History of Greece

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The history of Greece encompasses the history of the territory of the modern nation-state of Greece as well as that of the Greek people and the areas they inhabited and ruled historically. The scope of Greek habitation and rule has varied throughout the ages and as a result, the history of Greece is similarly elastic in what it includes.

Timeline

Generally, the history of Greece is divided into the following periods:

• Prehistoric Greece:
  • Homo sapiens
    in the region.
  • Mesolithic Greece, starting in 13000 BC and ending around 7000 BC, was a period of long and slow development of primitive human "proto-communities".
  • Neolithic Greece, beginning with the establishment of agricultural societies around 7000 BC and ending c. 3200 – c. 3100 BC, was a vital part of the early history of Greece because it was the base for early Bronze Age civilizations in the area. The first organized communities developed and basic art became more advanced in Neolithic Greece.
  • Bronze Age Greece (c. 3200 – c. 1100 BC) began with the transition to a metal-based economy during the Early Helladic period of mainland Greece (c. 3200 – c. 2000 BC). Meanwhile, Cycladic culture prospered in the Cyclades (c. 3200 – c. 1050 BC) and Minoan civilization around Crete (c. 3500 – c. 1100 BC). The Bronze Age ended with the rise and fall of the Mycenaean Greek palace culture (c. 1750 – c. 1050 BC) in the Late Bronze Age collapse
    .
• Ancient Greece usually encompasses Greek antiquity, as well as part of the region's late prehistory (Late Bronze Age). It lasted from c. 1200 BC – c. 600 AD and can be subdivided into the following periods:
  • Greek Dark Ages (or Iron Age, Homeric Age), 1100–800 BC
  • Archaic period, 800–490 BC
  • Classical period, 490–323 BC
  • Hellenistic period, 323–146 BC
  • Roman Greece, covering the period of the Roman conquest of Greece from 146 BC – 324 AD
• Byzantine Greece covers the period of Greece under the Byzantine Empire, lasting from the establishment of Constantinople as the capital city of Byzantium in 324 AD until the fall of Constantinople in 1453.
• Venetian possessions) lasted from the Fourth Crusade in 1204 AD to 1797, the year of the disestablishment of the Venetian Republic
  .
• Greek Revolution of 1821
  .
• Modern Greece
  covers the period from 1821 to present.

At its cultural and geographical peak, Greek civilization spread from Egypt all the way to the Hindu Kush mountains in Afghanistan. Since then, Greek minorities have continued to inhabit former Greek territories (e.g. Turkey, Albania, Italy, Libya, Levant, Armenia, Georgia), and Greek emigrants have assimilated into differing societies across the globe (e.g., North America, Australia, Northern Europe, South Africa). At present, most Greeks live in the modern states of Greece (independent since 1821) and Cyprus.

Prehistoric Greece

Pre-Paleolithic Period

Fossils of one of the earliest pre-humans (Ouranopithecus macedoniensis, 9.6–8.7 million years ago),^[1] and of quite possibly the oldest direct ancestor of all humans (Graecopithecus, 7.2 million years ago) were found in Greece.^[2] In addition, 5.7 million year old footprints were found on the Greek island of Crete,^[3] which may suggest hominin evolution outside of Africa, contrary to current hypotheses.^[4]

Paleolithic Period (c. 3.3M BC – 13000 BC)

The

Paleolithic finds from Greece were first reported in 1867, but the first organized research on the sites was conducted many years later, between 1927 and 1931, by the Austrian archaeologist Adalbert Markovits. The first excavation of a Paleolithic site took place in 1942 at Seidi Cave in Boeotia by the German archaeologist Rudolf Stampfuss. More systematic research, however, was conducted during the 1960s in Epirus, Macedonia, Thessaly and the Peloponnese by English, American and German research groups.^[10]

Mesolithic Period (13000–7000 BC)

The

Neolithic Period to Bronze Age (7000–1100 BC)

The Neolithic Revolution reached Europe beginning in 7000–6500 BC when agriculturalists from the Near East entered the Greek peninsula from Anatolia by island-hopping through the Aegean Sea. The earliest known Neolithic sites with developed agricultural economies in Europe, dated 8500–9000 BP, were found in Greece.^[16] The first Greek-speaking tribes, speaking the predecessor of the Mycenaean language, arrived in the Greek mainland sometime in the Neolithic period or the Early Bronze Age (c. 3200 BC).^[17][18]

Cycladic and Minoan civilization

The Cycladic culture is a significant Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age material culture from the Cyclades, best known for its schematic flat female idols carved out of the islands' pure white marble.

