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Greek nationalism#History

{{Short description|Ideology perceiving Greeks as a nation}}

File:Flag of Greece.svg of Greece was officially adopted by the First National Assembly at Epidaurus on 13 January 1822. There is a blue canton in the upper hoist-side corner bearing a white cross; the cross symbolises Eastern Orthodox Christianity.]]

Greek nationalism, otherwise referred to as Hellenic nationalism, refers to the nationalism of Greeks and Greek culture.{{harvnb|Motyl|2001|loc="Greek Nationalism", pp. 201–203}}. As an ideology, Greek nationalism originated and evolved in classical Greece. In modern times, Greek nationalism became a major political movement beginning in the early 19th century, which culminated in the Greek War of Independence (1821–1829) against the Ottoman Empire.

Greek nationalism became also a potent movement in Greece shortly prior to, and during World War I, when the Greeks, inspired by the Megali Idea, managed to liberate parts of Greece in the Balkan Wars and after World War I, briefly occupied the region of Smyrna before it was retaken by the Turks.

Greek nationalism was also the main ideology of two dictatorial regimes in Greece during the 20th century: the 4th of August Regime (1936–1941) and the Greek military junta (1967–1974). Today Greek nationalism remains important in the Greco-Turkish dispute over Cyprus among other disputes (Greek nationalism in Cyprus).

History

{{Main|Ancient Greece|Panhellenic Games|Byzantine Greeks#Identity|Greeks#Identity}}

File:Greek-Persian duel.jpg (right) and Persian warrior (left) depicted fighting, on an ancient kylix, 5th century BC.]]

File:St. John Vatatze the Merciful.jpg the Merciful King, Emperor of the Romans and "Father of the Greeks".]]

File:Theodoros Vryzakis, Grateful Hellas (1858).jpg (1858), National Historical Museum, Athens. Greece personified as a woman, depicted with revolutionaries who participated in the Greek War of Independence.]]

File:Eleftherios Venizelos, portrait 1935.jpg, a prominent leader of the Greek national liberation movement.]]

The establishment of Panhellenic sites served as an essential component in the growth and self-consciousness of Greek nationalism.{{harvnb|Burckhardt|1999|loc=p. 168: "The establishment of these Panhellenic sites, which yet remained exclusively Hellenic, was a very important element in the growth and self-consciousness of Hellenic nationalism; it was uniquely decisive in breaking down enmity between tribes, and remained the most powerful obstacle to fragmentation into mutually hostile poleis."}} During the Greco-Persian Wars of the 5th century BCE, Greek nationalism was formally established though mainly as an ideology rather than a political reality since some Greek states were still allied with the Persian Empire.{{harvnb|Wilson|2006|loc="Persian Wars", pp. 555–556}}. Aristotle and Hippocrates offered a theoretical approach on the superiority of the Greek tribes.{{harvnb|Hope|2007|loc=p. 177: "Hippocrates and Aristotle both theorized the geography was responsible for the differences between peoples. Not surprisingly, both writers theorized their own Greek tribes as superior to all other human collectives."}}

The establishment of the ancient Panhellenic Games is often seen as the first example of ethnic nationalism and view of a common heritage and identity.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=2021-07-01|title=The Panhellenic Games|url=https://www.hellenic.org.au/post/the-panhellenic-games|access-date=2021-07-13|website=Hellenic Museum|language=en}}

During the times of the Byzantine Empire and after the capture of Constantinople in 1204 by the Latins, the Roman Emperor John III Doukas Vatatzes made extensive use of the words 'nation' (genos), 'Hellene' and 'Hellas' together in his correspondence with the Pope. John acknowledged that he was Greek, although bearing the title Emperor of the Romans: "the Greeks are the only heirs and successors of Constantine", he wrote. In similar fashion John’s son Theodore II, acc. 1254, who took some interest in the physical heritage of Antiquity, referred to his whole Euro-Asian realm as "Hellas" and a "Hellenic dominion".{{Cite web|title=Byzantium 1220 To 1330 {{!}} Byzantine Empire {{!}} Constantinople|url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/30421469/Byzantium-1220-to-1330|access-date=2021-07-13|website=Scribd|language=en}} The generations after John looked back upon him as "the Father of the Greeks".A. A. Vasiliev. History of the Byzantine Empire. Vol. 2. University of Wisconsin Press, 1971. pp. 531–534.

When the Byzantine Empire was ruled by the Paleologi dynasty (1261–1453), a new era of Greek patriotism emerged, accompanied by a turning back to ancient Greece.{{harvnb|Vasiliev|1952|p=582}}. Some prominent personalities at the time also proposed changing the Imperial title from "basileus and autocrat of the Romans" to "Emperor of the Hellenes". This enthusiasm for the glorious past constituted an element that was present in the movement that led to the creation of the modern Greek state, in 1830, after four centuries of Ottoman rule.

