Hellas Reborn: The Modern Greek Nation-State

Hellas Reborn: The Modern Greek Nation-State

A Balkan Problem of Identity

Greece as part of the Roman Empire and its continuance in the Byzantine Empire ‘Romeic’ identity: Rhomaioi Doctrinal schisms (Greek Orthodox vs. Roman

Catholic) May 29, 1453: Fall of Constantinople to Ottoman

Turks

Greece as part of the Roman Empire and its continuance in the Byzantine Empire ‘Romeic’ identity: Rhomaioi Doctrinal schisms (Greek Orthodox vs. Roman

Catholic) May 29, 1453: Fall of Constantinople to Ottoman

Turks

“Greekness” and the Ottoman Past: ‘Oriental’ or ‘Occidental’?

“…uncertainty gave Greece’s accession to the European Community as its tenth member in 1981 a particular significance, for, aside from the perceived economic and political benefits of accession, it seemed to set

the seal in an unambiguous way on her ‘Europeanness’. The Greek national movement had been remarkable in that it was the first to

develop in a non-Christian environment, that of the Ottoman empire. One hundred and fifty years later, Greece’s full membership of the

European Community was significant in that she was the first country with a heritage of Orthodox Christianity and Ottoman rule and with a

pattern of historical development that marked her out from the existing members to enter the Community.”

~ Richard Clogg, Concise History of Greece

Steps Towards a Greek Nation

1748: Birth of Adamantios Korais at Smyrna, intellectual giant in Greek national revival.

1806: Publication of Elliniki Nomarkhia, important polemical text of Greek national movement.

1814: Philiki Etairia (Friendly Society) formed at Odessa, lays groundwork for war of independence.

Birth Pangs

1821 (February): Greek army commanded by General Alexandros Ypsilantis invades Moldavia

1821(March): Rebellion in the Peloponnesus 1822: Proclamation of first constitution of an

independent Greece 1827 (July): Treaty of London--England, France, and

Russia agree to ‘peacefully interfere’ in securing Greek autonomy

1832: Convention of London: monarchical and independent Greece of King Otto (of Bavaria)

Greece in the 19th-Century

1834: Athens replaces Nauplion as capital 1844: Promulgation of New Constitution 1862: Army Coup dethrones Otto 1863: Ascension of King George I 1897: Greeks defeated in thirty-day war

against Ottoman Turks arising from rebellion in Crete

1834: Athens replaces Nauplion as capital 1844: Promulgation of New Constitution 1862: Army Coup dethrones Otto 1863: Ascension of King George I 1897: Greeks defeated in thirty-day war

against Ottoman Turks arising from rebellion in Crete

Letter of commendation, Philiki Etaria

Megali Idea and Tourkokratia: Greek Irrendentism

1910: Eleftherios Venizelos becomes Prime Minister 1912: First Balkan War--Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria and

Montenegro attack Ottoman empire 1913: King George I assassinated in Salonica;

succeeded by King Constantine I Second Balkan War--Greece and Serbia repel

Bulgarian attack; Treaty of Bucharest (August) = Macedonia largely shared by Greece and Serbia

1916: Venizelos establishes provisional government in Salonica

1917: Constantine leaves Greece (June); succeeded by his son, Alexander

1910: Eleftherios Venizelos becomes Prime Minister 1912: First Balkan War--Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria and

Montenegro attack Ottoman empire 1913: King George I assassinated in Salonica;

succeeded by King Constantine I Second Balkan War--Greece and Serbia repel

Bulgarian attack; Treaty of Bucharest (August) = Macedonia largely shared by Greece and Serbia

1916: Venizelos establishes provisional government in Salonica

1917: Constantine leaves Greece (June); succeeded by his son, Alexander

Expansion of Greek State, 1832 - 1947

Military Offensive and Disaster

1919 (May): Landing of Greek troops at Izmir (Smyrna)

1920: Treaty of Sevres = Greece “of the two continents and the two seas”

1921: Greeks advance on Ankara; checked at the Battle of the Sakarya River

1922: Greek armies driven from Asia Minor (August/September). Greeks evacuate Smyrna September 8

1919 (May): Landing of Greek troops at Izmir (Smyrna)

1920: Treaty of Sevres = Greece “of the two continents and the two seas”

1921: Greeks advance on Ankara; checked at the Battle of the Sakarya River

1922: Greek armies driven from Asia Minor (August/September). Greeks evacuate Smyrna September 8

Richard Clogg on Greek Failure in Asia Minor

“The chaotic rout of the Greek forces in Asia Minor at the hands of the Turkish

nationalists under Mustafa Kemal (Ataturk) signalled the collapse of the

‘Great Idea’ and an ignominious end to Greece’s ‘civilising mission’ in the Near

East.”

