Trial of the Six

The Trial of the Six (Greek: Δίκη των Έξι, Díki ton Éxi) or the Execution of the Six was the trial for treason, in late 1922, of the anti-venizelists officials held responsible for the Greek military defeat in Asia Minor. The trial culminated in the death sentence and execution of six of the nine defendants.

On September 9, 1922, Turkish military and guerilla forces entered the city of İzmir in Asia Minor, which was previously mandated to Greece by the Treaty of Sèvres. Hundreds of thousands of Greek residents from Asia Minor fled to Smyrna seeking transportation across the sea to escape the advancing Turks. The pro-royalist government in Athens lost control of the situation and watched awkwardly the events unfold. The retreating Greek "Army of the East" abandoned Smyrna, on September 8, the day before the Turkish Army moved in. Transportation arrived late and in too small numbers relative to the number of people trying to flee, resulting chaos and panic. In a chaotic and bloody battle, what would come to be known as the "Asia Minor Catastrophe", Greece lost the Asia Minor land mandate to Turkey. Those who survived the bloody evacuation of the area would spend the rest of their lives as refugees.(Greek: Μικρασιατική Καταστροφή, Mikrasiatiki Katastrophi).

Anti royalist factions, seizing the moment of public outrage, moved against the Pro-Royalist government and a military coup d'état unfolded in Athens and the Aegean Islands. Backed by an angry civil response to the defeat in the fields of battle, on September 11, 1922, Colonels Nikolaos Plastiras and Stylianos Gonatas formed a "Revolutionary Committee" that demanded the abdication of the King Constantine (considered responsible for the defeat). They demanded as well the resignation of the royalist government, and the punishment of those responsible for the military disaster. The coup was aided by venizelist General Theodoros Pangalos, then stationed in Athens. Backed by massive demonstrations in the capital, the coup was successful: two days later, when Plastiras and Gonatas disembarked in the port of Laurium with the military units they commanded, King Constantine abdicated in favour of his first-born son, George, and sailed for Sicily, never to return; the government ministers were arrested and the new king consented to a new administration, one favorable to the coup.

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Wikipedia