December 1915 Greek legislative election

Parliamentary elections were held in Greece on 19 December [O.S. 6 December] 1915.[1] They were boycotted by Eleftherios Venizelos and his party, the Liberal Party, as unconstitutional, a result of a confrontation with King Constantine I over the country's participation in World War I. Venizelos considered Greece as a close and loyal ally of the United Kingdom and France, while Constantine I, who was affiliated with the House of Hohenzollern (the German royal family), favored neutrality.

December 1915 Greek legislative election

← May 1915 19 December [O.S. 6 December] 1915 1920 →

All 335 seats in the Hellenic Parliament
168 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Dimitrios Gounaris Georgios Theotokis Dimitrios Rallis
Party Nationalists Theotokis supporters Rallis supporters
Seats won 256 21 18

Prime Minister before election

Stefanos Skouloudis
Independent

Prime Minister after election

Stefanos Skouloudis
Independent

Although the electoral body supported Venizelos, Constantine insisted on his position and did not hesitate to confront the democratically elected government. Venizelos resigned and withdrew temporarily from the political fore, leading the crisis to its worst point.

Only right-wing parties participated in the elections. In a few months the crisis would almost become a civil war (the "National Schism") between the supporters of Venizelos, who created their own government in Thessaloniki, while the official government of Athens remained under the control of Constantine.

Results

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PartyVotes%Seats
Nationalists256
Supporters of Georgios Theotokis21
Supporters of Dimitrios Rallis18
Supporters of Dimitrakopoulos5
Supporters of Ion Dragoumis5
Northern Epirus Independents19
Independents11
Total335
Total votes334,945
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

References

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  1. ^ Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p829 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7