The Middle Bronze Age Minoan civilization in Crete lasted from c. 3000 – c. 1400 BC.^[19] Little specific information is known about the Minoans, including their written system, which was recorded with the undeciphered Linear A script^[19] and Cretan hieroglyphs. Even the name Minoans is a modern appellation, derived from Minos, the legendary king of Crete. They were primarily a mercantile people engaged in extensive overseas trade throughout the Mediterranean region.^[19]

Minoan civilization was affected by a number of natural cataclysms, such as the volcanic eruption at

Pre-Mycenean Helladic period

Following the end of the

(c. 2200 – c. 2000 BC), and the Middle Helladic period before the Mycenean period discussed below.

Mycenaean civilization

Mycenaean civilization originated and evolved from the society and culture of the Early and Middle

also have important Mycenaean sites.

Mycenaean civilization was dominated by a warrior

.

Around 1100–1050 BC, the Mycenaean civilization collapsed. Numerous cities were sacked and the region entered what historians see as a "dark age". During this period, Greece experienced a decline in population and literacy. The Greeks themselves have traditionally blamed this decline on an invasion by another wave of Greek people, the Dorians, although there is scant archaeological evidence for this view.

Ancient Greece (1100–146 BC)

]

The Greek Dark Ages are succeeded by the

]

Ancient Greece is considered by many historians to be the foundational culture of Western civilization. Greek culture was a powerful influence in the Roman Empire, which carried a version of it to many parts of Europe. Ancient Greek civilization has been immensely influential on the language, politics, educational systems, philosophy, art, and architecture of the modern world, particularly during the Renaissance in Western Europe and again during various neo-classical revivals in 18th- and 19th-century Europe and the Americas.

Iron Age (1100–800 BC)

The Greek Dark Ages (c. 1100 – c. 800 BC) refers to the period of Greek history from the presumed Dorian invasion and end of the Mycenaean civilization in the 11th century BC to the rise of the first Greek city-states in the 9th century BC and the epics of Homer and earliest writings in the Greek alphabet in the 8th century BC.

The collapse of the Mycenaean civilization coincided with the fall of several other large empires in the near east, most notably the Hittite and the Egyptian. The cause is still somewhat mysterious, but has often been attributed to the invasion of hypothesized Sea Peoples wielding iron weapons. A hypothesized Dorian invasion may have also contributed, as asserted by ancient Greek legend but unsubstantiated by the archaeological record. Legend asserts that Dorians migrated down into Greece equipped with superior iron weapons, colonizing and easily dispersing the already weakened Mycenaeans. The period that follows these events is collectively known as the Greek Dark Ages.

Kings ruled throughout this period until eventually they were replaced with an aristocracy, then still later, in some areas, an aristocracy within an aristocracy—an elite of the elite. Warfare shifted from a focus on the cavalry to a great emphasis on infantry. Due to its cheapness of production and local availability, iron replaced bronze as the metal of choice in the manufacturing of tools and weapons. Slowly, however, equality grew among the different sects of people, leading to the dethronement of the various kings and the rise of the family.^{[clarification needed][citation needed]}

At the end of this period of stagnation, the Greek civilization was engulfed in a renaissance that spread throughout the Greek world as far as the

.

Archaic Greece

In the 8th century BC, Greece began to emerge from the Dark Ages which followed the fall of the Mycenaean civilization. Literacy had been lost and Mycenaean script forgotten, but the Greeks adopted the Phoenician alphabet, modifying it to create the Greek alphabet. From about the 9th century BC, written records begin to appear.^[22] Greece was divided into many small self-governing communities, a pattern largely dictated by Greek geography, where every island, valley, and plain is cut off from its neighbors by the sea or mountain ranges.^[23]

The Archaic period can be understood as the

.

Classical Greece

Stoa of Attalus

, one of the earliest nameable historians whose work survives.

Leonidas at Thermopylae by Jacques-Louis David

.

The basic unit of politics in Ancient Greece was the

Persian Empire

), it took the form of an alliance going to war. It also gave ample opportunity for wars within Greece between different poleis.

Persian Wars

Main article: Greco-Persian Wars

Two major wars shaped the Classical Greek world. The first was the

Mardonius led an army (supported by a fleet) across the Hellespont, re-subjugating Thrace and adding Macedonia as a fully-subjugated client kingdom.^[24] However, before he could reach Greece proper, his fleet was destroyed in a storm near Mount Athos. In 490 BC, Darius sent another fleet directly across the Aegean Sea (rather than following the land route as Mardonius had done) to subdue Athens. After destroying the city of Eretria, the fleet landed and faced the Athenian army at Marathon, which ended in a decisive Athenian victory. Darius's successor, Xerxes I, launched the Second Persian invasion of Greece in 480 BC. Despite Greek defeat at Thermopylae, after which the Persians briefly overran northern and central Greece,^[25] the Greek city-states once again managed to comprehensively defeat the invaders with naval victory at Salamis and victory on land at Plataea

.

