Greece Introduction

Greece is a country in Southern Europe with Aegean Sea, Ionian Sea, Lybian Sea, and Mediterranean Sea coasts. Its surrounding countries are Albania, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north and Turkey to the east. Greece has an ancient culture that has had a significant influence on western society. The country has a number of famous archeological sites with contemporary documented histories. It is also the birthplace of the Olympic games.

Greece gets less tourists than other European countries. For backpackers, it is out of the way from the popular France-Spain-Italy route. Due to this it still has a lot of untouched charm. There will never be as many tourists at the Acropolis than at the Eiffel tower. Ever. It is easy to get off-the-beaten track as most of Greece is off-the-beaten track. It is common to be in areas where all you see is locals, a thing which is hard to come by these days in the travel scene. However, the Greek islands are always teeming with tourists. While the greek islands are definitely something to experience, with beautiful white-washed houses, relaxed lifestyles and spectacular beaches, don't lost sight of mainland Greece which has a lot to offer.

Greeks taking living leisurely very seriously. They work-to-live, not live-to-work. Don't take perceived laziness or rudeness harshly. They do it to everyone, locals and tourists alike. Rather than fight it, just go along with it and laugh at the situation. It can be very frustrating at times but also appreciate their "enjoy life" attitude. They do take politics and soccer very seriously.

Greece Weather

A temperate, mild climate with wet winters and hot, dry summers. Cold winters (with snow) are common in the north, while the southern islands are much warmer.

Greece Attractions

AEGEAN ISLANDS Athens crete thessaloniki delphi olympia

Greece History

Prehistory and Antiquity The shores of Greece's Aegean Sea saw the emergence of the first civilizations in Europe, namely the Minoan and the Mycenaean. After this, a Dark Age followed until around 800 BC, when a new era of Greek city-states emerged, establishing colonies along the Mediterranean, and a new alphabet was introduced.[3]. Plato described how the Greeks live round the Aegean Archipelago "like frogs around a pond"; their name has always been associated with the sea. After the internal struggle between Spartans and Athenians,all parts of Greece were united under the rule of Alexander the Great and aimed at the defeat of the 'eastern threat' of the Persians. Alexander led the Greeks to a victorious campaign which established a Greek Empire and introduced a new era in world history, the Hellenistic.

Byzantine period Militarily, Greece itself declined to the point that the Romans conquered the land (168 BC onwards), though, in many ways, Greek culture would in turn conquer Roman life. Greece became a province of the Roman Empire, but Greek culture continued to dominate the eastern Mediterranean. When the Roman Empire finally split in two, the Eastern Roman Empire, known as the Byzantine Empire, centered around Constantinople (known in ancient times as Byzantium), remained Greek in nature, encompassing Greece itself.

During the period of the Byzantine Empire Greece experienced fluctuating fortunes. In the early years many of its works of art were looted by the emperors and taken to Constantinople. Furthermore, although the Byzantines retained control of the Aegean and its islands throughout this period, during the seventh and eighth centuries direct control did not extend far beyond the coast. From about AD 600 the old cities of Greece shrank considerably due to barbarian raids by the Avars and Slavs, and were often reduced to shadows of their former selves. As the seventh century progressed, much of Greece was overrun by Slavic peoples from the north, and a period of uncertainty and insecurity followed.

From the late 8th century, the Empire began to recover from the devastating impact of successive invasions, and the reconquest of Greece began. Greeks from Sicily and Asia Minor were brought in as settlers. The Slavs were either driven out or assimilated. By the middle of the 9th century, Greece was Greek again, and the cities began to recover due to improved security and the restoration of effective central control.

The invasions of the Turks after the battle of Manzikert in 1071 and the ensuing civil wars largely passed the region by, and Greece continued its provincial existence unharmed. When the Byzantine Empire was rescued by the resolute leadership of the three Comnenus emperors Alexius I, John II and Manuel I Comnenus, Greece prospered. Archaeological evidence tells us that many of the medieval towns, including Athens, Thessaloniki, Thebes and Corinth, experienced a period of rapid and sustained growth, starting in the eleventh century and continuing until the end of the twelfth century. The growth of the towns attracted the Venetians, and this interest in trade appears to have further increased economic prosperity in Greece.

