Megali Idea

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
"Greater Greece" redirects here. For the Ancient Greek settlements in southern Italy, see Magna Graecia.
Map showing Greek ambitions at the Paris Peace Conference after WWI, 1919
Map of Megali Hellas (Greater Greece) as proposed at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 by Eleftherios Venizelos, the leading major proponent of the Megali Idea at the time.
The territorial expansion of Greece, 1832–1947.

The Megali Idea (

irredentist concept that expresses the goal of reviving the Byzantine Empire,[4] by establishing a Greek state, which would include the large Greek populations that were still under Ottoman rule after the end of the Greek War of Independence (1821–1829) and all the regions that had large Greek populations (parts of the southern Balkans, Anatolia and Cyprus).[5]

The term appeared for the first time during the debates of

Prime Minister Ioannis Kolettis with King Otto that preceded the promulgation of the 1844 constitution.[6] It came to dominate foreign relations and played a significant role in domestic politics for much of the first century of Greek independence. The expression was new in 1844 but the concept had roots in the Greek popular psyche, which long had hopes of liberation from Ottoman rule and restoration of the Byzantine Empire.[6]

Πάλι με χρόνια με καιρούς,

πάλι δικά μας θα 'ναι!

(Once more, as years and time go by, once more they shall be ours).[7]

The Megali Idea implies establishing a Greek state, which would be a territory encompassing mostly the former Byzantine lands from the Ionian Sea in the west to Anatolia and the Black Sea to the east and from Thrace, Macedonia and Epirus in the north to Crete and Cyprus to the south. This new state would have Constantinople as its capital: it would be the "Greece of Two Continents and Five Seas" (Europe and Asia, the Ionian, Aegean, Marmara, Black and Libyan Seas). If realized, this would expand modern Greece to roughly the same size and extent of the later Byzantine Empire, after its restoration in 1261 AD.

The Megali Idea dominated foreign policy and domestic politics of

Treaty of Peace with Italy, 1947
).

A related concept is enosis.

Fall of Constantinople

Main article: Fall of Constantinople
Mehmed II
's entry into Constantinople.

The

Greek replacing Latin as the official language
in AD 620.

Byzantium held out against numerous invasions over the centuries and during the 10th and early 11th centuries managed to reclaim considerable territory in the Balkans, Anatolia and to a lesser extent Syria. The Turkish invasion of the mid to late 11th century however greatly weakened the Empire and, although it partially recovered under the Komnenos dynasty, it never managed to regain control of the Anatolian interior, cutting the empire off from a valuable source of manpower and tax revenue. In 1204 Constantinople was besieged and sacked during the Fourth Crusade and became the Capital of what has come to be known as the Latin Empire, a French dominated crusader state, until it was liberated by the Empire of Nicaea, the Byzantine state in exile, in 1261. However, Byzantine strength would rapidly diminish towards the end of the 13th century and evaporated almost entirely during the 14th century, to the extent that by 1400 little remained of the Empire except Constantinople, the city’s immediate surroundings and some small territories in modern-day Greece. In 1453 the Ottoman Turks besieged and captured Constantinople officially marking the end of the Roman Empire and also the end of Greek predominance in the city; although it would continue to have a considerable Greek speaking population and the Patriarch of Constantinople continued to reside in the city.

Greeks under Ottoman rule

Further information: Ottoman Greece and Greek Plan
Asia Minor
in 1917.
  •   Bulgars and Turks
  •   Greeks
  •   Armenians
  •   Kurds
  •   Lazes
  •   Arabs
  •   Nestorians

Under the

Joseph II of Austria intended to reclaim the Byzantine heritage and restore the Greek statehood as part of their joint Greek Plan
.

During the Middle Ages and the Ottoman period, Greek-speaking Christians identified as Romans and thought of themselves as the descendants of the

Eastern Roman Empire). The term Roman was often interpreted as synonymous with Christian throughout Europe and the Mediterranean during this time. The terms Greek or Hellene were largely seen by Ottoman Christians as referring to the ancient pagan peoples of the region. This changed during the late stages of the Ottoman Empire and the emergence of the Greek independence movement.[9][10]


Greek War of Independence and later

Main articles: Greek War of Independence, First Hellenic Republic, and Kingdom of Greece

"The Kingdom of Greece is not Greece; it is merely a part: the smallest, poorest part of Greece. The Greek is not only he who inhabits the Kingdom, but also he who inhabits

Adrianople or Constantinople or Trebizond or Crete or Samos or any other region belonging to the Greek history or the Greek race... There are two great centres of Hellenism. Athens
is the capital of the Kingdom. Constantinople is the great capital, the dream and hope of all Greeks."

