The Greek Revolution of 1821 and the Creation

The Greek Revolution of 1821 and the Creation of Modern Greece by George Nakos

Introduction The Byzantine Empire, the medieval Greek state, disappeared in 1453 with the fall of Constantinople. For 400 years Greeks lived under the Ottoman Empire. Many small revolts over the centuries failed to create an independent Greek state.

The Ottoman Empire

The Greek Revolution of 1821 It started in what is today Romania in early 1821 However, it failed to succeed. Leader of the revolt Alexander Ypsilanti captured by the Austrians and died in jail Major foreign powers were very much against the emergence of new nation states The revolution then was more successful in Southern Greece

Greek Independence 1828 -1830 Following a devastating war of independence a Greek state emerged in the late 1820 s The first leader of the Greek state was Ioannis Kapodistrias, a brilliant diplomat that had become the foreign minister of Russia However the new Greek state was very small and did not include the majority of Greeks that were still living under the Ottoman Empire.

Greece in 1832 Greece Today

Megali Idea An ideology emerged to liberate the Greek speaking lands that were still under the rule of the Ottoman Empire. Very similar to “Manifest Destiny” in the United States Many attempts to expand the borders of the small Greek State were not successful

The First Expansion in 1864 In 1864 the first “enosis” of Greek speaking lands with the Greek state provided the first expansion. This Union was accomplished through long peaceful struggles of the inhabitants of the Ionian islands to convince the British to leave. This enlargement provided hope to Greeks that other Greek speaking lands would eventually join the small Greek state.

The Liberation of Thessaly in 1881 Following a war between Russia and Turkey in 1878 Greece taking advantage of the Great Power rivalry was able to acquire Thessaly and the Province of Arta in Epirus (what is today Central Greece). Extremely important because this is a very fertile area (the Greek Midwest) and for the first time Greece was able to produce enough food to feed its population.

The Importance of the Balkan Wars of 1912 -13 The Christian Balkan States of Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia and Montenegro declared war against Turkey and succeeded in liberating most of the Balkan peninsula. Greece almost doubled its territory and added Macedonia, Epirus, several large Aegean islands and Crete following several heroic rebellions in the 19 th century had become an autonomous state in 1897. However, the desire of Cretans was “Enosis” with Greece, something that was accomplished in 1913.

The Balkan Wars 1912 -1913

The liberation of Thrace in 1918 Thrace had originally been annexed by Bulgaria following the Balkan wars of 1912 -13. In World War I Bulgaria sided with the Central Powers (Germany and Austria) and Greece was able to gain this territory.

The Annexation of the Dodecanese 1947 The Dodecanese islands were occupied by Italy from 1912 -1947. Greece gained these islands based on its sacrifices during World War II. The islands had been under foreign occupation for 740 years.

Conclusion The Greek revolution of 1821 although successful it was only able to liberate a small part of Greece was enlarged gradually in the 19 th and 20 th century because it took advantage of the foreign political environment and the rivalry of the Great Foreign Powers of the time. The creation and growth of modern Greece was a major success. Sometimes Greeks focus too much on our historical failures and we are not looking at our major successes!