Surrender of Eastern Macedonia to the German-Bulgarian forces, May 26, 1916
On May 26, 1916, Eastern Macedonia was handed over to the German-Bulgarian forces without a fight, by the decision of the Skouludis Government, the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army Ioannis Metaxas, with the consent of King Constantine I and thus followed the Second Bulgarian Occupation of Eastern Macedonia (1916 -1918).
After the violation of Greek neutrality by the occupation of Thessaloniki by the Army of the East of the Triple Entente (Entente), in the autumn of 1915, the German Empire made concession claims on its own side as well.[citation needed] In this context , on May 13 / 26, 1916, the German-Bulgarian troops proceeded to occupy the Rupel fort, since the 3rd and 4th Corps of the Greek army had orders from the General Staff of the Army not to offer resistance.
This was followed by the capture of Kavala, Drama and Serres by the Bulgarians, as well as the surrender of the Greek 4th Army Corps, with more than 7,000 officers and soldiers ending up as prisoners in the German camp of Görlitz. After the formal only end of the National Division and the reinstatement of the Venezuelan Parliament, in the "Trial of the former Staff" (the GES, or otherwise "Rupel Case") of the Palace military for the above non-combatant surrender, in 1919 - 20, Ioannis Metaxas and Victor Dousmanis were sentenced to death for treason (Dousmanis' was immediately commuted to life), in absentia, since they were already in exile in Corsica. Metaxas' sentence was not carried out even when he returned from exile, due to the defeat of the "Liberals" in the November 1920 elections, and the return of pro-royal forces to the political life of Greece.
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