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Nikolaos Plastiras | |
|---|---|
| Νικόλαος Πλαστήρας | |
 Nikolaos Plastiras as a colonel,c. 1923 | |
| Prime Minister of Greece | |
| In office 1 November 1951 – 11 October 1952 | |
| Monarch | Paul |
| Preceded by | Sophoklis Venizelos |
| Succeeded by | Dimitrios Kiousopoulos |
| In office 15 April 1950 – 21 August 1950 | |
| Monarch | Paul |
| Preceded by | Sophoklis Venizelos |
| Succeeded by | Sophoklis Venizelos |
| In office 3 January 1945 – 9 April 1945 | |
| Monarch | George II |
| Regent | Archbishop Damaskinos |
| Preceded by | George Papandreou |
| Succeeded by | Petros Voulgaris |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1883-11-04)4 November 1883 Karditsa,Kingdom of Greece |
| Died | 26 July 1953(1953-07-26) (aged 69) Athens,Kingdom of Greece |
| Resting place | First Cemetery of Athens |
| Political party | National Progressive Center Union |
| Profession | Soldier Politician |
| Signature |  |
| Nickname(s) | Black Rider Μαύρος Καβαλάρης Black Pepper Kara Biber |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  Kingdom of Greece |
| Branch/service |  Hellenic Army |
| Years of service | 1904–1924 |
| Rank |  Lieutenant General |
| Unit | Archipelago Division |
| Commands | 5/42 Evzone Regiment |
| Battles/wars | |
Nikolaos Plastiras (Greek:Νικόλαος Πλαστήρας; 4 November 1883[1] – 26 July 1953) was aGreekgeneral and politician, who served three times asPrime Minister of Greece. A distinguished soldier known for his personal bravery, he became famous as "The Black Rider" during theGreco-Turkish War of 1919–1922, where he commanded the5/42 Evzone Regiment. After the Greek defeat in the war, along with otherVenizelist officers he launched the11 September 1922 Revolution that deposed KingConstantine I of Greece and his government. The military-led government ruled until January 1924, when power was handed over to an elected National Assembly, which later declared theSecond Hellenic Republic. In theinterwar period, Plastiras remained a devoted Venizelist and republican. Trying to avert the rise of the royalistPeople's Party and the restoration of the monarchy, he led two coup attempts in 1933 and 1935, both of which failed, forcing him to exile inFrance.
During theAxis Occupation of Greece in theSecond World War he was the nominal leader of theEDES resistance group, although he remained in exile in Marseilles. After the occupation, he returned to Greece and served as a centrist Prime Minister three times, often in coalition with theLiberal Party. In his last two governments, he tried to heal the rift caused in Greek society by theGreek Civil War, but was unsuccessful.
He was born in 1883, inKarditsa, Greece. Plastiras' parents were originally fromMorfovouni (formerly Vounesi), a village in theAgrafa mountains of southwesternThessaly. The municipality was renamed for General Plastiras and Morfovouni is the present capital ofPlastiras Municipality. The family moved to Karditsa before Plastiras was born.
After finishing school in Karditsa, he joined the 5th Infantry Regiment as a volunteer in 1904. He fought in theMacedonian Struggle, and participated in the militarycoup of 1909. He entered the NCO School in 1910 and, after being assigned to the rank 2nd lieutenant in 1912, he fought with distinction in theBalkan Wars, where he earned his nickname "The Black Rider". He first rose to wider prominence when, as a major, he supported theMovement of National Defence ofEleftherios Venizelos during theFirst World War. He fought with distinction with theArchipelago Division at the battle ofSkra-di-Legen and was promoted to lieutenant colonel. In 1919, Plastiras commanded the5/42 Evzone Regiment in theUkraine, as part of anAllied force aiding theWhite Army in their ultimately unsuccessful fight against theRed Army. His force was then transferred toSmyrna inAsia Minor viaRomania. After the change in power in Greece (November 1920) and the return of kingConstantine, he was the only officer, who had participated in the National Defence movement, who was not dismissed from the army. The men of his Regiment warned that they wouldn't fight under another commander.
During theGreco-Turkish War of 1919-1922, the Turks called PlastirasKara Biber ("The Black Pepper"), while the 5/42 Regiment of Evzones became known as theŞeytanın Askerleri ("Satan's Army").[2] Soon after, at thebattle of Sakarya, the Greeks were forced to begin their retreat.
After the Turkish breakthrough in August 1922, his unit have been ordered to counterattack at Kamelar mountain to regain Greek's positions. He didn't try on 13 August, but he did try and failed the following day. For this failure he was accused to be responsible for the 4th Greek Infantry Division destruction, supposed to get accusations on a court marshal.[3] His unit, 5/42 Evzones Regiment, was among others withdrawing orderly to the coast, fighting off superior Turkish forces and having serious casualties. The remnants of the Hellenic Army made their way to the islands of the Eastern Aegean.
