DOCSLIB.ORG

The Political Economy of King's Otto Reign

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Political Economy of King's Otto Reign Tafter Journal scritto da George Tridimas il 15 Luglio 2017 When the Greeks Loved the Germans: The Political Economy of King’s Otto Reign This article has been first published on German-Greek Yearbook of Political Economy, vol. 1 (2017) [1] Abstract In 1832 Prince Otto Wittelsbach of Bavaria was appointed King of the newly founded independent Greek state. Otto’s reign was a momentous period for Greece, initially under Regency then under Otto as an absolute ruler and from 1843 as a constitutional monarch until his expulsion in 1862. Using the historical record the paper focuses on three political economy questions, namely, the rationale for the foundation of a state, which relates to the provision of public goods and rent distribution, the constitutional order of the state regarding the choice between monarchy or republic, and the emergence of democracy by revolution or evolution. Introduction An aspect of the ongoing multifaceted Greek debt crisis has been a strain in the relations between Greece and Germany, where members of the German cabinet have been caricatured as heartless fiscal disciplinarians and of the Greek cabinet as delinquent fiscal rule breakers. A moment’s calmer reflection reminds us that in modern times the relations between Greece and Germany have been long standing and steeped in mutual respect. A case in point is the reign of King Otto of Greece from the Bavarian royal house of Wittelsbach. Modern Greece rose formally as an independent nation state in 1832 with the seventeen year old Otto as its ruler. Otto was welcomed in Greece with jubilation. An overwhelming majority of Greeks loved their German sovereign, who dreamy–eyed from ancient Greek glories and heroic acts during the 1821 Revolution against the Ottoman Empire arrived to build a new state. None of the parties involved could have imagined what followed culminating in Otto’s expulsion in 1862 after a turbulent thirty year reign. Founding state institutions after its people broke free from their previous master to be governed by alien rulers raises fundamental political economy questions including an explanation of the origins of the state, the role of the government in providing public goods, creating and distributing rents, the choice between monarchy and republic, revolution, political compromises and democracy. The present essay explains how Greece dealt these, partly overlapping, questions during the reign of King Otto. The next two Sections describe the historical developments during Otto’s reign, the government of the Regency (Section 2) and Otto’s rule first as an absolute and then as constitutional monarch (Section 3). Using the experience of Greece Section 4 inquires the origins of the state, that is, whether a state emerges by individuals joining to produce public goods or it is imposed by a ruler looking to maximise the surplus that can be extract from the subjects. Section 5 discusses the emergence of constitutional monarchy and its relevance to Greece, while Section 6 investigates how far revolution and constitutional evolution may explain the foundation of democratic government. Section 7 concludes. Greek Independence and the Bavarian Regency In 1821 the Greek subjects of the Ottoman Empire revolted against their rulers [2]. Initial military successes of the rebels were followed by heavy defeats but after the united fleets of Britain, France and Tafter Journal - All Rights Reserved | Pagina 1 di 17 Tafter Journal scritto da George Tridimas il 15 Luglio 2017 Russia destroyed the combined Turkish–Egyptian fleet in the sea battle of Navarino of 20 October 1827 independence beckoned. The nascent state confronted grave challenges including uncertainty about its territory, a ruined post–war economy, an illiterate population, and a divided society where different groups engaged in civil war and vied for control. In 1832, following intense diplomatic manoeuvring between the three “Protecting Powers” of Britain, France and Russia, with each one pursuing its own interests and the former two being suspicious of Russian intentions after it won the Russo – Turkish war of 1828–29, two international treaties were signed. Interestingly, the Greeks did not participate in either of the two treaties. The first treaty, signed with the Ottoman Turks, recognised Greece as an independent state. The second treaty signed with the King of Bavaria, Ludwig I of the House of Wittelsbach (an admirer of ancient Greece and a philhellene), installed his second son Otto (born in 1815) as King of Greece; Otto’s selection was ratified by the Fifth National assembly of Greece in 1832. According to the treaty, Otto was appointed absolute hereditary monarch and was granted a force of 3500 Bavarian troops to oversee his safety while the Bavarian officers would also train the Greek army. The new state was given loans of 60 mils franks, to be paid in three instalments and guaranteed by the three powers, to help manage the government finances and build the economy. The news of Otto’s selection was received by his new subjects with great joy; he received a rapturous welcome when he arrived in the then capital city Nafplion in January 1833. Exhausted by the war effort and in the midst of another civil war (that broke out after the 1831 assassination of the Greek Governor, I. Capodistrias), the Greeks saw Otto as a messiah. Not only did he embody the hope for domestic peace and progress, but as a king he was also conferring Greece equal international status with the rest of the European states. As Otto was not yet 18 years old, a Regency of three men ruled in his name. Count Joseph von Armansperg, exercised executive control, Law Professor Ludwig von Maurer, was responsible for designing the system of central and local government and civil and criminal justice, and General Karl Wilhelm von Heideck, administered the army. The romantic view inspired