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The millet system contributed to the ethnic cohesion of Orthodox Greeks by segregating the various peoples within the Ottoman Empire based on religion. The Orthodox Church, a religious institution with a keen sense of its national character, contributed to the Greeks from all geographical areas of the peninsula (i.e. mountains, plains, and islands) to preserve their ethnic, cultural and linguistic heritage during the years of the Ottoman rule (although at the time it was not strictly speaking a "Greek" church - the Greek Church was instituted after the liberation). The Greeks who remained on the plains during Ottoman occupation were either Christians, who dealt with the burdens of foreign rule, or to a considerable extent Crypto-Christians (Greek Muslims who were secret practitioners of the Orthodox faith) in order to avoid heavy taxation. The Greeks who converted to Islam and were not Crypto-Christians became Turks in the eyes of Orthodox Greeks. Therefore, there was no recognition of "Greek Muslims", or of "Christian Turks". As a result, religion played an integral part in the formation of the Modern Greek and other post-Ottoman national identities. Creation of the modern Greek state
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The Ottomans ruled Greece until the early 19th century. In 1821, the Greeks rebelled and declared their independence, but did not succeed in winning it until 1829. The elites of powerful European nations saw the war of Greek independence, with its accounts of Turkish atrocities, in a romantic light (see, for example, the 1824 painting the Massacre of Chios by Eugène Delacroix). Scores of non-Greeks volunteered to fight for the cause — including people like Lord Byron. At times the Ottomans seemed on the verge of entirely suppressing the Greek revolution but were eventually forced to give in by the direct military intervention of France, Great Britain and Russia. This was the prelude of the so called "Eastern Question", the gradual dismemberment of the decaying empire by the western powers. |
Eugène Delacroix,Massacre at Chios |
The Russian ex-minister of foreign affairs, Ioannis Kapodistrias, himself a Greek noble from the Ionian Islands, was chosen as President of the new Republic following Greek independence. However, that republic was soon dissolved by the Great Powers which then installed a "Greek" monarchy. The Great Powers did not believe the Greeks were capable of governing themselves, and as such looked elsewhere for a prospective monarch. The first king, Otto of Bavaria, was of the German House of Wittelsbach, and the subsequent line was from the Germano-Danish House of Oldenburg. During the 19th and especially the early 20th centuries, in a series of wars with the Ottomans, Greece sought to enlarge its boundaries to include the ethnic Greek population of the Ottoman Empire (the Ionian Islands were donated by Britain upon the arrival of the new king from Denmark in 1863, and Thessaly was ceded by the Ottomans without a fight). Greece would slowly grow in territory and population until reaching its present configuration in 1947.
In World War I, Greece sided with the entente powers against the Ottoman Empire and the other Central Powers. In the war's aftermath, the Great Powers awarded a small part of Asia Minor to Greece, centered around the city of Smyrna (known as Izmir today) which had a large Greek population. At that time, however, the Turkish nationalists, led by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, denounced the Sultan's government in Istanbul and organised a new one in Ankara. During the Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922) the Turks eventually defeated the Greek armies and regained control of Asia Minor. Soon afterwards, the Treaty of Lausanne was signed, fixing the borders to this date. A population exchange was included in the agreement and immediately afterwards, hundreds of thousands of Turks then living in mainland Greek territory left for Turkey in exchange for more than 1.22 million Greek residents of Asia Minor (excluding Constantinople, Imvros and Tenedos).
In 1936, General Ioannis Metaxas established an authoritarian conservative dictatorship in Greece, seen as similar to Antonio Salazar's "New State". Greece under Metaxas is also compared to Spain at the time, although it lacked the political violence associated with Francisco Franco's regime.
In 1940, the Italian dictator Mussolini launched a surprise attack on Greece. The Greek counter-attack along the Albanian front gave the Allies their first victory against the Axis forces. Eventually, Mussolini's armies were saved from defeat with the intervention of Italy's Axis ally, Germany, whose forces overran and occupied Greece in April-May 1941 and remained there until 1944, when the Greek resistence and British forces liberated the country.
Despite the country's numerically small and ill-equipped armed forces, Greece made an important contribution to the Allied efforts in World War II. At the start of the war Greece sided with the Allies and refused to give in to Italian demands. Italy invaded Greece on 28 October 1940, but Greek troops repelled the invaders after a bitter struggle. Hitler then reluctantly stepped in, primarily to secure his strategic southern flank. Troops from Germany, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Italy successfully invaded Greece, overcoming Greek, but also British, Australian, and New Zealand units within weeks.
To reduce the threat of a counter-offensive by Allied forces in Egypt, the Germans attempted to seize Crete in a massive attack by paratroops. Allied forces, along with Cretan civilians, however, offered fierce resistance. Although Crete eventually fell, it is pointed out by historians that this, and the whole Greek campaign, delayed German plans significantly, with the result that the German invasion of the Soviet Union started fatally close to winter.
