CONSTANTINE AND THE ALLIES

Taihape Daily Times, 28 June 1918, Page 6

CONSTANTINE AND THE ALLIES

The Greek Foreign Minister deposited in the Athens Chamber on April 18 a number of confidential documents communicated by the French Government, showing that a secret agreement was made between ex-King Constantine and the French Deputy, M. Benazet, in November, 1916, concerning the delivery by the Greeks of arms, munitions, and small war vessels to the Allies. This agreement was always strenuously denied by King Constantine, and the Lambros Cabinet instructed the Greek Ministers abroad to make an official denial. The documents now published include M. Benazet's official memorandum to the French Government and two most cordial autograph letters from King Constantine to M. Benazet. King Constantine himself proposed and agreed to surrender to the Allies the entire Greek army equipment with a thousand rounds for each gun and a light flotilla with all torpedoes, and he also promised to ma.mtain a benevolent neutrality, to withdraw the Greek army from Thessaly, and to place no obstacles to volunteers joining the Venizelist army, provided the Allies undertook not to favour the return of M. Venizelos to power in Athens. To save his face with the Kaiser, he asked that an Allied demand for the arms, etc., should be formulated in the form of an ultimatum, so that he would appear to yield to force majeure. On the strength of this formal written agreement Admiral du Fournet, on December 1, landed his small force of bluejackets with blank cartridges, and marched them into the death trap laid for them by the King and his f ello v-conspirators.