Greek Independence

For centuries the Greek population was completely under the Ottoman rule. The Greeks’ independence from the Ottoman Turks in 1830 did not come without hardship and suffering. Several other countries including Russia and France took sides with Greece during this fight as they felt close and connected with their culture. A nine year war was fought which eventually resulted in the Greeks gaining independence from the Turks. During this time, the Greeks had to maintain high morale and a strong disposition to be as successful as they were in the end. The circumstances they were under were difficult and harsh. Many people felt as though Greece deserved to break away from the Ottoman Empire, but some believed that the Turkish rule was not too oppressing. Most people believed that the people of Greece had great character and deserved to be free from the brutality of the Ottoman Turks. They were seen as having strong will to be independent and worked together as a country to achieve that goal. Their culture still to this day is being represented in different forms of art, for example architecture. It’s been studied for years because it served as a foundation for several other countries and is being kept alive, as opposed to forgotten. One poet, Alexandros Kalphoglou, described the Greeks as being enlightened, educated, well-rounded people. He went on to say that they were very open to and accepting of other cultures. It’s not surprising that Kalphoglou would’ve felt this way because he was a Greek Christian and most likely would be proud of his own history (Doc 4). Similarly, Percy Shelley was also a poet who believed Greek culture was essential for all other cultures to grow. She, however, was an English romantic poet. It’d be expected for her to praise Greece because romantic poets were all for the Greek revolution and independence (Doc 7). These two weren’t the only people who shared the same point of view on the Greek Revolt. While still under the Ottoman rule, Greek citizens were treated unfairly and poorly. Their living conditions were unstable and were constantly in upheaval due to the massive rebellion. The entire revolution was sparked by the lack of support shown by the Turkish rulers toward the Greeks. The bright, upbeat, and beautiful presence of the Greek culture was robbed by the Turks according to Savary, a French scholar of Greek. As a person who most likely spent a majority of the time studying Greek history, he would be inclined to respect their culture (Doc 3). Sneyd Davis, an English writer, spoke of Athens being deteriorated and everything beautiful that once existed there, vanishing. The events of what happened to the Greeks under the Ottomans can be easily related to this poem because their pride in their past was diminished. Davis is another romantic poet so I would expect to see him pro-Greek revolution (Doc 1). A majority of people were pleased with the fact that Greece did gain its independence from the Ottoman Turkish Empire. They believed that Greeks should have their arts, language, and other forms of culture restored fully so that they could regain pride in themselves. People also thought that Greek revolution would result in more successful nations in the future, which would be based on Greek tradition. A pamphlet called Greek exiles described the rise of Greek ancestors as heroes in history. It talks about how the Ottomans may have once been at power, but years later they didn’t stand a chance against the Greeks (Doc 6). In regards to Mavrocordato, it was a strong act of courage for the Greeks to take their independence and basically create their own government starting with nothing. Basically, he says that they wanted and made peace for themselves, but worked hard to get to that point (Doc 10). In an engraving created in 1828, called Greece Sacrificed, Regnier has depicted a scene where the Turks are attacking the Greeks, but not very successfully due to the fact that the Greeks are holding their ground. They’re standing for what they believe in as strong-minded individuals with a common goal in mind (Doc 11). Although most would agree that the Greek revolution was a positive thing, there are some people that are on the complete opposite side of things. These people think that the Turkish reign was not too overbearing, and that the Greeks could’ve easily stayed under their control. A Turkish sultan named Mustapha III, in 1765 made orders very clear to the governor of northern Greece to try and stop the revolts being made by the Greeks. He went on to describe the problems that the Greek population had been causing such as robberies. He thought that the Greek revolution had caused more problems than it solved, and that it should’ve been stopped early. Because of the fact that he was a sultan of the Ottoman Empire I find it almost obvious that he was against the Greeks in their revolts. Mustapha wanted what was best for his nation and people (Doc 2). In Vahid’s opinion, a Turkish governor, the revolution of the Greeks was driven by what he calls ‘drunkards,’ meaning that he didn’t take the rebellions seriously. Again, being of Turkish government, he would favor the Ottoman side of things (Doc 9). During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries Greece was driven to rebel against their previous rulers the Ottoman Turks. Their culture and everything they took pride in was meaningless in the Turks’ eyes. They felt they had to start a revolution to gain back the rights they deserved. During this revolt, they living conditions were not as good as they could’ve been. In fact they were difficult to deal with, but this had only been a small hurdle for the Greek population who was determined to gain independence. Nothing could stand in their way, as they were a fearless, courageous nation. Finally, after suffering through nine years of antagonizing war and treachery, the Greeks gained their independence from the Ottoman Turks and started to create a government as a unified country.