[2] After the end of the wars he was assigned to divisional and corps commands, but in 1917 he was dismissed from the Army due to his royalist sympathies during the National Schism.

[2] With the electoral victory of the pro-royalist United Opposition in November 1920, he was recalled to active service and appointed commander-in-chief of the Greek forces (the Army of Asia Minor) in Anatolia, replacing Lt. General Leonidas Paraskevopoulos.

[2] On 19 May 1922, due to his disagreement with the government on the further prosecution of the war, he was dismissed and retired from active service.

[2] 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 on 24 April 1935 in Athens.