Authors
George P. Papadellis | SG Head
with some good tips from AI
Achilleas Protosyngelos, born in the Ampelakia larisa village, was a famous Greek war hero, one of the leaders of the Military Movement of 11 September 1922 in Asia Minor that led to the historic Trial of the Six, and an opposer to the dictatorial 4th of August Regime of General Ioannis Metaxas in 1936.
General Protosyngelos in ca. 1935 | Photo by: in the public domain (according to Wikimedia Commons)
Protosyngelos First Steps
Protosyngelos was enlisted as a volunteer in the ranks of the Greek army in 1900 and he graduated with the rank of Infantry Lieutenant in 1909. At the Military School, he was a fellow student of Nikolaos Plastiras (Prime Minister of Greece during the period 1945-1952), with whom they became close friends. In 1909, Protosyngelos joined the party of Eleftherios Venizelos (Prime Minister of Greece from 1910 to 1920 and from 1928 to 1933), on whose side he remained until his death.
Wars
He participated in the Balkan Wars (1912), in the Provisional Government of the National Defense of Thessaloniki (1915), in the First World War (1916-18) at the Macedonian Front, in the failed intervention of the Western Allies in Ukraine (1919), in the occupation of Bursa at the Asia Minor Front (1920), in the collapse of the Asia Minor Front (1922).
Asia Minor (or Anatolia) | Photo by: Spiridon Ion Cepleanu, AnatolieLimits, CC BY-SA 3.0
The Trial of the Six
In the Military Movement of September 11, 1922, Protosyngelos was one of the twelve members of the "Revolutionary Committee", also with Stylianos Gonatas, Nikolaos Plastiras, Loukas Sakellaropoulos and Alexandros Chatzikyriakos. This Committee that governed Greece temporarily with the use of force to investigate the reasons for the Asia Minor Catastrophy, suggested the 8 people responsible and sentenced, with a military court, 6 of them to death. Those were: George Hatzanestis, commander of the army of Asia Minor, Dimitrios Gounaris, former Prime Minister, Michael Goudas, lieutenant colonel and former Minister, Xenophon Stratigos, lieutenant general and former Minister, Nikolaos Stratos, former Prime Minister, Petros Protopapadakis, former Prime Minister, Nikolaos Theotokis and Georgios Baltatzis, former Ministers. Although the defendants were 8, the trial was named "The Trial of the Six" because of the 6 executions that were finally decided and took place at the same day in the area of Goudi. This incident was the culmination and the epilogue of the Greek National Divide of those times.
Has Served as
Deputy of the Prefecture of Larissa in the Fourth National Assembly, Minister of Legal Order in 1924, Inspector General of Infantry in 1926, Commander of the II Division (1926-1928), Commander of Athens (1929), Commander-in-Chief of the Ministry of Defense (1930-1934), Deputy Chief of General Staff of the Army (1934-1935) and Commander of the Higher School of War (1935-1936).
Nikolaos Plastiras the Fellow Student of Achilleas Protosyngelos | Photo by:
Achilleas Protosyngelos, the heroic figure who has been awarded with the Grand Cross of the Holy Sepulcher and has distinguished himself during the Balkan Wars and the First World War, exemplifies the true spirit of military leadership and selflessness. His unwavering commitment to the cause of freedom and his ability to navigate complex battlefields, have etched his name in history as one of Greece's greatest war heroes. Today, his legacy lives on as a symbol of bravery, resilience, and unwavering dedication to the defense of one's homeland.
A true hero!