During the years of Nazi occupation, hundreds of thousands of Greeks died in direct combat, in concentration camps, or of starvation. The occupiers murdered the greater part of the Jewish community despite efforts by the Greek Orthodox Church and many Christian Greeks to shelter its Jewish citizens. The Greek economy languished. After liberation, Greece experienced an equally bitter Greek Civil War between the communist-led Democratic Army and the Hellenic Army that lasted until 1949, when the communists were defeated in the battle of Grammos-Vitsi.
In the 1950s and 1960s, Greece continued to develop slowly with grants and loans through the Marshall Plan, and later through growth, notably in the tourism sector. In 1967, the Greek military seized power in a coup d'état and overthrew the conservative government of Panayiotis Kanellopoulos which had been preparing a general election set for May 28. The military established what became known as the Régime of the Colonels. However, the coup leaders were recognised internationally as the legitimate goverment after the, then, head of state, King Constantine, signed them in. In 1973, the régime abolished the Greek monarchy. In October 1973, George Papadopoulos appointed politician Spiros Markezinis as Prime Minister, with a mission undertake a transition to parliamentary democracy. Following the events of the Athens Polytechnic uprising, Papadopoulos and Markezinis were overthrown by a countercoup headed by junta hardliner Brigadier Ioannides on November 25, 1973. A new president, Phaedon Gizikis, and a new Prime Minister, Adamantios Androutsopoulos, were appointed.
Ioannides backed a Greek Cypriot military coup against President Makarios of Cyprus, which became a pretext for Turkey to intervene militarily under the Treaty of Guarantee in 1974 and occupied the north of the island, resulting in a crisis between Greece and Turkey. Escalation in Cyprus led to the implosion of the military régime who had proved itself militarily incapable of mobilising its forces. Ex-premier Konstantinos Karamanlis was invited from Paris as interim prime minister under President Gizikis. He later gained re-election for two further terms at the head of the conservative Nea Dimokratia party, which he founded. In 1975, following a referendum to confirm the deposition of King Constantine II, a democratic republican constitution came into force. Another previously exiled politician, Andreas Papandreou also returned and founded the socialist PASOK party, which won the elections in 1981 and dominated the country's political course for almost two decades.
With the restoration of democracy, the stability and economic prosperity of Greece have grown. Greece joined the European Union in 1981 and adopted the Euro as its currency in 2001. New infrastructure, funds from the EU and growing revenues from tourism, shipping, services, light industry, and the telecommunications industry have greatly raised the standard of living. Tensions continue to exist between Greece and Turkey over Cyprus and the delimitation of borders in the Aegean Sea, but relations have thawed considerably following successive earthquakes - first in Turkey and then in Greece - and an outpouring of sympathy and generous assistance by ordinary Greeks and Turks. This is in stark contrast to decades of hostility between these two countries, which saw repeated threats of war. Even though both were members of NATO, at times more than half of the entire Greek military was positioned against Turkey. Since 2000, Greece has become one of the chief advocates of Turkey's application to join the European Union.
The 2004 Summer Olympic Games were held in Athens, returning them to Greece for the first time since their modern inception in 1896. Despite widespread initial concerns over the city's ability to meet construction deadlines as well as over its ability to handle a potential terrorist threat, the Athens Games were widely praised by the IOC as the best to date.
Greece History MORE
Crete History MORE
| Currency |
The official currency is the Euro divided into 100 cents.
| Economy |
Greece has a mixed capitalist economy with the public sector accounting for about half of GDP. Tourism has great importance, providing a large portion of GDP and foreign exchange earnings. Greece also counts as a world leader in shipping (first in terms of ownership of vessels and third by flag registration). Greece figures prominently as a major beneficiary of EU aid, equal to about 2.4% of its GNP. The export of manufactured goods, including telecommunications hardware and software, foodstuffs, and fuels accounts for a large part of the rest of Greek income.
The country has a high standard of living, ranking 24th on the 2005 Human Development Index and 22nd on The Economist's 2005 world-wide quality-of-life index. The economy has improved steadily over the last few years, as the government tightened fiscal policy in the run-up to Greece's entry into the Eurozone on January 1, 2001(Greek euro coins). Average per capita income in 2005 was estimated at $22,800. Greece has an expanding services sector and telecommunications industry and has become one of the largest investors in the immediate region. Moreover, Greece now operates as a net importer of labour and foreign workers (mainly from Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Pakistan, and Africa). People from these areas now account for 8% of the total population.