To prosecute the war and then to defend Greece from further Persian attack, Athens founded the Delian League in 477 BC. Initially, each city in the League would contribute ships and soldiers to a common army, but in time Athens allowed (and then compelled) the smaller cities to contribute funds so that it could supply their quota of ships. Secession from the League could be punished. Following military reversals against the Persians, the treasury was moved from Delos to Athens, further strengthening the latter's control over the League. The Delian League was eventually referred to pejoratively as the Athenian Empire.

In 458 BC, while the Persian Wars were still ongoing, war broke out between the Delian League and the Peloponnesian League, comprising Sparta and its allies. After some inconclusive fighting, the two sides signed a peace treaty in 447 BC. That peace was stipulated to last thirty years: instead, it held only until 431 BC, with the onset of the Peloponnesian War.

Peloponnesian War

Main article: Peloponnesian War

The main sources concerning the Peloponnesian war (431–404 BC) are

Hellenica

. Both historians were also Athenian generals who lived through the war.

The war began in 431 BC over a dispute between the cities of

.

There was disagreement among the Greeks as to which party violated the treaty between the Delian and Peloponnesian Leagues, as Athens was technically defending a new ally. The Corinthians turned to Sparta for aid. Fearing the growing might of Athens and witnessing Athens' willingness to use it against the Megarians (the embargo would have ruined them), Sparta declared the treaty violated, and the Peloponnesian War began in earnest.

The first stage of the war (known as the

, a subjugated population of Sparta, revolt.

This strategy required that Athens endure regular

, the Athenian general who had argued for the Sicilian Expedition, defected to the Spartan cause after being accused of grossly impious acts. Alcibiades convinced the Spartans that they could not allow Athens to subjugate Syracuse. The campaign ended in disaster for the Athenians.

After the Athenian defeat in Sicily, Athens' Ionian possessions rebelled with the support of Sparta, as advised by Alcibiades. In 411 BC, an oligarchical revolt in Athens held out the chance for peace, but the Athenian navy, which remained committed to the democracy, refused to accept the change and continued fighting in Athens' name. The navy recalled Alcibiades, who had been forced to abandon the Spartan cause after reputedly seducing the wife of Agis II, a Spartan king, and made him its head. The oligarchy in Athens collapsed and Alcibiades reconquered what had been lost for Athens.

In 407 BC, Alcibiades was replaced following a minor naval defeat at the Battle of Notium. The Spartan general Lysander, having fortified his city's naval power, began winning victory after victory. Athens won the Battle of Arginusae in 406 BC but was prevented by bad weather from rescuing many of its sailors, leading the city to execute or exile eight of its top naval commanders. Lysander followed with a crushing blow at the Battle of Aegospotami in 405 BC which almost destroyed the Athenian fleet. Athens surrendered one year later, ending the Peloponnesian War and beginning a brief of period of Spartan hegemony in Greece.

The war left devastation in its wake. Discontent with Spartan hegemony from both Athenian and former Spartan allies led to the

in 371 BC, inaugurating a period of Theban dominance in Greece.

In 346 BC, unable to prevail in its

, beginning the Hellenistic Age of Greek history.

Hellenistic Greece

The Hellenistic period of Greek history begins with the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and ends with the conquest of the Greek peninsula and islands by Rome in 146 BC. Although the establishment of Roman rule did not break the continuity of Hellenistic society and culture, which remained essentially unchanged until the advent of Christianity, it did mark the end of Greek political independence.

During the Hellenistic period, the importance of "Greece proper" (that is, the territory of modern Greece) within the Greek-speaking world declined sharply. The great centres of Hellenistic culture were

for the history of Greek culture outside Greece in this period.)

.

Macedonian control of the city-states was intermittent, with a number of revolts. Athens,

, was in effect independent, and controlled most of southern Greece. Sparta also remained independent, but generally refused to join any league.

Attalid kingdom occupied some of this area. Not shown: Indo-Greek Kingdom

.

In 267 BC,

islands, except Rhodes, under its rule as well.

