as Colonel Nikolaos Christodoulou arrived in the city with the remnants of IV Corps that had refused to surrender and instead withdrawn via Kavala and Samothrace. Already on , the volunteers under Major Grigoriadis formed the 1st Battalion of the "Army of National Defence", and departed for the front lines along the Strymon river. Establishment of the State of National Defence Venizelos himself with his closest aides left Athens on 12/25 September, initially for his home island of Crete, and from there via Chios and Lesbos to Thessaloniki, where he arrived on 24 September/7 October. Four days later, on 28 September/11 October, he formed a provisional government under the supreme leadership of a triumvirate comprising himself, General Panagiotis Danglis and Admiral Pavlos Koundouriotis (the "Triumvirate of National Defence", Τριανδρία της Εθνικής Αμύνης). On 29 September/12 October, Maj Gen Emmanouil Zymvrakakis was appointed Army Minister (replaced on December 6 by Maj Gen Konstantinos Miliotis-Komninos) and on October 3 Nikolaos Politis was appointed Foreign Minister. On 6 October other ministries, euphemistically called "General Directorates" were established: Themistoklis Sophoulis, Interior Minister , Finance Minister Thalis Koutoupis, Minister of National Economy , Justice Minister Georgios Averof, Education Minister , Transport Minister , Minister for Supply and Food Distribution , Minister for the Refugees Andreas Michalakopoulos, Minister for Public Estates and Resettlement The first tasks of the new government were the establishment of an "Army of National Defence" to fight alongside the Allies, and the consolidation of its rule in as much of Greece as possible. The Provisional Government declared war on the Central Powers on 24 November 1916, and set out to recruit divisions for the Macedonian Front, something which was achieved with speed and often ruthlessness. Despite calls by some officers to abolish the monarchy and declare a Republic, Venizelos chose a more moderate path. He had declared: "we are not against the King, but against the Bulgarians". The State of National Defence established control in Greek Macedonia, Crete and the northern Aegean islands; lands that were just recently liberated during the Balkan Wars. The reluctant and uneasy coexistence of the two Greek states was not destined to last, as the Noemvriana riots against Venizelists in Athens clearly illustrated that a rapprochement was now impossible. Early in 1917, the Venizelist state took also control of Thessaly, after clashes against the royal army of Constantine. The division of the country lasted for 9 months.