by the marvels of ancient Greece and the admiration for the heroism during the Revolution along with the optimism and goodwill of the Bavarians must have been in sharp contrast to the picture of devastation and impoverishment that met them when they arrived in 1832. Setting up a new state and establishing an effective government was a daunting task. To adopt Weber’s conception of the state, the ability of the new state to monopolise violence and impose law and order was at first limited. A national army had to be built from the revolutionary fighters. A pressing problem was to integrate the armed irregulars who having fought in the war of liberation against the Ottomans expected to be rewarded and turned to criminality like extortion and brigandage when aggrieved. Inducements were offered by way of pensions to older fighters and enlistment of younger ones to the regular army and the gendarmerie, but few fighters considered those rewards as sufficient. To establish its authority, the government had to wrestle control from the local political magnates (mainly big landowners) who acted as chiefs of clans and had administered public life during the Ottoman rule. Public administration was then organised by dividing the country to newly drawn prefectures, provinces and demes. Mayors in particular were given responsibility over a number of functions including education, law and order, and infrastructure works. The heads of each local authority were appointed by the crown from a list of candidates compiled by a local selection council whose members were elected in a restricted franchise Tafter Journal - All Rights Reserved | Pagina 2 di 17 Tafter Journal scritto da George Tridimas il 15 Luglio 2017 and non secret vote. The new administrative structure broke traditional forms of exercising power and was met by local resistance which sometimes took the form of refusal (often violent) to pay taxes and refusal of conscripts to serve in the national army. Nevertheless, recognising the power and influence that could be exercised in the new administrative structure, local elites strived for control of the local authorities. As a result and until the end of the 19th century, local population was interested more in local authority than national elections. Since the majority of the peasant population were landless solving questions of land ownership and redistribution were most demanding. Legislation was passed in 1835 giving all those who had fought in the war credits that were then used to buy smallholdings from the national lands (formerly land held by the Ottomans) to be held in perpetuity after paying off a 36 year mortgage. The land bought with such credits however could provide no more than subsistence, while tax and mortgage payments had also to be paid, implying prolonged poverty for those families that had no additional means. The system failed to achieve its goals of creating a large class of independent smallholders and securing tax revenues. [3] The dire state of an economy was compounded by the presence of thousands of destitute Greek refugees from lands where the revolution had been suppressed. Further political ramifications followed from the support of the latter group for an irredentist policy of renewed war to liberate the Greeks still living under Turkish rule. An additional economic handicap was that fertile lands where the majority of the population was Greek, and prosperous commercial centres remained under Ottoman control and sovereignty. Nor were affluent Greek merchants based in the European centres of commercial activity willing to resettle in the liberated Greece and apply their talents and assets to its economic regeneration. The relationship of the Orthodox Church of the independent Kingdom to the “Mother Church” of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople was a serious concern. Liberals advocated the independence of the Greek Church but conservatives opposed it. This dispute was important not only because Otto, the titular head of the Church, was king “by the grace of god” but also because of his catholic denomination.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • 2. the American Position 1946-1949 on Greece's Claims to Southern
    JOHN T. MALAKASSES THE AMERICAN POSITION 1946-1949, ON GREECE’S CLAIMS TO SOUTHERN ALBANIA The first post world war two administration that Greece was to have was installed in Athens, by a British expeditionary force which had ar­ rived on Greek soil at the heels of the retreating German army. Of course, it is worth emphasizing here, that the country had already been libera­ ted by the resistance armies, and an indigenous administration was ope­ rating in the land by the partisan armies of EAM, the EL AS. ' The Papandreou government, which was carried over from the Mid­ dle East by the British was a most subservient1 and totally depended on the later for its very existence. Not surprisingly then, that lacking mass popular support and at variance with the political institutions of the la­ nd, as had evolved during the occupation of the country by the Germans, it resorted to a campaign of an unpresedented, even for a Balkan state, jingoism, that was wiping to a frenzy the revanchist passions of the most politically retarted, elements of the population. Indeed, the market alie­ nation of the traditional political parties2, not excluding the liberal and 1. On the proverbial servility of Papandreou to the British, see a study by the OSS, British Policy toward Greece, 1941-1944, R & A No. 2818, Washington 9 Feb­ ruary 1945, pp. 22-26. In the annex pa. vi of the same study the following are con­ tained on Papandreou: «Papandreou’s habit of dealing directly with the British and of disregarding the existence of his cabinet has been exemplified on two occasions since the liberation of Greece (1) The order that the resistance groups must disband by December 10 1944 was announced after Papandreou had been in conference with General Scobie, but without the acquiesencc of his cabinet.
