Greek War of Independence

Cradle of Western civilization and epicenter of the Byzantine Empire, at the beginning of the 19th century Greece languished under Turkish rule since the Ottoman Empire made it its own in the 19th century. XV.

But the conscience Greek was about to wake up, and to return her people to history as an independent entity. But what about Greece?

Searching for the roots of present-day Greece in the classical period is risky, since we are talking about a cultural rather than a political unity; all the polis recognized themselves as Greek, although not as belonging to the same political structure.

Likewise, go back to the Byzantine Empire to search for the origin of the current identity Greek is also a risky exercise, mostly because the common link between classical antiquity, the Byzantine Empire, and modern-day Greece is the language (one one of the oldest in the world, comparable practically only to the Chinese), and the demand for continuity, but the differences are more palpable than the similarities.

What would be the current "Greek identity" is born from a romantic idea that collects popular culture as a result of centuries of peoples coming and going through the territory Greek, who settled and merged with the native inhabitants, adapted, but also contributed their bit.

This does not mean that the spirit of Greek independence was lost, since before the War of Independence, these territories had already experienced several uprisings against the Turkish rulers, which were clearly seen as foreign.

Although in this vision, the religious theme influences to a great extent.

Some scientists report that, genetically and at the level of social customs, the Greeks are almost indistinguishable from the Turks, and that what differentiates them is really the cultural factor.

Be that as it may, the truth is that Greece enters the nineteenth century with a rediscovered and idealized past, and with a desire to the Greek intelligentsia to stop being one more territory of the Sublime Gate (another name that the Empire received Ottoman).

And this vision is shared and carries passions in a West that feels moral, spiritually and physically superior to the other cultures of the world (with all the racist connotations that this implies), and that embraces the cause of liberation from what he considers a cultural cradle, also idealized.

Finally, the Russian Empire would also play an important role in encouraging the revolt, for a double reason: the religious proximity with the Greeks (both mainly Orthodox Christian peoples), and the possibility of weakening the Ottoman Empire, Russia's enemy in its expansion caucasian

A good example of this attraction for the Greek resurrection can be found in the participation in the conflict of Lord Byron, the famous romantic poet.

The uprising of 1821 was basically popular, although encouraged and boosted by the intelligentsia cultural and politics Greek.

Secret society Filikí Etería (in Greek, Society of Companions), founded in Odessa (Russia) in 1814, paved the way to the emancipation uprising.

His task consisted of logistics and coordination, so that instead of a series of specific uprisings as had happened to date, this was a true "national insurrection."

On January 1, 1822, the same organization proclaimed Greek independence, replacing the flag white with a blue cross, for an identical one but with the colors changed: white cross on background blue. This would represent the country until the dictatorship of the colonels, in 1970, the year in which the use of the current Greek flag was established.

The rebellious territory was larger than what we now know as Greece.

The instigators of the revolt also sought to revolt territories that, later on, would end up belonging to Serbia or Albania among other states, which In classical antiquity they had been related to the Greek polis, and within the Ottoman Empire they were related to provincial or regional

For Greek weapons, the Peloponnese peninsula and central Greece were the most successful regions of the revolution, which included Athens, the future capital of the state.

The Ottomans, to set an example, are lavish in atrocities, which will add sympathy to the Greek cause. The massacre on the island of Chios in 1822 will be a good example of these atrocities.

Imperial troops manage to balance the balance in April 1822 with their victory at the Battle of Alamana, although they did not advance much further because the Greeks stopped them at the Battle of Gravia. This saved the Peloponnese from the Turkish invasion, leaving it under the control of the free Greeks.

The Greek revolutionaries, fragmented and without strong central coordination, benefited from the great disorder that occurred in the Turkish ranks, in addition to the need for the Empire to cover other flanks of possible military problems, such as the border with Russia or Persia.

Despite the fact that in July 1822, the Ottomans suffered a major defeat at the Battle of Peta, they were able to recover and in 1823 they launched a campaign to recover western Greece. And in 1824 Egypt intervened in favor of the Ottoman Empire.

Bliss intervention was initially limited to the islands of Crete and Cyprus due to Ottoman mistrust of the expansionist intentions of the Egyptians, although their number and good performance in combat made the Sublime Gate reconsider the use of these troops for Greece continental.

And this is how Egyptian forces landed in the Peloponnese in February 1825. They were troops trained by French officers, and soon they showed themselves as disciplined and capable soldiers, who inflicted defeats on the Greeks and began to roam freely through the Peloponnese, also committing some barbarities.

In contrast, the Turks could not obtain advances in central Greece, focusing on a kind of war of positions without obtaining substantial advances.

In the spring of 1826, the Turks achieved a coup d'état with the capture of the city of Mesolongi, which had been besieged twice previously without success.

The capture of this city made the Greeks and their supporters throughout Europe fear for an abrupt end to the revolution. However, the Ottoman military effort to take Mesolongi had hurt his army, which was unable to exploit the success achieved.

Still, Ibrahim Pasha was able to lead his forces to besiege Athens. The last Greek stronghold was the Acropolis, which would finally fall into Ottoman hands in June 1827. However, this would be the swan song of the Ottoman weapons in Greece, that from here on they would not win a battle again.

And what was ultimately responsible for the Turkish defeat was the combined intervention of the Russians, the British and the French, who sided with the Greeks.

A fleet of the three powers defeated the Turkish-Egyptians at Navarino, while the Greeks took advantage to recover as much territory as possible before the powers imposed a halt the fire.

The battle of Petra, in the northern part of Attica, and which ended with a Greek victory, marked the end of the war on September 12, 1829.

From here, peace conferences sponsored by the intervening foreign powers that would mark the limits of the independent kingdom of Greece began.

These limits were much smaller than they are today, practically encompassing southern Thessaly and the Peloponnese peninsula. Greece would continue its territorial expansion successively until 1947.

The confrontation between Greece and Turkey did not end here, it would survive in time until today, in which it is perceptible not only in punctual political-military tensions, but in sporting confrontations between teams from both countries in competitions international

Photo: Fotolia - Lefteris Papaulakis

Themes in Greek War of Independence