Kolettis voicing his convictions in the National Assembly in January 1844.[11]

After the

Great Powers
, who had no desire to see a larger Greek state replace the Ottoman Empire.

The Great Idea embodied a desire to bring all ethnic Greeks into the Greek state, and subsequently revive the Byzantine Empire; it applied specifically to the Greeks in Epirus, Thessaly, Macedonia, Thrace, the Aegean Islands, Crete, Cyprus, parts of Anatolia, and the city of Constantinople (which would replace Athens as the capital).

When the young Danish prince

Hellenes
". Implicit in the wording was that George I was to be king of all Greeks, regardless of whether they then lived within the borders of his new kingdom.

The first additional areas to be incorporated into the Kingdom were the

Ionian islands in 1864, and later Thessaly with the Treaty of Berlin (1878)
.

Revolts, Cretan crisis and Greco-Turkish War (1897)

See also:
Greco-Turkish War of 1897, and Macedonian Struggle
Constantine I of Greece was called Constantine XII by his supporters, the purported successor to the Emperor Constantine XI Palaiologos
Eleftherios Venizelos tried to realize the Megali Idea

In January 1897, violence and disorder were escalating in Crete, polarizing the population. Massacres of the Christian population took place in Chania and Rethimno. The Greek government, pressured by public opinion, intransigent political elements, extreme nationalist groups (e.g.

Ethniki Etairia) and with the Great Powers reluctant to intervene, decided to send warships and personnel to assist the Cretans. The Great Powers had no option then but to proceed with the occupation of the island, but they were too late. A Greek force of 1,500 men had landed at Kolymbari on 1 February 1897, and its commanding officer, Colonel Timoleon Vassos
, declared that he was taking over the island "in the name of the King of the Hellenes" and that he was announcing the union of Crete with Greece. This led to an uprising that spread immediately throughout the island. The Great Powers finally decided to land their troops and stopped the Greek army force from approaching Chania. At the same time their fleets blockaded Crete, preventing both Greeks and Turks from bringing any more troops to the island.

The Ottoman Empire, in reaction to the rebellion of Crete and the assistance sent by Greece, relocated a significant part of its army in the Balkans to the north of Thessaly, close to the borders with Greece. Greece in reply reinforced its borders in Thessaly. However, irregular Greek forces and followers of the Megali Idea acted without orders and raided Turkish outposts, leading the Ottoman Empire to declare war on Greece; the war is known as the

Greco-Turkish War of 1897. The Turkish army, far outnumbering the Greek, was also better prepared, due to the recent reforms carried out by a German mission under Baron von der Goltz
. The Greek army fell back in retreat. The other Great Powers then intervened and an armistice was signed in May 1897. The war, however, only ended in December of that year.

The military failure in the Greco-Turkish war cost Greece small territorial losses along the border line in northern Thessaly, and a large sum of financial reparations that wrecked Greece's economy for years, while giving no lasting solution to the Cretan Question. The Great Powers (Britain, France, Russia, and Italy) in order to prevent future clashes and trying to avoid the creation of a revanchist climate in Greece, imposed what they thought of as a lasting solution; Crete was proclaimed an autonomous Cretan State. The four Great Powers assumed the administration of Crete; and, in a decisive diplomatic victory for Greece, Prince George of Greece (second son of King George I) became High Commissioner.

Early 20th century

Balkan Wars

Main article: Greece in the Balkan Wars
Greek claims in Epirus and Macedonia after the first Balkan war
Poster celebrating the "New Hellas" after the Balkan Wars.

A major proponent of the Megali Idea was

Ikaria, Samos, Samothrace, Lemnos and the majority of Macedonia were attached to Greece. Born and raised in Crete, in 1909 Venizelos was already a prominent Cretan and had influence in mainland Greece. As such, he was invited after the Goudi coup
in 1909 by the Military League to become Prime Minister of Greece. Venizelos pressed forward a series of reforms in society, as well as the military and administration, which helped Greece succeed in its goals during the Balkan Wars.

World War I

Main articles: Greece during World War I and Treaty of Sèvres
Map of Megali Hellas after the Treaty of Sèvres and featuring a picture of Eleftherios Venizelos.

Following the Greek gains in the Balkan Wars, the Ottomans began to persecute ethnic Greeks living in the Empire, which led to

Eastern Thrace, the border then drawn a few miles from the walls of Constantinople
.

Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)

Main articles:
Great Fire of Smyrna, Treaty of Lausanne, and Population exchange between Greece and Turkey
Greek soldiers in Smyrna, May 1919.