    [Show full text]
  • “The Foreigner of 1854”: a Short Novel Referring to the Cholera Epidemic of Athens in 1854
    - 94 - Ιατρικά Χρονικά Βορειοδυτικής Ελλάδας - Τόμος 14ος - Τεύχος 1ο “The Foreigner of 1854”: a short novel referring to the cholera epidemic of Athens in 1854 E. Poulakou-Rebelakou 1, Summary M. Mandyla-Kousouni 2, Cholera was one of the great killers of all time. The 3 disease had spread worldwide and affected human C. Tsiamis populations in seven deadly waves. The epidemic of cholera in Athens (1854) belongs to the third cholera pandemic (1839-1856), which started from Bengal (India) in 1839, spread worldwide to Middle East, 1 Department of History of Medicine, Russia, struck the Western Europe and furthermore Medical School, National and North and Latin America. In 1854, the pandemic Kapodistrian University of Athens, moved from France to Greece and Turkey, by French Greece troops returning from the Crimean War. Cholera first affected the port of Piraeus and soon reached Athens. 2 Historical Demography, School of The novel “The Foreigner of 1854”, although a literary History, Ionian University, Corfu, text is written like a chronicle of the disease and Greece many newspapers’ refers are embodied in it. Lycoudis narrates the abandonment of the city by the citizens, the panic among the rest population, the insufficient 3 Department of Microbiology, Medical hospital beds and the efforts of the physicians to offer School, National and Kapodistrian the most of the possible adjuvant therapeutic help University of Athens, Greece to the patients. The state structures and the poor organization of those times had collapsed and the author presents a unique spectacle of an empty and destroyed small city, commenting social attitudes, humanity, religion, and criticizing all deniers of their duty.
    [Show full text]
  • Ioannis S. Papafloratos the Italian Policy in Epirus (1861-1918)
    Ioannis S. Papafloratos The Italian Policy in Epirus (1861-1918) The interest of Rome in the region of Epirus dates back to the establishment of the Italian state in 1861. The Italian kingdom was not able to compete with other major powers in distant markets and to undertake overseas campaigns. Therefore, it sought an outlet in the vicinities of the Balkans and of the Middle East. Unfortunately for Italy, even in these areas, any direct confrontation with Germany (which had invested heavily in its policy towards the East), Great Britain (the economic leadership of which was undoubted because it was based on Egypt and on the control of the canal of Suez) or France (which had concluded the first capitulations to the Sultan and had deep roots in the area) was unthinkable. The only way left to Rome was to attempt to take advantage of the competition between the Great Powers. The eastern Adriatic coast was a favourite target for the Italians because of its geographical proximity, the dominant role of Genoa and Venice in the region in previous centuries and the apparent ina- bility of the Ottoman Empire to meet the requirements of the time. The control of this area was to become one of the major objectives of the Italian foreign policy for a long time. Moreover, many Italo- Albanian intellectuals, who lived mainly in the former Kingdom of Naples and Sicily, made a propaganda campaign to influence the public opinion. The first (incomplete) proof of Italian ambitions appeared in 1862. Then, King Otto of Greece sent a delegation in Rome in im- plementing a more dynamic foreign policy towards the Ottomans.
