Athanasios Souliotis-Nikolaidis and Greek Irredentism

Book excerpt: Athanasios Souliotis-Nikolaidis (1878–1945) was a Greek military officer, undercover agent, author, and politician who in Greece today is not as well-known as he should be. Inasmuch as he is remembered at all today, Souliotis-Nikolaidis is associated with the much better-known Ion Dragoumis, with whom he was connected through bonds of friendship and ideology. In Athanasios Souliotis-Nikolaidis and Greek Irredentism: A Life in the Shadows, John Athanasios Mazisexamines the subject's contribution to Greece's irredentist activities of the early twentieth century, and answers some key questions: What were Souliotis-Nikolaidis's achievements as an undercover agent in Ottoman Macedonia? What was his behind-the-scenes role in the early elections of the Ottoman Empire, following the Young Turk Revolt? What was his relationship with important individuals and organizations of the Greek Diaspora? What was his contribution to the unique idea about the future of Greeks and Turks in a unified federal state? In this book, Mazis reveals that Souliotis-Nikolaidis, far from being a minor player in Greek irredentism, was an important actor whose many contributions deserve recognition.