Sparta remained hostile to the Achaeans, and in 227 BC it invaded Achaea and seized control of the League. The remaining Achaeans preferred distant Macedon to nearby Sparta and allied with the former. In 222 BC, the Macedonian army defeated the Spartans and annexed their city—the first time Sparta had ever been occupied by a different state.

Philip V of Macedon was the last Greek ruler with both the talent and the opportunity to unite Greece and preserve its independence against the ever-increasing power of Rome. Under his auspices, the Peace of Naupactus (217 BC) brought conflict between Macedon and the Greek leagues to an end, and at this time he controlled all of Greece except Athens, Rhodes, and Pergamum.

In 215 BC, however, Philip formed an alliance with Rome's enemy

broke out in 212 BC and ended inconclusively in 205 BC, but Macedon was now marked as an enemy of Rome.

In 202 BC, Rome defeated Carthage and was free to turn her attention eastwards. In 198 BC, the

Titus Quinctius Flaminius

.

Luckily for the Greeks, Flaminius was a moderate man and an admirer of Greek culture. Philip had to surrender his fleet and become a Roman ally, but he was otherwise spared. At the Isthmian Games in 196 BC, Flaminius declared all the Greek cities free, although Roman garrisons were placed at Corinth and Chalcis. But the freedom promised by Rome was an illusion. All the cities except Rhodes were enrolled in a new League which Rome ultimately controlled, and aristocratic constitutions were favored and actively promoted.

Roman Greece (146 BC – 324 AD)

In the 2nd century BC, Greece was conquered by the

lore.

Although the period of Roman rule in Greece is conventionally dated as starting from the

in 168 BC.

The Romans divided the region into four smaller republics, and in 146 BC

agora in Athens

continued to be the center of civic and political life.

Emperor

.

Caracalla's decree did not set in motion the processes that led to the transfer of power from Italy and the West to Greece and the East, but rather accelerated them, setting the foundations for the millennium-long rise of Greece, in the form of the

.

Middle Ages

Byzantine rule (324–1204)

Main articles:

Barbarian invasions

The division of the

, a beacon for Greeks that lasted into the modern era.

The East Roman Empire, now also known as the Byzantine Empire, was dominated politically by Emperors Constantine the Great and Justinian from 324 to 610. Assimilating the Roman tradition, the emperors sought to build the foundation for later developments and formation of the Empire. The early centuries of the Empire were marked by efforts to secure its borders and restore the Roman territories, as well as the formation and establishment of the Orthodox Church and several of religious schisms following it.

In the first period of the middle Byzantine era (610–867), the empire was attacked both by old enemies (

). The main characteristic of this period was instability, as enemy attacks tended to extend deep into the Empire's interior, even threatening the capital itself.

The attacks of the Slavs became less frequent as the

Sclavinias

.

Changes also occurred in the internal structure of the empire, due to both external and internal conditions. The predominance of small free farmers, the expansion of military estates, and the development of the system of

(726–787 and 814–842) allowed the successful resumption of missionary action among neighboring peoples and their placement within the sphere of Byzantine cultural influence. During this period, the Empire was geographically reduced and economically damaged since it lost wealth-producing regions. However, it obtained greater lingual, dogmatic, and cultural homogeneity.

From the late 8th century, the Empire began to recover from the devastating impact of successive invasions, and the reconquest of the Greek peninsula began. Greeks from

Asia Minor

were brought in as settlers. Slavs were either driven out to Asia Minor or assimilated, and the Sclavinias were forcibly eradicated. By the middle of the 9th century, the Greek peninsula was under Byzantine control again, and its cities began to recover due to improved security and the restoration of effective central control.

Economic prosperity

After the Byzantine Empire was rescued from a period of crisis through the resolute leadership of the three Komnenoi emperors Alexios, John, and Manuel in the 12th century, Greece prospered. Recent research has revealed that this period was a time of significant growth in the rural economy, with rising population levels and extensive tracts of new agricultural land being brought into production.^{[citation needed]} The widespread construction of new rural churches around this time is a strong indication that prosperity was being generated even in remote areas.

A steady increase in population led to a higher population density, and there is good evidence that the demographic increase was accompanied by the revival of towns. According to Alan Harvey's Economic Expansion in the Byzantine Empire 900–1200, towns expanded significantly in the twelfth century. Archaeological evidence shows an increase in the size of urban settlements, together with a "notable upsurge" in new towns. It also indicates that many medieval towns, including Athens, Thessaloniki, Thebes, and Corinth, experienced a period of rapid and sustained growth, starting in the 11th century and continuing until the end of the 12th century.^{[29][page needed]}

The growth of the towns attracted trade with the

.