The 11th and 12th centuries are said to be the Golden Age of Byzantine art in Greece. Many of the most important Byzantine churches in and around Athens, for example, were built during these two centuries, and this reflects the growth of urbanisation in Greece during this period.

However, this medieval prosperity was not to last: During the period 1204 to 1458 Greece was fought over by the Byzantines and the French and Italian knights of the Latin Empire.

From the 4th century to the 15th century, the Byzantine Empire had survived eleven centuries of attacks from the north, west and east until Constantinople fell on May 29, 1453 to the Ottoman Empire. Its last emperor, Constantine XI, died fighting on the walls and was buried anonymously along with his troops. The empire had been for centuries the centre of Christendom, spanning the period from the ancient classical world of the Roman Empire to the dawn of the Renaissance. Throughout this medieval era it had remained a source of constancy. However, a new age was dawning: Greece was gradually conquered by the Ottomans during the 15th century.

Ottoman period While the Ottomans were completing the main conquest of the Greek Mainland, two Greek migrations occurred. The first migration saw the Greek intelligentsia migrate to Western Europe - especially to Italy - and contribute to the advent of the Renaissance. The second migration of Greeks left the plains of the Greek peninsula and resettled in the mountains, the islands and Greek regions outside Ottoman control. In the mountainous regions, the Ottomans were unable to create a permanent military and administrative presence. As a result some Greek mountain clans across the peninsula, as well as some islands, were able to maintain a status of independence. The Sphakiots of Crete, the Souliots from Souli of Epirus, and the Maniots from Mani of Peloponnesus were the most resilient mountain clans throughout the Ottoman Empire. By the end of the 16th century and until the 17th century, Greeks began to migrate back to the plains and cities, adding to the increasing urban population. The millet system contributed to the ethnic cohesion of Orthodox Greeks by segregating the various peoples within the Ottoman Empire based on religion. The Orthodox Church, a religious institution with a keen sense of its national character, contributed to the Greeks from all geographical areas of the peninsula (i.e. mountains, plains, and islands) to preserve their ethnic, cultural and linguistic heritage during the years of the Ottoman rule (although at the time it was not strictly speaking a "Greek" church - the Greek Church was instituted after the liberation). The Greeks who remained on the plains during Ottoman occupation were either Christians, who dealt with the burdens of foreign rule, or to a considerable extent Crypto-Christians (Greek Muslims who were secret practitioners of the Orthodox faith) in order to avoid heavy taxation. The Greeks who converted to Islam and were not Crypto-Christians became Turks in the eyes of Orthodox Greeks. Therefore, there was no recognition of "Greek Muslims", or of "Christian Turks". As a result, religion played an integral part in the formation of the Modern Greek and other post-Ottoman national identities.

Creation of the modern Greek state The Ottomans ruled Greece until the early 19th century. On March 25, 1821 (also the same day as the Greek Orthodox day of the Annunciation of the Theotokos), the Greeks and their allies rebelled and declared their independence, but did not succeed until 1829. The elites of powerful European nations saw the war of Greek independence, with its accounts of Turkish atrocities, in a romantic light (see, for example, the 1824 painting the Massacre of Chios by Eugène Delacroix). Scores of non-Greeks volunteered to fight for the cause - including people like Lord Byron. At times the Ottomans seemed on the verge of entirely suppressing the Greek revolution but were eventually forced to give in by the direct military intervention of France, Great Britain and Russia. This was the prelude of the so called "Eastern Question", the gradual dismemberment of the decaying empire by the western powers. The Russian ex-minister of foreign affairs, Ioannis Kapodistrias, himself a Greek noble from the Ionian Islands, was chosen as President of the new Republic following Greek independence. However, that republic was soon dissolved by the Great Powers which then installed a "Greek" monarchy. The Great Powers did not wish the Greeks to govern themselves and also claimed that they were not capable to do so; as such they looked elsewhere for a prospective monarch. The first king, Otto of Bavaria, was of the German House of Wittelsbach and the subsequent line was from the Germano-Danish House of Oldenburg. During the 19th and especially the early 20th centuries, in a series of wars with the Ottomans, Greece sought to enlarge its boundaries to include the ethnic Greek population of the Ottoman Empire (the Ionian Islands were donated by Britain upon the arrival of the new king from Denmark in 1863, and Thessaly was ceded by the Ottomans without a fight). Greece would slowly grow in territory and population until reaching its present configuration in 1947.

