greece-10-understand-survival.pdf

HISTORY

THE MODERN GREEK NATION

1453

Greece becomes

a dominion of the

Ottoman Turks after

they seize control

of Constantinople,

sounding the death

knell for the Byzantine

Empire.

1460

By 1460 the Morea

falls to the Turks and

centuries of power

struggles between the

Turks and Venetians

follows.

1541

Dominikos

Theotokopoulos, later

known as ‘ El Greco’,

is born in Candia; his

subsequent creations

in Italy and Spain are

marked by both Cretan

School infl uence

and bold personal

innovation.

1684–

The Venetians expel

the Turks from the

Peloponnese in a

campaign that sees

Venetian troops

advance as far as

Athens.

Fighting continued until 1829 when, with Russian troops at the gates of
Constantinople, the sultan accepted Greek independence with the Treaty
of Adrianople (independence was formally recognised in 1830).

The Modern Greek Nation
The Greeks, meanwhile, had been busy organising the independent
state they had proclaimed several years earlier. In April 1827 the Greeks
elected Ioannis Kapodistrias, a Corfi ot and former diplomat of Russian
Tsar Alexander I, as the fi rst president of the republic; and chose Nafplio,
in the Peloponnese, as the capital.
However, there was much dissension within Greek ranks. Kapodistri-
as was assassinated in 1831 after he had ordered the imprisonment of a
Maniot chieftain, part of a response to undermine rising discontent and
rebellion among the many parties (including leaders of the independ-
ence movement) whose authority had been weakened by the new state.
Amid the ensuing anarchy, Britain, France and Russia declared Greece
a monarchy. They set on the throne a non-Greek, 17-year-old Bavarian
Prince Otto, who arrived in Nafplio in January 1833. The new kingdom
(established by the London Convention of 1832) consisted of the Pelo-
ponnese, Sterea Ellada, the Cyclades and the Sporades.
After moving the capital to Athens in 1834, King Otto proved to be an
abrasive ruler who had alienated the independence veterans by giving
the most prestigious offi cial posts to his Bavarian court. However, by the

A FEMALE FORCE

Greek women have played a strong role in Greek resistance movements throughout

history and Laskarina Bouboulina (1771–1825), a celebrated seafarer, is one such

woman. She became a member of Filiki Eteria (Friendly Society), a major organisation

striving for independence against Ottoman rule. Originally from Hydra, she settled in

Spetses from where she commissioned the construction of and commanded – as a

lady admiral – several warships that were used in signifi cant naval blockades (the most

famous vessel being the Agamemmnon). She helped maintain the crews of her ships

and a small army of soldiers, and supplied the revolutionaries with food, weapons and

ammunition, using her ships for transportation. Her role in maritime operations sig-

nifi cantly helped the independence movement. However, political factionism within the

government led to her postwar arrest and subsequent exile to Spetses, where she died.

Distinguished as a national heroine, streets across Greece bear her name and her

image appeared commemoratively on the (now-disused) one-drachma coin. Moreover,

her great-granddaughter, Lela Karagiannis, also fought with the resistance in WWII.

There are statues dedicated to both women in Spetses Town, and Bouboulina’s home is

now a private museum.