Artistic revival

A renaissance of

, with artists showing great interest in depicting natural landscapes with wild animals and scenes from the hunt. Mosaics became more realistic and vivid, with an increased emphasis on depicting three-dimensional forms. With its love of luxury and passion for color, the art of this age delighted in the production of masterpieces that spread the fame of Byzantium throughout the Christian world.

Beautiful silks from the workshops of Constantinople portrayed animals in dazzling color, such as lions, elephants, eagles, and griffins confronting each other, or Emperors gorgeously arrayed on horseback or engaged in the chase. The eyes of many patrons were attracted and the economy of Greece grew. In the provinces, regional schools of architecture began producing many distinctive styles that drew on a range of cultural influences. All this suggests that there was an increased demand for art, with more people having access to the necessary wealth to commission and pay for such work.

Yet the marvelous expansion of Byzantine art during this period, one of the most remarkable facts in the history of the empire, did not stop there. From the 10th to the 12th century, Byzantium was the main source of artistic inspiration for the West. For example, the mosaics of

in the 12th century.

, and the Norman kings of Sicily all drew from Byzantine culture in their art.

The Fourth Crusade (1204)

The year 1204 marks the beginning of the

entered medieval Greek life.

From partial Byzantine restoration to 1453

The Latin Empire, lasted only 57 years, and in 1261

on May 29, 1453. The Ottoman conquest of Constantinople resulted in the official end of both the Eastern Roman Empire and the Byzantine period of Greek history.

Venetian and Ottoman rule (15th century – 1821 AD)

The Greeks held out in the

in 1800.

When the Ottomans arrived, two Greek migrations occurred. In the first, the Greek intelligentsia migrated to Western Europe, influencing the advent of the European Renaissance. In the second, Greeks left the plains of the Greek peninsula and resettled in the mountains.^[30]

]

The Ottomans ruled most of Greece until the early 19th century. The first self-governed Hellenic state since the Middle Ages was established on the Ionian islands during the French Revolutionary Wars in 1800, 21 years before the outbreak of the Greek revolution in mainland Greece. It was called the Septinsular Republic (Greek: Ἑπτάνησος Πολιτεία), or Republic of the Seven United Islands, and it used Corfu as its capital.

Modern Greek nation state (1821 – present)

In the early months of 1821, the Greeks

.

On October 20, 1827, a combined British, French and Russian naval force destroyed the Ottoman and Egyptian armada. The Russian minister of foreign affairs,

. In 1834, King Otto transferred the capital to Athens.

During the 19th and early 20th centuries, Greece sought to enlarge its boundaries to include the ethnic Greek population of the Ottoman Empire. Greece played a peripheral role in the Crimean War. When Russia attacked the Ottoman Empire in 1853, Greek leaders saw an opportunity to expand North and South into Ottoman areas that had a Christian majority. However, Greece did not coordinate its plans with Russia, did not declare war, and received no outside military or financial support. The French and British seized its major port and effectively neutralized the Greek army. Greek efforts to cause insurrections failed as they were easily crushed by Ottoman forces. Greece was not invited to the peace conference and made no gains out of the war. The frustrated Greek leadership blamed the King for failing to take advantage of the situation; his popularity plunged and he was later forced to abdicate. The Ionian Islands were given by Britain upon the arrival of the new King George I in 1863 and Thessaly was ceded by the Ottomans in 1880.

Modernization

In the late 19th century, modernization transformed the social structure of Greece. The population grew rapidly, putting heavy pressure on the system of small farms with low productivity. Overall, population density more than doubled from 41 persons per square mile in 1829 to 114 in 1912 (16 to 44 per km²). One response was emigration to the United States, with a quarter million people leaving between 1906 and 1914. Entrepreneurs found numerous business opportunities in the retail and restaurant sectors of American cities; some sent money back to their families, others returned with hundreds of dollars, enough to purchase a farm or a small business in the old village. The urban population tripled from 8% in 1853 to 24% in 1907. Athens grew from a village of 6000 people in 1834, when it became the capital, to 63,000 in 1879, 111,000 in 1896, and 167,000 in 1907.^[33]

In Athens and other cities, men arriving from rural areas set up workshops and stores, creating a middle class. They joined with bankers, professional men, university students, and military officers, to demand reform and modernization of the political and economic system. Athens became the center of the merchant marine, which quadrupled from 250,000 tons in 1875 to more than 1,000,000 tons in 1915. As the cities modernized, businessmen adopted the latest styles of Western European architecture.^[34]

Balkan Wars

The participation of Greece in the

.

