Because of its geography, the Greeks found their struggle more arduous in eastern Macedonia than anywhere else. The armed Greek counterattack did not really begin there until 1906, and even then it was carried out almost exclusively by celebrated local leaders.
Thanasis Hatzipantazis and Steryios Vlachbeis were active in the district of Beles and Meleniko; Kapetan Yianglis and the priest Kapetan Androutsos dominated the district of Nigrita, while two legendary figures, Doukas Zervas and Mitrousis Gogoulakis, carried out their operations in Zichna and Mount Pangaio.
Administrative tasks were in the hands of the Serres and Kavala consulates. A host of patriots, organized into national societies and networks, handled the dispensing of information and weapons very efficiently.
However, no one in eastern Macedonia contributed more to the Struggle in terms of both deeds and prestige than the metropolitan of Drama, Chrysostomos Kalafatis. In 1907 his open collaboration with the Greek side cost him his position in the Church; 15 years later, with his violent death in Smyrna, he paid even more dearly for his national pursuits.
