Venizelos succeeded by Plastiras

17 March 1936 - Greek leader Eleftherios Venizelos died yesterday of natural causes. Many believe the ongoing civil war in Greece is to blame, the stress of trying to hold together a nation he helped build being too much for the elderly politician.

The Liberal Party has nominated Nikolaos Plastiras to replace him as Prime Minister of the country. PM Plastiras vows to continue the fight against Royalist forces as well as to reclaim land "stolen" by the Bulgarians and Turks.

Whether PM Plastiras can hold his coalition together and lead Greece through a civil war which has stretched over a year with no end in sight is the question.

The situation has become dire throughout Greece. Royalist forces hold large parts of the country in their grasp, particularly the southern and western sections, whereas the Bulgarians occupy the whole of northeastern Greece east of the Strymon River and the Turks hold Evros prefecture. The war has settled into a stalemate as neither the Liberals nor the Royalists have the strength or materiel to crush the other with the Bulgarians and Turks cooly watching from the sidelines.

Mussolini has offered military aid to the faltering Liberal forces, though thus far all overtures have been kindly rejected. That has not stopped the Duce from occupying various Greek islands for their "protection" during the conflict.

Food supplies have already been disrupted, infrastructure has been largely destroyed, and civilian casualties are beginning to mount from disease, starvation, and war related injuries. Greece is beginning to crumble. Who will collect the pieces?

SOURCE: Time Magazine