Theodoros Pangalos | |
|---|---|
| Θεόδωρος Πάγκαλος | |
 Pangalos,c. early 1920s | |
| President of Greece | |
| In office 19 July 1926 – 22 August 1926 | |
| Prime Minister | Athanasios Eftaxias |
| Preceded by | Pavlos Kountouriotis |
| Succeeded by | Pavlos Kountouriotis |
| Prime Minister of Greece | |
| In office 26 June 1925 – 19 July 1926 | |
| President | Pavlos Kountouriotis |
| Preceded by | Andreas Michalakopoulos |
| Succeeded by | Athanasios Eftaxias |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1878-01-11)11 January 1878 Salamis, Kingdom of Greece |
| Died | 26 February 1952(1952-02-26) (aged 74) Athens, Kingdom of Greece |
| Political party | Independent (Venizelist) |
| Spouse | |
| Relations |
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| Children | 4 |
| Education | Ionideios Model High School of Piraeus |
| Alma mater | Hellenic Army Academy |
| Occupation |
|
| Awards | |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | |
| Branch/service | Hellenic Army |
| Years of service | 1900–1926 |
| Rank | Lieutenant general |
| Commands | Army of the Evros |
| Battles/wars | |
Lieutenant GeneralTheodoros Pangalos (Greek:Θεόδωρος Πάγκαλος,romanized:Theódoros Pángalos; 11 January 1878 – 26 February 1952) was a Greek general, politician and dictator. A distinguished staff officer and an ardentVenizelist and anti-royalist, Pangalos played a leading role in theSeptember 1922 revolt that deposed KingConstantine I and in the establishment of theSecond Hellenic Republic. In June 1925 Pangalos staged a bloodlesscoup d'état, and his assumption of power was recognized by the National Assembly which named himprime minister. As a "constitutional dictator" he ruled the country until his overthrow in August 1926. From April 1926 until his deposition, he also occupied the office ofPresident of the Republic.
Pangalos withdrew from public life for a while, but remained active in the Venizelist military circles. During theAxis occupation of Greece (1941–1945), Pangalos and military officers close to him played a role in the establishment of theSecurity Battalions. He was widely suspected ofcollaboration with the Germans.[1] Cleared by a postwar court, he ran unsuccessfully for political office and died in 1952.
Pangalos was born on the island ofSalamis on 11/23 January 1878.[2] His mother was descendant of the localArvanite fighter of theGreek Revolution, Giannakis Meletis (Hatzimeletis), while his paternal side came from an aristocratic family ofKea island.
He graduated from theHellenic Army Academy on 16/29 July 1900 as an Infantry Second Lieutenant,[2] and continued his studies inParis,France.
During theBalkan Wars of 1912–13 he served as a staff officer in the6th Infantry Division.[2] He was head of the forces that enteredSidirokastro (Demir Hisar) during the second Balkan war.
In 1916 he joinedEleftherios Venizelos'Provisional Government of National Defence againstKing Constantine I, and was tasked with recruiting the 9th Cretan Regiment for the new government. He did not have a chance to lead it to battle though, because when King Constantine abdicated and Venizelos took over the governance of all of Greece in June 1917, he was appointed chief of the personnel department in the Ministry of Military Affairs.[2] In early 1918 he went to the front as Chief of Infantry of the1st Infantry Division in theStrymon sector of theMacedonian front. In late 1918 he was appointed chief of staff of the General Headquarters, holding the post until theelectoral victory of the pro-royalist and anti-VenizelistUnited Opposition in November 1920, when he was dismissed from the army.[2]
In 1922, Pangalos supported the11 September 1922 Revolution, led byNikolaos Plastiras, which abolished the monarchy and declared theSecond Hellenic Republic, and played a major role in the rapid establishment of the regime inAthens, while Plastiras and the army were still sailing fromChios.[2] His first job was to prosecute a number of prominent pro-monarchist government leaders by military court in what became known as theTrial of the Six.[2] On 14/27 November he was named Minister for Military Affairs and tasked with reorganizing the Greek army inMacedonia andThrace, as the war withTurkey was not over, and an attack in the region was feared to be imminent. The reorganization of the "Army of Evros", which he commanded from mid-December, was so successful that the Greek High Command prepared for a possible advance into Eastern Thrace in the face of the Turkish demands in theLausanne peace talks. The military threat posed by Pangalos' army helped the Turks back down, and theTreaty of Lausanne was signed.[2]
A staunch nationalist, Pangalos objected to the terms of the treaty, and declared that his troops would attack Turkey nonetheless in order to block the deal. He was forced to resign, but his stance made him popular with the many segments of Greek society that objected to the treaty. During the period of political instability that followed, Pangalos jumped into the fray, gaining and losing a number of ministerial positions as governments came and went.