World War I and its aftermath In World War I, Greece sided with the entente powers against the Ottoman Empire and the other Central Powers. In the war's aftermath, the Great Powers awarded a small part of Asia Minor to Greece, centered around the city of Smyrni (known as Izmir today) which had a majority Greek population. At that time, however, the Turkish nationalists, led by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, denounced the Sultan's government in Istanbul and formed a new one in Ankara. During the Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922) the Turks eventually defeated the Greek armies and regained control of Asia Minor. Soon afterwards, the Treaty of Lausanne was signed, fixing the borders to this date. A population exchange was included in the agreement and immediately afterwards, around five hundred thousand Turks (including Muslim Greeks) then living in mainland Greek territory left for Turkey in exchange for more than 1.22 million Greek residents of Asia Minor (excluding Constantinople, Imvros and Tenedos).

In 1936, General Ioannis Metaxas established an authoritarian conservative dictatorship in Greece known as the 4th of August Regime. Greece under Metaxas is compared to Spain at the time, although it lacked the political violence associated with Francisco Franco's regime.

World War II On 28 October 1940, the Italian dictator Mussolini called on the Greeks to allow the troops to enter the country and to surrender its arms. Though Greece was alone and most of Europe occupied by the Axis, the Greek government gave a simple negative response (see Oxi Day)- thereby immediately siding with the Allies. The Italian troops poured over from Albania. The Greek counter-attack along the Albanian front gave the Allies their first victory against the Axis forces (see Greco-Italian War). Eventually, Mussolini's armies were saved from defeat with the intervention of Italy's Axis ally, Germany, since Hitler and his generals needed to secure their strategic southern flank. German forces whose ranks included troops from Hungary, Bulgaria, and Italy successfully invaded Greece, overran and occupied Greece in April-May 1941 (Operation Marita). Germany held onto the country until 1944 when German troops withdrew.

In May 1941, to reduce the threat of a counter-offensive by Allied forces in Egypt, the Germans attempted to seize Crete in a massive attack by paratroops. Allied forces, along with Cretan civilians, however, offered fierce resistance. Although Crete eventually fell, it is pointed out by historians and even the significant figures of the war that this, and the whole Greek campaign, delayed German plans significantly, with the result that the German invasion of the Soviet Union started fatally close to winter. In addition, the extremely heavy losses of paratroop forces sustained by the Germans in Crete foiled a planned German campaign in the Middle East against British-held Iraq and its oil fields.

During the years of Nazi occupation, hundreds of thousands of Greeks died in direct combat, in concentration camps, or of starvation. The winter of 1941-1942 was especially brutal, as the occupying forces carried out a country-wide, systematic confiscation of all foodstuffs as punishment for delaying critical German war plans in Eastern Europe. By January of 1942, tens of thousands of people a week were dying of starvation in Greece[citation needed]. Ultimately, the threat of a general rebellion was used by the Archibishop Damaskinos of Athens to convince the Germans to relent and abandon the confiscation of food in the spring of 1942. Greek partisan resistance to the occupation was fierce, often with bitter retaliation from the occupiers. Perhaps the most famous example of this is the massacre at Kalavrita, where the entire male population (1258 men) of the city of Kalavrita were executed on a single day. The occupiers murdered the greater part of the Jewish community despite efforts by the Greek Orthodox Church and many Greeks to shelter their fellow Jewish Greek citizens. The Jewish community of Thessaloniki suffered the heaviest toll by far. During the war the Greek economy languished. After liberation, Greece experienced an equally bitter Greek Civil War between the communist-led Democratic Army and the Hellenic Army that lasted until 1949, when the communists were defeated in the battle of Grammos-Vitsi.

