At the beginning of August 1863 European
diplomacy was once The earthquake of January 23, 1867 struck mainly on the western side of the island, claiming 224 lives. Repeatedearthquakes and infertile soil were among the driving forces of the great wave of emigration which began around the middle of the 19th century. Trade unionism appeared early on the Ionian
islands; unions were founded in the first few decades after unity with Greece. Some
distinguished islanders who supported socialist ideas were P. Panas, R. Hoidas and M.
Antipas from Kefalonia and P. Drakoulis from Ithaki. They were all instrumental in
spreading socialist ideas to the rest of Greece. Panas and Hoidas prepared the way for
Antipas; among his achievements was the propagation of his socialist ideas to Thessaly,
where the share-croppers in the plain revolted. During World War I (1912-1913), Kefalonian
women volunteered as nurses and cared for the wounded in hospitals. The Socialist Party's
potential was differentiated in the years that followed, first by Eleftherios Venizelos,
leader of the Liberals, and later by the Kefalonian loannis Metaxas, leader of the Free
Thinkers and supporter of the Royalists. The expulsion of the democrats from Kefalonia
pales before the greater danger of the war which began on October 28, 1940. On April 6, 1941, Hitler attacked Greece
for the first time and united his forces with those of the Italians. On June 11, 1943, the
Italians surrendered to the Allies and on September 8, the Germans took Rome. The German
occupation in Kefalonia began on September 24, 1943. Nazi brutality reach a climax in the
mass slaughter of officers of the Acqui Division. The prisoners of war, who had
surrendered without resistance, were led to the "Red Villa" and from there to
a cave higher up, where they were executed. The Nazi occupation lasted only a year, A series of earthquakes between August 9
and 12, 1953 left the islands of Kefalonia and Ithaki in ruins. Of course, there had in
the past been other earthquakes not mentioned here, but they had claimed relatively
fewer victims and caused less material damage. |
again occupied with the Septinsular question. Thus, as King
Otto of Greece was being deposed, a protocol was being signed uniting the Ionian islands
with Greece. King George I, son of the prince of Denmark, came to the throne of the
newlyunited country. Now that the muchhoped-for union had been achieved, the Ionian
islands would in future share the fate of Greece, which at that time depended politically
and economically on England. In June of 1864 the king visited Kefalonia.
but it was a bitter ordeal for the indomitable people of Kefalonia. The
majority of the islanders joined the organised national resistance movement. Lootings,
arrests and executions were daily occurrences. The German occupation forces finally left
the island on September 10, 1944.