0:00:06.677,0:00:12.947
GREECE'S PARTICIPATION[br]IN WORLD WAR ONE

0:00:14.884,0:00:16.604
Thousands of pages have been written

0:00:16.647,0:00:19.787
about both the the National Schism [br]and the epic war in Asia Minor

0:00:19.806,0:00:23.986
which ultimately was completed with the [br]destruction and uprooting of the Greeks in Ionia.

0:00:24.266,0:00:26.966
Since those 2 events have monopolised discussions,

0:00:27.044,0:00:30.004
the general public doesn't know much[br]about Greece's participation in WWI.

0:00:30.225,0:00:32.925
For reasons that we don't need to mention now,

0:00:32.949,0:00:34.724
Greece might have been late in entering

0:00:34.749,0:00:36.639
the conflict between [br]the Central Powers and the Entente,

0:00:36.665,0:00:38.565
however during the short period that it participated

0:00:38.589,0:00:40.069
it achieved an important victory

0:00:40.119,0:00:42.169
and played an active role in the conclusion of the war

0:00:42.205,0:00:43.415
on the Macedonian Front.

0:00:43.966,0:00:48.966
Some might say that Greece was participating [br]in this conflict indirectly before 1917

0:00:48.991,0:00:52.711
since on the one hand Eleftherios Venizelos [br]with the National Defence Coup D'État

0:00:52.743,0:00:54.043
and on the other hand the Anglo-French

0:00:54.093,0:00:57.293
were trying to force Greece [br]to join the war in various ways.

0:00:57.861,0:01:01.371
The Bulgarians had invaded Greece, [br]in Macedonia in 1916

0:01:01.420,0:01:04.080
and remained there until 1918.

0:01:04.162,0:01:06.232
During the Bulgarian occupation,

0:01:06.265,0:01:08.929
they proceeded with thousands [br]of murders and destruction

0:01:08.960,0:01:12.340
along with looting important archaeological [br]and religious treasures.

0:01:12.365,0:01:15.765
Despite the Bulgarian occupation in Macedonia [br]starting in August 1916

0:01:15.806,0:01:19.466
Greece eventually entered the war in June 1917

0:01:19.551,0:01:21.861
when the French invaded Piraeus

0:01:21.891,0:01:23.291
and bombed Athens

0:01:23.302,0:01:25.122
forcing the government to resign

0:01:25.169,0:01:28.219
and King Konstantinos then abdicated the throne [br]and left the country.

0:01:28.330,0:01:31.730
Venizelos then returned to Athens[br]as the prime minister

0:01:31.760,0:01:35.050
and declared war on the Central Powers on 28 June.

0:01:35.945,0:01:38.385
During its brief participation in the war,

0:01:38.415,0:01:39.975
Greece had a minimal participation.

0:01:40.042,0:01:43.522
The first battle was against the Bulgarians [br]on the massif of Skra di Legen

0:01:43.557,0:01:45.687
on 30 May 1918.

0:01:45.739,0:01:50.006
Four months later, in September, [br]Greek forces also participate

0:01:50.103,0:01:54.543
in the final assault and dissolution of the enemy [br]on the Macedonian front in the Battle of Doirani.

0:01:54.556,0:01:58.056
Doirani is a lake which today is split between [br]the borders of Greece and Skopje.

0:01:58.217,0:02:01.470
The Greek Army had a small contribution [br]to the Entente's victory.

0:02:01.583,0:02:06.189
However, it was enough for Greece [br]to sit at the table on the winning side

0:02:06.268,0:02:08.168
and assert territorial gains.

0:02:16.384,0:02:18.424
Now let's go back to the battles though.

0:02:18.647,0:02:20.547
In May 1916,

0:02:20.594,0:02:23.254
the Bulgarians took Fort Roupel without a fight,

0:02:23.280,0:02:24.630
and went all the way to Skra

0:02:24.640,0:02:27.660
where they occasionally skirmished [br]with the Anglo-French troops.

0:02:27.770,0:02:31.469
The Entente wanted to stop the Bulgarians [br]from sending troops westward

0:02:31.486,0:02:33.446
to reinforce the Germans on other fronts.

0:02:33.572,0:02:35.382
Therefore it kept them confined there,

0:02:35.414,0:02:37.744
blocking off the pass from the Skra massif.

0:02:37.936,0:02:40.556
On the other hand, [br]now that Greece had entered the war,

0:02:40.569,0:02:42.469
it wanted to retake these areas,

0:02:42.491,0:02:44.731
which the Bulgarians had [br]previously occupied without a fight.

0:02:44.919,0:02:47.959
French army general Guillaumat

0:02:48.177,0:02:51.017
decided that the fortified area of Skra [br]had to be occupied.

0:02:51.043,0:02:55.283
The Greek National Defence army corps [br]undertook carrying out this mission

0:02:55.300,0:02:57.860
under lieutenant general Emmanouil Zymvrakakis.

0:02:57.885,0:03:01.575
The task force was under the command [br]of major general Ioannou.

0:03:01.708,0:03:05.708
Greek forces were made up of 14,500 infantrymen

0:03:05.778,0:03:09.638
who were supported by 287 heavy and light artillery.

0:03:09.851,0:03:11.031
The Bulgarians on the other hand

0:03:11.061,0:03:12.921
had 5 infantry regiments

0:03:12.970,0:03:16.110
supported by powerful artillery, both heavy and light.

