GREECE'S PARTICIPATION IN WORLD WAR ONE
Thousands of pages have been written
about both the the National Schism and the epic war in Asia Minor
which ultimately was completed with the destruction and uprooting of the Greeks in Ionia.
Since those 2 events have monopolised discussions,
the general public doesn't know much about Greece's participation in WWI.
For reasons that we don't need to mention now,
Greece might have been late in entering
the conflict between the Central Powers and the Entente,
however during the short period that it participated
it achieved an important victory
and played an active role in the conclusion of the war
on the Macedonian Front.
Some might say that Greece was participating in this conflict indirectly before 1917
since on the one hand Eleftherios Venizelos with the National Defence Coup D'État
and on the other hand the Anglo-French
were trying to force Greece to join the war in various ways.
The Bulgarians had invaded Macedonia in 1916
and remained there until 1918.
During the Bulgarian occupation,
they proceeded with thousands of murders and destruction
along with looting important archaeological and religious treasures.
Despite the Bulgarian occupation in Macedonia starting in August 1916
Greece eventually entered the war in June 1917
when the French invaded Piraeus and bombed Athens
forcing the government to resign
and King Konstantinos abdicated the throne and left the country.
Venizelos then returned to Athens as the prime minister
and declared war on the Central Powers on 28 June.
During its brief participation in the war,
Greece had a minimal participation.
The first battle was against the Bulgarians on the massif of Skra di Legen
on 30 May 1918.
Four months later, in September, Greek forces also participate
in the final assault and dissolution of the enemy on the Macedonian front in the Battle of Doirani.
Doirani is a lake which today is split between the borders of Greece and Skopje.
The Greek Army had a small contribution to the Entente's victory.
However, it was enough for Greece to sit at the table on the winning side
and assert territorial gains.
Now let's go back to the battles though.
In May 1916,
the Bulgarians took Fort Roupel without a fight,
and went all the way to Skra
where they occasionally skirmished with the Anglo-French troops.
The Entente wanted to stop the Bulgarians from sending troops westward
to reinforce the Germans on other fronts.
Therefore it kept them confined there,
blocking off the pass from the Skra massif.
On the other hand, now that Greece had entered the war,
it wanted to occupy these areas,
which the Bulgarians had previously occupied.
French army general Guillaumat
decided that the fortified area of Skra had to be occupied.
The Greek National Defence army corps undertook carrying out this mission
under lieutenant general Emmanouil Zymvrakakis.
The task force was under the command of major general Ioannou.
Greek forces were made up of 14,500 infantrymen
who were supported by 287 heavy and light artillery.
The Bulgarians on the other hand
had 5 infantry regiments
supported by powerful artillery, both heavy and light.
The Greek troops in the battle, are shown on the map:
the 5th and 6th regiment of the Archipelago division,
the 7th and 8th regiment of the Cretan division,
and the 1st regiment of the Serres division.
The Greeks were also supported by a French division.
The offensive began at 5 in the morning on 16 May.
By the afternoon of the 17th,
the Greeks occupied Skra.
The Bulgarians resisted fiercely
resulting in casualties being high for the Greek troops as well.
Casualties reached 434
while the injured reached 1925.
Not only did the Bulgarians suffer hundreds of casualties,
but 2000 of them were also taken captive.
"FALLEN IN BATTLE 1916-1918 CYPRIOT VOLUNTEERS PVT APOSTOLOU K. APOS. PVT KATSARIS CHR. GRIG. PVT IKONOMIDIS LEON. PVT IKONOMIDIS I. CHRYS. PVT PAPACHRISTODOULOU A. D. "
That was the first and last epic battle of the Greek Army in WWI.
A second battle is fought a few months later,
in September 1918.
The Battle of Doirani is fought between 18-19 September.
The British cooperated with the Greek Army
and attacked the Bulgarian forces near Lake Doirani.