The Cretan Gendarmerie () was a gendarmerie force created under the Cretan State, after the island of Crete gained autonomy from Ottoman rule in the late 19th century. It later played a major role in the coup that toppled the government of King Constantine in 1916, and also in the World War II Battle of Crete and the Greek Resistance that followed.
The police in Crete before autonomy During the second half of the 19th century the Christian Cretans revolted almost every decade against Ottoman rule. In 1878, in an agreement known as the Pact of Halepa, the Sultan Abdul Hamid II, agreed that in future Crete would be policed by native-born Cretans, Christian and Muslim. It was agreed that a new body of Gendarmerie would be formed and recruited only from Cretans.
In 1889, however, there was a breakdown of law and order on the island which gave the Sultan the chance to land large numbers of troops on the island and to ignore the undertakings contained in the Pact of Halepa, although he never formally renounced it. The Sultan appointed Colonel Tahsin as chief of police in Crete at the head of a body of two hundred men recruited in Macedonia. In 1896, law and order again broke down in Crete and a final Christian insurrection against Ottoman rule took place. Under pressure from foreign powers, Abdul Hamid agreed to the creation of a body of one hundred Montenegrin constables under the command of the British Major Bor. These men remained on the island until February 1899 and were generally regarded as an effective force, although their numbers were not proportionate to the problems of the island. In 1898, the Muslim population of Heraklion, who had been enduring intolerable conditions for nearly two years, revolted against the British force there and killed eighteen British soldiers and several hundred Cretan Christians. This led directly to the end of Ottoman rule on the island as Britain and other Great Powers tried to force the Turkish authorities to withdraw from the island by the middle of November 1898. Prince George of Greece, the second son of the King of Greece, arrived on 21 December 1898 as High Commissioner appointed by the Great Powers to rule Crete, which was now de facto autonomous, although under Ottoman suzerainty. The Prince replaced one of the earliest examples of international rule in European history. After the collapse of Ottoman rule in much of the island in February 1897, a committee of admirals of four of the Great Powers (Britain, France, Russia, and Italy) had run the coastal sections and immediate hinterland of the island. The British administered the prefecture of Heraklion, the Russians the prefecture of Rethymno, the French the prefecture of Lasithi and Sitia, and the Italians the prefectures of Chania and Sfakia.
The public safety situation on the island was far from ideal. Normal law and order had disappeared with the collapse of Ottoman administration and almost all adult males were armed, and apart from the national problems there were also personal feuds and endemic problems, such as cattle stealing and vendettas. Many people abandoned the countryside and flocked to the cities for protection. The foreign governors were forced to organize units of gendarmerie from Cretans to supplement their own police and military forces, and a separate force was formed in each prefecture. Naturally, the organization and system of operation of every one of these units was different and reflected the national origins of the governor. As a result, Crete was policed by four independent units of Gendarmerie, which were organised on completely different models.
The foundation and organization of the Cretan Gendarmerie
When Prince George of Greece undertook his duties as High Commissioner, one of his fundamental objectives was to restore law and order. He wanted to prove to everyone that Cretans were worthy of autonomy. So it was decided that all residents should be disarmed and a central body of Gendarmerie should be created. The core of the new Cretan Gendarmerie were the small units that the powers had created.
In January 1899 the Prince called the commanders of the four Gendarmerie units to Chania to hear their proposals on the way the Cretan Gendarmerie should be organized. At this meeting it was realized that the only commander who was expert and had serious proposals on the subject was the Italian representative. Thus, the Italian proposal was accepted and it was decided on the organization of a unit of gendarmerie similar to the Italian Carabinieri, which was considered one of the best such units in Europe.
In the summer of 1899, Carabinieri Captain Federico Craveri was named commander and organizer of the new Cretan Gendarmerie. Craveri, with the help of a team of 140 Carabinieri officers and non-commissioned officers, undertook the organization of the new force, using as a core the personnel of the four forces created by the international governors. In the achievement of this objective he was helped by two particularly favourable factors.
First, was that many young Cretans, inspired by love for their country, hurried to enlist in this new paramilitary unit of the independent Cretan State. This meant that Craveri could choose the best. Enlistment in the Gendarmerie, which also had military duties (the foundation of Militia having been postponed permanently due to lack of funds), was considered an honorable service to the nation. Georgios Vouros, for example, abandoned his studies in the Law Faculty of Athens University in order to enlist as a simple constable, and Evangelos Sarris, who had previously abandoned his studies in order to participate in the revolution of 1898, immediately enlisted in the Gendarmerie. Both were later to be among the first Cretans commissioned into the Gendarmerie.
The other factor that helped Craveri to enforce law and order in the island was his excellent relationship with the government and Prince George, as well as the fact that the island's authorities had the right to deport all persons who were considered dangerous. This measure was initially applied by the international authorities and the constitution of 1899 and was extended for two years as a privilege of the Prince. None of the people deported by the admirals or the Prince had the right to return to Crete unless the Prince decided so.
