Greek Independence Essay

In early fifth century BC Greece, the Greeks consistently suffered from the threat of being conquered by the Persian Empire. Between the years 500-479 BC, the Greeks and the Persians fought two wars. Although the Persian power vastly surpassed the Greeks, the Greeks unexpectedly triumphed. In this Goliath versus David scenario, the Greeks as the underdog, defeated the Persians due to their heroic action, divine support, and Greek unity. The threat of the Persian Empire's expansion into Greece and the imminent possibility that they would lose their freedom and become subservient to the Persians, so horrified the Greeks that they united together and risked their lives in order to preserve the one thing they all shared in common, their

O Greeks, learn forever that the weapons of justice are unconquerable, and that Ottomans will flee from the armed Greeks..the Greeks are neither savage nor of worthless spirit, as are their enemies...The hour has approached, O Greeks, for the liberation of our motherland!" (doc 6) This pamphlet was published in Italy, since italy was not imperialistic, they had nothing against the ottoman Empire, although they were very nationalsitic. For that reason, the Italian people think it is fair and right for the greeks to gain freedom. They believe that no country should have to be ruled by anyone but themselves, as a result, they support the Greeks in every way gaining the right of freedom. Percy Bysshe Shelley, and English poet, wrote is a preface to his poem "Hellas" (Greece), in 1821, "Greece; and the wise and generous policy of England would consist in establishing the independence of Greece, and it maintaining it against both Russia and the Turks" (doc 7) This statement is incredibly biased. England, during this time, was in a competition against both Russia and the Turks. They were all (especially England) imperialistic countries, up against each other to conquer the majority of Europe. That would make this statement biased as the person writing it is English, they want to Greece to gain independence for the pure selfish reason so their own country can be in "higher power" compared to the Ottoman Empire. Edward Blaquiere, an English

The two dominating Greek city states, Sparta and Athens, have there own strengths that make them the strongest throughout Greece. Sparta is "located in the southeastern Peloponnesus, in an area known as Laconia" (Spielvogel 53). Athens is on the peninsula of Attica (Geography). Sparta is know for their immense military might (Spartan Military). Athens is known better for their "leading naval force in Greece" (Women of the Ancient World). Their government systems were very different but very effective. Each Greek state was able to conquer a lot of land using different tactics. This brings up the thought that every country or state could be effective if all the people supported the cause. Political correctness however tends to breed idiots. With this being said, unenforced laws leads people to start thinking that they can get away with whatever they want or better yet, defy the lawful order of an officer. This can than become deadly and spread, until it cripples the system and a new one takes over. What does this new system believe in? Are they idea 's that are realistic? Or are they the idea 's of tree-hugging hippies who thinks everyone is going to "play ball." Well little does the tree-hugging hippie know, is that "The Man" who was "keeping him down" actually did know what he was talking about. Maybe the thirty plus years of military experience wasn 't complete garbage. Maybe it was keeping him and his family safe from the psychopaths and terrorists that

Starting with the short term effects, the first matter to be solved was the land question. After the Greeks had won, there were plots of land abandoned by the Turks. The Greek government eventually gave each peasant family and veteran 20 acres of the confiscated land too small for prosperity, but enough to show that they believed that each Greek could be self sustainable. Next, with one part of the population of Greeks independent, they needed to figure out what their relationship was with all of the Greek nation. In response, they made a policy in which all Greeks were unified. Onto the long term effects, the revolt is a crucial in Ottoman history because it started a wave of rebellions against them eventually leading to their demise and the creation of new Mediterranean states. The Greek revolution was in no way the first rebellion against the Ottoman Empire, but it was the first successful one with foreign involvement. The Ottoman empire was made up of a variety of people of different races and beliefs. After the Greek success, the remaining people and Greeks in the Ottoman empire were inspired to make their own stand for independence and many would succeed. Not only was the revolution important to Ottoman history, but it was obviously important to the Greek’s history as well. When King Otto was on the throne, it was almost as if nothing had changed. He imposed the same high taxes just as the Ottoman Empire (maybe even higher) and ruled as an absolute monarch. Based off the revolution, the chance that the Greeks would keep still was close to none. They revolted in 1843 and forced him to sign a new Constitution and instituted a constitutional monarchy. Eventually, he would prove to be a ruler unfit of Greece and was deposed of. This also inspired more Greeks to be a part of politics. Besides King Otto, one other problem layed in the failure to create a

In a time of turmoil and chaos following the death of our leader, one thing we Greeks need is stability and safety. Team Athena definitely had this is mind when crafting their argument. They stressed the possible consequence of rebellion if we were to rule over the

In addition to the positive influences of the war, the Greeks face some negative changes to their civilization. An issue that causes much strife within the Greek people is the fear that the war created. Greeks feel that

“The revolt began in March 1821 when Alexandros Ypsilantis, the leader of the Etairists, crossed the Prut River into Turkish-held Moldavia with a small force of troops. Ypsilantis was soon defeated by the Turks…” Inside a year the agitators had picked up control of the Peloponnese, and in January 1822 they pronounced the autonomy of Greece. The Turks endeavored three times (1822–24) to attack the Peloponnese yet were not able recover it. During this conflict the various classes of Greeks from within the Ottoman Empire organized (insurgents) so that they could gain independence from Greece (government). This conflict, like the one before it, contains the same three elements necessary for an insurgency and also depicts an example of an insurgency.

