C r e t a n  R e b e l  :
Eleftherios Venizelos (1864 -1936)
 in Ottoman Crete
by  
A. Lily Macrakis
( available only in Greek )

To most ;  Venizelos is known as the leader of the Greek Liberal Party, as the Prime Minister of Greece between 1910 and 1920 and again, in 1928-1932,  and as the statesman who succeeded in modernizing his country and expanding its frontiers subsequent to the Balkan Wars and the first world war. 
It is less known though that long before becoming Prime Minister of Greece,  Venizelos proved a first rate lawyer, a fiery journalist, a man of action " defying the consuls and the fleets of Europe in Akrotiri " - in the picturesque phrase of a foreign observer - a politician capable of forming a popular party and carrying out far reaching policies, a bold chieftan acting decisively,  dramatically and effectively for the liberation of his native island of Crete from Turkish domination, and for its union to Greece.
In short,  a fighter,  a rebel,  a leader.

The life of Venizelos is a rare combination of political genius, personal magnatism, luck, audacity, success and failure, intermingled with the hero-worship of his numerous supporters and often the violent hatred of his equally numerous opponents; a small town rugged life in the white mountains of Western Crete - when in revolt - and the adulation of world statesmen at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 ;   the ups and downs of a politicians career,   of a man - really an outsider - elected to the highest office in1910,  and defeated at the polls ten years later after the preperation and signing of the most successful treaty in the history of Greece.....

The upright souls of Crete were hoping for an intervention from the Greek mainland and for the help of the Great Powers which,  with varied interests in the matter,  were cajoling or threatening the Cretans through their consuls and other agents on the island.

more, coming soon.......

more, coming soon.......