The Army's resentment at the political leadership inAthens resulted in the outbreak of the11 September 1922 Revolution, led by Plastiras, ColonelStylianos Gonatas and Commander Phokas.
Having the support of the Army and much of the people, the revolutionary officers quickly entered Athens and assumed control of the country. He is reported byPenelope Delta, witness of the events, to have said to the crowd: "Why do you cheer? We lost, we came destroyed".
Plastiras forcedKing Constantine I to abdicate, called upon the exiledVenizelos to lead the negotiations with Turkey which culminated in theTreaty of Lausanne, and set about toreorganize the Army of Thrace against any Turkish advance (eastern Thrace was still in Greek hands). One of the most controversial acts of the revolutionary government was the trial and execution of fiveroyalist politicians, including former PMDimitrios Gounaris, and the former Commander-in-Chief, GeneralGeorgios Hatzianestis, on 28 November 1922 as those mainly responsible for theAsia Minor Disaster, in the infamous "Trial of the Six".
Plastiras faced multiple challenges in governing Greece. The 1.3 million refugees from the population exchange had to be catered for in a country with a ruined economy, internationally isolated and internally divided. TheCorfu incident, and abotched Royalist coup in October 1923 were evidence of this. After the failed royalist coup,King George II was forced to leave the country. Nonetheless, he managed to restore some order to the state and to lay the groundwork for theSecond Hellenic Republic. After the elections of December 1923 for the new National Assembly, he resigned from the army on 2 January 1924, retiring to private life. In recognition of his services to the country, the National Assembly declared him "worthy of the fatherland" and conferred to him the rank of lieutenant general in retirement.
Plastiras was even admired by his greatest enemy,Mustafa Kemal. At the end of the war, during the negotiations that took place regarding the exchange of populations between Greece and the newly formed Republic of Turkey, Atatürk is quoted telling Plastiras, "I gave gold and you gave me copper."[4]
The Republic that he had helped found proved an unstable one. Coups, counter-coups, the conflict between Venizelists/Republicans and Royalists, and constant economic problems plagued Greece. Plastiras, persecuted during thePangalos dictatorship, attempted to lead a coup in March 1933, after the anti-Venizelists won the elections, but facing universal reaction (even from Venizelos himself), he was forced to flee abroad. Finally, after the failedVenizelist revolt of 1935, although still abroad, he was condemnedin absentia to death. Nonetheless he maintained a high prestige as a war hero and because of his integrity and staunch Republicanism.
He played a role in the creation of theEDES resistance group, whose titular leadership he had despite his will, after discussions withKomninos Pyromaglou.
He returned to Greece in 1945, after his selection asprime minister following theDecember events of 1944, primarily because he was a commonly accepted personality. Plastiras attempted to tread a middle path between the British, who were supporting the returned government-in-exile and the return ofKing George II, and the democratic-leftist guerilla of theEAM/ELAS. During his premiership, theVarkiza Agreement was signed. His moderate policies and republican sympathies earned the distrust of the British, and he was dismissed after only three months in office, when the Press published a letter of him during the war, proposing the German intervention to stop the Greco-Italian war.
In 1949, after the end of theGreek Civil War, Plastiras founded a new party, theProgressive Liberal Party which transformed intoNational Progressive Centre Union (Εθνική Προοδευτική Ένωση Κέντρου, EPEK) for the1950 Greek legislative election, forming a following of disappointed Liberals and left-leaning democrats.[5] He preached a message of national reconciliation, which put him in conflict with the conservative establishment which sought to punish those who had fought to establish a communist government. Together withSofoklis Venizelos andGeorge Papandreou, Plastiras formed a coalition government in 1950, which fell, however, when his partners retired. In the September 1951 elections, EPEK emerged as the strongest of the centrist parties. Plastiras formed a coalition government withSofoklis Venizelos' Liberals, and attempted to address the great problems of the country. His government initiated the economic recovery and the reconstruction of Greece. A monument to this is the construction of thedam at theTavropos (Megdovas) River to form a lake, a program that he initiated. Thelake and dam, both formerly named Tavropos, now bear his name. His policy of conciliation, however, was bitterly assailed from the right, distrusted from the left, and undermined even by members of his own cabinet. A defining moment of his government was the conviction and execution ofNikos Belogiannis in March 1952 despite international protest. After losing the elections of November 1952, his political career, and with it the liberal 'Centrist Intermission', came to an end. He died in poverty in 1953 in Athens.
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| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Prime Minister of Greece 3 January 1945 – 9 April 1945 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Prime Minister of Greece 15 April 1950 – 21 August 1950 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Prime Minister of Greece 1 November 1951 – 11 October 1952 | Succeeded by |
