed from the army in 1917 as a result of theNational Schism.[3] Under the 1917–1920 government ofEleftherios Venizelos, Papagos was sent to internal exile inIos,Thira,Milos, andCrete.[4]
He was recalled to active service in 1920 following theelectoral victory of the monarchist parties, with the retroactive rank of lieutenant colonel, serving once more as chief of staff of the Cavalry Brigade and of the Cavalry Division during theAsia Minor Campaign against theTurkish National Movement ofMustafa Kemal.[3] After thedisastrous defeat of the Greek army in August 1922 and the subsequent outbreak of amilitary revolt, he was once more dismissed from the army, but was recalled in 1926, with the rank of colonel.[3] In 1927 he was appointed as commander of the 1st Cavalry Division. Promoted to major general in 1930,[2] in 1931, he was named Deputy Chief of theHellenic Army General Staff.[3] In 1933–35 he served as Inspector of Cavalry, followed by commands of the I and III Army Corps. He was promoted to Lt. General in 1935.
On 10 October 1935, along with the service chiefs of the Navy (Rear AdmiralDimitrios Oikonomou) and the Air Force (Air Vice MarshalGeorgios Reppas), he toppled the government ofPanagis Tsaldaris and became Minister for Military Affairs in the new cabinet ofGeorgios Kondylis, which immediately declared the restoration of theGreek monarchy.[3] Papagos remained Minister of Military Affairs until Kondylis' resignation on 30 November,[5] and was re-appointed to the post in the succeedingKonstantinos Demertzis cabinet on 13 December 1935 until 5 March 1936.[6] On 5 March 1936 he was named Inspector-General of the Army, holding the post until 31 July. On the next day, 1 August, he was promoted to Chief of the Army General Staff.[3] From his position, he employed the Army to supportIoannis Metaxas' declaration of dictatorship on 4 August 1936.[7]
As head of the army and the palace's man, Papagos was a crucial figure inMetaxas' dictatorial regime. In 1940, a special law was passed to allow him to continue in his position, despite being over the statutory retirement age for general officers.[7] As Chief of the General Staff, he actively tried to reorganize and reequip the Army for the oncomingSecond World War.
At the outbreak of theGreco-Italian War on 28 October 1940, he became Commander-in-Chief of the Army, a post he retained until the capitulation of the Greek armed forces following theGerman invasion of Greece in April 1941.[3] Papagos directed Greek operations againstItaly along the Greek-Albanian border. The Greek army, under his command, managed to halt the Italian advance by 8 November and forced them to withdraw deep into Albania between 18 November and 23 December. The successes of the Greek Army brought him fame and applause. A second Italian offensive between 9 and 16 March 1941 was repulsed. Despite this success, Papagos chose to maintain the bulk of the Greek Army inAlbania, and was unwilling to order a gradual withdrawal to reinforce the north-eastern border (and a defense along the so-called Haliacmon line, considered to be more defensible) as German intervention came closer. After the German invasion on 6 April 1941, outnumbered Greek forces in Macedonia fiercely resisted the German offensive at theMetaxas Line, but were outflanked by the enemy and so Papagos endorsed their surrender. Soon after, the Army of Epirus capitulated and by 23 April, the Greek government was forced to flee to Crete.
Papagos also resigned from the army on 23 April but did not follow the King and his government into exile, remaining inoccupied Greece.[8] He spent most of the occupation in de facto house arrest.[8] In 1943 he established, with other former army officers, aresistance organization, calledMilitary Hierarchy (Στρατιωτική Ιεραρχία). In July of the same year, he was arrested by the German occupation authorities and transported to concentration camps in Germany.[3] In late April 1945 he wastransferred to Tyrol together with about 140 other prominent inmates of theDachau concentration camp, where theSS left the prisoners behind. He was liberated by theFifth U.S. Army on 5 May 1945.[9]
Papagos returned to Greece in May 1945.[8] In August 1945, he was appointed an Honorary Knight Grand Cross of theOrder of the British Empire by the British.[10][11][12][13] He remained retired and held no active military position, but served as grand chamberlain to KingPaul and in July 1947 was promoted to the exceptionally rare rank of full general as a token of honour.[8]
In January 1949, he was once again appointed Commander-in-Chief in the ongoingGreek Civil War.[3] Papagos led the final victory of the government forces over the CommunistDemocratic Army of Greece, employing extensive American material aid (including napalm equipped aircraft[1]), and the extensive deployment ofHellenic Mountain Raider Companies of Special Forces (LOK), during theGrammos-Vitsi campaign between February and October of that year.