He assisted in the suppression of the failedLeonardopoulos–Gargalidis coup d'état attempt in October 1923, and was elected to Parliament forThessaloniki in December.[2] He was appointed Minister for Public Order in the cabinet ofAlexandros Papanastasiou on 31 March 1924, holding the post until 18 June, when he became once more Minister for Military Affairs, retaining the post until the cabinet's resignation on 25 July 1924.[3]
On June 24, 1925, officers loyal to Pangalos, fearing that the political instability was putting the country at risk,overthrew the government in a coup and forcedPresidentPavlos Kountouriotis to appoint Pangalos asPrime Minister. Pangalos immediately abolished the young republic and began to prosecute anyone who could possibly challenge his authority, including his old chief, Plastiras.Freedom of the press was abolished, and a number of repressive laws were enacted (including a law dictating the length of women's skirts—at no more than 30 cm above the ground), while Pangalos awarded himself the Grand Cross of theOrder of the Redeemer. Pangalos declared astate of emergency on 3 January 1926 and assumeddictatorial powers.[4] In April 1926, he had himselfelected president in a rigged election. On the economic front Pangalos attempted todevalue the currency by ordering paper notes cut in half.
His political and diplomatic inability however became soon apparent. He conceded too many rights to Yugoslav commerce inThessaloniki, but worst of all, he embroiled Greece in the so-calledWar of the Stray Dog, harming Greece's already strained international relations. Soon, many of the officers that had helped him come to power decided that he had to be removed. Regarding relations with Turkey, he still was not agreed with theTreaty of Lausanne and tried to form an alliance withfascist Italy in a war against Turkey, with no success.
On 29 August 1926, a counter-coup led by GeneralGeorgios Kondylis deposed him, and Kountouriotis returned as president, while Pangalos was imprisoned for two years in theIzzeddin Fortress.[2]
In 1930, Pangalos was sent to prison for a building scandal. He remained in prison for two years and was released during a period when a number of amnesties were issued by Venizélos. He never regained the popular support he had before the coup, and never again played a role in Greek politics. After Greece fell to the Germans in 1941, Pangalos and other Venizelist officers moved to support the newcollaborationist regime.[1] He also played an important role, albeit from behind the stage, in the establishment of theSecurity Battalions, which he hoped to use against both the Communist-dominatedNational Liberation Front and against a possible return of KingGeorge II and theroyal government from exile.[1] Ambitious, tough and able, Pangalos was also widely distrusted for his rashness, megalomania and for being generally "half mad".[1] Through Pangalos did not formally take a position with the Security Battalions, but he ensured his followers were given key positions in the Security Battalions.[1] Pangalos was especially close to SS-StandartenführerWalter Blume, who was regarded as the most extreme and violent of all the SS leaders in Greece.[5] Blume intrigued in the summer of 1944 to have Pangalos appointed prime minister of the puppet Hellenic State to replaceIoannis Rallis, who was very close to a nervous breakdown by that point.[5] After liberation, Pangalos was arrested and put in Averof prison in Athens waiting trial for collaboration, but was cleared of all charges in September 1945. He unsuccessfully ran for parliament in 1950 and died inKifissia two years later.
His grandson, also namedTheodoros Pangalos, served as the Deputy Prime Minister of Greece. He was a member of thePASOK socialist party.
Theodoros Pangalos is mentioned in the song "Stin epohi tou Pangalou" (In the times of Pangalos,Greek:Στην εποχή του Πάγκαλου) byGiorgos Mitsakis, originally sung byGeorge Dalaras.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Prime Minister of Greece 1925 - 1926 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | President of Greece March 15, 1926 – August 24, 1926 | Succeeded by |
