[ News
| Homes
| Life
| Entertainment
| History
| Science
| Community
| Shop ]
| Sport
| Culture
| Cars
| Money
| Broadband
| Learning
| Health
| Dating
| Games ]
[ Text Only: Homepage ]
[ Graphical: Channel4 Homepage ]
The Series | Credits | Shop
Home | Overview | Controversies | Timeline | Combatants | Biographies | Glossary | Learn More
Combatant States - Central powers | Austro - Hungary | Germany | Turkey (Ottoman Empire) | Bulgaria
Combatant States - Allies | Serbia | Russia | France | Belgium | United Kingdom | Australia | Canada | India | New Zealand | Rhodesia | Union of South Africa | United States of America| Italy | Romania | Greece | Montenegro | Portugal | Japan
Entered War : 27 June 1917 (declared war against the Central Powers)
Political system : Independent constitutional monarchy since gaining independence from Turkey (1829)
Leader : Constantine I: sovereign, 1913-17
Alexander I: sovereign, 1917-20
Eleftherios Venizelos: prime minister, 1909-15, 1917-20
Population : 4.8 million (1914)
Army : 210,000 men (1913). A total of 250,000 Greeks served in the army following Greece's entry into the war
Navy : 5 pre-dreadnought battleships, 2 cruisers (different classes), 14 destroyers, 13 torpedo boats, 2 submarines (1914)
Recent Diplomacy : Serbia, Greece, Bulgaria and Montenegro formed the Balkan League in 1912 and won a series of victories over Turkey in the First Balkan War. However, Bulgaria was disappointed by its gains from this conflict and declared war on Greece and Serbia in 1913. The Second Balkan War ended when Bulgaria was invaded by Romania. The subsequent peace treaty doubled the size of Serbia and gave Greece control over most of the Aegean coast. Romania also gained territory.
In 1914, Greece was divided between those who favoured neutrality or supported Germany (the king and many army officers) and those who supported Britain (Prime Minister Venizelos). When Venizelos invited the Allies to land at Salonika in 1915, he was dismissed by Constantine and fled to Crete where he formed a revolutionary government. Constantine was deposed in 1917 and Venizelos returned to power. Greece then joined the war on the side of the Allies.
Casualties by 1918 : 15,000 dead, 85,000 wounded