Greece Political Factions and Personalities

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Greece Political Factions and Personalities

The Conservative Faction: Supports the primacy of the Orthodox Church in Greek life and the powerful landing owning GREEK magnates.  As such the faction is centered in the countryside or smaller cities and towns.  The faction wishes for some form of Oligarchy with as little of the trappings of Democracy as possible.
--Dimitrios Gounaris (1867-1922) believes in a top down form of social reform and political leadership.
-- Alexandros Zaimis (1855-1836) a believer in a sort of compassionate conservativism. 
-- Nikolaos Kalogeropoulos (1851-1927) conservative
--Ioannis Metaxas (1871-1941) a member of the military part of the revolt and a conservative
-- Nikolaos Stratos (1871-1922*) Conservative with nationalist overtones  *historically was hanged in 1922 for the mistake of being in government following a massive defeat in the war with Turkey.

The Liberal Faction: A urban based faction strongest in the larger cities such as Athens. Also it is mostly a middle class based faction with strong support from factory workers and other urban workers. What following the faction has in rural areas wishes to see the big land holdings broken up.  More interested a form of government that leans towards democracy.
-- Kyriakoulis Mavromichalis (1850-1916) advocates a decentralized form of government for Greece and for reform. 
-- Stylianos Gonatas (1876-1966) Military leader of the revolt and believes in republican form of government
-- Alexandros Papanastasiou (1876-1936) A believer in democracy but at the same time wants to break up the plots of the big landowners.   Studied extensively abroad; including law to philosophy

Nationalist Faction: Wishes to restore Byzantium or at least create a modern Greek empire out of the ruins of the Ottoman Empire.  The Megali Idea, is that Greece is to include all Ethnic Greeks.  This faction views the Ottoman Empire as a permanent enemy of the Greek People.
-- Eleftherios Venizelos (1864-1936) Born on Crete, trained as a lawyer and like many revolutionaries was exiled because of his political activity.  While fairly liberal in outlook his true cause is of Greater Greece, all other considerations are secondary to the objective of a Greater Greece.
-- Spyridon Lambros (1851-1919) Born on Corfu, a member of academia with a focus on Byzantium and Greek History.
-- Petros Protopapadakis (1854-1922*) Believer in the big Greece idea but with conservative overtones* historically was hanged in 1922 for the mistake of being in government following a massive defeat in the war with Turkey.
--Georgios Kondylis (1878-1936) A military member of the revolt, with some conservative / authoritarian overtones

Isolationist Faction: Views that the War of Independence wasn't the best idea, but what's done is done.  Now Greece should look to get its house in order and avoid foreign adventures.
-- Dimitrios Rallis (1844-1921) from a prominent Phanariotes family there for centered in the cities and had ties to the Ottoman Administration.  Family comes from Istanbul
--Karolos Sioufas (1885-1940) Born in western Greece, did not take part as a member of the rebellion per say but when rebels and Muslims became involved in a firefight near his home organized his neighbors and created a safe zone for anyone who wishes to enter as long as they disarmed and didn't create trouble.  Siofas kept this neighborhood watch going for the rest of the war.  The watch had a number of fights to defend the zone established in Ioannina.

Modernist Faction: Believes that the long years of Ottoman Occupation have caused Greece to fall behind the rest of Europe and West.  Greece needs to strive remake itself in a western model for the political, social and economic life of the nation.  A new Greek state should be based upon commerce as part the world stage.
-- Stephanos Dragoumis (1842-1923) from Athens and trained as a lawyer, believes that Greece needs to be modernized as much as possible.
-- Nikolaos Zorbas (1844-1920) from Asia Minor, military leader of the revolt believes that Greece needs to modernize first and foremost.  Doesn't have the most glowing of opinions of foreigners.
-- Georgios Kafantaris (1873-1946) Born in Greece, a banker and investor believing that commerce is the way to Greece's greatness
--Alexander Papagos (1883-1955) A military member of the revolt and believer that before Greece can do anything else the state needs to be modernized.

Centrist: Not a faction as of yet but there are those that believe Greece needs to be united and there must be compromise between the various factions or Greece is doomed.  So for the moment all that links these people together is the one idea but they are not organized as of yet. 
--Georgios Theotokis (1844-1916) Current PM of the Provisional Government.  Viewed by other Greeks as a moderate, honorable and cool headed; as such he was leader of the revolutionaries and leader of the Provisional Government.
-- Stephanos Skouloudis (1838-1928) Had long been the representative of the Greek Revolutionaries and is a skilled diplomat and banker; but had retired some time ago.  With the revolution has partially left retirement; but only as a spokesmen for moderation and national unity
-- Anastasios Charalambis (1862-1949) senior member of the military part of the revolt; non political but a believer in Greek unity.
-- Georgios Hatzianestis (1863-1922*) A senior member of the military part of the revolt; with no political stance as of yet.  Perhaps waiting for someone to show him the path?  * historically was hanged in 1922 for the mistake of being in government following a massive defeat in the war with Turkey.