Philip II ascended to the throne as the king of Macedon in what can be recognised as one of its most difficult times, as his country was virtually on the brink of collapse. Despite these immediate overwhelming odds, the future of the twenty-one year olds life as king would see him not only revive his depleted state, but overcome constant battles with rival oppressive forces both within and outside Macedon’s borders. It was these crucial further actions executed by Philip that would see him etch his name into history forever, and spark a complicated debate that is; is it fair to describe Philip II as a foreign despot who wrought the destruction of Greek liberty? This paper will argue that Philip was in fact a foreign despot, however did not seek the destruction of Greece herself, but rather sought its unity while in a state of dismay. While technically Philip matches the description of a foreign despot, that is a ruler of absolute power from another nation, it is apparent that he had no intentions to destroy Greece, but rather unify it both through military and political standpoints, both of which will be discussed and argued in this text.

The origin of the Greek polis has been disputed to be either of religious or economic association. The arguments rest on the foundation that societies go through different stages. Primordial (clan/tribe) societies evolved into political (city-state) societies and then into industrial (modern) societies. Both sides provide credible arguments, but their arguments are lacking details that overlap both associations. The combination of religion and economics is what molded the Greek city-state and not just one or the other. Writers with an economic point of view claim of the Greek city-state as one where its people began to move from only being consumers to becoming producers and building friendships for the purpose of self-preservation. Even though the economy was a large portion of the city-state, religion cannot be discarded due to the various artifacts and buildings that demonstrate how it became a crucial part of society. To only claim religion led to the creation of Greek polis also does not

In a relatively resource-poor region, a society rose from the access of foreign sources of raw materials and markets abroad. This society came to be known as one of the largest nations in Eurasia. The rise and fall of this great nation has to do with war-fare and the conflict between city-states. Their division led to the widespread of language and culture. This is the great story of Ancient Greece and how individualism changed the view Greece had on certain issues. (Bulliet 99) From 1000 B.C.E to 30 B.C.E, Ancient Greece’s view on individualism changed the political system Greece had, over time changed the way individuals thought and made important Intellectual changes, and gradually changed the Economic system such as bartering.

When reflecting back on my greek experience during our Greek Independence Day, I remember being embraced in its culture through the various food served. While I was not able to eat all the food, due to being full from my lunch prior, I was able to try some and also smell the unique cuisine. While the beverages were not authentic, the food demonstrated type of food in which Greek people eat. Upon chowing down on the pita bread, a food I actually never had the opportunity to try, I learned how taste it is. My previous thought was that is was a cheap bread that had no flavor; I concieved that its primary objective was to make the food that goes with a it “hand-food”. From this experience, I learned that this form of bread has a nice buttery taste,

In Greece’s case, a great sense of nationalism and romanticism helped the country rise from a long awaited liberty from the control of the Turks. Under the dominance of the Ottoman Turks for centuries, Greece had a huge sense of nationalism. Aside from being under the control of the Turks, their shared language and shared religion of the

The decade of the 1940s was one of the most turbulent periods of modern Greek history with an long-lasting impact on the postwar social, political and intellectual life. The end of the Civil War was succeeded by ‘the wars of memory’ and the past proved to be ever-present. Shortly after the cessation of the armed conflicts in 1949 both the victorious Right and the defeated and outlawed Left sought to manipulate the collective memory of the 1940s in furtherance of their postwar political objectives. One of the most far-reaching implications of the opportunistic manipulation and political exploitation of the collective memory of the 1940s by the postwar political elites is that the Greek people were denied the opportunity to engage in a

Every idea has a start and a history that can be traced back in time. An incredible amount of these ideas and thoughts were started by great ancient civilizations. These ancient civilizations are the base of all modern knowledge. No ancient civilization has contributed more to this base than the civilization of Ancient Greece. The unique ways of ancient Greek agriculture have left a profound influence on the agriculture of today.

Beforehand, Greece could have united with either the Allies or the Axis Powers, as Metaxas had early ties with Germany and had denied supporting the Allies in the Dardanelles Campaign in WWI; however, Metaxas had made sure not to align with the other side either. Of course, this event not only entered Greece into the war against the Axis Powers, but it led to many other consequences as well. In the end, if Greece had not resisted, World War II could have lasted a lot longer than it had.