Post-war development and turmoil During the 1950s and 1960s, Greece experienced gradual and consistent economic growth, aided by significant grants and loans by the United States through the Marshall Plan. However, starting in 1965, a series of turbulent political events unfolded that led to severe political uncertainty. The crisis eventually got out hand for both the elected government and King Constantine II and ended dramatically in the early hours of April 21, 1967. That morning, a coordinated effort by a number of Colonels and other military officials succeeded in a coup d'etat and they soon managed to establish a fierce military junta. General elections planned by the conservative government to be held on May 28 never took place. In the following years, a number of supporters of the left wing as well as a number of politicians and communists were arrested and brutally tortured by the regime. Other politicians, however, evaded capture and found political refuge in such European countries as France and Sweden. Nevertheless, the then head of state, former King Constantine officially acknowleged the new regime and it was duly recognized by the international community. Diplomatic relations continued unabated. In 1973, however, the junta abolished the Greek monarchy. Later that same year, in October of 1973, the head of the junta, colonel George Papadopoulos appointed politician Spiros Markezinis as the Prime Minister. A few weeks later on November 14, law students that opposed the regime realized that the obvious parody of a government would not end unless they took action. They took control of the Athens Law School and in so doing inspired the students of the Athens Polytechnic School, who imitated them.

It should be noted that institutions of higher education in Greece are considered to provide political asylum. By November 16, however, the streets around the Polytechnic School resembled a battlefield, leaving no choice for the junta than to respond with military tactics. In the early hours of November 17, a tank smashed the gate of the historical building of the Athens Polytechnic School causing bloodshed. Twenty students were killed. However, the now-famous Athens Polytechnic Uprising marked the beginning of a series of events that would eventually result to the end of Papadopoulos' rule. One week later, on November 25 both Papadopoulos and Markezinis were overthrown by a countercoup headed by junta hardliner Brigadier Ioannides. A new head, Phaedon Gizikis, and a new Prime Minister, Adamantios Androutsopoulos, were appointed by the regime. Ioannides, however, had even more in his mind. The following July, he backed a planned coup d'etat to overthrow the Cypriot President, Archibishop Makarios. This gave a pretext for neighbouring Turkey to intervene militarily, alledgedly to protect the Turkish minority that resided on the island. Turkey invaded Cyprus on July 20, 1974 and managed to occupy the northern part or a third of its territory. The colonels did not succeed in either predicting the Turkish action or in effectively mobilizing their armed forces in order to prevent it. This signaled the end for the regime that collapsed within a matter of days.

Newfound stability In the evening of July 23, 1974, ex Premier Constantine Karamanlis was invited back from Paris where he had found a political refuge. In the morning hours of the following day, the plane carrying him landed in Athens amidst massive celebrations by cheering crowds that could not believe that the ordeal they had to endure for seven years was over. Karamanlis was immediately appointed as the interim prime minister under President Gizikis. Karamanlis founded the conservative Nea Dimokratia party and he then won the elections. Democracy had finally been restored and a democratic republican constitution came into force in 1975. In addition, a referendum held that same year, confirmed the will of the overwhelming majority of the Greek people to abolish the monarchy - this time democratically. Therefore former King Constantine II and his family remained in Britain and were not allowed free access to the country until 2004. Meanwhile, yet another prominent figure of the past, charismatic politician Andreas Papandreou had also returned from the United States and he had already founded the Panhellenic Socialist Party or PASOK. Karamanlis won the 1977 parliamentary elections as well but he resigned in 1980, giving his way to George Rallis. However, Papandreou won the elections held on October 18, 1981 by landslide and he formed the first socialist government in the history of the nation. Papandreou dominated the Greek political course for almost 15 years, up until his death in June 23, 1996.

Greece as a member of the European Union The country became the tenth member of the European Union on January 1, 1981. Over the course of the last 25 years, and particularly during this past decade, Greece has experienced a remarkable economic growth. Massive, widespread investments in industrial enterprises and heavy infrastructure as well as funds from the European Union and impressively growing revenues from tourism, shipping and services have greatly raised the standard of living to unprecedented levels. The country adopted the Euro in 2001. With a GDP per capita now standing at $22,800 and a growth rate well above European Union's average, Greece is a prosperous nation. Nevertheless, everyone agrees that the government still has to deal with certain economic issues so as to enable the country to use its full potentials and reach the standard of living of the richest nations in Europe.

