Греческая армия: история и развитие

the land force of modern Greece
Land branch of the Greek military

The Hellenic Army traces its origin to the regular units established by the Greek provisional government during the Greek War of Independence (1821–1829). The first of these, an infantry regiment and a small artillery battery, were established in April 1822, and were commanded by European Philhellenes (such as Joseph Balestra and others). Lack of funds however forced its disbandment soon after, and it was not until July 1824 that regular units were reformed, under the Greek Colonel Panagiotis Rodios. In May 1825, the first law on conscription was passed, and the command of the entire regular forces entrusted to the French Colonel Charles Fabvier. Under Fabvier, the regular corps expanded, and for the first time came to include cavalry, military music detachments, and, with Lord Byron's aid, military hospitals. The governorship of Ioannis Kapodistrias (1828–1831) saw a drastic reorganization of the national military: a Secretariat on Army and Naval Affairs and the Hellenic Army Academy were created, the Army engineering corps was founded (28 July 1829), and a concerted effort was made to reform the various irregular forces into regular light infantry battalions. Throughout these early years, French influence pervaded the Greek regular army, in tactics as well as appearance, as most of the instructors were French—at first Philhellenes, and later serving officers of General Maison's Expeditionary Corps. After Kapodistrias' assassination in 1831 and in the subsequent internal turmoil over the next two years, however, the regular army all but ceased to exist. The first king of the newly independent Greek kingdom, the Bavarian prince Otto, initially relied on a 4,000 strong German contingent. The royal government re established the regular army and dissolved the irregular forces that had largely fought the War of Independence. Following the ousting of Otto in 1862, the Army continued relying on the Army Organization Statute of 1833. The Greek royal army in 1860 was approximately 200,000 men. The first major reforms were undertaken in 1877, in response to the Balkan Crisis that eventually led to the Russo Turkish War of 1877–1878. Among other measures, for the first time the Hellenic Army was briefly subdivided into divisions and brigades. Universal conscription was introduced in 1879, and under the premiership of Charilaos Trikoupis, in 1882–1885 major steps were undertaken to improve the training and education of the officer corps: a French military mission was called to Greece, new schools were founded and Greek officers were sent abroad for studies, and efforts were made to make officers on active service refrain from participating in politics and focus on their professional duties. The Army also underwent its first mobilizations, in July 1880 – April 1882 due to the Greek annexation of Thessaly, and again in September 1885 – May 1886, when Bulgaria annexed Eastern Rumelia. The great financial burden of these long periods of mobilization, however, exhausted the public treasury, and stalled the reform process. The result was that the Hellenic Army was wholly unprepared for war on the outbreak of the Greco Turkish War of 1897: plans, fortifications and weapons were non existent, the mass of the officer corps was unsuited to its tasks, and training was inadequate. As a result, the numerically superior, better organized, equipped and led Ottoman forces pushed the Greek forces south out of Thessaly.

The dismal performance of the Hellenic Army in the war of 1897 led to a major reform programme under the administration of Georgios Theotokis (1899–1901, 1903–1904 and 1906–1909). A new Army Organization Statute was issued in 1904 (revised in 1910), purchases of new artillery material (including the 75 mm Schneider Danglis 06/09 gun) and of the Mannlicher–Schönauer rifle were made, and a new, khaki field uniform was introduced in 1908. Reform was accelerated after the Goudi coup of 1909. The new government under Eleftherios Venizelos brought a French military mission to train the Hellenic Army. Under its supervision, the Greeks had adopted the triangular infantry division as their main formation, but more importantly, the overhaul of the mobilization system allowed the country to field and equip a far greater number of troops than it had in 1897: while foreign observers estimated a mobilized force of approximately 50,000 men, the Army eventually fielded 125,000, with another 140,000 in the National Guard and reserves. After the victorious Balkan Wars, the country doubled its territory. During the WWI, a disagreement between King Constantine and Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos caused a National Schism, but eventually a united Greece joined in 1917 the Allies. As a winner of the war, Greece annexed Western and Eastern Thrace and landed units in 1919 at Asia Minor, starting so the Greco Turkish War (1919 22), which was unsuccessful for Greece, in 1922.

