A few weeks after the overwhelming catastrophe suffered by the cause of Hellenism of Asia Minor in the end of the summer of 1922, there were immediate developments on the domestic political scene, following the intervention of the army.

A large number of units, which had landed in Chios and Mytilene, rallied around Colonels Nikolaos Plastiras and Stylianos Gonatas and launched a coup, disrupting local authorities. With the support of the navy, the dominance of the rebels over the Athens regime was simply a matter of time. Simultaneously, the provisional revolutionary committee that had formed in Athens, arrested a large number of anti-Venizelist officers and political agents. In mid-September, immediately after the arrival of the first units in Attica, Constantine, forced again to resign, abandoned Greece and died soon after in Italy.

The debacle of the front and the ensuing consequences constituted a traumatic experience of unparalleled magnitude. In such an atmosphere and under domestic pressure, especially in the middle classes and lower ranks of the army, the initially hesitant leadership of the Revolution decided to comply with popular feeling and to incriminate officers and politicians held responsible for the disasters.