In Athens, Skouloudis became active politically, and the crisis of 1877 provided him an opportunity to serve the government. As the "Eastern Crisis" developed into the
Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78, Skouloudis was a secret emissary to the
Albanian population outside Greece's borders. He also served as a representative of the city of
Ioannina in talks leading to the
Congress of Berlin which readjusted the border between Greece and the
Ottoman Empire after that war. Besides his diplomatic efforts, Skouloudis also involved himself in other public service. He was appointed to the Board of Governors of the
Bank of Greece in 1880. In 1882, he formed the first company to drain
Lake Copais, a lake that abutted very productive farmland north of
Thebes, and which sometimes flooded. First elected to the
Hellenic Parliament in the
election of 1881, representing
Syros (and later Thebes), Skouloudis was a member of
Trikoupis' liberal
New Party. In 1882, he was appointed Greek
Ambassador to
Spain where he served until 1886. After
Bulgaria's unilateral
unification with
Eastern Rumelia from the Ottoman Empire, Skouloudis represented the Greek government at peace talks in Constantinople in 1886. He was again elected to parliament representing Thebes in
1892 and was appointed by Prime Minister Trikoupis as
Minister of Religion and Education and later as
Minister for the Navy. He also was called upon by both the liberal Trikoupis and conservative
Theodoros Deligiannis governments to represent Greece in seeking loans and loan extensions from wealthier governments. Skouloudis served on the Organizing Committee for the
1896 Summer Olympics. He noticed that costs for the Games were rising beyond the original estimates given by
Pierre de Coubertin and gave a report to the president of the committee, Crown Prince
Constantine, recommending that Greece withdraw from hosting the Games. Skouloudis, and a number of others who agreed with him, resigned the committee at that point. However, Constantine decided to allow the Games to continue and the first modern Olympics were widely considered to be highly successful, especially in comparison to the
1900 and
1904 Summer Olympics. Because of his extensive diplomatic service, the liberal Skouloudis was appointed
Minister for Foreign Affairs in the conservative government of
Dimitrios Rallis in 1897. In this position, he found himself overseeing Greece's diplomatic response to its first military defeat in the
Greco-Turkish War of 1897, which despite the fairly complete defeat of Greece's army, resulted in a relatively small loss of Greek territory, partly because of Skouloudis' diplomatic efforts. In
1905, Skouloudis was again elected to parliament from Thebes, but he did not serve in the government. After the
Goudi Revolt in 1909, Skouloudis' name was heard often as a potential reformer Prime Minister, along with
Stefanos Dragoumis, who was ultimately selected as Prime Minister and who paved the way for
Eleftherios Venizelos to assume the premiership in 1910 and end the political crisis. Skouloudis was later tapped by Venizelos to be Greece's representative at peace talks in
London after the
First Balkan War in 1912. == National Schism and prime ministry ==