Greek nationalism

Ideology perceiving Greeks as a nation From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Greek nationalism, otherwise referred to as Hellenic nationalism, refers to the nationalism of Greeks and Greek culture.[1] As an ideology, Greek nationalism originated and evolved in classical Greece.[2][3][4] 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.[1] Greek nationalism became also a potent movement in the kingdom of 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.[1]

The national flag 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 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 (Greek Cypriot nationalism) remains important in the Greco-Turkish dispute over Cyprus[1] among other disputes.

History

Background

Ancient period

Greek hoplite (right) and Persian warrior (left) depicted fighting, on an ancient kylix, 5th century BC.
Main articles: Panhellenic Games, Graeco-Persian Wars, Delian League, and League of Corinth

The establishment of Panhellenic sites served as an essential component in the growth and self-consciousness of Hellenic nationalism.[2] 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.[3] Aristotle and Hippocrates offered a theoretical approach on the superiority of the Greek tribes.[5] 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.[6] The Athenian-led Delian League, the Spartan Agesilaus II, and the Hellenic League led by Philip of Macedon and then Alexander the Great, all self-presented as defenders of the Greeks against the Persians.

Medieval period

Main article: Byzantines § Identity
St. John III Doukas Vatatzes the Merciful King, Emperor of the Romans and "Father of the Greeks".

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 realm as "Hellas" and a "Hellenic dominion".[7] The generations after John looked back upon him as "the Father of the Greeks".[8] 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.[4] Some prominent personalities at the time also proposed changing the Imperial title from "basileus and autocrat of the Romans" to "Emperor of the Hellenes".[4] The last Byzantine Emperor Constantine XI Palaiologos became known in later Greek folklore as "The Marble Emperor" (Greek: Μαρμαρωμένος Βασιλιάς, Marmaroménos Vasiliás lit. 'Emperor turned into Marble'), reflecting a popular legend that Constantine had not actually died, but had been rescued by an angel and turned into marble, hidden beneath the Golden Gate of Constantinople awaiting a call from God to be restored to life and reconquer both the city and the old empire.

Modern era

Further information: Ottoman Greeks, Greek War of Independence, Megali Idea, and Greeks § Identity
Grateful Hellas, painting by Theodoros Vryzakis (1858), National Historical Museum, Athens. Greece personified as a woman, depicted with revolutionaries who participated in the Greek War of Independence.
Eleftherios Venizelos, a prominent leader of the Greek national liberation movement.

The enthusiasm for the glorious past constituted an element that was present in the movement that led to the Greek War of Independence and the creation of the modern Greek state, in 1830, after four centuries of Ottoman rule.[4] 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, Greek Macedonia, Epirus and most of the North Aegean islands (1912-1913), Western Thrace (1920) and finally Dodecanese (1947). Greek irredentism, the "Megali Idea" ended after the end of the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922) and the Population exchange between Greece and Turkey. 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.[9]

Calls for enosis were also a feature of Cypriot politics during British rule in Cyprus. After the Treaty of Lausanne, Greco-Turkish relations have been characterized by tension between Greek and Turkish nationalism especially for the Cyprus problem, culminating in the Turkish invasion of Cyprus (1974). Historians Erik Sjöberg (historian) and Andrekos Varnava argue that Greek nationalism specifically in the form of Identity politics and memory-making was a primary driver in the "construction" of the Greek genocide as a collectivist historical fact.[10]

Gallery

Nationalist and Ultranationalist political parties

Before Metapolitefsi

After Metapolitefsi

See also

References

Further reading

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