Modern Greece in the Drama of Modern Europe

1930: Ankara Convention begins reconciliation with Turkey

1936: Communists control government; death of Venizelos; Dictatorship of General Metaxas established (4 August 1936-January 1941)

1941: German invasion of Greece; foundation of National Liberation Front (EAM)

1943-4: Civil war and army mutinies 1946: Restoration of King George II 1949: Communists Party announces formal cessation of

hostilities; end of civil war

1930: Ankara Convention begins reconciliation with Turkey

1936: Communists control government; death of Venizelos; Dictatorship of General Metaxas established (4 August 1936-January 1941)

1941: German invasion of Greece; foundation of National Liberation Front (EAM)

1943-4: Civil war and army mutinies 1946: Restoration of King George II 1949: Communists Party announces formal cessation of

hostilities; end of civil war

General Ioannis Metaxas, Dictator 1936-41

1950-early 2000s: Greece in the World Today

1947 (March): Truman Doctrine results in massive military and economic assistance to Greece

1951: Member of NATO Troubles in Cyprus (enosis [union])

1974: Turkish invasion of Cyprus (US’s role (?) and the ‘Green Line’)

1981: Member of European Community Dependence on Tourist Dollars; Trading on

Classical Past (?); Olympic Games (Athens awarded Summer Games in 2004)

1947 (March): Truman Doctrine results in massive military and economic assistance to Greece

1951: Member of NATO Troubles in Cyprus (enosis [union])

1974: Turkish invasion of Cyprus (US’s role (?) and the ‘Green Line’)

1981: Member of European Community Dependence on Tourist Dollars; Trading on

Classical Past (?); Olympic Games (Athens awarded Summer Games in 2004)

The Cultural Politics of the Metaxas Regime (1936-1941)

“In imitation of Hitler’s Third Reich Metaxas elaborated the notion of the ‘Third Hellenic

Civilisation’. The first was that of ancient Greece, the second that of medieval Byzantium, the third being an amalgam of the essentially contradictory

values of both which would enshrine and perpetuate the values of his regime.”

~Clogg, Concise History of Greece

“In imitation of Hitler’s Third Reich Metaxas elaborated the notion of the ‘Third Hellenic

Civilisation’. The first was that of ancient Greece, the second that of medieval Byzantium, the third being an amalgam of the essentially contradictory

values of both which would enshrine and perpetuate the values of his regime.”

~Clogg, Concise History of Greece

Cultural Politics

Ancient Greece

in

Modern Greece

Topographies of Hellenism: The Burden of the Past?

“A recurring question in Neohellenism’s debate about its national fate concerns the physical depth and expanse of

its cultural terrain. In this discussion, Greeks link the fate of their territory to the literary and artistic heritage of classical Greece. Furthermore, they attempt to specify

the physical features of this inheritance. Then they set their administrative sights on embracing the larger geographical territory that reveals traces of these

features.”

~ Artemis Leontis, Topographies of Hellenism: Mapping the Homeland

“A recurring question in Neohellenism’s debate about its national fate concerns the physical depth and expanse of

its cultural terrain. In this discussion, Greeks link the fate of their territory to the literary and artistic heritage of classical Greece. Furthermore, they attempt to specify

the physical features of this inheritance. Then they set their administrative sights on embracing the larger geographical territory that reveals traces of these

features.”

~ Artemis Leontis, Topographies of Hellenism: Mapping the Homeland

Benedict Anderson’s Imagined Communities

Nation as an ‘imagined community,’ imagined as inherently limited and

sovereign. Nationalism grew out of the systems of religious community and the

dynastic realm and was made possible by mass communications and print

capitalism (“community in anonymity…is the hallmark of modern nations”)

Nation as an ‘imagined community,’ imagined as inherently limited and

sovereign. Nationalism grew out of the systems of religious community and the

dynastic realm and was made possible by mass communications and print

capitalism (“community in anonymity…is the hallmark of modern nations”)

Barth on Ethnic Strategies

Ethnic identities are socio-cultural constructions; they are not primordial, but rather fluid, attitudinal, and selective.

“It seems first of all to be quite clear that any concept of ethnic group defined on the basis of ‘cultural content’ will

not suffice as a tool for the analysis of ethnicity in its various interactional contexts. Only when ethnic distinction,

stratification, or dichotomization are part of the individual’s or group’s strategies for preserving or increasing control of

resources, social status or other values is a meaningful interpretation feasible.”

~ Ethnic Groups and Boundaries: The Social Organization of Culture Difference

Ethnic identities are socio-cultural constructions; they are not primordial, but rather fluid, attitudinal, and selective.

“It seems first of all to be quite clear that any concept of ethnic group defined on the basis of ‘cultural content’ will

not suffice as a tool for the analysis of ethnicity in its various interactional contexts. Only when ethnic distinction,

stratification, or dichotomization are part of the individual’s or group’s strategies for preserving or increasing control of

resources, social status or other values is a meaningful interpretation feasible.”

~ Ethnic Groups and Boundaries: The Social Organization of Culture Difference

Academy of Athens, 1886

Adamantios Korais and the Vision of Classical Greece

“For the first time the nation surveys the hideous spectacle of its ignorance and trembles in measuring with the eye the

distance separating it from its ancestors’ glory. This painful discovery, however, does not precipitate the Greeks into

despair: We are the descendants of Greeks, they implicitly told themselves, we must try to become again worthy of the

name, or we must not bear it.”

~before a Parisian audience in 1803