Domestic terrorism In June 2002, Greek police achieved a major breakthrough in dealing with domestic terrorism when it managed to arrest the members of the Revolutionary Organization 17 November terrorist group. The group had formed in 1974 and it was responsible for the killing of several American, British and Turkish officials residing in Greece as well as for the killing of prominent Greek politicians (such as Pavlos Bakoyiannis, late husband of the newly appointed Foreign Minister, Dora Bakoyannis). The trial of those arrested was held in March 2003 and all were convicted. There are many, thought, who feel that the trial was a parody, the charges were fake and the evidence was mostly manufactured, due to the onsetting of the 2004 Olympic Games. The -then- Goverment of Kostas Simitis wanted to shed off them some of the bad publicity foreign newspapers were setting the Goverment and the 2004 Organisational Commitee in.

Greco-Turkish relations Relations between Greece and neighboring Turkey have improved substantially over the course of the past 6 years, after successive earthquakes hit both countries in the summer of 1999. The so called "earthquake diplomacy" came after an unprecedented outpouring of sympathy and generous assistance provided by ordinary Greeks and Turks in each of those cases. Greece was the first one to take the initiative to provide valuable help after a monstrous, magnitude 7.4 earthquake leveled much of the Turkish northwest on August 17, 1999, killing more than 17,000 people. Turks also responded immediately after a magnitude 5.9 quake jolted Athens on September 7 of that same year, killing 143 people. These generous, brave acts took many foreigners by surprise and led to a considerable breakthrough in bilateral relations, marred by decades of hostility over territorial disputes and the situation in the divided island of Cyprus. In January 1996, the countries reached the brink of war over the tiny, uninhabited islets of Imia/Kardak, situated in the southeastern Aegean Sea. While Greece insisted that according to all treaties and conventions the islets belong to Greece, Turks claimed that the relevant articles were rather unclear. The crisis escalated within only a few days and it was only after the personal intervention of U.S President Bill Clinton that it came to an end. Ten years later, Greece has become one of the chief advocates of Turkey's struggle to enter the European Union while Greek prime minister, Kostas Karamanlis was one of the best men at the wedding of the daughter of Turkey's prime minister.

The 2004 Olympic Games On September 5, 1997, the International Olympic Committee awarded the 2004 Olympic Games to Athens. Some concerns were raised by certain foreign media over Greece's ability to meet specific construction deadlines as well as its ability to handle a potential terrorist attack. However, by the end of the games Greece was judged by the international media to have decisively proven wrong those who questioned its ability to stage the event, and immediately after the closing ceremonies many editorials in the international press actually offered apologies, admitting an overreaction. The 2004 Olympic Games were widely hailed as a spectacular success.

Greece Politics

The 1975 constitution includes extensive specific guarantees of civil liberties. The President of the Republic, elected by an increased majority of the Parliament for a term of five years, is nominally the Head of State.

However, it is the Prime Minister and cabinet, as well as the Vouli (parliament) that play the central role in the political process, while the president performs limited governmental functions, in addition to ceremonial duties.

Greeks elect the 300 members of the country's unicameral parliament (the Vouli ton Ellinon) by secret ballot for a maximum of four years, but elections can occur at more frequent intervals. Greece uses a complex reinforced proportional representation electoral system which discourages splinter parties and ensures that the party which leads in the national vote will win a majority of seats. A party must receive 3% minimum of the total national vote to gain representation. Typically, a 41%+ is sufficient to guarantee the rule by a single party.

Greek parliamentary politics hinge upon the principle of the "dedilomeni", the "declared confidence" of Parliament to the Prime Minister and his/her administration. This means that the President of the Republic is bound to appoint as Prime Minister a person who will be approved by a majority of the Parilament's members (i.e. 151 votes). With the current electoral system, it is the leader of the party gaining a plurality of the votes in the Parliamentary elections who gets appointed Prime Minister. An administration may, at any time, seek a "vote of confidence"; conversely, a number of Members of Parilament may ask that a "vote of reproach" be taken. Both are rare occurrences with usually predictable outcomes as voting outside the party line happens very seldom.

On March 7, 2004, Kostas Karamanlis, president of the New Democracy party and nephew of the late Constantine Karamanlis, was elected as the new Prime Minister of Greece, thus marking his party's first electoral victory in nearly 11 years. Karamanlis took over Goverment from Kostas Simitis, who was in office since January 1996.