Organization and uniform The Cretan Gendarmerie consisted of a single battalion of five companies. Although the official establishment was 1,600, under Italian command the total was never more than 1,275. One company was assigned to each nomos (prefecture). The company commanders were Carabinieri lieutenants, who in Crete were given the local rank of captain. In June 1900 Craveri was replaced by Luigi Balduini Caprini, who created a sixth headquarters company. The first company commanders were: Ferdinando Mensitieri (HQ Company), Luigi Bassi (Chania Company), Ettore Lodi (Sfakia Company), Arcangelo de Mandate (Heraklion Company), Edigio Garrone (Rethymno Company), and Filiberto Vigliani (Lasithi Company).
Each company was divided into three or four ypomoirarchies (subcompanies), each also under the command of an officer. Each ypomoirarchia had six enomoties (stations) commanded by a non-commissioned officer. Initially all officers and non-commissioned officers were Italian Carabinieri, but gradually the non-commissioned officers were replaced by Cretans. The Cretans, many of whom were well educated, were promoted rapidly after three months training at a military school operating at the headquarters, at the end of which they took examinations. Some of the Italian officers slightly changed their signatures to look Greek: Luigi Balduini Caprini, for instance, signed himself "Kaprinis".
The uniform was dark blue in winter and white in summer. The constables wore the traditional Cretan vraka (voluminous breeches) and the officers wore trousers. The constables wore a round hat and the officers wore a kepi similar to that worn by officers of the Greek Army. Both officers and constables wore black boots. The constables were armed with rifle, bayonet, and revolver, while some also carried the traditional Cretan knife on their belts.
The Cretan Gendarmerie in an autonomous Crete The Gendarmerie was busy upholding the public order, struggling against brigands and also performing services as saving people from drowning in the harbour of Chania.
In a very short period of time, the Cretan Gendarmerie managed to gain the trust of the Cretans and the foreigners, although the latter had initially been prejudiced against the Cretans..
During the Theriso Revolt, the Cretan Gendarmerie remained loyal to Prince George and fought against the rebels, aided by a Russian expeditionary corps. Those members of the Gendarmerie who had defected to the rebels were not included in the amnesty the rebels received later, but were allowed to leave for Greece.
From the departure of Prince George until the Balkan Wars On 16 December 1906 Eugenio Monaco, third and last head of the Italian mission, delivered command of the Gendarmerie to Artillery Lieutenant Colonel Andreas Momferratos, head of the Greek mission. The first objective of the Greek mission was the creation of a militia and the equipping of the Gendarmerie with new rifles of the Mannlicher–Schönauer type. They also tried to introduce more intensive military education. The creation of battalions of militia released the Gendarmerie from certain military duties.
The Greek mission immediately began to promote of Cretans to commissioned officer rank. The first Cretans to be commissioned as lieutenants on 14 January 1907, in order of seniority, were: Evangelos Sarris, Dimitrios Kokkalas, Andreas Androulakis, Alexandros Hatzioannou, Nikiforos Nikiforakis, Zaharias Brillakis, Ilias Mourginakis, Minos Mylogiannakis, Emannouil Vogiatzakis, Georgios Vouros, and Ioannis Souris.
On the eve of the Balkan Wars in 1912 there were 45 officers, 50 senior non-commissioned officers, and 1,371 junior non-commissioned officers and constables serving in the Cretan Gendarmerie. Of the officers, five second lieutenants were physicians and one a pharmacist, while another pharmacist was a senior NCO.
Some of the officers were attached from the Greek Army, including the commander, Colonel Andreas Momferratos. Army officers constituted the entire Greek mission that replaced the Italians in December 1906.
As a direct result of the Cretan Gendarmerie's success in its duties, the organization of the Greek Gendarmerie was also assigned to Italian officers in July 1911. Some of them, like Arcangelo de Mandate, had also participated in the organization of the Cretan Gendarmerie.
The Balkan Wars On 4 October 1912 the Christian countries of the Balkans (Bulgaria, Greece, Montenegro and Serbia) declared war on the Ottoman Empire. The advance of the Greek Army was rapid and on 26 October the Turks surrendered Thessaloniki (Salonika). Eleftherios Venizelos, forecasting the problems of law and order that would be presented after the liberation of the city and knowing that the Bulgarians and other European nations would like to promote a picture of chaos and a Greek state incapable of imposing order, ordered Cretan Gendarmerie units to be transported to the city.
Thus, on 24 October 1912 the commander of the Cretan Gendarmerie with four officers, two senior non-commissioned officers and 150 constables left from Chania for Athens and thence to Thessaloniki aboard the steamer Arcadi. This force was strengthened and eventually almost the whole of the Gendarmerie was shipped to Thessaloniki. On the 14 October 1912, the Governor-General of Crete Stefanos Dragoumis mobilised the reservist non-commissioned officers and constables enlisted in the 1880s and 1890s.