1913, Kelepouris, Doxa Matomeni, Alexandria Printing, King Constantine I, Greece, Balkan Wars

Description

Γ. Θ. Kελεπούρης

Δόξα Ματωμένη – Doxa Matomeni

Λεύκωμα και Ημερολόγιο Πολέμου 

1912 – 1913 

Αλεξάνδρεια 1913

 

G. Th. Kelepouris

Bloodstained Glory 

Album and Diary of the War

1912 – 1913

Published in Alexandria, Egypt in 1913

Printed by the Patriarchal Printing Office

 

Contemporary Half Leather Binding with well preserved original cover

185 Pages

24.5 cm x 16 cm

First Edition

The Balkan Wars (1912–1913) were two successive conflicts that drastically altered the balance of power in southeastern Europe by weakening the Ottoman Empire and increasing tensions among the victorious Balkan states. The First Balkan War, which lasted from October 1912 to May 1913, was fought between the Ottoman Empire and the Balkan League, an alliance formed by Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Montenegro. Their objective was to drive the Ottomans out of their remaining European territories. The war saw major battles, including the Siege of Adrianople and the Battle of Bizani, which led to significant Ottoman defeats. The conflict ended with the Treaty of London in May 1913, forcing the Ottoman Empire to relinquish most of its European lands.However, tensions soon escalated between the victorious allies over the division of these territories, leading to the Second Balkan War in June 1913. Bulgaria, dissatisfied with the territorial settlements, launched an attack on Serbia and Greece. In response, Romania and the Ottoman Empire also entered the war against Bulgaria. Within weeks, Bulgaria suffered a decisive defeat, and the war ended with the Treaty of Bucharest in August 1913, which redistributed the conquered lands among the Balkan states. As a result of the wars, the Ottoman Empire lost nearly all its European holdings, while Greece gained Epirus, Macedonia, and Crete. Serbia expanded into Kosovo and parts of Macedonia, whereas Bulgaria, despite initial gains, lost territory to its neighbors. The conflicts fueled rising nationalism and unresolved territorial disputes, contributing to the tensions that led to World War I the following year.

 

Georgios Kelepouris (1890-1965) was a Greek journalist and poet. He graduated from the Varvakeio School in Athens and later went to Egypt and worked for the newspapers Phos and Tachydromos in Alexandria. He returned to Greece and made tours as a newspaper correspondent in Macedonia and Thrace. He wrote poems, songs of the struggle for the liberation of the Greek regions. He published the poetry collections ‘Remvassmoi’ (1908) and ‘Bloody laurels’ (1910). In 1913 the book Bloody Glory, an album and diary of the Balkan wars, was published in Alexandria, which was placed under the protection of King Constantine. His poems were set to music by Dimitrios Argyriadis (1884-1957), conductor and professor at the Pedagogical Academy of Athens.