    [Show full text]
  • French and Greek Lithographs from the Greek War of Independence (1821–1827) and the Greek-Italian War (1940–1941) Anna Efstathiadou
    Representing Greekness: French and Greek Lithographs from the Greek War of Independence (1821–1827) and the Greek-Italian War (1940–1941) Anna Efstathiadou Abstract Popular lithographs produced by French and Greek artists during the Greek War of Independence (1821–1827) and the Greek-Italian War (1940–1941) quite often overstated elements of Greek national identity with a focus on classical antiquity and Byzantine Orthodoxy. This is a comparative study of how Greeks and Greece have been represented through the following two col- lections of the National Historical Museum in Athens: popular lithographs produced, printed, and distributed by French artists in France at the peak of the Philhellenic movement; and those produced by Greek artists in Greece dur- ing the Second World War (1940–1941). Although produced more than one hundred years apart and under very different circumstances, popular imagery created by Philhellenes in France during the 1820s and Greek artists under the Metaxas regime in 1940–1941 remains a valuable historical record that helps us explore how popular representations of Greek national identity and the notion of Greece can be adopted and appropriated in a variety of ways based on who is using them and for what purpose. The German Alois Senefeld invented lithography in 1798, printing, from a stone block onto paper, black-and-white artworks or illustrations. It was and still is a rather “economical means of creating or reproducing works of art” and it is characterized by the vividness and intensity of forms and colors that aim to appeal to emotion, to inform about current events and ultimately to be sold at a low cost directly to the public (Gustafson 2006:26).
    [Show full text]
  • Reflecting on the Kapodistrian Orphanage and Aegina Prison
    University of Dundee DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Objects as Portals Material Engagement and the Arts as a Catalyst for Social Change. Reflecting on the Kapodistrian Orphanage and Aegina Prison Vlachaki, Eleni Award date: 2019 Link to publication General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 07. Oct. 2021 Objects as Portals: Material Engagement and the Arts as a Catalyst for Social Change Reflecting on the Kapodistrian Orphanage and Aegina Prison Elika (Eleni) Vlachaki DOJ College of Art & Design University of Dundee A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy October 2019 i Contents Contents ............................................................................................................................. i Illustrations ......................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • The Islamic World RARE BOOKS, MANUSCRIPTS and MAPS Spring 2017
    The Islamic World RARE BOOKS, MANUSCRIPTS AND MAPS Spring 2017 RARE BOOKS, MANUSCRIPTS & MAPS 1 Part I 1 1 Al-Chidyak / Biblia Arabica. Kitab Al-Sulwat Al-’Amma + Kitab Mazamir Dawud 8vo. lix, 628 pp., Arabic text, endpaper & margins foxed, text director of the printing press of American missionaries. He also translated into Arabic, original full calf, new spine, Society for studied Fiqh in Al-Azhar University in Cairo. Faris is believed to Promoting Christian Knowledge, Oxford, 1871. have converted to Protestantism during this period in Egypt, an extended time of relative solitude and study. This work was printed in Arabic for the first time at the Arabic Press in Malta by the British Society for Promoting Christian In 1848 he was invited to Cambridge, England by the Orientalist Knowledge. It was translated from several languages into Arabic Samuel Lee (1783–1852) to participate in the Arabic by the leading Lebanese scholar who translated also the Bible into translation of the Bible. This translation of the Bible was published Arabic. in 1857, after the death of Samuel Lee and it is still considered one of the best Arabic translations of the Bible. [31025] From 1825 to 1848, Faris divided his time between living in Cairo and on the island of Malta. He was the editor-in-chief of an £ 800.00 Egyptian newspaper, Al Waqa'eh Al Masriah. In Malta, he was the RARE BOOKS, MANUSCRIPTS & MAPS 3 2 2 Al-Hariri, Abū Muhammad al-Qāsim ibn Alī ibn Muhammad. Maqamat Al-Hariri Illustrated By Y. Al-Wasiti. 13th Century Arabic Manuscript.
    [Show full text]
  • Greek Identity and the Olympic Games
    GREEK IDENTITY AND THE OLYMPIC GAMES Part II Pierre de Frédy, Baron de Coubertin y A French historian and educator who revived the Olympic games at the end of 19th century. y He believed that sports education must be a significant part of young people’s personal development. y In 1894 together with DemitriosVikelas, Coubertin founded the International Olympic Committee. Pierre de Frédy, Baron de Coubertin y According to David Young, Professor of Classics at the University of Florida, Baron Pierre de Coubertin assiduously promoted himself as the lone force behind the Olympics - and deliberately obscured the contributions of Evangelos Zappas and a handful of other, now mostly forgotten Greek and British advocates for the games. y “He took an idea that others had been failing at, but working at for decades - he took that idea and claimed it as his own and made it work,” Young said. “The credit for the Olympics really goes to the good luck and hard work of several people.” Pierre de Frédy, Baron de Coubertin y “Coubertin was a very active sportsman and practiced the sports of boxing, fencing, horse-riding and rowing,” according to the committee’s Web site. “He was convinced that sport was the springboard for moral energy and he defended his idea with rare tenacity. It was this conviction that led him to announce at the age of 31 that he wanted to revive the Olympic Games.” y Yet the Games had been revived in Athens four year before he was born in 1859 by Evangelos Zappas. Evangelos Zappas y A Greek businessman, philanthropist and the real founder of the modern Olympic Games.
