terraces of the surrounding houses and aided by many citizens, fired at the tents of the Bulgarians located in the courtyard and against the windows of Rotunda until they surrendered. In total, 1,300 Bulgarian soldiers were arrested, including seventeen officers and General Hesapsiev, who was transported aboard the steamer Marietta Rialdi to Piraeus, where he was held until the end of war. After the Balkan Wars In July 1913 the Cretan Gendarmerie was incorporated into the Greek Gendarmerie. However the majority of its personnel remained in Macedonia, and the distinctive uniform was retained. In 1914 a "Battalion of Gendarmerie of the Expeditionary Army" was created, consisting of four companies, mainly reservist gendarmes of the Cretan Gendarmerie. Unfortunately, peace did not last long. On 22 September 1915, ignoring Greek neutrality, Allied forces occupied Thessaloniki to further their plans for a Macedonian front. In December 1915 Italian and French forces occupied the Greek island of Corfu, where they gathered the remnants of the Serbian Army and Government. King Constantine wanted to keep Greece neutral and did not wish to participate in a war that might end in economic and/or military disaster for Greece. After all, Greece had doubled its territories after the Balkan Wars. The soldiers wanted to return at their homes and there were many economic problems as a result of the Army's mobilisation. Also many Greeks were angry with the Italians and French, who after the Balkan Wars did not support the Greek claims on the liberated lands of Macedonia and Northern Epirus. On the other hand, Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos believed that Greece had an obligation to help Serbia and enter the war with the Allies against the Central Powers. The main thrust of his policy was that Greece, as a maritime nation, should always follow Britain's lead. He hoped that Greece again had the chance to liberate the many Greeks still living under Turkish rule. The King was accused of being pro-German due to his relationship to the Kaiser. However, he was also a cousin of the Tsar and the British King. By the end of 1915 it was obvious that neutrality could not be maintained and that Greek sovereignty was being eroded day by day. A group of influential Greek Macedonian citizens and officers, believing that the Allies may give Greek Macedonian grounds to the Serbs, decided on a coup d'etat in order to force King Constantine