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Concept
Noemvriana
Summary
The Noemvriana (Νοεμβριανά, "November Events") of , or the Greek Vespers (after the Sicilian Vespers), was a political dispute which led to an armed confrontation in Athens between the royalist government of Greece and the forces of the Allies over the issue of Greece's neutrality during World War I.
Friction existed between the two sides from the beginning of World War I. The unconditional surrender of the border fortress of Roupel in May 1916 to the Central Powers' forces, mainly composed of Bulgarian troops, was the first event that led to the Noemvriana. The Allies feared the possibility of a secret pact between the Greek royalist government and the Central Powers. Such an alliance would endanger the Allied army in Macedonia bivouacking around Thessaloniki since the end of 1915. Intensive diplomatic negotiations between King Constantine I and Allied diplomats took place throughout the summer. The king wanted Greece to maintain her neutrality, a position that would favor the Central Powers plans in the Balkans while the Allies wanted demobilization of the Hellenic army and the surrender of war materiel equivalent to what was lost at Fort Roupel as a guarantee of Greece's neutrality. By the end of the summer of 1916, the failure of negotiations, along with the Bulgarian Army's advance in eastern Macedonia and the Greek government's orders for the Hellenic army not to offer resistance, led to a military coup by Venizelist military officers in Thessaloniki with the support of the Allies. The former Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos, who from the very beginning supported the Allies, established a provisional government in northern Greece. He began forming an army to liberate areas lost to Bulgaria, but this effectively split Greece into two entities.
The inclusion of the Hellenic army along with Allied forces, as well as the division of Greece, sparked several anti-Allied demonstrations in Athens. In late October, a secret agreement was reached between the king and the Allied diplomats.
Official source
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