The Most Important Milestones in the Dodecanese’s Journey to Freedom
By Giannis Th. Patellis
Spring 1912:
Italy, seeking to create a diversion against the Turks during the Italo-Turkish War in Libya, occupied the Southern Sporades, the so-called Dodecanese, beginning with Astypalaia on April 28, 1912, and ending with Kos on May 20, 1912. The islanders welcomed the Italians as liberators from Ottoman rule and demanded union with Mother Greece at the Congress of Patmos on June 4, 1912. The Italians violently dissolved the congress, and their intentions for permanent occupation soon became evident through their actions. Thus began the struggle of the Dodecanese people to regain their freedom, both within and beyond the islands, especially in communities in Egypt and America. Leading figures included the Kalymnian physician and politician Skevos Zervos, the Rhodian Ioannis Kazoullis, the Kassian doctor Nikolaos Mavris, and other patriots. The Dodecanese question became an international issue.
July 16, 1919:
The Tittoni–Venizelos Agreement is signed in Paris, largely satisfying the demand for the union of the Dodecanese with Greece.
July 24, 1923:
After the Asia Minor Catastrophe, Greece is forced to sign the Treaty of Lausanne, through which Italy acquires legal grounds in the Dodecanese, referring to them as the “Italian Islands of the Aegean.” The struggle of the Dodecanese people against Italian occupation continues unabated, as the occupation authorities attempt by every means to Italianize the islands.
April 1935:
Serious and bloody clashes erupt in Kalymnos, marked by fierce stone-throwing protests led chiefly by women, due to the Italians’ insistence on detaching the Church of the Dodecanese from the Ecumenical Patriarchate and declaring it autocephalous. Emmanouil Kazonis is killed by an Italian bullet, and the island is blockaded by the Italian fleet. Martial law is declared, followed by a wave of arrests, imprisonments, and expulsions of priests, mayors, and many patriots. These events attract worldwide attention and bring the Dodecanese question back into the spotlight.
October 28, 1940:
Fascist Italy declares war on Greece. Greece’s proud “NO” (OHI) is carried onto the Albanian mountains, where the Greek Army writes pages of unsurpassed glory. The first Greek officer killed in action is the Dodecanesian second lieutenant Alexandros Diakos from Halki, who falls heroically on the heights of Tsouka for a free Dodecanese.
November 9, 1940:
The Regiment of Dodecanesian Volunteers is formed by Dodecanesians living in free Greece, as well as by those who escaped from the islands. Its first commander is Major Markos Kladakis from Symi.
September 8, 1943:
The fall of Mussolini and the rise to power in Italy of General Badoglio trigger dramatic developments in the Dodecanese. Administration of the islands passes into German hands.
May 8, 1945:
German General Wagener signs in Symi the protocol surrendering the Dodecanese to the British, in the presence of the commander of the Sacred Band, Colonel Christodoulos Tsigantes.
May 9, 1945:
In Rhodes and across the islands, people flood the streets in ecstatic celebration of liberation, welcoming the Allied troops and the Greek Sacred Band soldiers. In Kalymnos, amid popular enthusiasm, the Greek flag is raised over the Administrative Building, and parades by students and teachers begin. The period of British rule in the Dodecanese begins.
May 15, 1945:
The legendary cruiser Averof arrives in Rhodes, carrying the Regent Archbishop Damaskinos, the leading figure of Dodecanesian freedom Professor Skevos Zervos, and many well-known and unknown exiled Dodecanesians. Scenes of historic emotion and patriotic enthusiasm follow among the people.
June 27, 1946:
A landmark date for the fate of the Dodecanese. At the Paris Peace Conference, the foreign ministers of the four powers agree to assign the Dodecanese to Greece.
February 10, 1947:
A peace treaty between the Allies and Italy is signed in Paris, by which Italy cedes full sovereignty over the islands of the Dodecanese and their adjacent islets to Greece.
March 31, 1947:
In an atmosphere of emotion and enthusiasm, British administrator Brigadier Parker hands over the Military Administration of the Dodecanese to Greek Admiral Ioannidis. The transitional period of the Greek Military Administration of the Dodecanese begins. In its proclamation it states:
“Midday of March 31, 1947, was the great hour of the destiny of the Dodecanese. After the oppressive slavery of six and a half consecutive centuries, after endless national trials, and after rivers of blood, sorrow, and misfortune, the sweet and radiant sun of long-desired freedom arose.”
January 9, 1948:
Resolution No. 518 of the Fourth Revisional Parliament of the Greeks is published in the Government Gazette, declaring that:
“The islands of the Dodecanese — Rhodes, Kalymnos, Karpathos, Astypalaia, Nisyros, Patmos, Halki, Kasos, Symi, Kos, Leros, Tilos, and Kastellorizo, together with the adjacent islets, are annexed to the Greek State as of October 28, 1947.”
With this law, which constitutes the formal legal act of the Dodecanese’s incorporation into Mother Greece, the transitional regime of the Greek Military Administration comes to an end.
March 7, 1948:
The then royal couple of Greece, Paul and Frederica, arrive in Rhodes, accompanied by government and military officials, Skevos Zervos, and other Dodecanesian fighters. They then tour the larger islands, including Kalymnos. In their persons, the islanders welcome the Motherland, into whose embrace they are now formally incorporated. March 7, 1948, is established as the official day of celebration of the Liberation of the Dodecanese.
