King Constantine of Greece in military uniform.
König Konstantin von Griechenland(König der Hellenen).King Constantine of Greece(King of the Hellenes).4710Logo: NPGOrig.-Augn. von E. BieberHofphot., Berlin V.Original photo by E. BieberHofphot., Berlin W.
"On June 9 [1917] Jonnart arrived off Salamis; on the following evening French troops landed near the Corinth Canal and a mixed division entered Thessaly, encountering some resistance. Late on June 11 Constantine announced his intention of abdicating in favor of his second son, Alexander. On June 14, with Athens in French hands, Constantine left the country, and on June 27 Venizelos was received by King Alexander and became constitutionally Prime Minister of united Greece, committed to the Allied cause. It was Sarrail's one victory that summer."
The French government sent diplomat Charles Jonnart to Athens, capitol of Greece, as the Allied High Commissioner tasked with informing Greek King Constantine he was violating the Greek Constitution in assuming absolute authority in the absence of a Prime Minister. The King was pro-German, the Prime Minister he had dismissed twenty months earlier, Eleftherios Venizelos, pro-Entente. Venizelos had helped create the Salonica Front across northern Greece when he supported the landing of French and British troops in October, 1915, a move opposed by Constantine. French General Maurice Sarrail commanded Allied forces in Greece, and had launched his spring offensive at the beginning of May. A costly failure, it was halted by the end of the month.
The Gardeners of Salonika by Alan Palmer, page 140, copyright © 1965 by A. W. Palmer, publisher: Simon and Schuster, publication date: 1965
1917-06-09, 1917-06-11, 1917-06-14 1917-06-27, King Constantine of Greece, King Constantine, Constantine, Venizelos, Greece, Jonnart
