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Greece

With which shall I dance? Neutral Greece trying to decide whether to align with the Central Powers or Allies. A Greek Evzone, member of an elite light infantry or mountain unit, weighs his options, a German pickelhaube in one hand, French kepi in the other. One of a series of 1916 postcards on neutral nations by Em. Dupuis.
Text:
Grèce (Greece, Hellas)
Hellas!. . Hélas! avec lequel danser?
Hellas! Alas! with which shall i dance?
Signed: Em. Dupuis 1916
Reverse:
Visé Paris. No. 115

With which shall I dance? Neutral Greece trying to decide whether to align with the Central Powers or Allies. A Greek Evzone, member of an elite light infantry or mountain unit, weighs his options, a German pickelhaube in one hand, French kepi in the other. One of a series of 1916 postcards on neutral nations by Em. Dupuis.

Image text

Grèce (Greece, Hellas)

Hellas!. . Hélas! avec lequel danser?



Hellas! Alas! with which shall I dance?



Signed: Em. Dupuis 1916



Reverse:

Visé Paris. No. 115

Registered Paris, No. 115

Other views: Larger

In the First Balkan War (October 8, 1912 to May 30, 1913) Greece, Bulgaria, Montenegro, and Serbia united against Turkey, defeating it, and shrinking its foothold in Europe.

Serbia and Greece made a separate agreement on the division of the conquered territory of Macedonia, refusing to honor pre-war agreements with Bulgaria on the division of the region. They also signed a defensive pact.

After border skirmishes in early June 1913, Bulgaria launched offensives against Serbia and Greece on June 29. On July 10, Romania attacked the Bulgarian rear. Two days later, Turkey crossed into territory it had lost to Bulgaria in the first war. Surrounded, outnumbered, Bulgaria agreed to negotiations that ended the war.

The Kingdom of Greece won a war of independence against the Ottoman Empire from 1821 to 1832. In the Balkan Wars it added Macedonia, Crete, and islands in the Aegean Sea.

Both the Entente Allies and Central Powers were eager to have neutral Greece on their side, for its strategic position and for the strength of its Greek Army. Their invasion of Gallipoli having been stopped by the Turks, Allied Easterners sought another location from which to attack Turkey, and were drawn by the Greek port of Salonica. Their interest spiked when Bulgaria mobilized.

Greece's government was sharply divided. King Constantine was pro-German. His Prime Minister, Eleutherios Venezelos, favored the Entente Allies.

With Bulgaria's mobilization, and claiming to have been invited by Venezelos, Britain and France each rushed one division from Gallipoli. These 13,000 troops landed at Salonica on October 5, 1915. Constantine forced Venizelos to resign.

An Allied show of force in Athens, the Greek capital, in June, 1917 forced Constantine to abdicate.

Under Prime Minister Venizelos, Greece declared war on the Central Powers on June 30, 1917.

Greece is a country in Europe.

More about Greece:

Greece at War
A sample pie chart graphic

Statistics for Greece (1)

Type Statistic
Population 4,363,000

Some places in Greece (2)

Click to View Location Type
Athens City
Salonica City

Some people from Greece (2)

Last Name First Name Full Name Role
Constantine, King of Greece Constantine King Constantine of Greece
Venizelos Eleftherios Eleftherios Venizelos

Some books about Greece (2)

Title Author Last Name Author First Name
The Gardeners of Salonika Palmer Alan
The Balkans, A Laboratory of History Sloane William