Athenian Siege

On November 3rd 1916, French Admiral Dartige du Fournet delivered a notification to the Greek government, based on the deal Constantine-Benager, requesting the delivery of a large quantity of war material. King Constantine and the government of Spyridon Lambrou, rejected the Admirals' requests for both internal and external reasons, after having a council on November 6th. The delivery of war material could be considered as "casus belli" and lead to a war against Germany. Also the military leaders were determined to fight and could not tolerate the humiliation of disarmament. This was also the view of the majority of the Greek people. So in the midst of November, more than 20.000 men had taken over the strategic regions inside and around the Greek capital.

The French Admiral made a last attempt to convince King Constantine to accept his demands, but the king denied any commitment. He promised though that his soldiers wouldn't be the first to open fire against the allied Forces that would disembark at Athens. With the certainty that the Greek army wouldn't resist and that it would easily give up, an Allied unit of 3,000 men, disembarked at Faliro and at Piraeus the morning of November 18th, and were ordered to take over strategic areas around Athens. Soon a battle broke out and the Allied Navy bombarded parts of the city, especially around the palace. Finally, at the late afternoon, the two sides compromised and King Constantine agreed to deliver a part of the war material that had been initially requested. A total of 194 Allied troopers 82 Greek soldiers and a large number of civilians were either killed or seriously injured during the Athenian Siege.

Papagianni Evagelia

5th Lyceum of New Smyrna, Athens