25 March 1821 - The Greek War of Independence

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The Greek War of Independence celebrated on March 25 all over Greece and Cyprus was, undoubtedly inspited by the Annunciation of Virgin Mary. Exactly nine months before Christmas, Archangel Gabriel announced to Mary that she was chosen to bear Jesus Christ - the Son of God.  On March 25, 1821 Bishop Germanos of Patras raised the banner of the Greek Revolution thus marking the beginning of the Greek War of Independence. Kolokotronis, Karaiskakis, Athanasios Diakos, Bouboulina, Kanaris and many others showed the world that freedom cannot be earnt without sacrifice.

"Οποιος ελευθερα συλλογαται, συλλογαται καλα." ~ Ρηγας Φεραιος

"Who thinks freely, thinks well" ~ Rigas Fereos

   " Για δες καιρό που διάλεξε ο Χάρος να με πάρει

     Τώρα π'ανθίζουν τα κλαριά και βγάνει η γης χορτάρι" - Αθανάσιος Διάκος

" Oh what a moment Hades has chosen for me to perish

   Spring grass everywhere and boughs in blossoms to cherish" - Athanasios Diakos

How it All Started

In the 4th-5th centuries B.C., the people of Greece flourished through a Golden Age. During that time, Pericles, Plato, Aristophanes and other great names prospered, and Athens gave rise to the world's first democracy, which later inspired the United States Founding Fathers. After the Golden Age of Athens, Alexander the Great, from the northern Greek state of Macedonia, conquered the world from Greece through India, spreading Greek culture throughout the near and Middle East.

Part of the Parade in Larnaca on March 25, 2011

The Immigration from Peloponnese, Crete and other Aegean and Ionian Islands to southern Italy was known for centuries as Magna Graecia. This immigration influenced the Roman elites in the western empire and remained dominant in the eastern empire. In 330 A.D., the Roman emperor, Constantine the Great, established a separate capital for the eastern empire in the Greek City of Byzantium, which he renamed Constantinople. Christianity was declared the official religion of the empire and the First Ecumenical Council was convened. In 476 A.D., the western empire ended when the Huns conquered Rome. Greek culture and language, Orthodox Christianity, Roman political institutions, and a dominant Greek population held the eastern empire strong for another thousand years until May 29, 1453, when the Ottoman Turks captured Constantinople and all of Greece. For 368 years of Ottoman occupation, the Hellenic people were second-class citizens, subjected to heavy tax burdens, brutal slavery, and oppressions. They could not ride horses, and their first-born sons could be forced to convert to Islam and serve in the Sultan's "Janissary" units. In Constantinople, the famous Greek Orthodox Church of Agia Sofia was converted to a mosque. The Greek Orthodox Church continued to exist, though, and preserved Greek culture and learning until the time of rebellion.

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In the 1700's, St. Catherine the Great of Russia ousted the Turks from the Black Sea Coast, creating numerous towns with Greek and Byzantine names, including Odessa. She offered Greeks financial incentives and free land to settle these regions. Many took her offer, namely, A. Tsakalof, E. Xanthos, and N. Skoufas, three businessmen who founded the Philiki Etairia (Friendly Society) in Odessa in 1814. The Philiki Etairia branched throughout Greece, where members met in secret in planning for liberation. These leaders believed that armed force was the only way to strive for liberation, and they made generous monetary contributions towards the freedom fighters. Meanwhile, the Phanariotes, such as A. Mavrokordatos and A. & D. Ypsilantis, were wealthy Greek families of Constantinople who dominated commerce in the Ottoman Empire and weakened it from within. On March25,1821,Bishop Germanos of Patras courageously raised the Greek flag at the monastery of Agia Lavras in the Peloponnese, and declared "Eleftheria i Thanatos" (Freedom or Death).