The British officerChristopher Woodhouse, who had been active in theGreek Resistance and knew the country well, considered that his predecessor, Lt. GeneralDimitrios Giatzis, had "virtually won the war" before his dismissal, but that Papagos' appointment was beneficial because Papagos, through his seniority and prestige, "could impose his own plans and wishes on both the Greek high command and the allied military missions, which had been for some months at loggerheads with each other."[14] He further qualifies Papagos as a "superlative staff officer, impeccable in logistic planning and exact calculation, a master of the politics and diplomacy of war", but "with little experience of high command in battle", and a tendency to command from Athens, seldom even visiting the front lines. Papagos' aloof leadership style led to clashes with one of the most important subordinate commanders, the impetuous Lt. GeneralThrasyvoulos Tsakalotos.[14]
As a reward for his services, he was awarded the title ofField Marshal on 28 October 1949, the only Greek career officer to ever hold this rank.[3] He continued to serve in his capacity as Commander-in-Chief until 1951,[3] while Greece was in a state of political instability, with splinter parties and weak politicians unable to provide a firm government.
In May 1951, Papagos resigned from the Army to enter politics. He founded theGreek Rally (Greek: Ελληνικός Συναγερμός), modelled afterDe Gaulle'sRassemblement du Peuple Français,[2] and won the September elections with 36.53 percent of the vote. For a time, the Palace feared that he might establish a dictatorship, largely due to his popularity, his image as a strong and determined leader, and the communist defeat in the civil war, which was attributed in great part to his leadership.
Despite his victory, Papagos was unable to form a government on this majority, and had to wait until theNovember 1952 elections, where his party tallied an impressive 49 percent of the popular vote, gaining 239 out of 300 seats in Parliament. The Field Marshal, with his popular backing and support from the Americans was an authoritative figure, leading to friction with the Royal Palace. Papagos' government successfully strived to modernize Greece (where the young and energetic Minister of Public Works,Constantine Karamanlis, first distinguished himself) and restore the economy of a country ruined by 10 years of war, but was criticized by the opposition for doing little to restore social harmony in a country still scarred from the civil war.
One of the major issues faced by Papagos was theCyprus problem, where the Greek majority had begun clamouring forEnosis (Union) with Greece. Though reluctant to confrontGreat Britain, demonstrations in the streets of Athens prompted him to order Greece's UN representative to raise the issue of Cyprus before theUN General Assembly in August 1954. When theEOKA campaign to expel the British and initiateEnosis in Cyprus began in 1955, Papagos was in declining health and unwilling to act. The clashes in Cyprus, however, led to a deterioration ofGreco-Turkish relations, culminating in theIstanbul Pogrom in September.[citation needed]
In January 1955, Papagos began to develop gastric issues, a result of his imprisonment during World War II; he appointedStefanos Stefanopoulos to serve as provisional premier during his illness. However, Papagos condition worsened, and he died of alung hemorrhage on 4 October 1955.[15]
TheAthens suburb ofPapagou, where theMinistry of Defence is located, is named after him.[16]
Grand Cross of theOrder of the Redeemer
Grand Cross of theOrder of Saints George and Constantine
Grand Cross of theOrder of George I
Grand Cross of theOrder of the Phoenix
Commanders Cross of theCross of Valour
War Cross
Medal of Military Merit
_Ribbon.svg)
Knight Grand Cross of theOrder of the British Empire
Médaille militaire_-_ribbon_bar.png)
Croix de Guerre
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Minister for Military Affairs 10 October – 30 November 1935 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister for Military Affairs 13 December 1935 – 5 March 1936 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister for National Defence 23 November – 2 December 1952 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Prime Minister of Greece 19 November 1952 – 6 October 1955 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| New political party | President of theGreek Rally 1951–1955 | Succeeded byas President of theNational Radical Union |
| Military offices | ||
| Preceded by Lt. GeneralAristeidis Chasapidis | Chief of theHellenic Army General Staff 1936–1940 | Succeeded by Lt. GeneralKonstantinos Pallis |
| Vacant ad hoc position | Commander-in-Chief of the Greek Armed Forces 1940–1941 | Greek capitulation |
| Vacant ad hoc position Title last held by Alexandros Othonaios(in 1944–45) | Commander-in-Chief of the Greek Armed Forces 1949–1950 | Creation of theGeneral Staff of National Defence |
| New institution | Chief of theHellenic National Defense General Staff 1950–1951 | Succeeded by Lt. GeneralTheodoros Grigoropoulos |
Chiefs of theHellenic National Defence General Staff | ||
|---|---|---|
 | ||
§ Under the title "Chief of the Armed Forces"‡ acting chief | ||
| Ideas |  | |
|---|---|---|
| People | ||
| Events | ||
| Symbols | ||
| Policies | ||
| Establishments | ||
