He proceeded, supported by young bourgeois intellectuals, to a programme
of economic and political modernization, which included a series of institutional and legislative reforms that lay the foundations for the 'Rule of the Law' and contributed to the
transformation of Greek society according to western models.
Venizelos became one of the most important Greek statesmen and a symbol of a whole
era, consistently leading the country towards economic and political
modernization and the militant materialization of the Great Idea.
Venizelos's government reinstated Crown Prince Constantine to a high position
in the army despite the opposite claims of the coup politicians, restoring in this way his relations
with the palace, already improved by the fact that he had opposed the constitutional issue
that the new progressive politicians elected in August 1910 wanted to put forward. He also reinstated
royalist officers, and removed some of the participants in the coup.
The Second Revisionary Assembly opened in January 1911.
It legalized the Constitution of 1911, which was a revision of that of
1864. With this new Constitution and the ensuing legislation, Venizelos managed to lay
the foundations of a modern state.
The modernization of the state administration and the
reinforcement of the military were approached systematically. French and British forces
were summoned to reform the army and the navy respectively. Care was taken in justice
and state education. Measures were taken to improve the national economy, and agriculture in particular.
A strict protectinism was adopted for the promotion of Greece's rudimentary
industry, while at the same time the expansion of markets following the territorial
expansion after the Balkan wars and the overall international conjunction of circumstances reinforced the
tendency of capitalists for investment in industrial activities. Technical organizations,
manned by trained engineers and other technical staff, undertook action and planning
in various sectors.
All this activity definitively dispersed the sense of defeatism and disillusionment that plagued the country ever since the defeat and created a climate of optimism
and self-confidence. Generally, despite the parallel
military venture in which the country became entangled, the period 1910-20 was one of evolution,
during which Greece acquired the features of a modern state.
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