π₯ 25 of March: The independence day of Greece π₯
β‘οΈ Forgotten facts:
The world's first liberal constitution was drafted in Epidaurus on January 1, 1822. It explicitly prohibited slavery, torture, property confiscation, and imprisonment without a court decision. At the same time, in France, the USA, England, Russia, and elsewhere, slavery and torture were still legal and socially acceptable.
The Greek Revolution broke out six years after the formation of the Holy Alliance, whose primary goal was to suppress any revolutionary movement in Europe. Specifically, Austria, under the powerful Metternich, wanted to prevent the Greek uprising from inspiring revolts in its own territories. France did not want the weakening of the Ottoman Empire to benefit Russia. Britain feared the Russian navy gaining access to the Mediterranean through the Ottoman-controlled straits. Russia, in turn, wanted to avoid British and French influence near its borders in case of an Ottoman decline.
Thus, the Greek Revolution seemed like madness. However, the Greeksβ early victories sent a clear message: the Ottoman Empire was not invincible. British Foreign Secretary George Canning immediately realized the implications: "We think they can contain the Russians, yet they canβt even control a handful of Greeks," he thought. This led him to push France and Russia into a competition to align with the Greeks. Here lies a key lesson: the passion for uprising, against all odds, was what ultimately shifted the great powers of the time.
The Greek Revolution was neither a tax revolt nor a rebellion against fellow nationals. Even Turkish historians acknowledge that Greeks existed as a distinct ethnic group before 1821. Their historiography laments that, despite the privileges granted to some Greeks (e.g., Janissaries from child abductions), the Greeks remained dissatisfied and revolted. Yet, only a handful of contemporary Greek historians claim that the Greek nation was "born" in 1821.
