QUOTE: "Standing there an hour alone I dreamt that Greece might once be free." — Byron.
If the man was still alive today, he would still be standing and wandering what has gone wrong.
It is one of the bitterest ironies that every year on March 25 celebrations of Independence Day, take place in Athens and infact celebrated by Greeks around the world. Question is, is Greece truly an Independant state? or in fact, has Greece lost her independence to the British and the United States long ago. I would go as far as to say, Greece has never been independant and the celebrations on March 25 is a sham and Greeks do not realise it. Lets go through stages of the Greek history to prove what a great Fallcy this "Greek Independence" is and we will see another true parts of glorious Greece. Lord byron would be rolling around in his grave.
I will start from 1832 which is the year of creation of Greece. We can talk about the Ancient Hellenes (not to mistaken them with modern Greeks) which will be irelevent to this subject but even they were enslaved by firstly the Macedonians, folowed by Romans then Ottomans and i apoligise if i have forgoten any empire in between.
Please note the following work is not mine. The only credit i will take is the research, editing and compilation of the bits of research that i post in diferent periods.
1832 "Independence Day"
QUOTE: "Modern Greece has had a rather “idiosyncratic history,” as the first Greek Nobel laureate, George Seferis, has noted."
"A country created as the result of German philhellenism and Slavophobia, on the one hand, and British and French realpolitik against the Ottoman Empire, on the other, Greece was established as a sovereign nation in 1832, after a war for independence that lasted roughly eight years (1821 – 29). The notion of the sovereign nation ought to be taken judiciously in the case of Greece, however, as a foreign (German, indeed, Bavarian) king was installed by the Great Powers, followed by a royal family with kinship ties to the British and Danish throne, intermarrying, eventually, with both the Russian and the German royal lines".
For seven years (1821-28) the so called Greeks together with foriegners fought against the mighty Ottoman Empire.
The Governments of Britain, France and Tsarist Russia intervened and put an end to the fighting. They compelled Turkey to accept that the Southern part of Greece should become an independent country. What sort of "independence" the three protecting powers had in store for their protege it did not take long for the Greeks to experience and on their own backs.
New Masters
Whilst the Greeks had been engaged in fighting the Turks, new foreign masters were appearing on the scene; the British capitalists were moving into devastated and hungry Greece—to stay. They made their first bid through the loan of £800,000 made to the fighting and bleeding Greeks in 1823. Only £308,000 ever reached Greece. The £500,000 odd were extracted beforehand by the British bankers as interest and expenses…Two years later, when the struggle in Greece was desperate, the second British loan followed. Its nominal value was £2 million. But Greece actually received only £816,000, and out of this sum again only £232,000 ever reached the country. £584,000 was squandered in buying vessels which never arrived. The British money-lenders had, in fact, swallowed nine- tenths of this loan. These first two loans constituted the bond which ultimately chained Greece completely to British capitalism.
Political Subjugation
Together with the economic went the political subjugation of the country. Without the Greek people even being asked, the three "protecting powers" (Britain, 'France and Russia) stipulated in the London Protocol of May 7, 1832, that Greece should be an "independent monarchy under the guarantee of the Powers". They then imported a Bavarian prince into Greece whom they installed as King Otto I. The new King, before setting foot on Greek soil, had solemnly promised to govern constitutionally. Naturally he lied. Among his first acts was the abolition of all—even the most elementary—civil liberties, setting up an absolute monarchy par excellence. He brought with him a Bavarian army—the Greeks called them locusts—to keep "law and order". The people, starving and in rags, awaited the distribution of the lands of the Turks who had left. Instead the lands were declared "national", i.e. King's property. Meanwhile, the numerically small Greek bourgeoisie, which had taken an active part in the organisation of the national revolution against the Turks, came to terms with the few Greek land-owners who had collaborated with the Turkish masters and with the foreign capitalists who were now making themselves the virtual masters of the country.
To the people's demand for land and freedom the King's reply was the dispatch of his Bavarian "soldateska" to the provinces to put down revolts, which were breaking out everywhere, by fire and lead. Meanwhile the foreign bankers were exploiting the new "independent" and "protected" Greek State in a way which would have made Shylock appear to be a generous donor. When King Otto arrived in Greece, they granted a loan of 64,000,000 gold francs, out of which 33,000,000 francs were extracted right away for expenses and payments to various agents. Greece had to pay for this loan 6,300,000 gold francs yearly in interest and amortisation out of a State budget of 13,000,000 francs altogether. A hundred years later, in 1933, Greece was still paying back this loan, still "owing" 37,000,000 francs, although the initial amount had already been repaid several times over.
So the powers of Britain, France and Russia together with the imported Bavarian prince "King Otto" are the new Foriegn Masters just like the Turks were before them, is Greece truly Independant?????
Dictionary meaning of "independence" and can the newly formed Greece between 1833-62 tick any of these box's ?
in·de·pen·dent (nd-pndnt)
adj.
1. Not governed by a foreign power; self-governing.
2. Free from the influence, guidance, or control of another or others; self-reliant: an independent mind.
3. Not determined or influenced by someone or something else; not contingent: a decision independent of the outcome of the study.
4. often Independent Affiliated with or loyal to no one political party or organization.
