Parliamentary elections were held in

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wi ...

on Sunday, 14 November 1920,John S. Koliopoulos and Thanos M. Veremis (2010
''Modern Greece: A History since 1821''
Wiley-Blackwell, p87 or 1 November 1920 old style. They were possibly the most crucial elections in the modern history of Greece, influencing not only the few years afterwards, including the Greek defeat by

Kemal Atatürk Kemal may refer to: ;People * Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, a Turkish politician and the first president of Turkey * Kemal (name), a common Turkish name ;Places * Kemalpaşa, İzmir Province, Turkey * Mustafakemalpaşa, Bursa Province, Turkey ;See a ...

's reformed Turkish Land Forces in 1922, but setting the stage for Greece's political landscape for most of the rest of the 20th century. It had been nearly five years since the last elections, a period during which all democratic procedures were suspended due to the

National Schism The National Schism ( el, Εθνικός Διχασμός, Ethnikós Dichasmós), also sometimes called The Great Division, was a series of disagreements between King Constantine I and Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos regarding the forei ...

, when Prime Minister

Eleftherios Venizelos Eleftherios Kyriakou Venizelos ( el, Ελευθέριος Κυριάκου Βενιζέλος, translit=Elefthérios Kyriákou Venizélos, ; – 18 March 1936) was a Greek statesman and a prominent leader of the Greek national liberation move ...

announced that elections would take place on 25 October. However, after the unexpected death of King Alexander, who had assumed the throne after the exile of his father,

King Constantine I Constantine I ( el, Κωνσταντίνος Αʹ, ''Konstantínos I''; – 11 January 1923) was King of Greece from 18 March 1913 to 11 June 1917 and from 19 December 1920 to 27 September 1922. He was commander-in-chief of the Hellenic Arm ...

, the elections were postponed until 14 November. Venizelos believed a victory for his

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

was all but certain because of his diplomatic and military successes against the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University ...

. However, the results were a disaster for him. Although his

received just over 50% of the vote, it won only 118 of the 369 seats in the

Hellenic Parliament The Hellenic Parliament ( el, Ελληνικό Κοινοβούλιο, Elliniko Kinovoulio; formally titled el, Βουλή των Ελλήνων, Voulí ton Ellínon, Boule of the Hellenes, label=none), also known as the Parliament of the He ...

, with the United Opposition – an alliance of the People's Party, Conservative Party, Reform Party and others – winning 251 of the 369 seats. Venizelos also failed to win a seat. Humiliated and disappointed by the outcome of the election, Venizelos left the country for

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, also leaving his Liberal Party without an obvious successor.

Results

The Liberals' defeat was considered to have been caused by the electoral system, the opposition having a highly esteemed leader in

Dimitrios Gounaris Dimitrios Gounaris (; 5 January 1867 – 28 November 1922) was a Greek politician who served as the Prime Minister of Greece from 25 February to 10 August 1915 and 26 March 1921 to 3 May 1922. Leader of the People's Party, he was the main ri ...

and managing to turn the elections into a referendum on the exiled King

Constantine I Constantine I ( , ; la, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, ; ; 27 February 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337, the first one to convert to Christianity. Born in Naissus, Dacia Mediterran ...

, who was still popular especially in Old Greece. It was also thought that voters were tired after almost a decade of wars and division were tempted by the United Opposition promise to secure peace with the Turks and bring troops home.

References

{{Greek elections

Legislative election 1920s in Greek politics Parliamentary elections in Greece Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922) Eleftherios Venizelos History of Greece (1909–1924)

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