Viktor Dousmanis | |
|---|---|
 Viktor Dousmanisc. 1914/16 | |
| Native name | Βίκτωρ Δούσμανης |
| Born | c. 1861[1] |
| Died | c. 1949 (aged 88) |
| Buried | |
| Allegiance |  Kingdom of Greece |
| Branch |  Hellenic Army |
| Years of service | 1883–1917 1920–1922 |
| Rank |  Lieutenant General |
| Commands | Army of Thessaly Chief ofArmy General Staff |
| Wars | Greco-Turkish War (1897) Balkan WarsGreco-Turkish War (1919-1922) |
| Awards |  Order of the White Eagle Legion of Honour |
| Alma mater | Hellenic Military Academy |
| Relations | Sofoklis Dousmanis (brother) |
| Other work | Author |
Viktor Dousmanis (Greek:Βίκτωρ Δούσμανης, 1861–1949) was aHellenic Army officer, who rose to the rank ofLieutenant General. He distinguished himself as a staff officer during theBalkan Wars and became a leading monarchist during theNational Schism, serving three terms as Chief of theHellenic Army General Staff.
He was born inCorfu in c. 1861,[2] a descendant of a branch of theAlbanianDushmani family that had emigrated to the island in the 15th century; he is the elder brother ofSofoklis Dousmanis and grandson ofAntonio Dusmani.[3][4]
He entered theHellenic Military Academy, from which he graduated on 11 July 1883 as an Engineer 2nd Lieutenant.[2] Promoted to Lieutenant in 1886 and Captain in 1890, he participated in theGreco-Turkish War of 1897 as an officer in the staff of theArmy of Thessaly under the Greek Commander-in-Chief, Crown PrinceConstantine. After the war, he was charged with writing the official report.[2] In 1899–1904, he served as section head of the Staff Service of the Greek Ministry of Military Affairs, and in 1904, with the foundation of the Army General Staff, he was transferred to the newly created General Staff Corps. Among his duties there was the organization of the National Defence Fund (Ταμείον Εθνικής Αμύνης). He was promoted to Major in 1906 and Lt. Colonel in 1909.[2]
During theFirst Balkan War of 1912–1913 against theOttoman Empire, he was chief of operations for the main Greek force, theArmy of Thessaly, again under Crown Prince Constantine. In theSecond Balkan War againstBulgaria in the summer of 1913, he served as chief of staff to the field army, again under Constantine, who had by now become King. In the same year, he was promoted to Colonel and then to Major General.[2] In early 1914 he was appointed Chief of the General Staff Service, but resigned in November after a quarrel with Prime MinisterEleftherios Venizelos over the issue of Greece's entry intoWorld War I.[2] Venizelos favoured siding with theEntente Powers, especially Britain, for the upcomingGallipoli Campaign while Dousmanis, a believer in the victory ofGermany, advocated neutrality.
In February 1915, however, Venizelos was forced to resign over the same issue by King Constantine, and Dousmanis resumed his post, which he held until mid-August 1916.[2] Having sided with Constantine during theNational Schism, in June 1917, when Venizelos assumed the governance of the country and led it to war on the side of the Entente, Dousmanis, along with other prominent monarchists, was deported toCorsica.[2] Returning to Greece after the end of the war, in 1919 he was sentenced by aVenizelist court martial to life imprisonment forhigh treason.[2] Following Venizelos' downfall in theNovember 1920 elections, he was released from prison, and, promoted to Lt. General, he was re-appointed as Chief of the General Staff in April 1921, during theAsia Minor Campaign againstTurkey.[2] He held this post until October 1921, and again from 22 August 1922, when the Greek front inAnatolia collapsed in the face of the Turkish offensive, until 15 September, when he was forced to resign along with the government by the Venizelist-led11 September 1922 Revolution from the defeated Greek troops.[2] He was permanently discharged on 2 November 1922, and dedicated his last years to writing on military and historical issues.[2] He died in 1949. He was awarded SerbianOrder of the White Eagle among other decorations.[5]
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