King Konstantine I and the Greek People | Paxton Hibben

Paxton Pattison Hibben (December 5, 1880 – December 5, 1928) was a diplomat, journalist, author and humanitarian. 

With the outbreak of World War I in 1914, Hibben became a war correspondent for the Associated Press. The AP sent him to Athens in 1915 to cover Greek politics, where he gained first-hand experience of the dramatic Greek political division between King Konstantine I and Eleftherios Venizelos over the position of Greece in the Great War known as "National Division" (In Greek: Εθνικός Διχασμός).

His book "King Konstantine I and the Greek People" is based on Hibben's correspondance from Athens exposing the intrigue of international warmongers behind the Entente, and especially the role of French and British politicians and military leaders along with their secret service, against the struggle of King Konstantine I to keep Greece neutral in the war. His book was officially suppressed and did not see publication until well after the war ended.

King Konstantine I and the Greek People. Paxton Pattison Hibben. First Edition: The Century Co., New York, 1920. Current Edition: Grecobooks, Thessaloniki, Greece, 2025. Pages: 592. ISBN: 978-618-5383-58-9. HARDCOVER

PAXTON HIBBEN AND HIS BOOK "KING KONSTANTINE I AND THE GREEK PEOPLE"

"In January 1916 King Constantine was heard for the first time in his own defence. He granted an interview to Mr. Paxton Hibben, of the Associated Press, in which he set forth the infringements of his neutrality committed by the Allies and appealed to public opinion in the United States. Hibben's telegram was stopped by the French and British censors, but when he threatened to take it personally to New York the two Governments thought it wise the let the message go and to reply to it semi-officially. It must be confessed that the reply failed to carry conviction. The distinction drawn between the behaviour of the Germans in Belgium and the Allies in Greece was lamentably weak. King Constantine stated in the interview that the British Legation had offered a reward of £2,000 for information leading to the discovery of a submarine base in Greece and that none had been forthcoming. The French reply stated that the failure to localize any base proved the astuteness of the Germans and that their anger at the Allied occupation of Corfu and other points, known to be nests of submarines, proved the existence of these bases. It went on to say that the papers of the enemy consuls seized at Salonica, Mytilene and Corfu would prove this, though in fact, though these papers were closely examined, not a word was found in them to support the fable. 

Mr. Paxton Hibben's experiences during his mission in Athens are illuminating of the processes by which public opinion was formed in the Western countries. He sent frequent circumstantial reports to his newspaper in America, but the version that reached the editor was so meagre and so colourless that the Associated Press found the luxury of keeping a special correspondent in Greece too costly if he could make no better use of his opportunities, and Hibben was recalled. His journey home to the United States was a protracted Odyssey owing to the war conditions prevailing in the Mediterranean. Having to stop in Malta to await a boat he made enquiries and found that many of his dispatches were still pilled up in the censor's office untouched; that others had been so thoroughly expurgated of the truth by the British and French censors in turn that what was left was not worth reading. He was indignant and then and there declared his intention of writing a book setting forth the facts about Greece as he knew them. The book was ready in 1917, but watchfull eyes were on him. The United States were now moving into the war; the Intelligence Services began to pull the strings and Hibben was prevailed upon to postpone the publication of his book. He volunteered for the American army and fought in France until the end of the war. His book- Constantine I and the Greek People - appeared in 1920. It was the first independent exposition of what had been going on behind the smoke screen of an over-zealous war propaganda. The author is now dead and the book is out of print. It was becoming rare in 1921 when a friend of the writer, who was interested in Greek affairs, obtained a copy in a bookshop in Piccadilly and was told that there were still fifteen copies unsold. A few days later he returned for another copy and was told that the book was sold out - Mr. Venizelos, who was then in London, had come in on the previous day and bought up the lot!...".

Sir Basil Thomson K.C.B., Director of the British Intelligence 1919-1921, "The Allied Secret Service in Greece", Second Impression, HUTCHISON AND CO. (Publishers) LTD., 1931, pages 113-115.