Georgios Polymenakos ( el, Γεώργιος Πολυμενάκος) was a

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 ...

officer who reached the rank of lieutenant general.

Biography

Born in Areopolis on 1 July 1859, he enlisted in the

on 21 June 1880. Marked out for further promotion, he entered the NCO Academy and graduated on 22 September 1885 as an Infantry 2nd Lieutenant. Promoted to Lieutenant, he fought in the

Greco-Turkish War of 1897 The Greco-Turkish War of 1897 or the Ottoman-Greek War of 1897 ( or ), also called the Thirty Days' War and known in Greece as the Black '97 (, ''Mauro '97'') or the Unfortunate War ( el, Ατυχής πόλεμος, Atychis polemos), was a w ...

. In the

First Balkan War The First Balkan War ( sr, Први балкански рат, ''Prvi balkanski rat''; bg, Балканска война; el, Αʹ Βαλκανικός πόλεμος; tr, Birinci Balkan Savaşı) lasted from October 1912 to May 1913 and invo ...

he commanded the 15th Infantry Regiment, which he led in

Epirus sq, Epiri rup, Epiru , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = Historical region , image_map = Epirus antiquus tabula.jpg , map_alt = , map_caption = Map of ancient Epirus by Heinri ...

, up to the Battle of Bizani. After the end of the war, the regiment was transferred to Macedonia, where it was subordinated to the 7th Infantry Division. Polymenakos continued as regimental commander during the

Second Balkan War The Second Balkan War was a conflict which broke out when Bulgaria, dissatisfied with its share of the spoils of the First Balkan War, attacked its former allies, Serbia and Greece, on 16 ( O.S.) / 29 (N.S.) June 1913. Serbian and Greek armies r ...

against

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

, seeing action at

Nevrokop Gotse Delchev ( bg, Гоце Делчев ), is a town in Gotse Delchev Municipality in Blagoevgrad Province of Bulgaria. In 1951, the town was renamed after the Bulgarian revolutionary hero Gotse Delchev. It had hitherto been called Nevrok ...

, Prendel Han and

Mehomia Razlog ( bg, Разлог ) is a town and ski resort in Razlog Municipality, Blagoevgrad Province in southwestern Bulgaria. It is situated in the Razlog Valley and was first mentioned during the reign of Byzantine emperor Basil II. The municipali ...

. A moderate monarchist, he was dismissed from the army by the Venizelists in 1917 as a result of 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 foreig ...

, but was recommissioned following the Venizelist electoral defeat in November 1920. In 1921 he commanded the III Army Corps in

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The ...

, and he led it in the

Greek summer offensive The Greek Summer Offensive of 1920 was an offensive by the Greek army, assisted by British forces, to capture the southern region of the Sea of Marmara and the Aegean Region from the Kuva-yi Milliye (National Forces) of the provisional Turkish ...

and the

advance Advance commonly refers to: *Advance, an offensive push in sports, games, thoughts, military combat, or sexual or romantic pursuits *Advance payment for goods or services *Advance against royalties, a payment to be offset against future royalty pa ...

towards the

Sakarya River The Sakarya (Sakara River, tr, Sakarya Irmağı; gr, Σαγγάριος, translit=Sangarios; Latin: ''Sangarius'') is the third longest river in Turkey. It runs through the region known in ancient times as Phrygia. It was considered one of th ...

. Promoted to lieutenant general, in late 1921 he was appointed commander of the Northern Group of Divisions around

Eskişehir Eskişehir ( , ; from "old" and "city") is a city in northwestern Turkey and the capital of the Eskişehir Province. The urban population of the city is 898,369 with a metropolitan population of 797,708. The city is located on the banks of the ...

. In May 1922, he was considered for the post of commander-in-chief of the

Army of Asia Minor The Army of Asia Minor ( el, Στρατιά Μικράς Ασίας, links=no) was the field army-level command controlling the Greek forces in Asia Minor (Anatolia) during the Greco-Turkish War of 1919–1922. History 1919 Following the Gree ...

after the retirement of Lt. General

Anastasios Papoulas Anastasios Papoulas ( el, Αναστάσιος Παπούλας; 1/13 January 1857 – 24 April 1935) was a Greece, Greek general, most notable as the Greek commander-in-chief during most of the Greco-Turkish War of 1919–22. Originally a fi ...

, but the monarchist government mistrusted his political credentials and passed him over in favour of Georgios Hatzianestis. In June, despite the imminent Turkish offensive, he asked to be removed from his position due to his disagreements with the government on the pursuit of the war. After the Greek defeat and collapse in August 1922, Hatzianestis resigned. In the general chaos that followed, the Greek government appointed Lt. General

Nikolaos Trikoupis Nikolaos Trikoupis ( el, Νικόλαος Τρικούπης; 1868–1956) was a Greek general and politician, most notable for his service in the Greco-Turkish War of 1919–1922, where he was taken as a prisoner of war. He also participate ...

in his place, only to be informed that he had already been taken captive by the Turks. Thus Polymenakos was appointed commander-in-chief on 24 August 1922, having barely enough time to lead the evacuation of the last remnants of the Greek forces from Anatolia. Following the September 1922 Revolution, he went into retirement along with several other pro-monarchist officers in November 1923. He was recalled for a few months to active duty in 1927, to participate in a council to supervise the re-admission of former monarchist officers into the Army. He died in Athens in 1942.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Polymenakos, Georgios 1859 births 1942 deaths People from East Mani Hellenic Army generals Greek military personnel of the Balkan Wars Greek military personnel of the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922) Recipients of the Cross of Valour (Greece)