Greece's efforts to take control of Smyrna in accordance with the Treaty of Sèvres were thwarted by

exchange of populations": During the conflict, 151,892 Greeks had already fled Asia Minor. The Treaty of Lausanne moved 1,104,216 Greeks from Turkey,[12] while 380,000 Turks left the Greek territory for Turkey. The transfers ended any further appetite for pursuing the concept of a Greater Greece and ended the 3000 year Greek habitation of Asia Minor. Further population exchanges occurred after World War I, including 40,027 Greeks from Bulgaria, 58,522 from Russia (because of the defeat of the White Army led by Pyotr Wrangel) and 10,080 from other lands (for example Dodecanese or Albania), while 70,000 Bulgarians from Thrace and Macedonia had moved to Bulgaria.[13] From the Bulgarian refugees ca. 66,000 were from Greek Macedonia.[14]

The immediate reception of refugees to Greece cost 45 million francs, so the League of Nations arranged for a loan of 150 million francs to aid settlement of refugees. In 1930, Venizelos even went on an official visit to Turkey, where he proposed that Mustafa Kemal be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

The Greek novelist Yiorgos Theotokas described the psychological impact of the defeat of 1922:

"For a short time, while the Treaty of Serves ran its joyful but uncertain course, it seemed to them that the...long-buried hopes of their ancestors were to be fulfilled. But the terrible summer of 1922 came all too soon. From the hermitage of Arsenios they watched, tense with anxiety, the daily unfolding of the national tragedy, the last desperate efforts of the Royalist Governments of Greece to save the situation, the failure of King Constantine's attempt to take Constantinople, and the final Catastrophe.
In mid-August Mustapha Kemal broke through the Greek front and the Greek army, exhausted by ten years of warfare and the privations of the Asia Minor campaign, was vanquished in two weeks. The Turks, advancing rapidly, recaptured in quick succession Afion-Karahisar, Eski-Shehir, Kiutahia, Brussa, Oushak—and then Smyrna! Once again the banners of Islam floated proudly, tauntingly, over the Aegean coast opposite Chios and Mytilene. The whole of Ionia was in flames. Slaughter and pillage descended on the smiling city of Smyrna and in a few short days turned it into a ruin...As day succeeded day, Greece seemed to have become paralyzed, to have lost all will, all ability to resist the blows of fate. The swiftness of the catastrophe completely overwhelmed the State, flooded as it was by the thousands of fleeting soldiers and refugees who sought shelter on the Greek coasts.The nation was plunged into deep despair...
Greece had lost her big gamble and had been uprooted from Asia Minor. St. Sophia remained in the hands of the Moslems. The brilliant plans of 1918 were mocking visions, hallucinations, dreams. And the return of reality was truly heartbreaking. The tale of the years was not yet told, then, the historic hour, the fulfillment of the Great Idea, the moment they had longed for with such faith and such anxiety for five tortured, bloody centuries, had not yet come! It was all a lie!"[15]

World War II, annexation of Dodecanese and Cyprus dispute

Map of Greater Greece in 1922 with the Greek Mandate and Zone of the Straits
See also: Military history of Greece during World War II, EOKA, and 1974 Cypriot coup d'état

Although the Great Idea ceased to be a driving force behind Greek foreign policy, some remnants continued to influence Greek foreign policy throughout the remainder of the 20th century.

Thus, after his coup d'état of 4 August 1936,

pan-Germanism).[16] The attack by Italy from Albania and the Greek victories enabled Greece to conquer, during the winter of 1940–1941, parts of southern Albania (Northern Epirus, as it is identified by Greeks
) which were administered as a province of Greece for a short time until the German offensive of April 1941.

The occupation, resistance and the

Paris Peace Conference, 1946 secured a further enlargement of Greek territory, in the form of the Dodecanese Islands, despite the very strong opposition of Vyacheslav Molotov and the Soviet delegates.[17]

The British colony of

George Grivas, began a campaign of civil disobedience whose purpose was primarily to drive the British from the island, then move for Enosis with Greece. The Greek prime minister, Alexandros Papagos, was not unfavourable to this idea.[citation needed] There was increasing polarisation of opinion between the dominant Greek population and the minority Turks.[citation needed
]

The problems in Cyprus affected the continent itself. In September 1955, in response to the demand for Énosis, an anti-Greek riot took place in Istanbul. During the

Istanbul Pogrom 4,000 stores, 100 hotels and restaurants and 70 churches were destroyed or damaged.[18]
This led to the last great wave of migration from Turkey to Greece.

Republic of Cyprus
(south), and the areas controlled by ethnic Turkish Cypriots (north).

