MARGINAL COMMENT
By HAROLD NICOLSON
THE sullen curse which in primaeval days warped the destinies of the Atridae seems to linger among the rocks of Greece and to bring disaster to her rulers. The first President of liberated Greece, Count Capo d'Istria (whose features are familiar to us from the brilliant Lawrence portrait recently exhibited at Burlington House) appeared when he landed in Greece in 1828 to have every- thing in his favour. Born of an ancient Corfu family, he had been Foreign Minister to the Tsar of Russia, and could claim the intimacy and support of all the then rulers of Europe. The Greek people welcomed his arrival with almost frantic enthusiasm. Yet within two years the tide of popular favour had turned against him ; he was accused of acting arbitrarily and of preferring the interests of the Ionian islanders to those of the population of the mainland ; he was accused even of treating the brigands, the bandits and the patriots who had formed the core of the resistance movement with un- disguised hostility. Things reached a climax when he imprisoned Petrobey, the turbulent and aged ruler of the Maina. And thus on an October morning in 1831, as he was leaving the church at Nauplia, Capo d'Istria was murdered by Petrobey's son and cousin. That undoubtedly was an unfortunate start, and one which did not bring encouragement to those who were invited to assume the crown of Greece. Lord Derby refused ; Prince Leopold refused ; and finally Prince Otto of Bavaria accepted. King Otho, as he then became, managed to retain his throne for thirty years. Although he wore the fustanella and possessed many endearing qualities, King Otho failed in his turn to retain the love of his subjects. They resented his Bavarian advisers, they accused him of becoming an autocrat, and as a result of a military revolt the childless King was forced to abdicate and to leave the country. In 1863 the throne of Greece was accepted by Prince William George of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonder- burg-Glficksburg. In ordet to enhance his welcome the British Government took the occasion to cede the Ionian Islands to Greece. He assumed the title of "George I, King of the Hellenes."
* * King Georg' I was fortunate in having the support of the first really great stateAman that modern Greece had produced. Throughout the misfortunes, dissensions and disasters of his reign he could rely upon the firm hand and the wise moderation of Charilaos Trikoupis. He survived the eternal Cretan troubles, he survived the disaster of the first Graeco-Turkish War, and he lived to see Greece triumphant over the Turks in 1913. In March of that year the old man was murdered in the street at Salonika. He was succeeded by his son Constantine. It was then that the curse of the Atridae again began to operate. In the later years of the reign of King George I it had seemed almost as if Greece had worked out of her system that "ancient malady of the Athenians," the malady of factious strife. King Constantine ha; been much abused in this country, but he possessed con3iderable intelligence and many patriotic virtues. His misfortune was that he was unable to co-operate with the Magnificent Cretan who then arose. Once again the Greek people were sundered by the contest between the King and Venizelos. I do not believe that Venizelos was at heart a republican ; he often told me that a monarchy was good for Greece, since without it the politicians might start flirting with the generals. But King Constantine was obstinate ; he was exiled and then recalled and then again exiled ; and in the end he died at Palermo an embittered man.
The curse was not exorcised by these tragic events. King Alexander died from the bite of a tame monkey in the palace at Tatoi. King Georg. II, having twice been exiled, was driven from his country by the German advance. And when he landed on the aerodrome at Eleusis in September last, it was to find Greece in the throes of a civil war. Those short six months of his restoration were tragic months ; lonely and anxious, he would remain in his palace at Athens or walk ;Imong the scorched pine-trees at Tatoi longing doubtless for some statesman—a Trikoupis, a Venizelos, a
Metaxas even—who might still the strife and dominate the economic chaos. The burden was too heavy for him ; he was so utterly lonely ; and he died. Opinion in Greece, and in this country, still blames the late King for having connived at the dictatorship of Metaxas. When after twelve years' exile in this country he returned to Athens in 1935, it was hoped by many that his English experience would have taught him the methlds and the moderation of constitutional rule. For a short time it seemed, indeed, as if King George would observe, not the constitution only, but those habits of constitutional thought by which alone a democratic monarchy can be maintained. It is easy, of course, to make excuses for the action which he eventually took. The strife of parties, the egoism of individual politicians, the incapacity of the Greeks to combine together for the public welfare had created a situation in which the wheels of government had ceased to revolve. Compared to the brutalities of the dictatorships in Germany and Italy, the Metaxas system was almost mild. But the fact remains that individual liberties were suspended ; that opposition leaders were arrested and deported, and that the constitution, which the King had sworn to maintain, was flagrantly violated. One can explain the Metaxas regime: one can scarcely excuse it.
It may be that the late King did not possess that powerful strength of will which could alone have enabled him to dominate circum- stances of great difficulty. His reputation will, however, be redeemed by two virtues which he possessed in a superlative degree. The first was modesty, or more accurately a reserved tact. During the twelve years which he spent in exile in this country he never did or said anything which either abated his own personal dignity or caused embarrassment to the British Government. He did not sunder himself from all social contacts in England ; on the contrary, he enjoyed seeing and entertaining his friends. But never did he obtrude himself upon the public notice or cause to his hosts the uneasiness which any public indiscretion would have created. His second quality was personal courage. We should not forget that it was he who flung defiance at Mussolini ; it was under his inspira- tion that the Greek armies drove back the Italian invader ; it was he who, when the Germans descended upon an exhausted Greece, again preached defiance ; and it was he who, when forced to leave the Greek mainland, braved the dangers and the tragedy of Crete. It is now known from the evidence of captured documents and from the statements of high officers of the German Army that the strategic plans of the German High Command were seriously dislocated by the defeats inflicted on Italy by the Greek armies in Epirus. Hitler was forced to intervene and to rescue Mussolini from the humiliating position in which he had become involved. Six wears of precious time were lost in this diversion. And there are those who contend that it was those six weeks which prevented the capture of Moscow and turned the tide of war.
* * * I have a friend who has spent many years in foreign countries and who was parachuted into Greece during the s.va'r. He has since spent several years in the country. "I have now no doubt," he said to me recently, "that the Greeks are the most charming and the most gifted of all peoples." But the curse of the Atridae hangs upon them. Gay and enduring, lively and stubborn, possessing in surpassing degree that gift of curiosity which is the symbol of an active Mind, the Greeks still suffer from their ancient malady of strife. They will surrender their lives with a laugh upon their lips ; they will never surrender one millimetre of their opinions. How strange it is also that, after all the disappointments we have caused them, they still retain the respect and affection for the British which was born in 1824. It is in truth an evil destiny which heaps such misfortunes upon so fine a people ; it is assuredly some malign curse which dogs their destinies.
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