Athanasios Souliotis-Nikolaidis and Greek Irredentism - by John Athanasios Mazis (Hardcover)

About the Book

This study examines the life of Athanasios Souliotis-Nikolaidis (1878-1945), a Greek military officer and undercover agent in the Ottoman Empire. In particular, the author examines his role in Greek irredentism, his ideology, and his other connections to Ion Dragoumis.

Book Synopsis

This study examines the life of Athanasios Souliotis-Nikolaidis (1878-1945), a Greek military officer and undercover agent in the Ottoman Empire. In particular, the author examines his role in Greek irredentism, his ideology, and his other connections to Ion Dragoumis.

Review Quotes

Mazis has successfully brought the life and activities of Athanasios Souliotis-Nikolaidis to the attention of scholars of modern Greece and, by doing so, has further illuminated the turbulent and tumultuous years that prevailed at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth centuries in the Balkans. A seemingly insignificant figure who lived in the shadows of his more well-known friend, Ion Dragoumis, Souliotis-Nikolaidis--as a military officer, undercover agent, and Greek patriot--actually made numerous important contributions, as a man of action and ideas, to realize the small Greek state's irredentist dreams.

This book is the result of an admirable research and a rich understanding of contemporary history. Mazis brings to the fore not only a rather neglected person of modern and contemporary Greek history, but a whole ideological and intellectual trend that was ready to discuss the Greeks' place in the modern world, sometimes with a saliently provocative manner regarding options and dilemmas. More than that, Mazis points to interactions with developments and trends in the Balkans, the Near East, and Europe, at the same time explaining evolutions, breaks, and continuities. Last but not least, this is a well-written book, able to attract and maintain the reader's constant interest, something particularly valuable in our contemporary scholarly communities.

This is a book about a historical figure, largely ignored by the history books. Although never in the foreground, Souliotis-Nikolaidis played a crucial role in Greece's struggle to prevail in Ottoman Macedonia over the rival ambitions of Serbia and Bulgaria, during the critical decade
leading to the First World War. By tracing the activities of its main character, the book illuminates the 'cloak and dagger' aspects of this rivalry. It is also valuable for the study of the roots of authoritarianism in twentieth-century Europe as it examines Nikolaidis's proto-facsist ideas and writings. Clearly written, informative, and relatively short, it is warmly recommended for specialists and the general public.

About the Author

John Athanasios Mazis is professor of history at Hamline University.