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During the first year of the war, the Greeks captured Monemvassia, Navarino (Pylos), Nafplion, Tripolitsa, Messolongi, Athens, and Thebes. Mavromichaelis, governor of Mani, sieged strategic Turkish garrisons and homes. Turks retaliated in other areas of Greece, especially on the island of Chios, where 25,000 civilians were massacred. T. Kolokotronis, noted as the most important figure in the Greek revolution, sieged Tripolis and forced its surrender, defeated the army of Dramalis and inflicted major blows to Ibrahim's army. Other important leaders during the revolt were G. Karaiskakis, C. Kanaris, General Makriyannis, M. Mavrogenous, L. Boumboulina, A. Miaoulis, Nikitaras, Papaflesas (Grigorios Dikaios), and many more. Help came from aristocratic young philhellenes, such as Shelley, Goethe, Schiller, Hugo, de Musset, and Lord Byron.
The Isles of Greece

by Lord Byron
(1788-1824)

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The isles of Greece, the isles of Greece!
Where burning Sappho loved and sung,
Where grew the arts of war and peace,
Where Delos rose, and Phoebus sprung!
Eternal summer gilds them yet,
But all, except their sun, is set...

The mountains look on Marathon--
And Marathon looks on the sea;
And musing there an hour alone,
I dreamed that Greece might still be free;
For standing on the Persians' grave,
I could not deem myself a slave.

A king sat on the rocky brow
Which looks o'er sea-born Salamis;
And ships, by thousands, lay below,
And men in nations--all were his!
He counted them at break of day--
And when the sun set, where were they?

And where are they? And where art thou?
My country? On thy voiceless shore
The heroic lay is tuneless now--
The heroic bosom beats no more!
And must thy lyre, so long divine,
Degenerate into hands like mine?

'Tis something, in the dearth of fame,
Though linked among a fettered race,
To feel at least a patriot's shame,
Even as I sing, suffuse my face;
For what is left the poet here?
For Greeks a blush--for Greece a tear....

Fill high the bowl with Samian wine!
Our virgins dance beneath the shade--
I see their glorious black eyes shine;
But gazing on each glowing maid,
My own the burning teardrop laves,
To think such breasts must suckle slaves.

Place me on Sunium's marbled steep,
Where nothing, save the waves and I,
May hear our mutual murmurs sweep;
There, swanlike, let me sing and die:
A land of slaves shall ne'er be mine--
Dash down yon cup of Samian wine!

The Ottomans took over the Peloponnese once again by 1827. However, a combination of Russian, French and British fleet destroyed the Turko-Egyptian fleet in the Bay of Navarino in October 1827. When Sultan Mahmud II defied the odds by proclaiming a holy war, Russia sent troops into the Balkans and engaged in another Russo-Turkish war with the Ottomans. With Russian troops at the gates of Constantinople in 1829, the sultan finally accepted Greek Independence by the Treaty of Adrianople. The Protocol of London formally recognized Greek Independence in 1830. Greece endured many more struggles until 1947, when her current borders were achieved.

Adapted from Malista-Greek Independence Day History

( Part of this post was originally published on March 25, 2010)

Comments

[Sophia]

Χρόνια πολλά, Αναστασία μου. Τέλειο αφιέρωμα!

[Constantinos T]

Congratulations on this brilliant tribute. It is above all thanks to our heroes, all those brave men and women, that we can enjoy the privilege to live in a free country now. Their love for their country was the most powerful weapon against a giant: the Ottoman Empire.

[Kofla Olivieri]

Thank you for the history lesson! Job well done!

[Agnes]

I just had a falafel at a greek restaurant and they had a huge greek flag on display, so I am totally in the mood :-)

[Stefania]

In these difficult times our country is going through, I didn't feel like celebrating this year, but my heart goes out to all those wonderful heroes who gave their lives for Greece. Thank you for this great tribute.

[Christina]

Thanks for sharing Byron's The Isles of Greece - it's one of my favourite English poems. National celebrations are very important to me as they contribute to preserving our culture and identity.