Part 1
Paris Gare de Lyon train station July 30th 1920 (old calendar)/August 12th (new calendar)
Eleutherios Venizelos, prime minister of Greece was on his way to Marseilles. In Marseilles a Royal Hellenic Navy warship was waiting to bring back the prime minister in Greece. Venizelos was, not without justification, proud of himself. Just two days before at Sevres he had signed on behalf of Greece the peace treaty between the allies and the Ottoman empire assigning Eastern Thrace to Greece and giving it control of Smyrna and its hinterland with a referendum for its annexation to Greece to follow in 5 years time. He had no doubt what would be the results of the referendum when it took place. When he had first become prime minister back in October 1910 Greece was 63,211 square km, regularly threatened by Turkey and ignored by everyone else. Now it was 150,176 square km and as soon as Smyrna would be formally annexed would reach 168,038 square km. But far more importantly than the territory itself, now Greece was a fast modernizing country, one of the victors of the Great war and had brought most Greeks within the borders of the kingdom.
Lieutenants Apostolos Tserepis and George Kyriakis, waiting for the prime minister in the station were of a rather different opinion. Both staunch royalists that had been cashiered from the navy and the army respectively, when the tyrant returned on the bayonets of the Senegalese to evict the king, they where determined to save Greece from Venizelos once and for all. The treaty signed at Sevres mattered not. What mattered was for Venizelos to be gone. As soon as Venizelos showed up they opened up with revolvers firing over 10 shots against the prime minister. Thankfully only a single bullet lightly wounded Venizelos in the shoulder. In February 1921 French courts would condemn the two former officers to 5 years in prison each, with prince Christopher of Greece covering their legal expenses. Two years later, at the behest of Venizelos they would receive a pardon and released from prison. Tserepis would become manager of prince Christopher's estates and die aged 92 in 1980. Kyriakis would end life broadcasting German propaganda in WW2, starting his broadcasts every time with "Dear Greek listeners, Greece freed in 1821 was struggling since 1915 against Anglo-French tyranny. Remember the crimes of Sarrail's hordes in Macedonia. Remember...". He would be executed for treason after the war. [1]
Athens, July 31st, 1920 (old calendar)/August 13th (new calendar)
News of the assassination attempt against Venizelos would reach Athens one day late with rumours that Venizelos had been actually killed. In short order mobs of Venizelist partisans gathered, first attacking the offices of monarchist newspapers, as well as these of the communist Risospastis and then the shops and homes of prominent monarchists, before police could put the situation under control. The theater of Marika Kotopouli suffered some damage with her and Ion Dragoumis, in a relationship since 1912 fleeing to their home to the suburb of Kifisia. From there Dragoumis would try to return to Athens to publish an article in his magazine "Political Review" to condemn the assassination attempt against Venizelos. Unfortunately his car would break down outside Marousi on the way to Athens and Dragoumis would manage to get back to Athens only the next day. His article would get published in August 2nd. By then thanks to news that Venizelos had been only lightly wounded things had relatively calmed down, but Dragoumis article would help to further defuse the situation...
[1] In OTL he would get away with collaboration more or less scot free.
Eleutherios Venizelos, prime minister of Greece was on his way to Marseilles. In Marseilles a Royal Hellenic Navy warship was waiting to bring back the prime minister in Greece. Venizelos was, not without justification, proud of himself. Just two days before at Sevres he had signed on behalf of Greece the peace treaty between the allies and the Ottoman empire assigning Eastern Thrace to Greece and giving it control of Smyrna and its hinterland with a referendum for its annexation to Greece to follow in 5 years time. He had no doubt what would be the results of the referendum when it took place. When he had first become prime minister back in October 1910 Greece was 63,211 square km, regularly threatened by Turkey and ignored by everyone else. Now it was 150,176 square km and as soon as Smyrna would be formally annexed would reach 168,038 square km. But far more importantly than the territory itself, now Greece was a fast modernizing country, one of the victors of the Great war and had brought most Greeks within the borders of the kingdom.
Lieutenants Apostolos Tserepis and George Kyriakis, waiting for the prime minister in the station were of a rather different opinion. Both staunch royalists that had been cashiered from the navy and the army respectively, when the tyrant returned on the bayonets of the Senegalese to evict the king, they where determined to save Greece from Venizelos once and for all. The treaty signed at Sevres mattered not. What mattered was for Venizelos to be gone. As soon as Venizelos showed up they opened up with revolvers firing over 10 shots against the prime minister. Thankfully only a single bullet lightly wounded Venizelos in the shoulder. In February 1921 French courts would condemn the two former officers to 5 years in prison each, with prince Christopher of Greece covering their legal expenses. Two years later, at the behest of Venizelos they would receive a pardon and released from prison. Tserepis would become manager of prince Christopher's estates and die aged 92 in 1980. Kyriakis would end life broadcasting German propaganda in WW2, starting his broadcasts every time with "Dear Greek listeners, Greece freed in 1821 was struggling since 1915 against Anglo-French tyranny. Remember the crimes of Sarrail's hordes in Macedonia. Remember...". He would be executed for treason after the war. [1]
Athens, July 31st, 1920 (old calendar)/August 13th (new calendar)
News of the assassination attempt against Venizelos would reach Athens one day late with rumours that Venizelos had been actually killed. In short order mobs of Venizelist partisans gathered, first attacking the offices of monarchist newspapers, as well as these of the communist Risospastis and then the shops and homes of prominent monarchists, before police could put the situation under control. The theater of Marika Kotopouli suffered some damage with her and Ion Dragoumis, in a relationship since 1912 fleeing to their home to the suburb of Kifisia. From there Dragoumis would try to return to Athens to publish an article in his magazine "Political Review" to condemn the assassination attempt against Venizelos. Unfortunately his car would break down outside Marousi on the way to Athens and Dragoumis would manage to get back to Athens only the next day. His article would get published in August 2nd. By then thanks to news that Venizelos had been only lightly wounded things had relatively calmed down, but Dragoumis article would help to further defuse the situation...
[1] In OTL he would get away with collaboration more or less scot free.
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