The unconditional surrender of the border fortress of Roupel in May 1916 to the Central Powers' forces, mainly composed of Bulgarian troops, was the first event that led to the Noemvriana.

[4] Following the Noemvriana, the Allies were determined to remove Constantine I and established a naval blockade to isolate areas that supported the king.

The Greek leadership was divided between Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos, who supported Great Britain on the side of the Allies, and King Constantine, who was educated in Germany and married to the Kaiser's sister.

[ii][5] In early 1915, Britain offered Greece "territorial concessions in Asia Minor" if it would participate in the upcoming Gallipoli Campaign.

On 9 May 1916, Erich von Falkenhayn, Chief of the German General Staff, informed Athens of the imminent advance of German-Bulgarian forces.

[9] The German Supreme Command was concerned about Allied General Sarrail's movements, and Falkenhayn was ordered to occupy strategic positions inside Greek territory, specifically Fort Rupel.

[10] Despite the assurances of Falkenhayn, Bulgarian soldiers immediately began to forcibly round up the Greek population into large cities, namely Serres, Drama and Kavala.

[11] The surrender of Fort Rupel caused the Allies to believe that the German-Bulgarian advance was a result of a secret agreement between Athens and the Central Powers, as they were assured that no Bulgarian force would invade Greek territory.

[12] On 9 June, the Allies held a conference in London to examine the reasons behind the quick surrender of Fort Rupel and favored a complete demobilization of the Greek army and navy.

Two days later, army officers loyal to Venizelos organized a military coup in Thessaloniki and proclaimed the "Provisional Government of National Defence."

Venizelos, Admiral Pavlos Kountouriotis and General Panagiotis Danglis formed a triumvirate provisional government and, on 9 October, moved to Thessaloniki to assume command of the National Defense.

[17] According to a British diplomat: Not only has Mr. Venizelos' action put a fresh spirit in its promoters here [Thessaloniki], but it has encouraged recruits to come forward from Macedonia where, as I have reported, very little enthusiasm had hitherto been manifested...

We want to build an army in order to recover... the territories occupied by our hatred enemy and fulfill our treaty obligations to Serbia, and thus removing the stigma from the face of our nation.

After this, and naturally, when the war is over, we shall request the convocation of a [national] assembly, not to change the structure of the state, or the dynasty, or restrict the prerogatives of the Crown as stipulated in the constitution, but in order to explain, elucidate, and safeguard these prerogatives as much as possible so that no king in the future will tell the representatives of the popular sovereignty that in the great national questions, he was right to disregard the popular will and to impose his own views because he considers himself responsible before God.

The Allies wanted further demobilization of the Greek army and the removal of military forces from Thessaly to ensure the safety of their troops in Macedonia.

[20] After several unproductive negotiations, on 23 October, the king suddenly agreed to some of the demands required by the Allies, including the removal of the Greek army from Thessaly.

[17] The king refused to honor his secret agreement with Bénazet, and soldiers who requested to fight against the Bulgarian occupation were charged with "desertion to the rebels".

[29] A growing movement amongst the low-rank officers within the army, led by Ioannis Metaxas and Sofoklis Dousmanis, were determined to oppose disarmament and any assistance to the Allies.

On 24 November, du Fournet presented a seven-day ultimatum demanding the immediate surrender of at least ten Greek mountain artillery batteries.

The Allies thought that in the face of a superior force, Greeks would "bring the cannons on a plater" (surrender); a viewpoint that Du Fournet also shared.

Du Fournet, with a small contingent of troops, was unprepared to encounter organized Greek resistance and was already short of supplies, so he readily accepted the king's compromise.

The Greek battery from Arditos Hill fired a number of rounds at the entrance of Zappeion, where the French admiral had established his headquarters.

Vice Admiral Louis Dartige du Fournet wrote that Venizelists supported the Allies and attacked passing Greek royalist army units.

[34] Venizelists' participation was allegedly so extensive that lead Admiral du Fourne wrote in his report that he had been involved in a civil war.

Venizelists were led to prison surrounded by a furious mob, and supposedly, only the royal army escorts saved them from being murdered by the angry citizens.

[40] The authorities used the pretext of the events to claim that the Venezelists had staged an insurrection with the support of Allied troops and proceeded with the help of the Reservists to extensive arrests and reprisals against them.

The change in the British leadership proved to be particularly important for Greece since Lloyd George was a known Hellenophile, an admirer of Venizelos and dedicated to resolving the Eastern Question.

[38] After Noemvriana, the Allies continued their naval blockade of Athens to put pressure on the king to accept their demands, causing food shortages in the Athenian population.

[58][59] The king's exile was followed by the deportation of many prominent royalist officers and politicians considered pro-Germans, such as Ioannis Metaxas and Dimitrios Gounaris, to France and Italy.

The participation of the Greek army at the Macedonian front was one of the decisive events of the war, earning Greece a seat at the Paris Peace Conference under Venizelos.