Venizelos and the King Split Greece Over World War I
The National Schism divides the country into two rival governments before Greece even finishes joining the war
Quick facts
- Rival government established
- 1916, Thessaloniki, under Venizelos
- King forced to abdicate
- 1917 (Constantine I)
- Reward for war contribution
- High Commissionership of Smyrna, 1919
- Political legacy
- Royalist/Venizelist divide persisted for decades
What happened
During the First World War, Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos clashed openly with King Constantine I over which side Greece should join. Venizelos favored the Entente, Britain, France, and Russia, while the King wanted to keep Greece neutral. The conflict, known as the National Schism, escalated until Venizelos established a rival provisional government in Thessaloniki in 1916, effectively splitting Greece into two competing administrations. Constantine was eventually forced to abdicate under Entente pressure in 1917, and a reunified Greek government under Venizelos brought the country fully into the war on the Allied side. For its wartime contribution, Greece received the High Commissionership of Smyrna in 1919, extending Greek administration into Ottoman Asia Minor.
Why it matters
The National Schism opened a divide between royalist and Venizelist factions that would poison Greek politics for decades, resurfacing in the interwar period and again during the Second World War and Civil War. The immediate prize Venizelos won, the administration of Smyrna, drew Greece directly into the Anatolian campaign that would end in catastrophe in 1922.
How we know
The National Schism and Venizelos's wartime diplomacy are documented in the official biographical record of the Venizelos foundation established by the Greek state and in the Hellenic Parliament's own historical archive of his political career.
Sources
- National Research Foundation "Eleftherios K. Venizelos". Biography · General sourcevenizelos-foundation.gr · Cited as a "reference" source (no stronger domain match).
- Foundation of the Hellenic Parliament. Eleftherios Venizelos · General sourcefoundation.parliament.gr · Cited as a "reference" source (no stronger domain match).
- History.com Editors. Greece breaks diplomatic ties with the Central Powers (1917) · Reputable sourcehistory.com · The domain "history.com" is on our Reputable source registry. · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
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