The liberation of Gida

After the Greco-Turkish war in 1897 the Greeks realized that it was impossible for them to defeat the Turks without help and without organizing better their army as well as their navy.

The infantry was supplied with new arms; a French military mission was appointed to organize the army and to train the soldiers. On the other hand, the navy was supplied with new ships, among others with the battleship G. Averof (Dreadnought model). These new ships and the modernization of the older ones led to a more powerful navy.

Eleftherios Venizelos, who was the Prime Minister of the Greek government since 1910, founded the Balkan League with Serbia, Bulgaria and Montenegro. This league was a very clever step of Venizelos, as Greece was considered as one of the less powerful countries since its defeat in 1897.

Furthermore, this league could be used later to liberate the rest of the Greeks.

On October 5, Greece declared war against the Turks and the Greek army under the leadership of Heir Konstantinos started to fight the enemy. On October 6 the liberation of Elassona took place. The Turks organized their line of defense at Sarantaporos under the supervision of the German General Fon der Goltz Pasha who claimed that this place would be “the death of the Greeks and their army”. However, 3 divisions of the Greek troops reinforced by two other divisions at the west side and by the evzones at the east side, managed to conquer Sarantaporos (9-10-1912). Many Turks were taken prisoners. On October 10 Servia was liberated and one day later (11-10-1912) the liberation of Kozani took place.

It was then when the conflict between Venizelos and Konstantinos began regarding the course that should be followed by the Greek troops. There were send some telegrams between the Prime Minister and the General that prove the bad relations between them. Some army Officers (Metaxas, Dousmanis, Pallis) were also responsible for this situation. Fortunately, Venizelos won this conflict and the troops proceeded eastern to Veria and Thessaloniki, while at the same time the 7th division of Colonel Kleomenis reached Roumlouki.

TELEGRAMS BETWEEN VENIZELOS AND KONSTANTINOS

SERVIA

VENIZELOS:

“I am awaiting information about the course that shall be followed by the troops of Thessaly. Please take into consideration that it is important to reach Thessaloniki one hour earlier due to serious political reasons.”

KONSTANTINOS:

“The troops shall not proceed to Thessaloniki. They shall proceed to Monastiri unless you veto it.”

VENIZELOS:

“I veto it.”

On October 13 the VII division was commanded to proceed through the mountains Olympus and Pieria to Katerini, Kitros and Kolindros in order to conquer the bridge in Niseli that finally took place on October 17. At the same time, the evzones of Konstaninopoulos proceeded through Velventos-Daskio-Sfikia to Varvares and Diavatos where they camped on October 16. On the same day, two other divisions massed at Veria and made a reconnaissance in Alexandreia, Angelochori and Naoussa. The Commanding Officer of the division ordered the cavalry:

“Tomorrow dawn, the cavalry shall make a reconnaissance in Gidas-Shoinas. The result of this reconnaissance, even the negative one, shall be send in two different copies one to the headquarters and one to me. This procedure shall be done until 10 o’ clock of October 17”.

On October 17 the reconnaissance took place under the leadership of Theocharis Kougas (warrior of the Macedonian struggle). The reconnaissance of the cavalry took place and at 8.35 the chief of the cavalry Papaflessas reported from Vrysaki (Resiani):

“According to information the villages of Gidas-Shoinas are liberated. The cavalry of the enemy were caught and taken prisoners”.

This fact is also mentioned by the battalion Commander:

“Papaflessas reported that there are some troops of the enemy near Gidas. During his reconnaissance he captured one Officer of the cavalry and three soldiers”.

The Greek cavalry proceeded to Alexandreia from the west. Through the street that is called Vetsopoulou today they reached the center of the town. Konstantinos Vourgaris who was watching the Greek troops from a hill, started to shout loudly “long live the Greeks” as soon as he saw the cavalry entering the city. The Turks proceeded eastern to Lianovergi after ensuring that the Greek troops were actually in the city. Maybe it is about the four prisoners that were mentioned before. The residents welcomed the soldiers at the coffee-house Sipsia-Vrana and offered them ouzo and marsh-mallows. The Greek soldiers did not stay long as they had to go after the enemy.

The description of G. Moschopolulos who was an eyewitness of the facts is very interesting. He was only twelve and his description can be found in the book of I. Moschopoulos:

“When the Greek troops entered Veria the former chieftain Theocharis Kougas send out to Gidas a group of 10-15 scouts. However, the troops reached Gidas through Niseli, first some evzones and afterwards many soldiers that camped at “Alonia”. The cavalry arrived at night. When the Greek troops entered Gidas the residents assembled in the old market and destroyed the Turkish flag and the fez. Some of them rang the church bell and afterwards they all started dancing to the strains of the zournas and the daouli. The priest Papantonis went with the chief of the evzones E. Mavrogenis to the Bey’s storehouse in order to take the cereals that were shared to the inhabitants. The women kneaded bread to feed the soldiers”.

It is hard to describe the feelings of the residents of Gidas who were finally liberated after 532 years of Turkish domination. Joy, pride, exultation were definitely some of their feelings. King Georgios the 1st arrived at Gidas few days later and stayed at the building of the railway station. There were send some telegrams from the telegraph of the station that are of great importance as far as the Greek history is concerned and were probably the first signs of the national split that followed.

TELEGRAMS FROM GIDAS

VENIZELOS:

24-10-1912 to His Majesty King of Greece-Gidas “I have the honour to report to His Majesty that I shall send the following telegram to the General of Thessaly”

Headquarters of Thessaly

“Since the battle in Giannitsa you have not informed the Ministry about the following actions of the Greek Army. Four days have past since the battle in Giannitsa. This silence and the government’s complete ignorance of your plans about the Greek nation are astonishing”

Venizelos

27-10-1912 2.30 p.m.

To the General

“You are requested to proceed immediately to Thessaloniki. You will be considered as the only responsible for any further delay”.

The Prime Minister, Venizelos

KONSTANTINOS:

“I am the only responsible for this situation. If it was proper to proceed to Thessaloniki or not was a decision made by me. The best proof is the result we succeeded”. Konstantinos

The day of the city’s liberation is a landmark in the history of the region, a day that should be never forgotten.

It is a tribute to the memory of our ancestors who managed to survive after all these years of Turkish domination. They protected our language and our religion, a fact that forced the Turks to name this region Rumluk (the land of the Greeks). They fought bravely during the Greek struggle for Macedonia. They deserve to be honored.

We should always celebrate this anniversary and try to find out even more details about those days when the liberation took place. It is the only way to realize its great importance.

Grigoris Giovanopoulos,

Teacher

majored in Modern History and Modern Culture of Greece