Anastasios Papoulas

Anastasios Papoulas
Anastasios Papoulas CinC of the Greek Army of Asia Minor
Born	1859
Died	March 1935 (aged 75–76)
Place of birth	Missolonghi
Place of death	Athens
Allegiance	Kingdom of Greece
Service/branch	Army
Years of service	1897–1920
Rank	Lt General
Battles/wars	Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922) Battle of Eskisehir Battle of Sakarya
Awards	Commander's Cross of the Cross of Valour

Anastasios Papoulas (Greek: Αναστάσιος Παπούλας, 1859 – March 1935) was a Greek general and commander-in-chief during the Greco-Turkish War of 1919-1922.

Life

Born in Missolonghi in 1859, Anastasios Papoulas entered politics in his early twenties eventually becoming a close friend and confidant of King Constantine. He was appointed commander of Greek forces (the Army of Asia Minor) in Anatolia by Constantine in late 1920. However, his offensive to establish Greek control over western Anatolia stopped after the First Battle of İnönü in January 1921. After being reinforced, Papoulas resumed his offensive on March 23, however his army, numbering 100,000 men, were again defeated at the Second Battle of İnönü on March 28–30. Relieved of command by Constantine, Papoulas continued to command forces at the Battle of Afyonkarahisar-Eskişehir (August 16–17) and Sakarya (August 24-September 16) before taking command of retreating Greek forces from Afyonkarahisar from late August to September 9, narrowly preventing a rout by the Turkish army. Following the end of the war in 1922, Papoulas became a strong opponent of the monarchy after the establishment of the Second Hellenic Republic as a supporter of the Venizelos government during the late 1920s and the early 1930s. As one of the leaders of a pro-Venizelos coup attempt in March 1935, his failure resulted in his capture and eventual execution for treason later that year in Athens.