    [Show full text]
  • Greeks Learning from the Germans Learning from the Greeks “All the Greeks Have to Do in Order to Be What They Used to Be, Is T
    Greeks learning from the Germans learning from the Greeks “All the Greeks have to do in order to be what they used to be, is to mimic the Germans.” Georg Ludwig von Maurer - President of the Legislative - 1832 The historic relationship between Greece and Germany arises once again the year of 2017. It has been going and coming for the past two centuries but this time comes with the subtitle Learn- ing from Athens. The Documenta 14 displaced itself towards Athens expanding its venue to a place far away from the historic Kassel, perhaps aiming to create a multiplicity of voices, per- spectives and political bodies where not everyone speaks but everyone listes. The aim of this text is to discuss the historic relationship between the two countries and how the use of historic narrative and most specific arts can be a tool for occupation and perpetuation of the status-quo. Through-out the XIX century the German presence in Greece had such an intensity that even today most of us passes through it without grasping the past events. When Otto von Wittels- bach - the Bavarian prince - became the king of Greece he was only 17 years old and ten years previous to that the war against the Ottoman Empire changed the geopolitics and the control- lers of the region. Together with Otto came the changes, in 1834 Athens was appointed the new capital of the kingdom because of its symbolic and the King’s sentimental relationships, at that time this small town build on the slopes of the acropolis had only four thousand inhabitants who used to take pieces from the ancient ruins to build their own homes, the classic pillars and the stable marble ware the materials for constructing the city which would now became the corner stone of an identity construction.
    [Show full text]
  • The Western Question in Greece and Turkey
    THE WESTERN QUESTION IN GREECE AND TURKEY A STUDY IN THE CONTACT OF CIVILISATIONS BY ARNOLD J. TOYNBEE ‘For we are also His offspring’ CONSTABLE AND COMPANY LTD LONDON · BOMBAY · SYDNEY 1922 TO THE PRESIDENT AND FACULTY OF THE AMERICAN COLLEGE FOR GIRLS AT CONSTANTINOPLE THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED BY THE AUTHOR AND HIS WIFE IN GRATITUDE FOR THEIR HOSPITALITY AND IN ADMIRATION OF THEIR NEUTRAL-MINDEDNESS IN CIRCUMSTANCES IN WHICH NEUTRALITY IS ‘HARD AND RARE’ PREFACE THIS book is an attempt to place certain recent events in the Near and Middle East in their historical setting, and to illustrate from them several new features of more enduring importance than the events themselves. It is not a discussion of what the peace-settlement in the East ought to be, for the possibility of imposing a cut-and-dried scheme, if it ever really existed, was destroyed by the landing of the Greek troops at Smyrna in May 1919. At any rate, from that moment the situation resolved itself into a conflict of forces beyond control; the Treaty of Sèvres was still-born; and subsequent conferences and agreements, however imposing, have had and are likely to have no more than a partial and temporary effect. On the other hand, there have been real changes in the attitude of the Western public towards their Governments’ Eastern policies, which have produced corresponding changes in those policies themselves; and the Greeks and Turks have appeared in unfamiliar roles. The Greeks have shown the same unfitness as the Turks for governing a mixed population. The Turks, in their turn, have become exponents of the political nationalism of the West.