World War I and Greco-Turkish War

Army of National Defence

marches on its way to the front, 1916. Greece joined united with the Allies side in summer 1917.

The outbreak of World War I in 1914 produced a split in Greek politics, with King Constantine I, an admirer of Germany, calling for neutrality while Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos pushed for Greece to join the Allies.^[35] The conflict between the monarchists and the Venizelists sometimes resulted in open warfare and became known as the National Schism. In 1917, the Allies forced Constantine to abdicate in favor of his son Alexander and Venizelos returned as premier. At the end of the war, the Great Powers agreed that the Ottoman city of Smyrna (İzmir) and its hinterland, both of which had large Greek populations, be handed over to Greece.^[35]

The war was concluded by the

Interwar to World War II

See also:

Greek Resistance

National Organisation of Youth (EON) salute in presence of dictator Metaxas

(1938)

Greek Resistance

cavalry during the Axis occupation

The

.

Despite the country's numerically small and ill-equipped armed forces, Greece made a decisive contribution to the

). This marked the first Allied victory in the war.

Primarily to secure his strategic southern flank, German dictator

in April 1941. Axis units from Germany, Bulgaria, and Italy successfully invaded Greece, through Yugoslavia, forcing out the Greek defenders. The Greek government eventually decided to stop the fighting and thus stopped sending ammunition and supplies to the northern front and the defenders were easily overrun. The Greek government then proceeded, as the Nazi forces came towards the capital of Athens, to leave for Crete and then Cairo, Egypt.

On 20 May 1941, the Germans attempted to

started on 20 May 1941 instead of 22 June 1941, the Nazi assault against the Soviet Union might have succeeded. The heavy losses of German paratroopers led the Germans to launch no further large-scale air-invasions.

During the

Jewish community

despite efforts by Christian Greeks to shelter the Jews. The economy of Greece was devastated.

When the Soviet Army began its drive across

Christina Goulter summarizes the devastation done to Greece during the war:[43]

"Between 1941 and 1945, over 8% of the Greek population had died; some 2000 villages and small towns had been razed to the ground; starvation was widespread due to the destruction of crops and worsened in many parts of Greece after liberation when agricultural labourers migrated to urban centres to escape politically inspired violence in the countryside; trade either internally or externally had all but ceased; most of Greece's merchant marine lay at the bottom of the sea; and motorized transport had been confiscated by the axis occupiers."

Greek Civil War (1944–1949)

The Greek Civil War (Greek: Eμφύλιος πόλεμος, romanized: Emfílios pólemos) was the first major confrontation of the Cold War.^[44] It was fought between 1944 and 1949 in Greece between the nationalist/non-Marxist forces of Greece (financially supported by the United Kingdom at first, and later by the United States^[45]) and the Democratic Army of Greece (ELAS), which was the military branch of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE).

The conflict resulted in a victory for the British — and later U.S.-supported government forces, which led to Greece receiving American funds through the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan, as well as becoming a member of NATO, which helped to define the ideological balance of power in the Aegean for the entire Cold War.

The first phase of the civil war occurred in 1943–1944. Marxist and non-Marxist resistance groups fought each other in a fratricidal conflict to establish the leadership of the Greek resistance movement. In the second phase (December 1944), the ascendant communists, in military control of most of Greece, confronted the returning Greek

.

The war, which lasted from 1946 to 1949, was characterised by guerilla warfare between the KKE forces and Greek governmental forces mainly in the mountain ranges of northern Greece. The war ended with the NATO bombing of Mount Grammos and the final defeat of the KKE forces. The civil war left Greece with a legacy of political polarization. As a result, Greece also entered into an alliance with the United States and joined NATO, while relationships with its communist northern neighbours, both pro-Soviet and neutral, became strained.

Postwar development and integration in Western Bloc (1949–1967)

In the 1950s and 1960s, Greece developed rapidly, initially with the help of the Marshall Plan's grants and loans, also to decrease the communist influence. In 1952, by joining NATO, Greece clearly became part of the Western Bloc of the Cold War. But in Greek society, the deep divide between the leftist and rightist sections continued.

The Greek economy advanced further through growth in the tourism sector. New attention was given to women's rights, and in 1952 suffrage for women was guaranteed in the Constitution, full Constitutional equality following, and Lina Tsaldari becoming the first female minister that decade.

The

Military dictatorship (1967–1974)

In 1967, the Greek military seized power in a

was appointed as the new head-of-state.

Ioannides was responsible for the 1974 coup against President

in Athens led to the implosion of the military régime.

Third Hellenic Republic (1974 – present)

After the end of the military régime, democracy was restored.

