Thessaly to secure the harvest, the Isthmus of Corinth to prevent the troops in the Peloponnesus, who were faithful to the King, from entering Continental Greece, and the Piræus with a view to advancing on Athens and forcing the King to abdicate. M. Jonnart immediately left for the Piræus. On June 8th, a French column commanded by General Venel advanced across the Neutral Zone into Thessaly, while a Franco-British-Russian force, commanded by General Régnault, embarked for the Piræus and the Isthmus of Corinth. In Thessaly there was no resistance, except at Larissa, where a Greek regiment opened fire on the French cavalry, but was soon reduced to impotence. On the 10th, M. Jonnart, who had established his quarters on board the French battleship _Justice_, had a meeting with M. Zaïmis, the new Greek Premier. The Isthmus of Corinth was occupied, and the ships conveying the troops destined for Athens were anchored off the Piræus. On the 11th, Jonnart, in the name of the Protecting Powers of Greece (France, Britain and Russia), sent an ultimatum to Zaïmis, in which the abdication of King Constantine was demanded, in order that Constitutional Government might be re-established in the country, as the Constitution had been violated by the illegal dissolution of the Chamber; the King himself was invited to choose his successor, who, however, was not to be the Diadoch on account of his notoriously anti-German sentiments. A reply was demanded within twenty-four hours. Constantine now realized that all resistance was useless--his own capital was within range of the guns of the fleet, and troops were ready to land at the Piræus. That same evening M. Zaïmis informed M. Jonnart that the ultimatum had been accepted unconditionally, and on the 12th he sent him the official reply of the Greek Government to the same effect. When the news of the King’s abdication became known in the city, there were some demonstrations in his favour; but the landing of the French and Russian troops (the British were at Corinth) removed all danger of a rising, In order to preclude any contact with the population and to draw off the attention of the crowd, some empty Royal motor cars, with the blinds down, issued from the main entrance of the Palace and drove towards the Zappeion, while the King and his family departed secretly at about 17 hrs. in the direction of the Royal villa of Tatoï, and thence proceeded to the little port of Oropos in the Eubœa Channel, where they embarked on the Royal yacht _Sphacteria_. Together with another vessel for the suite and the baggage, and escorted by two French destroyers, the _Sphacteria_ sailed for Italy, whence the ex-King and his family went into exile in Switzerland.