Balkan Wars and World War I History of Thessaloniki

the port of thessaloniki, 1900.



the triumvirate of national defence in thessaloniki, autumn 1916. l-r: admiral pavlos kountouriotis, prime minister eleftherios venizelos , general panagiotis danglis.



map showing area, covering of city s historical center, destroyed 1917 fire.

during first balkan war, ottoman garrison surrendered salonika greek army, on 9 november [o.s. 27 october] 1912. day after feast of city s patron saint, saint demetrios, has become date customarily celebrated anniversary of city s liberation. next day, bulgarian division arrived, , bulgarian troops allowed enter city in limited numbers. although officially governed greeks, final fate of city hung in balance. austrian government proposed make salonika neutral, internationalized city similar danzig later become; have had territory of 400–460 km² , population of 260,000. neither greek, bulgarian nor turkish, jewish .

the greeks emotional commitment city increased when king george of greece, had settled there emphasize greece s possession of it, assassinated on 18 march 1913 alexandros schinas. after greek , serbian victory in second balkan war, broke out among former allies on final territorial dispositions, city s status settled treaty of bucharest on august 10, 1913, sealing city integral part of greece. in 1915, during world war i, large allied expeditionary force landed @ thessaloniki use city base massive offensive against pro-german bulgaria. precipitated political conflict between pro-allied prime minister, eleftherios venizelos , pro-neutral king constantine. in 1916, pro-venizelist army officers, support of allies, launched uprising, resulted in establishment of pro-allied temporary government (the provisional government of national defence ), headed venizelos, controlled northern greece , aegean, against official government of king in athens. ever since, thessaloniki has been dubbed symprotévousa ( co-capital ).

on 18 august [o.s. 5 august] 1917, city faced 1 of destructive events, of city destroyed single fire accidentally sparked french soldiers in encampments in city. fire left 72,000 homeless, many of them jewish, of population of approximately 271,157 @ time. venizelos forbade reconstruction of town center until full modern city plan prepared. accomplished few years later french architect , archeologist ernest hebrard. hebrard plan, although never completed, swept away oriental features of thessaloníki , transformed modern european metropolis today. 1 effect of great fire, came dubbed great thessaloniki fire of 1917, half of city s jewish homes , livelihoods destroyed, leading massive jewish emigration. many went palestine, others paris, while others found way united states (among them ancestors of actress lea michele). populations, however, replaced considerable numbers of greek refugees asia minor result of population exchange between greece , turkey, following defeat of greek forces in anatolia during greco-turkish war. arrival of these new refugees, city expanded enormously , haphazardly. these events made city nicknamed refugee capital (i protévousa ton prosfýgon) , mother of poor (ftokhomána).