Теодор Пангалос: Грек генерал және диктаторы

Leader of Greece from 1925 to 1926
his grandson

Lieutenant General Theodoros Pangalos (Θεόδωρος Πάγκαλος; 11 January 1878 – 26 February 1952) was a Greek general, politician and dictator. A distinguished staff officer and an ardent Venizelist and anti royalist, Pangalos played a leading role in the September 1922 revolt that deposed King Constantine I and in the establishment of the Second Hellenic Republic. In June 1925 Pangalos staged a bloodless coup, and his assumption of power was recognized by the National Assembly which named him prime minister. As a "constitutional dictator" he ruled the country until his overthrow in August 1926. From April 1926 until his deposition, he also occupied the office of President of the Republic. Pangalos withdrew from public life for a while, but remained active in the Venizelist military circles. During the Axis occupation of Greece, Pangalos and military officers close to him played a role in the establishment of the Security Battalions. He was widely suspected of collaboration with the Germans. Cleared by a postwar court, he ran unsuccessfully for political office and died in 1952.

On June 24, 1925, officers loyal to Pangalos, fearing that the political instability was putting the country at risk, overthrew the government in a coup and forced President Pavlos Kountouriotis to appoint Pangalos as Prime Minister. Pangalos immediately abolished the young republic and began to prosecute anyone who could possibly challenge his authority, including his old chief, Plastiras. Freedom of the press was abolished, and a number of repressive laws were enacted (including a law dictating the length of women's skirts no more than 30 cm above the ground), while Pangalos awarded himself the Grand Cross of the Order of the Redeemer. Pangalos declared a state of emergency on 3 January 1926 and assumed dictatorial powers. In April 1926, he had himself elected president as well in a rigged election. On the economic front Pangalos attempted to devalue the currency by ordering paper notes cut in half. His political and diplomatic inability however became soon apparent. He conceded too many rights to Yugoslav commerce in Thessaloniki, but worst of all, he embroiled Greece in the so called War of the Stray Dog, harming Greece's already strained international relations. Soon, many of the officers that had helped him come to power decided that he had to be removed. Regarding relations with Turkey, he still was not agreed with the treaty of Lausanne and tried to form an alliance with fascist Italy in a war against Turkey, with no success. On 29 August 1926, a counter coup led by General Georgios Kondylis deposed him, and Kountouriotis returned as president, while Pangalos was imprisoned for two years in the Izzeddin Fortress.

In 1930, Pangalos was sent to prison for a building scandal. He remained in prison for two years and was released during a period when a number of amnesties were given by Venizélos. He never regained the popular support he had before the coup, and never again played a role in Greek politics. After Greece fell to the Germans in 1941, Pangalos and other Venizelist officers moved to support the new collaborationist regime. He also played an important role, albeit from behind the stage, in the establishment of the Security Battalions, which he hoped to use against both the Communist dominated National Liberation Front and against a possible return of King George II and the royal government from exile. Ambitious, tough and able, Pangalos was also widely distrusted for his rashness, megalomania and for being generally "half mad". Through Pangalos did not formally take a position with the Security Battalions, but he ensured his followers were given key positions in the Security Battalions. Pangalos was especially close to SS Standartenführer Walter Blume, who was regarded as the most extreme and violent of all the SS leaders in Greece. Blume intrigued in the summer of 1944 to have Pangalos appointed prime minister of the puppet Hellenic State to replace Ioannis Rallis, who was very close to a nervous breakdown by that point. After liberation, Pangalos was arrested and put in Averof prison in Athens waiting trial for collaboration, but was cleared of all charges in September 1945. He unsuccessfully ran for parliament in 1950 and died in Kifissia two years later. His grandson, also named Theodoros Pangalos, served as the Deputy Prime Minister of Greece. He was a member of the PASOK socialist party.

Theodoros Pangalos is mentioned in the song Stin epohi tou Pangalou (In the times of Pangalos, Στην εποχή του Πάγκαλου) by Giorgos Mitsakis, originally sung by George Dalaras.