The staff of the Greek army poses for the camera during the operations of the First Balkan War.
The central figure is the general and successor Constantine. To his left is the driver of P. Karapanos and below them his close friend and later dictator of the country, the captain of the engineer Ioannis Metaxas, who was part of his staff. The photo also shows Lieutenant Colonel V. Dousmanis, Captain Papakonstantinos and Lieutenant General P. Daglis. The original photo was taken in Hani Emin Aga, outside Ioannina in the first days after the liberation by the photographers, Aristotelis Romaidis and F. Zeitz and painted by Christos Kaplanis.
The staff of the successor Constantine in Hani Emin Aga
In February 1913, the selected group of the army had stayed outside Ioannina, in Hani Emin Aga, from where they directed operations in Epirus. Their main objective was the fortress of Bizani, where 30,000 Turks under the leadership of Essat Pasha vehemently repulsed all the attacks of the Greeks. Bizani was a hill south of Ioannina, a natural fortress for the Turks, impregnable for the Greek army.
Left Prince Alexander, Captain I. Metaxas, General Constantine, Prince George, Prince Christoforos
Greek troops tried in vain to capture it. The successor Constantine and his staff tried hard to find a solution to capture Bizani. The role of Greek spies who were in the Turkish forces and the contribution of Nikolakis Efentis, who served on the Turkish staff and provided critical military information to the Greek side, were important to his success. In the end, however, the surrender of the fortress was made possible thanks to the initiatives of the commanders Ioannis Velissariou and George Iatridis, who did not follow the orders of the headquarters and acted voluntarily.
The liberation
The Greeks now outnumbered the Turks, as reinforcements had arrived from Macedonia. A plan was drawn up to deceive the enemy. Greek troops would encircle the Turks' fortifications west of the edges, while simultaneous attacks would take place in the center and east. The advance of the 1st Evzones Regiment with Major Velissariou to break out of the plan and approach Ioannina led to that outcome of the war.
Battle of Bizani
The Evzones of Major Velissariou had advanced beyond the plan and had destroyed the communication networks by cutting off the forts’ communication with the city. The lack of communication with the fort led Essat Pasha to believe that Bizani had fallen, when in fact it still stood intact. He then ordered an unconditional surrender to the Greek army. In the early hours of February 21, Turkish officers surrendered the city of Ioannina to Constantine, who was at Emin Aga. Velissariou's initiative became a lifeline for the Greek troops who were fighting without victory, and the lives of thousands of soldiers were saved. His bold act prompted the successor Constantine to make the legendary statement "either I will slap you or I kiss you, I prefer to kiss you".
On February 21, 1913, after 480 years of slavery, Ioannina was now free. The following month, King George I was assassinated and his successor Constantine was sworn in as King of Greece.