0:03:16.702,0:03:19.062
The Greek troops in the battle, [br]are shown on the map:

0:03:19.122,0:03:22.022
the 5th and 6th regiment of the Archipelago division,

0:03:22.074,0:03:24.964
the 7th and 8th regiment of the Cretan division,

0:03:25.012,0:03:27.272
and the 1st regiment of the Serres division.

0:03:27.395,0:03:30.005
The Greeks were also supported by a French division.

0:03:30.385,0:03:33.575
The offensive began at 5 in the morning on 16 May.

0:03:33.651,0:03:35.461
By the afternoon of the 17th,

0:03:35.651,0:03:37.401
the Greeks occupied Skra.

0:03:37.799,0:03:39.749
The Bulgarians resisted fiercely

0:03:39.764,0:03:43.124
resulting in casualties being high [br]for the Greek troops as well.

0:03:43.194,0:03:45.744
The number of dead reached 434

0:03:45.869,0:03:48.899
while the injured reached 1,925.

0:03:49.133,0:03:51.343
Not only did the Bulgarians suffer hundreds of dead,

0:03:51.408,0:03:53.508
but 2,000 of them were also taken captive.

0:03:55.489,0:03:59.489
"FALLEN IN BATTLE 1916-1918[br]CYPRIOT VOLUNTEERS[br]PVT APOSTOLOU K. APOS.[br]PVT KATSARIS CHR. GRIG.[br]PVT IKONOMIDIS LEON.[br]PVT IKONOMIDIS I. CHRYS.[br]PVT PAPACHRISTODOULOU A. D. "

0:04:00.646,0:04:04.846
That was the first and last epic battle of the Greek Army in WWI.

0:04:04.995,0:04:08.215
A second battle is fought a few months later,

0:04:08.236,0:04:10.366
in September 1918.

0:04:10.687,0:04:15.237
The Battle of Doirani is fought between [br]18-19 September.

0:04:15.293,0:04:17.513
The British cooperated with the Greek Army

0:04:17.548,0:04:20.878
and attacked the Bulgarian forces near Lake Doirani.

0:04:21.023,0:04:25.769
On the one side the Bulgarian forces [br]amounted up to 45,000 men.

0:04:25.808,0:04:29.090
On the other side was the British 22nd division

0:04:29.537,0:04:33.107
supported by the Greek Serres and Cretan divisions,

0:04:33.142,0:04:36.492
amounting to a total of 75,000 soldiers.

0:04:36.514,0:04:38.214
The battles lasted for 2 days,

0:04:38.241,0:04:40.551
during which the upper hand was [br]constantly changing between both sides.

0:04:40.611,0:04:43.635
Eventually the Bulgarians won a tactical victory

0:04:43.672,0:04:45.512
which is evident from the number of casualties.

0:04:45.545,0:04:48.955
The British and Greeks had 6,500-7,500 dead

0:04:48.960,0:04:51.600
while the Bulgarians had only suffered 2,700.

0:04:52.322,0:04:54.492
Three days before the Battle of Doirani,

0:04:54.552,0:04:55.832
on 15 September,

0:04:55.879,0:04:59.102
the Serbs and French had defeated [br]the Bulgarians and Germans

0:04:59.157,0:05:00.627
at the Battle of Dobro Pole,

0:05:00.712,0:05:02.052
in modern day Skopje.

0:05:02.173,0:05:05.733
The allied army kept marching towards Bulgaria.

0:05:05.948,0:05:08.345
The Bulgarians signed a truce and surrendered

0:05:08.436,0:05:11.863
in the camp where a riot broke out after this defeat.

0:05:11.911,0:05:14.951
This caused the Bulgarians in Doirani to withdraw

0:05:15.055,0:05:18.875
and the Greeks and British [br]easily occupied the regions.

0:05:19.062,0:05:23.682
Only the British Royal Air Force attacked [br]the columns of retreating Bulgarians.

0:05:23.721,0:05:26.301
Resulting in the Bulgarians suffering some casualties.

0:05:26.374,0:05:29.714
This formally ended the battles on the Macedonian Front.

0:05:30.402,0:05:33.692
Greece was one of the countries [br]with the least military losses

0:05:33.708,0:05:36.258
since it entered the war quite late.

0:05:36.374,0:05:40.174
Casualties amounted to a total of 27,000 men [br]on the battlefields

0:05:40.192,0:05:41.109
more specifically:

0:05:41.160,0:05:43.080
6,000 dead and missing

0:05:43.211,0:05:45.301
and 21,000 injured.

0:05:46.027,0:05:49.227
However difficulties hadn't started [br]for the Greek Army yet.

0:05:49.467,0:05:50.977
After constant wars:

0:05:51.020,0:05:53.120
2 Balkan Wars and a World War,

0:05:53.215,0:05:56.935
it was called to carry out another feat,

0:05:57.164,0:05:59.404
the one on the Asia Minor Front,

0:05:59.447,0:06:03.878
which was Greece's opportunity to fulfill [br]the dream of Great Greece.

0:06:03.927,0:06:06.177
A dream that would prove to be a nightmare

0:06:06.225,0:06:11.045
for the Greek population and for the [br]other Christian populations in Asia Minor.

0:06:14.862,0:06:19.692
Cognosco Team[br]We thank you for watching us.[br]Subscribe for more Greek history.[br]Facebook page: Cognosco Team

0:06:19.968,0:06:23.418
If you liked the video, click the like button,[br]and subscribe to our channel.

0:06:23.579,0:06:27.579
You can also check out our page [br]www.cognoscoteam.gr