    [Show full text]
  • Eng Low 001-288.Pdf
    THE INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC ACADEMY A HISTORY OF AN OLYMPIC INSTITUTION Copy-editor: Thetis Xanthaki DTP, filmset: ûANAGRAMMAý Printed by: Petros Ballidis & Co. Graphic Arts May 2011 ø International Olympic Academy 52,D.VikelasStreet, 152 33 Halandri, Athens, Greece ISBN: 978 - 960 - 9454 - 09 - 4 INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC ACADEMY THE INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC ACADEMY A HISTORY OF AN OLYMPIC INSTITUTION Foreword SPYROS CAPRALOS ISIDOROS KOUVELOS President of the HOC President of the IOA { NIKOS FILARETOS Ex-President of the IOA 8 Editors CHRISTINA KOULOURI Professor of Modern History, Panteion University, Athens KONSTANTINOS GEORGIADIS Professor of the History of Olympism, University of the Peloponnese 8 Contributors CHRISTOS LOUKOS Professor of Modern History, University of Crete VASSILIKI TZACHRISTA Archaeologist, IOA ROULA VATHI MA in Byzantine Studies, IOA Y¸ANNIS MOUTSIS MA in History (University of London) 8 Translation GEOFFREY COX 8 Second Edition ATHENS 2011 The 50th anniversary of the International Olympic Academy (IOA), in addition to being an important milestone in the his- tory of the Olympic Movement, is also an opportunity for all of us to reflect, once again, on the nature, the history and activities of a cultural institution with an international presence and reputation. The International Olympic Academy enjoys the privilege of being the first international educational Olympic Centre, whose main purpose is to study, propagate and apply the prin- ciples of Olympism and sport all over the world. Since its inception and to this day, the Academy's signifi- cant contribution to the promotion of Olympic education has been recognized by the International Olympic Committee, National Olympic Committees, National Olympic Academies and by the sports communities in many countries.
    [Show full text]
  • Politismos, Vol. 1, Issue 1, March 2021
    1821 200th Anniversary of the Greek War of Independence 2021 Πολιτισμός Politismos Ελευθερία ή θάνατος VOLUME 1/ISSUE 1 MARCH 2021 Cultural Committee Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox church 250 Gallows Hill Road Westfield, NJ 07090 contents Πολιτισμός Politismos Archiepiscopal and synodal encyclical for the feast of “Civilization” - “Culture” the annunciation and the 200th anniversary of the Greek revolution iii from the Greek word polis (city state) as related to politis Welcome 1 (citizen) Peter Tarhanidis, PhD Tribute to Barbara Manos 2 Helen Constantinides Bruno Ζήτω η Ελλάς ! A Timeline of the struggle for Greek Independence 3 Peter Tarhanidis, PhD Athonite academy — modern Greek enlightenment 5 Helen Constantinides Bruno Listing of the heroes and heroines of the war for Greek independence 6 The contribution of patriarch Gregory E’ to the struggle for Greek independence 7 Celia Kapsomera Rigas Feraios 10 Helen Constantinides Bruno Theodoros Kolokotronis 11 “When we revolted, we said first for Helen Constantinides Bruno our Christian Faith and then for the Laskarina bouboulina - Georgios karaiskakis 12 Nation.” Theodoros Kolokotronis Helen Constantinides Bruno the Hellenic national anthem 13 Yμνος εἰς τὴν Ἐλευθερίαν peter Tarhanidis , PhD 1821 celebratory events 14 Hellas— by Percy Shelley Ht cultural committee 15 did you know Helen Constantinides Bruno https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2KUxkA9JFw Aς κρατήσουν οι χοροί - Let the Dances Last - Dionysis Savopoulos Grateful Ellas Official video commemorating the 200th anniversary for the fight
    [Show full text]
  • 13. Gian Spina
    Greeks learning from the Germans learning from the Greeks Gian Spina All the Greeks have to do in order to be what they used to be, is to mimic the Germans. Georg Ludwig von Maurer— President of the Legislative Body of the first Kingdom of Greece, 1832. The historic relationship between Greece and Germany arises once again in the year 2017. It has been coming and going for the past two centuries, but this time has the subtitle Learning from Athens. documenta 14 displaced itself to Athens, expanding its venue to a location far away from the historical Kassel, where not everyone speaks but everyone listens, perhaps aiming to create a multiplicity of voices, perspectives and political bodies. The goal of this text is to discuss the historic relationship between the two countries and the use of historical narratives and specifically art as a tool for the occupation and perpetuation of the status quo. Throughout the nineteenth century the German presence in Greece was of such intensity that even today most of us pass over it without grasping the past events. When the Bavarian prince Otto von Wittelsbach became the king of Greece, he was only 17 years old. Ten years prior, the war against the Ottoman Empire had changed the geopolitics and the controllers of the region. Together with Otto came the changes. In 1834 Athens was appointed the new capital of the kingdom because of its symbolism and the king’s sentimental relationships. At that time this small town built on the slopes of the Acropolis had only four thousand inhabitants who used to take pieces from the ancient ruins to build their own homes; the classic pillars and the stable marble were the materials for the construction of a city which now became the cornerstone of an identity construction.
    [Show full text]