Popular movements calling for enosis (the incorporation of disparate Greek-populated territories into a greater Greek state) resulted in the accession of Ionian Islands (1864), Thessaly (1881), Crete (1912), southern parts of Macedonia and Thrace (1913), and finally Dodecanese (1947). Calls for enosis were also a feature of Cypriot politics during British rule in Cyprus. During the troubled interwar years, some Greek nationalists viewed Orthodox Christian Albanians, Aromanians and Bulgarians as communities that could be assimilated into the Greek nation.{{harvnb|Çaǧaptay|2006|p=161}}. Greek irredentism, the "Megali Idea" suffered a setback in the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922), and the Greek genocide. Since then, Greco-Turkish relations have been characterized by tension between Greek and Turkish nationalism, culminating in the Turkish invasion of Cyprus (1974).

Nationalist political parties

{{Conservatism in Greece sidebar}}

Nationalist parties include:

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Gallery

File:St. John Vatatze the Merciful.jpg|St. John III Doukas Vatatzes, a Byzantine Emperor known as the "Father of the Greeks".

File:Greek Independence 1821.svg|Traditional flag used from 1769 to the Greek War of Independence.

File:Filiki Eteria flag.svg|Flag of the Filiki Eteria (1814), a secret organization which planned to overthrow the Ottoman rule and establish an independent Greek State.{{cite book |last=Alison |first=Phillips W. |title=The war of Greek independence, 1821 to 1833 |publisher=London : Smith, Elder |year=1897 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/warofgreekindepe00philiala/page/20 20], 21 |url=https://archive.org/details/warofgreekindepe00philiala}} (retrieved from University of California Library)

File:Dupre-Salona-1821.jpg|Louis Dupré's depiction of Nikolakis Mitropoulos raising his flag at Salona; a scene from the early stages of the Greek War of Independence in 1821.

File:Gatteri - The Arcadian Holocaust.jpg|"The Arcadian Holocaust" by Giuseppe Lorenzo Gatteri; scene from the Cretan Revolt (1866–69).

File:Koumoundouros.png|Alexandros Koumoundouros, founder of the Greek Nationalist Party.

File:Pavlos Melas Portrait.jpg|Pavlos Melas, a Greek revolutionary and artillery officer of the Hellenic Army that was killed during the Macedonian Struggle (1893–1912).

File:Lorentzos Mavilis, Greek poet - Athens, 2008.JPG|Lorentzos Mavilis, a Greek war poet that was killed during the First Balkan War (1912–13).

File:New Greece Hellenic Fleet and Conquered Lands 1821-1913 Print.jpg|Poster celebrating the "New Greece" after the Balkan Wars.

File:Map of Great Greece (Megali Hellas) Venizelos c1920.jpg|Map of "Greater Greece" after the Treaty of Sèvres, featuring Eleftherios Venizelos, when the Megali Idea seemed close to fulfillment.

File:Metaxas-regime-greek-fascism.png|Members of the National Organisation of Youth (EON) hail in presence of Ioannis Metaxas during the 4th of August Regime.

File:Georgios Grivas 1967.jpg|Georgios Grivas, Greek nationalist and leader of Cypriot Enosis movement against British colonial rule.

See also

References

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  • {{cite book|last=Burckhardt|first=Jacob|title=The Greeks and Greek Civilization|year=1999|orig-year=1872|location=New York|publisher=St. Martin's Press|isbn=978-0-312-24447-7|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6viARAF6uowC}}
  • {{cite book|last=Çaǧaptay|first=Soner|title=Islam, Secularism, and Nationalism in Modern Turkey: Who is a Turk?|year=2006|location=London and New York|publisher=Routledge (Taylor & Francis Group)|isbn=978-0-415-38458-2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C0xU7NjkkqAC}}
  • {{cite book|last=Hope|first=Laura Leigh Bevis|title=Staging the Nation/Confronting Nationalism: Theatre and Performance by Contemporary Irish and German Women|year=2007|location=Davis, CA|publisher=University of California, Davis|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_mZ9eD8FA4sC}}
  • {{cite book|last=Motyl|first=Alexander J.|author-link=Alexander J. Motyl|title=Encyclopedia of Nationalism, Volume II|year=2001|location=London and San Diego|publisher=Academic Press|isbn=978-0-08-054524-0|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pvHRNNk9hHEC}}
  • {{cite book|last=Vasiliev|first=Aleksandr Aleksandrovich|title=History of the Byzantine Empire, 324–1453, Volume II|year=1952|location=Madison, WI|publisher=University of Wisconsin Press|isbn=978-0-299-80926-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2X8LtjDLNl8C}}
  • {{cite book|last=Wilson|first=Nigel|title=Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece|year=2006|location=New York, NY|publisher=Routledge (Taylor & Francis Group)|isbn=978-1-136-78799-7|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_TzjAQAAQBAJ}}

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Further reading

  • {{cite journal|last=Moles|first=Ian N.|title=Nationalism and Byzantine Greece|journal=Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies|volume=10|number=1|year=1969|pages=95–107|url=http://grbs.library.duke.edu/article/viewFile/10651/4317}}

{{Ethnic nationalism}}

{{Greek nationalism}}

{{Irredentism}}

{{Authority control}}

Greek

Nationalism