The Real Ethnic Composition of Modern Greece

[Soldier of Macedon]

Athens

This question has been asked several times, and should be addressed properly once and for all. While I will agree that pockets of Romaic-speakers lived in what were to become the domains of the modern 'Hellenic' state and elsewhere in the Balkans, particularly where it concerns the main trading areas (where as it so happens the Romaic tongue was the lingua franca of trade) and cities, the number of these people steadily increased in other areas due to the prohibition of Slavic and Latin languages in churches and schools from the second half of the 18th century. So it is not suprising that come the 19th century western travellers and writers speak about so-called 'Greeks' forming large bulks of the population in the region, although the people of other 'origins' were not by and large ignored either, as they are so blindly today.

In the early 19th century John Cam Hobhouse, quoted by John Freely, wrote that "the number of houses in Athens is supposed to be between twelve and thirteen hundred; of which about four hundred are inhabited by the Turks, the remainder by the Greeks and Albanians, the latter of whom occupy above three hundred houses."

During the mid 19th century, Edmond About wrote that "Athens, twenty-five years ago, was only an Albanian village. The Albanians formed, and still form, almost the whole of the population of Attica; and within three leagues of the capital, villages are to be found where Greek is hardly understood.........Albanians form about one-fourth of the population of the country; they are in majority in Attica, in Arcadia, and in Hydra...."

http://books.google.com.au/books?hl=...um=1&ct=result


Just for a start.

[osiris]

mate they were still speaking albanian in the villages around lavrion when i was a kid in the refugee camp there in the mid 50s. but as you well know som reality and truth are not neo hellenic strong points, bullshit denial and oppression of minorites is what modern hells arse excells in. if our people in egei were considered greek because they supported the patriachist church as they had for centuries, then it must have been even easier 100 years earlier to convince the albanians and vlachs they were really pure hellenes who happened to forget their language and hellenic conciousness, despite the fact that apaprently there we re heroic secret schools in every village keeping the langauge and hellenic identity alive.

we have spoken about the lies and inconsistencies of the modern greek narrative, to no avail, when you want to be stupid and ignorant its easy especially when you are basking in the legacy of the glorious ancient hellenes. to be true to your more modest and historically insignificant ethnic reality is a bitter pill which only the very strong and brave are able to swallow, and we all know modern greeks are neither strong nor brave, but wannabe somebodies basking in the glory of periclean athens and leonidian sparta

[Daskalot]

I would like to hear what our newly arrived southern neighbors have to say about this?

[osiris]

dont hold your breath daskale, our once a wannabe always a wannabe, i have only met a handful of modern greeks who can handle their truth, the rest .......you know the answer as well as i do.

[Daskalot]

Originally Posted by osiris

dont hold your breath daskale, our once a wannabe always a wannabe, i have only met a handful of modern greeks who can handle their truth, the rest .......you know the answer as well as i do.

I know Osiris, but this crowd feels so new and hipp.....

[Rogi]

“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”

- Albert Einstein's definition of insanity.

[Makedonia]

Originally Posted by Rogi

“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”

- Albert Einstein's definition of insanity.

"It is only the wisest and the stupidest that cannot change."

Confucius

[Jankovska]

Originally Posted by Makedonia

"It is only the wisest and the stupidest that cannot change."

Confucius

And Greece has proven to be everything but wise...

[Makedonia]

Originally Posted by Jankovska

And Greece has proven to be everything but wise...

That remains to be seen.

[Jankovska]

Originally Posted by Makedonia

That remains to be seen.

It has been I thought, or you just what you want to see.