The

United Nations
in 1964.

The Cyprus issue was revived by the

dictatorship of the colonels
, who presented their April 21, 1967, coup d'état as the only way to defend the traditional values of what they called the "Hellenic-Christian Civilization".

Brigadier General Ioannidis arranged, in July 1974, to overthrow Cypriot President Archbishop Makarios, and proceed with Enosis (union with Greece).[citation needed] This led to Turkey invading the island in response, with the expulsion of Greek Cypriots in areas controlled by Turkey, and the flight of Turkish Cypriots from the south. In 1983, the north declared independence and to this day, Turkey is the only country that recognizes Northern Cyprus.

Attempted revival by Golden Dawn

The

Golden Dawn party, which had electoral support from 2010 to 2019, supports the Megali Idea,[19] with party leader, Nikolaos Michaloliakos
stating:

For two thousand years, the Jews would say a wish during their festivals, "

next year in Jerusalem", and ultimately after many centuries they managed to make it a reality. So I too conclude with a wish: Next year in Constantinople, in Smyrna, in Trebizond!

— [19]

Michaloliakos criticized Thessaloniki mayor Yiannis Boutaris for wanting to name a street after Atatürk, who was born in the city when it was still part of the Ottoman Empire.[20][21] In January 2013, a group of Golden Dawn supporters attacked the car of Turkish

anti-Turkey protest in Komotini.[22]

Mihaloliakos has also called for the "liberation"[citation needed] of Northern Epirus. Golden Dawn and its former Cypriot counterpart ELAM support enosis.

In 2015, close to 100 Golden Dawn members and leaders were arrested on a range of charges, including murder and racketeering. In 2019, the party's level of support, slumped to less than 2%. In October 2020, most of Golden Dawn's leadership was convicted, including Michaloliakos. As of 2023, the party, which never enjoyed electoral support above 10% of the popular vote, now has no remaining members in either the Hellenic or European Parliament.[23]

See also

References

  1. ISBN 9781412837750
    .
  2. ISBN 9780807832479
    , retrieved 2022-10-21
  3. OCLC 35675237.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link
    )
  4. ISBN 900425076X
    , p. 200.
  5. ^ "European Election Database - Background - Greece". o.nsd.no.
  6. ^ a b History of Greece Encyclopædia Britannica Online
  7. ^ D. Bolukbasi and D. Bölükbaşı, Turkey And Greece: The Aegean Disputes, Routledge Cavendish 2004
  8. ^ Koliopoulos, John S.; Veremis, Thanos (2007). Greece: The Modern Sequel. C Hurst & Co Publishers Ltd.
  9. ISBN 9789027273918
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  10. ISBN 9780754665250
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  11. ^ Smith M., Ionian Vision, (1999), p. 2
  12. ^ André Billy, La Grèce, Arthaud, 1937, p. 188.
  13. ISBN 0191055956
    , p. 70.
  14. ^ "The second wave of Bulgarian refugees took place in the 1920s, following the signing of the Neilly Treaty (1919) concerning the so-called "voluntary" exchange of population between Greece and Bulgaria. Of them 66,126 people from Greek Macedonia." For more see: Victor Roudometof, Collective Memory, National Identity, and Ethnic Conflict: Greece, Bulgaria, and the Macedonian Question; Greenwood Publishing Group, 2002
    ISBN 0275976483
    , p. 97.
  15. ^ Kaloudis, George "Ethnic Cleansing in Asia Minor and the Treaty of Lausanne" p.59-89 from International Journal on World Peace, Volume 31, No. 1, March 2014 p.83-84
  16. ^ R. Clogg, p. 118.
  17. ^ K. Svolopoulos, Greek Foreign Policy 1945–1981, p. 134.
  18. ^ R. Clogg, p. 153.
  19. ^ a b Μιχαλολιάκος: Του χρόνου στην Κωνσταντινούπολη, στην Σμύρνη, στην Τραπεζούντα…. Stochos (in Greek). 31 December 2012. Retrieved 3 November 2013.
  20. ^ "Greek far-right leader vows to 'take back' İstanbul, İzmir", Today's Zaman, 15 June 2012, archived from the original on 3 November 2013, retrieved 12 September 2012
  21. ^ "Greek 'Führer' vows to 'take back İzmir' after Istanbul". Hürriyet Daily News. 15 June 2012.
  22. ^ "Yunanistan'da Türk konsolosun aracına saldırı" (in Turkish). NTVMSNBC. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  23. ^ Gatopoulos, Derek; Becatoros, Elena (7 October 2020). "Greek court rules Golden Dawn party criminal organization". Associated Press. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
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