The main challenge facing the Greek economy is proving impossible to remedy; the public sector employs almost half the population. The vast majority of state employees are untrained and/or lack relevant skills (including teachers), thereby they slow down the economy and absorb collectively a vast proportion of Greek finances with no visible input. They owe they position to political favouritism, especially under the former PASOK government, they enjoy unlimited job protection and early pension rights (retirement occurs between 40yrs-50yrs).
Other challenges faced by the country include the reduction of unemployment, privatising of several state enterprises, social security reforms, overhauling the tax system, and minimising bureaucratic inefficiencies. Forecasts predicted economic growth of 4 - 4.5 % in 2004. Reducing the government deficit also remains a major issue, as it is currently running at nearly twice the Eurozone target of 3% of GDP. The new conservative government revealed to Eurostat that the previous figures supplied, which were the basis of Greek entry into the Eurozone, were incorrect. Under a negotiated agreement, the EU gave Greece two years (budgets of 2005 and 2006) to bring the economy in line with the criteria of the European stability pact.
The Bank of Greece, now a subsidiary of the European Central Bank, functions as the nation's central bank. This bank is not the same as the "National Bank of Greece", a commercial bank.
The economy of Crete, which was mainly based on farming, started changing visibly during the 1970s. While there is still an emphasis on farming and stock breeding, due to the climate and the terrain of the island, there is a drop in manufacturing and a big increase on the services industry (mainly tourism related). All three sectors of the Cretan economy (agriculture, processing-packaging, services), are directly connected and interdependent. Crete has an average per capita income which is close to 100% of the Greek average. Unemployment is at approximately 4%, half of that of Greece.
The island has three significant airports, Nikos Kazantzakis at Heraklion, the military airport Daskalogiannis at Chania and a new public airport in Sitia
Greece Economy MORE
| Transport |
Railroads; route length 2,479 km (1,540 mi) (1988), passenger-km 1,512,000,000 (940,000,000 passenger-mi) (1989), cargo ton-km 660,000,000 (452,034,000 short ton-mi) (1989). Roads; length 103,306 km (64,191 mi) (1985). Vehicles; cars 1,691,070 (1990), trucks and buses 781,320 (1990). Merchant Marine; vessels 1,814 (1990), deadweight tonnage 37,205,340 (1990). Air Transport; passenger-km 8,016,000,000 (4,981,000,000 passenger-mi) (1989), cargo ton-km 114,144,000 (78,177,000 short ton-mi) (1989). MORE
| Communications |
Daily Newspapers; total of 144 with a total circulation N/A (1993). Radio; receivers 4,085,492 (1993). Television; receivers 2,300,000 (1993). Telephones; units 5,571,293 (1993). MORE
| Military |
159,300 (1994) total active duty personnel with 70.9% army, 12.3% navy and 16.8% air force while military expenditure accounts for 5.5% (1993) of the Gross National Product (GNP). MORE
| Web Links |
Link - Provides detailed information and statistics on Geography, People, Government, Economy, Communications, Transportation, Military and Transnational Issues.
Link - World Bank Dat Profile provides key statistical information on People, Environment, Economy, Technology Infrastructure, Trade & Finance.
Link - link to a Wikipedia page providing a wealth of information from History and Culture through to Politics and Religion.
Link - link to the latest New Headlines for this country.
Link - link to Human Rights report for this country produces by Amnesty International.
Link - link to GE Source World Guide providing country profile, demographics, economic data, satellite images.
The web site of Crete (English-Greek)
Travel Guide with Hotels and Villas in Crete
Traditional Cretan Music (Greek)
Mountaineering and Trekking in Crete
Technological Educational Institute of Crete
Greece Military Pictures at DefenceTalk.com Military Gallery
Official Greek Statistics Site
Greece Museums/ Museum directory of Greece
Greece is located on the southern tip of the Balkan Peninsula in South East Europe and the territory also includes several hundred islands in the Ionian and Aegean Seas. It is bound by Albania, Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, Turkey and the Aegean Sea to the east, the Mediterranean Sea to the south and the Ionian Sea to the west. Around 20% of the total land area is accounted for by islands, of which the largest are Crete, Euboea, Lesbos, Rhodes, Khios, Kefallonia, Corfu, Limnos, Samos and Naxos. Mountains and hills dominate the landscape accounting for nearly 80% of the total land area. In the northeast, the Macedonian and Thrace regions are separated from Epirus in the northwest by the Pindhos Mountains, which are a continuation of the Dinaric Alps. The mountain range along the east coast includes Mt. Olympus and continues through to include some of the islands. The Pindhos Mountains continue southeast to Giona and reappear as the islands of Kea, Kithnos, Serifos and Sifnos. Other mountain ranges include Taiyetos in the south and Parnon in the east. In the extreme northeast, Thrace is separated from Bulgaria by the Rhodope Mountains. 
Crete is one of the 13 regions of Greece. It is the biggest island in Greece and the second biggest (after 
