Page 298 - Conflitti Militari e Popolazioni Civili - Tomo I

298 XXXIV Congresso della CommIssIone InternazIonale dI storIa mIlItare • CIHm

formed. In June 1903, ten officers arrived in the district of Kastoria. The presence of the first
guerrilla band of ten Cretans from free Greece, although brief, proved particularly beneficial
to the struggle.
The Greek Consul General in Thessaloniki Eugeneiades – who retained this post until
1904 – was opposed to the armed organization of Hellenic communities and none of his ac-
tions were directed towards this. He believed that only the restoration of Greco-Ottoman go-
odwill would protect the Greek element in Macedonia and he didn’t support the development
of an armed struggle. Thus, no organization similar to that of Metropolitan Germanos’ in We-
stern Macedonia existed in eastern and Central Macedonia prior to the Greek intervention in
the area. Despite the opposition of the Consul, a secret Greek Defense Committee, approved
by the government, was formed in spring 1903. The initiative of its formation belonged to so-
me of the city’s most distinguished Greek inhabitants. Among its noteworthy actions was the
monumental, enormous demonstration on January 1904, whose purpose was to declare Gre-
ek rights on Macedonia. Once the decision to initiate the struggle had been made, everything
had to start from the very beginning. But delayed as its initiation had been at first, the con-
clusion of the struggle in the vilayet of Thessaloniki was just a triumphant. This is owed to
the personality of Lampros Koromelas and his especially successful appointment to the post
of the Consul General. When he arrived at Thessaloniki, in May 1904, he had already been
fully aware of the dangers to Hellenism. Koromelas was convinced that it was only by the
force of arms that the Bulgarian menace could be confronted. More specifically, in his very
first report to the Greek government, insisted on the need for a well-organized armed defence
for Macedonian Hellenism and an intensive enlightenment campaign, with the objective of
promoting the patriotism of the Greeks in the area. His reports brought immediate results.
Under additional pressure by the public opinion, the government accepted the plan of opera-
tions he proposed and assigned him the direction of the struggle in Thessaloniki. At the same
time, he was further authorized to employ the officers specially trained since February 1904,
14
as he saw fit. Coordination between the bands controlled by the Monastir Consulate and
those controlled by the Thessaloniki Consulate was a vital issue. It was fundamental that all
bands should obey the orders and instructions, avoid extreme actions and not burden the local
population. Koromelas did not approve the formation of local bands, led by guerrilla leaders.
He favoured mixed bands of locals and men from free Greece, under officers previously
trained. Within a short period of time, guerrilla bands were formed from different parts of
Greece, and thus the struggle was extended to Central and Eastern Macedonia, thanks mainly
to him. The remaining Macedonian regions followed the example of Western Macedonia and
officers were installed as heads of the guerrilla bands, while centres were set up along the
border for the purpose of promoting groups and weapons to Macedonia. The Consulate in
Thessaloniki extended its organisation with the creation of centres for the struggle in other
15
cities in Central Macedonia . At the same time, the armed struggle in the countryside was
accompanied by the organization of the urban Hellenic population, with Thessaloniki com-
prising the first example of a systematically organised city.

14 HAGS/AHD, The Struggle…, o.c., pp. 161-2.
15 Laourdas Vasileios, To Ellenikon Genikon Proxeneion Thessalonikes 1903-1908, Institute of Balkan Stu-
dies, Thessaloniki 1961.