Draft:Venizelism outside of greece (1910-1932)

• Comment: This still reads like a school essay assignment. Theroadislong (talk) 09:38, 22 June 2024 (UTC)

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Venizelism outside of Greece (1910–1932)

Venizelism is an liberal,democratic ideology that has to do with the Greek statesman and (from 1910-1920) prime minister, Eleftherios Venizelos had a significant influence in 20th century greece and continues to have an influence on Greece and Greek politics even to this day, but it also impacted the Greeks in other countries such as Egypt and the United States, due to the Greek diaspora. Venizelism was associated with unity and nationalism during the times of the Greek diaspora.

Venizelism and the Anatolian Greeks

Venizelism in Asia Minor before the Great Schism (1910-1915)

Greek landing in Smyrna (1919)

Venizelos enjoyed massive support in Asia Minor, especially for his support of the Megali Idea, and support for him only grew during the Balkan Wars because they anticipated future integration into Greece.

Venizelos' popularity got only bigger after the outbreak of World War I because the Greek government was partially due to Venizelos' policies that extended Greek citizenship.

Venizelism in Asia Minor during and after the National Schism and the end of WW1 (1915–1918)

Support for Venizelos recivced widespread support from the local population during the great war because of his pro-ententestance, while the king (Constantine I of Greece) preferred neutrality. Due to that, the Greek inhabitants of Asia Minor supported Venizelos during the National Schism, a sentiment that didn't change all through the Great War (World War 1).

Venizelism in Asia Minor between the End of the Great War and the Asia Minor disaster (1918–1922)

As the Great War ended, Venizelos convinced the Entente to support the Greek landing at Smyrna (which happened on May 15, 1919). The Greek troops were being supported by and greeted by the Greek locals all the way until the end of the Occupation of Smyrna.

In 1922, Turkish troops managed to defeat the Greek ones, which led to a hasty retreat from Ionia, which also included all the civilians becoming refugees or dying, which led to the permanent disappearance of any Venizelist sentiments in the area. Most Venizelists died or fled to Greece, but others fled to other nations with significant Greek populations (mainly Australia, the USA, and the Soviet Union).

Venizelism and the Egyptian Greeks

The Greeks in Egypt at the time of Venizelos

Alexandria in 1910

Due to Venizelos' support for the Megali Idea, a lot of Egyptian Greeks were Venizelists due to the programs he set up for all the Greeks there. Another reason for the Egyptionites (Egyptian Greeks) to support Venizelos was due to policies from Athens that helped the Greek population of Egypt. The Greek population of Egypt was also huge, numbering around 80.000 in 1917. 1/3 of Egyptian Greeks lived in Alexandria, which, just like Smyrna, had a majority Greek population.

The Alexandrian Elite

Emmanouil Benakis

Solon Vlastos, founder of the newspaper ''Atlantis''

The Elite of Alexandria had very close ties with the Greek government and therefore were Venizelists, which is the reason why Venizelos managed to gain the support of the two prominent and influential Alexandrian Elites. Emmanouil Benakis, who became a government minister, and Georgios Roussos, who (under Venizelos) became the diplomatic representative of Greece in the United States.

Venizelist programs in Egypt

Venizelos, along with his party (the Liberal Party), set up many pro-Venizelist programs in order to gain the favor of the Egyprtionites (Greeks that lived in Egypt) from 1910 (when Venizelos was sworn in office) all the way until the Asia Minor Disaster. After that, the Liberal Party cut off all pro-Venizelist and pro-Greek programs in Egypt.

Venizelism in the United States of America

Venizelos Party

In October 1916, over 10.000 Greeks came together and formed the ''Venizelos party'', which was mostly a pledge of allegiance to the provisional government in Thessaloniki and Venizelos. Over 90% of American Greeks supported this cause, according to the New York Times: ''The building was overflowing''.

Anti-Venizelist against Venizelist Greek-Americans

The Venizelist government in Greece fought regularly to increase the influence of the Greek-American community, which included persuading the Panhellenic Union to prioritize supporting the Megali Idea and a bunch of other initiatives to expand Greek-American influence. Not all people of Greek-American decent agreed with this; one notable Greek-American figure who disagreed with this was Solon Vlastos, who wrote about it in his Greek-American royalist newspaper ''Atlantis''. The Venizelos administration wanted to strengthen its position in the Greek communities of America by founding the Greek-American newspaper ''National Herald '' that was created to bolster Venizelism within the Greek-American community as a Venizelist counter to ''Atlantis'', but its founder is unknown.

During the period between 1917 and 1920, there was a big divide between the Venizelist Greek-Americans and the anti-Venizelist, royalist Greek-Americans. The National Herald, along with many Greek-American Venizelists, accused the newspaper ''Atlantis'' of treason against the American government due to its anti-war views during the Great War and its support of the monarchy, which consisted of Germans.

The National Herald continued into the interwar period with the same views as it always had, despite the Liberal Party in Greece cutting funds in 1922 after the Asia Minor Disaster.

Sources

The Greek State and the Diaspora: Venizelism Abroad, 1910-1932

New York Times- GREEKS HERE FORM A VENIZELOS PARTY

Balkan Federation (Macedonia University)

Eletherios Venizelos (Brittanica)

National Schism (Brittanica)

The Greco-Turkish War (1919-1923)