The 1925–1932 French military mission to Greece was called to Greece to reorganize the

Hellenic Army The Hellenic Army (, sometimes abbreviated as ΕΣ), formed in 1828, is the army, land force of Greece. The term Names of the Greeks, '' Hellenic'' is the endogenous synonym for ''Greek''. The Hellenic Army is the largest of the three branches ...

following the end of the disastrous

Asia Minor Campaign Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

and the turmoils that followed it. The Greek army had relied on French models, and was often trained by French officers, ever since the first attempts to establish a

regular army A regular army is the official army of a state or country (the official armed forces), contrasting with irregular forces, such as volunteer irregular militias, private armies, mercenaries, etc. A regular army usually has the following: * a ...

during the

Greek War of Independence The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution or the Greek Revolution of 1821, was a successful war of independence by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire between 1821 and 1829. In 1826, the Greeks were assisted ...

(1821–29). The first official French military mission to Greece occurred in 1828–31, as part of the

Morea expedition The Morea expedition () is the name given to the land intervention of the French Army in the Peloponnese between 1828 and 1833, at the time of the Greek War of Independence, with the aim of expelling the Ottoman-Egyptian occupation forces from ...

. The

Charilaos Trikoupis Charilaos Trikoupis (; 11 July 1832 – 30 March 1896) was a Greek politician who served as a Prime Minister of Greece seven times from 1875 until 1895. He is best remembered for introducing the vote of confidence in the Greek constitution, p ...

government invited the next, in 1884–1887 under General Victor Vosseur;

Eleftherios Venizelos Eleftherios Kyriakou Venizelos (, ; – 18 March 1936) was a Cretan State, Cretan Greeks, Greek statesman and prominent leader of the Greek national liberation movement. As the leader of the Liberal Party (Greece), Liberal Party, Venizelos ser ...

called the 1911–1914 mission under General . Another mission under General came to Greece in 1918 as part of its participation in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, staying on until March 1923, when it was withdrawn on Greek request, citing budgetary constraints but most probably as a political gesture towards France. As the political situation in Greece stabilized, following the

Asia Minor Catastrophe Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

and the collapse of the ''

Megali Idea The Megali Idea () is a nationalist and irredentist concept that expresses the goal of reviving the Byzantine Empire, by establishing a Greek state, which would include the large Greek populations that were still under Ottoman rule after the ...

'', a major effort to reorganize the state and its institutions was undertaken, although Greek finances were limited, and the country was further burdened by the presence of over 1.5 million Asia Minor refugees. As part of this effort, in September 1924 the Greek government requested a new French military mission. General

Adolphe Guillaumat Marie Louis Adolphe Guillaumat (4 January 1863 – 18 May 1940) was a French Army general during World War I. Early years Adolphe Guillaumat was born in Bourgneuf, Charente-Maritime. He graduated first from his class of 1884 at the Saint-Cyr ...

, who knew Greece as the wartime commander of the

Allied Army of the Orient upright=1.1, Allied collaboration: an Italian captain, a Russian lieutenant, a Serb colonel, a French lieutenant, and a Greek gendarme The Allied Army of the Orient (AAO) () was the name of the unified command over the multi-national allied armed f ...

in 1917–18, arrived in October to assess the situation, and make recommendations to the French government. The new mission, under Lt. General

Nicolas Georges Girard Nicolas or Nicolás may refer to: People Given name * Nicolas (given name) Mononym * Nicolas (footballer, born 1999), Brazilian footballer * Nicolas (footballer, born 2000), Brazilian footballer Surname Nicolas * Dafydd Nicolas (c.1705–1774), ...

, arrived in Greece in March 1925. The French mission extended French influence in Greece, and reinforced the tendency of the Greek army to closely copy French models—most Greek military manuals were translations of the equivalent French ones. Among the major achievements of the mission was the establishment of the Superior War School (Ανωτέρα Σχολή Πολέμου) as a staff academy, which was established already in April 1925, where members of the French mission delivered lectures. The mission was also crucial in the publication of the (heavily French-influenced) ''Great Military and Naval Encyclopedia'' (Μεγάλη Στρατιωτική και Ναυτική Εγκυκλοπαιδεία) in 1927–30. Girard remained in Greece until April 1928, when he was replaced by Major General Brallion, who remained in charge of the mission until 1931, when he was replaced by General Julien Goubard. The French military mission left Greece in 1932.''Inventaire des archives de la guerre, série N, 1920-1940'', Tome 2. Ministère de la défense, Etat-major de l'Armée de terre, Service historique, 1981, p. 360

References

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:French military mission to Greece (1925-32) 1920s in Greece 1930s in Greece 20th-century military history of France History of the Hellenic Army Military Mission 1925 Second Hellenic Republic