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

Hellenic Army The Hellenic Army ( el, Ελληνικός Στρατός, Ellinikós Stratós, sometimes abbreviated as ΕΣ), formed in 1828, is the land force of Greece. The term ''Hellenic'' is the endogenous synonym for ''Greek''. The Hellenic Army is th ...

following the end of the disastrous

Asia Minor Campaign Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

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 standin ...

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

Morea expedition The Morea expedition (french: link=no, Expédition de Morée) is the name given to the land intervention of the French Army in the PeloponneseMorea is the name of the Peloponnese region in Greece, which was mainly used from the medieval per ...

. The

Charilaos Trikoupis Charilaos Trikoupis ( el, Χαρίλαος Τρικούπης; 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 c ...

government invited the next, in 1884–1887 under General Victor Vosseur; Eleftherios Venizelos 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 (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, staying on until March 1923, when it was withdrawn on Greek request, citing budgetary constraints but most probably as a political gesture towards France.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 one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

and the collapse of the ''

Megali Idea The Megali Idea ( el, Μεγάλη Ιδέα, Megáli Idéa, Great 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 popu ...

'', 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 Greek refugees is a collective term used to refer to the more than one million Greek Orthodox natives of Asia Minor, Thrace and the Black Sea areas who fled during the Greek genocide (1914-1923) and Greece's later defeat in the Greco-Turkish War ( ...

. 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 m ...

, 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) (french: Armées alliées en Orient) was the name of the unified command over ...

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, 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 Military history of France History of the Hellenic Army Military Mission 1925 Second Hellenic Republic