5. Not dependent on or affiliated with a larger or controlling entity:
To Be Continued.
If the man was still alive today, he would still be standing and wandering what has gone wrong.
It is one of the bitterest ironies that every year on March 25 celebrations of Independence Day, take place in Athens and infact celebrated by Greeks around the world. Question is, is Greece truly an Independant state? or in fact, has Greece lost her independence to the British and the United States long ago. I would go as far as to say, Greece has never been independant and the celebrations on March 25 is a sham and Greeks do not realise it. Lets go through stages of the Greek history to prove what a great Fallcy this "Greek Independence" is and we will see another true parts of glorious Greece. Lord byron would be rolling around in his grave.
I will start from 1832 which is the year of creation of Greece. We can talk about the Ancient Hellenes (not to mistaken them with modern Greeks) which will be irelevent to this subject but even they were enslaved by firstly the Macedonians, folowed by Romans then Ottomans and i apoligise if i have forgoten any empire in between.
Please note the following work is not mine. The only credit i will take is the research, editing and compilation of the bits of research that i post in diferent periods.
1832 "Independence Day"
QUOTE: "Modern Greece has had a rather “idiosyncratic history,” as the first Greek Nobel laureate, George Seferis, has noted."
"A country created as the result of German philhellenism and Slavophobia, on the one hand, and British and French realpolitik against the Ottoman Empire, on the other, Greece was established as a sovereign nation in 1832, after a war for independence that lasted roughly eight years (1821 – 29). The notion of the sovereign nation ought to be taken judiciously in the case of Greece, however, as a foreign (German, indeed, Bavarian) king was installed by the Great Powers, followed by a royal family with kinship ties to the British and Danish throne, intermarrying, eventually, with both the Russian and the German royal lines".
For seven years (1821-28) the so called Greeks together with foriegners fought against the mighty Ottoman Empire.
The Governments of Britain, France and Tsarist Russia intervened and put an end to the fighting. They compelled Turkey to accept that the Southern part of Greece should become an independent country. What sort of "independence" the three protecting powers had in store for their protege it did not take long for the Greeks to experience and on their own backs.
New Masters
Whilst the Greeks had been engaged in fighting the Turks, new foreign masters were appearing on the scene; the British capitalists were moving into devastated and hungry Greece—to stay. They made their first bid through the loan of £800,000 made to the fighting and bleeding Greeks in 1823. Only £308,000 ever reached Greece. The £500,000 odd were extracted beforehand by the British bankers as interest and expenses…Two years later, when the struggle in Greece was desperate, the second British loan followed. Its nominal value was £2 million. But Greece actually received only £816,000, and out of this sum again only £232,000 ever reached the country. £584,000 was squandered in buying vessels which never arrived. The British money-lenders had, in fact, swallowed nine- tenths of this loan. These first two loans constituted the bond which ultimately chained Greece completely to British capitalism.
Political Subjugation
Together with the economic went the political subjugation of the country. Without the Greek people even being asked, the three "protecting powers" (Britain, 'France and Russia) stipulated in the London Protocol of May 7, 1832, that Greece should be an "independent monarchy under the guarantee of the Powers". They then imported a Bavarian prince into Greece whom they installed as King Otto I. The new King, before setting foot on Greek soil, had solemnly promised to govern constitutionally. Naturally he lied. Among his first acts was the abolition of all—even the most elementary—civil liberties, setting up an absolute monarchy par excellence. He brought with him a Bavarian army—the Greeks called them locusts—to keep "law and order". The people, starving and in rags, awaited the distribution of the lands of the Turks who had left. Instead the lands were declared "national", i.e. King's property. Meanwhile, the numerically small Greek bourgeoisie, which had taken an active part in the organisation of the national revolution against the Turks, came to terms with the few Greek land-owners who had collaborated with the Turkish masters and with the foreign capitalists who were now making themselves the virtual masters of the country.
To the people's demand for land and freedom the King's reply was the dispatch of his Bavarian "soldateska" to the provinces to put down revolts, which were breaking out everywhere, by fire and lead. Meanwhile the foreign bankers were exploiting the new "independent" and "protected" Greek State in a way which would have made Shylock appear to be a generous donor. When King Otto arrived in Greece, they granted a loan of 64,000,000 gold francs, out of which 33,000,000 francs were extracted right away for expenses and payments to various agents. Greece had to pay for this loan 6,300,000 gold francs yearly in interest and amortisation out of a State budget of 13,000,000 francs altogether. A hundred years later, in 1933, Greece was still paying back this loan, still "owing" 37,000,000 francs, although the initial amount had already been repaid several times over.
So the powers of Britain, France and Russia together with the imported Bavarian prince "King Otto" are the new Foriegn Masters just like the Turks were before them, is Greece truly Independant?????
Dictionary meaning of "independence" and can the newly formed Greece between 1833-62 tick any of these box's ?
in·de·pen·dent (nd-pndnt)
adj.
1. Not governed by a foreign power; self-governing.
2. Free from the influence, guidance, or control of another or others; self-reliant: an independent mind.
3. Not determined or influenced by someone or something else; not contingent: a decision independent of the outcome of the study.
4. often Independent Affiliated with or loyal to no one political party or organization.
5. Not dependent on or affiliated with a larger or controlling entity:
To Be Continued.
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