Xenophon Stratigos

Xenophon Stratigos
Xenophon Stratigos in Asia Minor, June 1921
Born	7 July 1869[1] Corfu
Died	11 March 1927 Davos
Allegiance	Kingdom of Greece
Service/branch	Hellenic Army
Years of service	1890–1917 1920–1921
Rank	Major General
Wars	Greco-Turkish War of 1897, Balkan Wars, Asia Minor Campaign
Other work	Minister for Transport (1922), military writer

Xenophon Stratigos (Greek: Ξενοφών Στρατηγός; Corfu, 7 July 1869 – Davos, 11 March 1927) was a senior Greek Army staff officer who played a major role in the Balkan Wars of 1912–13 and the Asia Minor Campaign in 1921–22, serving also as de facto Chief of the Hellenic Army General Staff in 1916–17 and in 1921. He retired from the army in September 1921 and served as Minister for Transport in 1922. Condemned to life imprisonment at the Trial of the Six, he was later pardoned and left for Switzerland, where he lived until his death.

Life

Xenophon Stratigos was born in Corfu on 7 July 1869. He studied in the Hellenic Army Academy, graduating on 10 August 1890 as a 2nd Lieutenant of Engineers. He fought in the Greco-Turkish War of 1897, after which he was sent for studies to the Prussian Military Academy in Berlin.^[2][3] During the Balkan Wars of 1912–13, he served as a staff officer in the operations department of the Greek General Headquarters, with the rank of Captain.^[2][3]

In 1915 he was appointed head of the Intelligence Directorate of the Army Staff Service, and became Deputy Chief of Staff in 1916. From November 1916 until June 1917, he substituted as Chief of the Staff Service, as the latter post was vacant.^[2] A staunch royalist, he was dismissed from the Army in 1917 due to the National Schism, but returned following the electoral defeat of Eleftherios Venizelos in November 1920.^[2][3] Promoted to Major General (retroactive from 1919), he was again appointed Deputy Chief of the General Staff. As Greece was embroiled in the Asia Minor Campaign against Mustafa Kemal's Turkish National Movement, he was named personal liaison between King Constantine I and the Headquarters of the Army of Asia Minor during the 1921 Greek offensive operations.^[2][3]

On 28 September 1921 he retired from the Army,^[3] and went on to serve as Transport Minister in the last cabinet of Dimitrios Gounaris (2 March – 3 May 1922),^[4] and again in the same post in the cabinet of Petros Protopapadakis (9 May – 28 August 1922).^[5] Following the Greek defeat in Asia Minor and the September 1922 Revolution, he was condemned to lifelong imprisonment by a revolutionary tribunal on 15 November for his role in the defeat. He remained in prison until pardoned in a general amnesty, and left for Switzerland. There he dedicated himself to writing, compiling a study of the Asia Minor Campaign (Η Ελλάς εν Μικρά Ασία) in 1925, as well as a Greek translation of Balck's Entwicklung der Taktik im Weltkriege. He died at Davos on 11 March 1927.^[2][3]

References

1. Note: Greece officially adopted the Gregorian calendar on 16 February 1923 (which became 1 March). All dates prior to that, unless specifically denoted, are Old Style.
2. "Υποστράτηγος ΣΤΡΑΤΗΓΟΣ ΞΕΝΟΦΩΝ του ΙΩΑΝΝΟΥ, ΑΜ 4012.". Συνοπτική Ιστορία του Γενικού Επιτελείου Στρατού 1901–2001 [A Concise History of the Hellenic Army General Staff 1901–2001] (in Greek). Athens: Army History Directorate. 2001. p. 142.
3. Μεγάλη Στρατιωτική και Ναυτική Εγκυκλοπαιδεία. Τόμος Στ′: Σαράντα Εκκλησίαι – Ώχρα [Great Military and Naval Encyclopedia. Volume VI]. Athens. 1930. p. 161.
4. "Κυβέρνησις ΔΗΜΗΤΡΙΟΥ ΓΟΥΝΑΡΗ - Από 2.3.1922 έως 3.5.1922" (in Greek). General Secretariat of the Government. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
5. "Κυβέρνησις ΠΕΤΡΟΥ ΠΡΩΤΟΠΑΠΑΔΑΚΗ - Από 9.5.1922 έως 28.8.1922" (in Greek). General Secretariat of the Government. Retrieved 2 March 2014.