The fall of the junta was followed by the

In 1974, a referendum voted 69%–31% to confirm the deposition of King

After the restoration of democracy, Greece's stability and economic prosperity improved significantly. Greece rejoined NATO in 1980, joined the

).

Greece in the Eurozone

The 2008 global economic recession impacted Greece, as well as the

agreed on a €110 billion loan for Greece, conditional on the implementation of harsh austerity measures.

In October 2011, Eurozone leaders also agreed on a proposal to write off 50% of Greek debt owed to private creditors, increasing the

SYRIZA

became the largest party on the left. The position of the far-right was also strengthened in this period.

SYRIZA has since overtaken PASOK as the main party of the centre-left.[58]Alexis Tsipras led SYRIZA to victory in the general election held on 25 January 2015, falling short of an outright majority in Parliament by just two seats.^[59] The following morning, Tsipras reached an agreement with Independent Greeks party to form a coalition, and he was sworn in as Prime Minister of Greece.^[60] Tsipras called snap elections in August 2015, resigning from his post, which led to a month-long caretaker administration headed by judge Vassiliki Thanou-Christophilou, Greece's first female prime minister.^[61] In the September 2015 general election, Alexis Tsipras led SYRIZA to another victory, winning 145 out of 300 seats^[62] and re-forming the coalition with the Independent Greeks.^[63] However, he was defeated in the July 2019 general election by Kyriakos Mitsotakis who leads New Democracy.^[64] On 7 July 2019, Kyriakos Mitsotakis was sworn in as the new Prime Minister of Greece. He formed a centre-right government after the landslide victory of his New Democracy party.^[65]

In March 2020, Greece's parliament elected a non-partisan candidate, Katerina Sakellaropoulou, as the first female President of Greece.^[66] In June 2023, conservative New Democracy party won the legislative election, meaning another four-year term as prime minister for Kyriakos Mitsotakis.^[67]

In 2024, the Greek economy is forecast to grow nearly 3%, meaning it approaches its pre-crisis size of 2009 and far outpacing the euro zone average economic growth of 0.8%.^[68]

See also

• History of Crete
• History of Cyprus
• History of the Cyclades
• History of Thessaly
• History of Athens
• History of Macedonia
• History of Thrace
• History of the Greek language
• Timeline of Ancient Greece
• Timeline of modern Greek history
• Neolithic Greece
• Aegean civilization
• Cycladic culture
• Minoan civilization
• Mycenaean Greece
• Greek Dark Ages

Lists:

• List of ancient Greeks
• List of ancient Greek cities
• List of kings of Greece
• List of presidents of Greece
• List of prime ministers of Greece

General:

• History of the Balkans
• History of Asia Minor
• Intermediate Region
• History of Europe

References

Citations

Sources

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• Caskey, John L. (July–September 1960). "The Early Helladic Period in the Argolid". Hesperia. 29 (3): 285–303.
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• Caskey, John L. (1968). "Lerna in the Early Bronze Age". American Journal of Archaeology. 72 (4): 313–316.
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• Castleden, Rodney (1993) [1990]. Minoans: Life in Bronze Age Crete. London and New York: Routledge.
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• Chadwick, John (1963). The Cambridge Ancient History: The Prehistory of the Greek Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Churchill, Winston S. (2010) [1953]. Triumph and Tragedy: The Second World War (Volume 6). New York: RosettaBooks, LLC.
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• Coccossis, Harry; Psycharis, Yannis (2008). Regional Analysis and Policy: The Greek Experience. Heidelberg: Physica-Verlag (A Springer Company).
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• Coleman, John E. (2000). "An Archaeological Scenario for the "Coming of the Greeks" c. 3200 B.C." The Journal of Indo-European Studies. 28 (1–2): 101–153.
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• Dickinson, Oliver (December 1999). "Invasion, Migration and the Shaft Graves". Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies. 43 (1): 97–107.
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• Featherstone, Kevin (1990). "8. Political Parties and Democratic Consolidation in Greece". In Pridham, Geoffrey (ed.). Securing Democracy: Political Parties and Democratic Consolidation in Southern Europe. London: Routledge. pp. 179–202.
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• Forsén, Jeannette (1992). The Twilight of the Early Helladics. Partille, Sweden: Paul Aströms Förlag.
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• French, D.M. (1973). "Migrations and 'Minyan' pottery in western Anatolia and the Aegean". In Crossland, R.A.; Birchall, Ann (eds.). Bronze Age Migrations in the Aegean. Park Ridge, NJ: Noyes Press. pp. 51–57.
• Georgiev, Vladimir Ivanov (1981). Introduction to the History of the Indo-European Languages. Sofia: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.
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• Gray, Russel D.; Atkinson, Quentin D. (2003). "Language-tree Divergence Times Support the Anatolian Theory of Indo-European Origin". Nature. 426 (6965): 435–439.
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• Hall, Jonathan M. (2014) [2007]. A History of the Archaic Greek World, ca. 1200–479 BCE. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.
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• Heisenberg, August; Kromayer, Johannes; von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff, Ulrich (1923). Staat und Gesellschaft der Griechen und Römer bis Ausgang des Mittelalters (Volume 2, Part 4). Leipzig and Berlin: Verlag und Druck von B. G. Teubner.
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• Jones, Adam (2010). Genocide: A Comprehensive Introduction. London and New York: Routledge (Taylor & Francis).
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• Marantzidis, Nikos; Antoniou, Giorgios (2004). "The Axis Occupation and Civil War: Changing Trends in Greek Historiography, 1941–2002". Journal of Peace Research. 41 (2): 223–241.
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• Moustakis, Fotos (2003). The Greek-Turkish Relationship and NATO. London and Portland: Frank Cass.
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Further reading

