Finally, a complete rupture took place in 1904 between the Prince and Venizelos; the Venizelist party were defeated at the polls by the personal canvassing of the Prince and the united efforts of the other Cretan party leaders, already jealous of Venizelos' rising star.
In the general election which followed (June 13 1915), despite the desperate efforts of the King and his party, the Venizelist party were returned with a large majority.
In consequence of this abstention of the Venizelist electors, no Venizelist was elected, and the new Chamber consisted almost exclusively of the old politicians, whom the military revolt of 1909 had swept out of politics.
The wildest stories were circulated in the press about the oppressive character of the Venizelist regime of 1917-20.
There were also some 9,000 dismissals of public servants for political reasons; but nearly all of these men were subsequently reinstated by the Venizelist Government itself, after they had sworn allegiance to the new order of things.