The country joined WWII with the Allies side in October 1940, when dictator Ioannis Metaxas rejected an Italian ultimatum by Mussolini. In the Greco Italian War, the Hellenic Army pushed back the Italian and occupied large parts of southern Albania, but after a German invasion (Battle of Greece) fell under the Axis domination. The exiled Greek government, with units of the Army, were transferred to Middle East, where they continued the war with the Allies. Leo Niehorster's website shows the higher organisation of the Greek Army on 15 August 1940, with the General Staff of the Army directly supervising five corps, three divisions, and the Thessaloniki Fortress. After the war, Greece incorporated Dodecanese. Soon the political polarization between leftist/communist and anticommunist forces led to a civil war, which ended with communist defeat. The army was briefly renamed "Royal Hellenic Army" from August 20th, to October 25th, 1964, on the initiative of then Minister of National Defence Petros Garoufalias.

Most combat arms are called "Arm" (Όπλον). This term denotes army elements that, more or less, have direct participation in combat. Most support branches are called "Corps" (Σώμα), with some exceptions.

There are three classes of personnel in the Hellenic Army, namely professional, volunteer and conscript. There are currently 90,000 personnel on active duty, of which 30,000 are conscripted. The Hellenic Republic has mandatory military service (conscription) as of March 2021 of 12 months for all males between the ages of 18 and 45. Citizens discharged from active service are normally placed in the Reserve and are subject to periodic recall of 1–10 days at irregular intervals. Greek males between the age of 18 and 60 who live in strategically sensitive areas may also be required to serve part time in the National Guard. During a mobilization the amount of conscripts may exceed 180,000. Conscript enlisted men and non commissioned officers wear special rank insignia to differentiate them from volunteers. Professional officers graduate from the Evelpidon Military Academy in Athens (Στρατιωτική Σχολή Ευελπίδων, ΣΣΕ (Στρατιωτική Σχολή Ευελπίδων)), the Corps Officers Military Academy in Thessaloniki (Στρατιωτική Σχολή Αξιωματικών Σωμάτων, ΣΣΑΣ (Στρατιωτική Σχολή Αξιωματικών Σωμάτων)) and the Non Commissioned Officers Academy (Σχολή Μονίμων Υπαξιωματικών) in Trikala. Unlike what the title of the latter suggests, ΣΜΥ graduates do comprise a large part of the officer corps and are able to advance to the rank of lieutenant colonel, starting at the rank of corporal, while their ΣΣΕ and ΣΣΑΣ counterparts graduate as second lieutenants and could, theoretically, attain flag officer ranks. Thus, in the chain of command, graduates of the two military academies in Athens and Thessaloniki are considered higher in seniority compared to professional officers of the same rank who graduated from Trikala. The latter officers are followed in seniority by volunteer and finally conscript staff. During war, the Hellenic army battalions are commanded by either a ranking officer major general or if in a combat mission by another state which in agreement with the Greek state will be commanded by a ranking General of their own.

The rank insignia of commissioned officers.

The rank insignia of non commissioned officers and enlisted personnel.

The heavy equipment and weaponry of the Hellenic Army is mostly of foreign manufacture, from German, French, Italian, American, British and Russian suppliers. A notable exception is the indigenous Leonidas armoured personnel carrier which was built by the Hellenic Vehicles Manufacturer Industry ELVO, such as the ELVO Kentaurus fighting vehicle. Equipment runs the gamut from state of the art to obsolete Cold War inventories; the latter are gradually being retired.

The structure of Hellenic Army ranks has its roots in British military traditions and follows NATO standard rank scale. The rank of Stratarchis (Στρατάρχης, equivalent to Field Marshal or General of the Army) though, has been historically used, but is no longer extant. It was first awarded to King Constantine I for his leadership in the Balkan Wars. The rank was subsequently assumed by his successors upon accession, until the abolition of the monarchy. The only regular officer to have been awarded the rank was General Alexander Papagos on 28 October 1949, after he had won the Greek Civil War.