27 Facts About Theodoros Pangalos

Theodoros Pangalos was a Greek general, politician and dictator.

In June 1925 Theodoros Pangalos staged a bloodless coup d'etat, and his assumption of power was recognized by the National Assembly which named him prime minister.

Theodoros Pangalos withdrew from public life for a while, but remained active in the Venizelist military circles.

Theodoros Pangalos was widely suspected of collaboration with the Germans.

Theodoros Pangalos's mother was descendant of the local Arvanite fighter of the Greek Revolution, Giannakis Meletis, while his paternal side came from an aristocratic family of Kea island.

Theodoros Pangalos was head of the forces that entered Sidirokastro during the second Balkan war.

Theodoros Pangalos did not have a chance to lead it to battle though, because when King Constantine abdicated and Venizelos took over the governance of all of Greece in June 1917, he was appointed chief of the personnel department in the Ministry of Military Affairs.

In 1922, Theodoros Pangalos supported the 11 September 1922 Revolution, led by Nikolaos Plastiras, which abolished the monarchy and declared the Second Hellenic Republic, and played a major role in the rapid establishment of the regime in Athens, while Plastiras and the army were still sailing from Chios.

The military threat posed by Theodoros Pangalos' army helped the Turks back down, and the Treaty of Lausanne was signed.

Theodoros Pangalos was forced to resign, but his stance made him popular with the many segments of Greek society that objected to the treaty.

Theodoros Pangalos was appointed Minister for Public Order in the cabinet of Alexandros Papanastasiou on 31 March 1924, holding the post until 18 June, when he became once more Minister for Military Affairs, retaining the post until the cabinet's resignation on 25 July 1924.

On June 24,1925, officers loyal to Theodoros 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 Theodoros Pangalos as Prime Minister.

Theodoros 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, while Theodoros Pangalos awarded himself the Grand Cross of the Order of the Redeemer.

Theodoros Pangalos declared a state of emergency on 3 January 1926 and assumed dictatorial powers.

On 29 August 1926, a counter-coup led by General Georgios Kondylis deposed him, and Kountouriotis returned as president, while Theodoros Pangalos was imprisoned for two years in the Izzeddin Fortress.

In 1930, Theodoros Pangalos was sent to prison for a building scandal.

Theodoros Pangalos remained in prison for two years and was released during a period when a number of amnesties were issued by Venizelos.

Theodoros Pangalos never regained the popular support he had before the coup, and never again played a role in Greek politics.

Theodoros Pangalos 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, Theodoros Pangalos was widely distrusted for his rashness, megalomania and for being generally "half mad".

Theodoros Pangalos was especially close to SS-Standartenfuhrer 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 Theodoros Pangalos appointed prime minister of the puppet Hellenic State to replace Ioannis Rallis, who was very close to a nervous breakdown by that point.

Theodoros Pangalos unsuccessfully ran for parliament in 1950 and died in Kifissia two years later.

Theodoros Pangalos's grandson, named Theodoros Pangalos, served as the Deputy Prime Minister of Greece.

Theodoros Pangalos was a member of the PASOK socialist party.

Theodoros Pangalos is mentioned in the song "Stin epohi tou Pangalou" by Giorgos Mitsakis, originally sung by George Dalaras.