• Boardman, John; Griffin, Jasper; Murray, Oswyn (1991) [1986]. The Oxford History of Greece & the Hellenistic World. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press.
  ISBN 978-0-19-285247-2
  .
• Brewer, David (2010). Greece, The Hidden Centuries: Turkish Rule from the Fall of Constantinople to Greek Independence. London and New York: I.B. Tauris.
  ISBN 978-0-85-773004-6
  .
• Burn, Andrew Robert (1990). The Penguin History of Greece. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books.
  ISBN 978-0-14-013751-4
  .
• Cartledge, Paul (2002). The Cambridge Illustrated History of Ancient Greece. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  ISBN 978-0-52-152100-0
  .
• ISBN 978-0-521-29037-1
  .
• Demand, Nancy H. (2006). A History of Ancient Greece in Its Mediterranean Context. Cornwall-on-Hudson, NY: Sloan Publishing.
  ISBN 978-1-59-738003-4
  .
• Grant, Michael (1992). A Social History of Greece and Rome. New York: Scribner (Maxwell Macmillan International).
  ISBN 978-0-68-419309-0
  .
• Koliopoulos, John S.; Veremis, Thanos M. (2010). Modern Greece: A History since 1821. Chichester and Malden: John Wile & Sons.
  ISBN 978-1-44-431483-0
  .
• ISBN 978-8-87-088285-8
  .
• Maran, Joseph (1998). Kulturwandel auf dem griechischen Festland und den Kykladen im späten 3. Jahrtausend v. Chr (in German). Bonn: Habelt.
  ISBN 978-3-77-492870-1
  .
• Mylonas, George Emmanuel (1966). Mycenae and the Mycenaean Age. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
  ISBN 9780691035239
  .
• Podzuweit, Christian (1982). "Die mykenische Welt und Troja". In Hänsel, B. (ed.). Südosteuropa zwischen 1600 und 1000 v. Chr (in German). Berlin: Prahistorische Archäologie in Sudosteuropa. pp. 65–88.
• Runnels, Curtis Neil; Murray, Priscilla (2001). Greece before History: An Archaeological Companion and Guide. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
  ISBN 978-0-8047-4050-0
  .
• Pomeroy, Sarah B.; Burstein, Stanley M.; Donlan, Walter; Roberts, Jennifer Tolbert (2009). A Brief History of Ancient Greece: Politics, Society and Culture. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  ISBN 978-0-19-537235-9
  .
• Taylour, Lord William (1990) [1964]. The Mycenaeans. London: Thames & Hudson, Limited.
  ISBN 978-0-50-027586-3
  .
• Woodhouse, Christopher Montague (1991). Modern Greece: A Short History. London and Boston: Faber and Faber.
  ISBN 978-0-57-116122-5
  .

Historiography

• Boletsi, M. "The futurity of things past: Thinking Greece beyond crisis." Inaugural Speech as Marilena Laskaridis Chair of Modern Greek Studies, Amsterdam, Netherlands 21 (2018) online.
• Tziovas, Dimitris. "The study of modern Greece in a changing world: fading allure or potential for reinvention?." Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies 40.1 (2016): 114–125. online

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to History of Greece.

• A Visual Illustrated Timeline of the History of Greece Archived 2015-03-12 at the Wayback Machine
• The Prehistoric Archaeology of the Aegean
• History of Greece: Primary Documents
• A Short History of Greece