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Hellenic holocaust
Relations between Greece and Turkey have been marked by mutual hostility ever since Greece won its independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1832. Since then there have been four wars between the two countries - the Greco-Turkish War (1897), the Balkan Wars of 1912 to 1913, the First World War (1914 to 1918) and the Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922). In addition, the two countries have come close to war several times since, most recently in the late 1990s.
Ottoman era
The Greek state which became independent in 1832 consisted only of the Greek mainland south of a line from Arta to Volos plus Euboia and the Cyclades. The rest of the Greek-speaking lands, including Crete and the rest of the Aegean islands, Epirus, Thessaly, Macedonia and Thrace, remained under Ottoman rule. More than a million Greeks also lived in what is now Turkey, mainly in the Ionian region around İzmir (called Smyrna by its Greek inhabitants) and in the Pontic region on the Black Sea coast.
Greek politicians of the 19th century were determined to obtain all these territories for a greatly enlarged Greek state, with Istanbul as its capital. This was called the Great Idea (Megali Idea). The Ottomans naturally opposed these plans, and relations between Greece and the Ottoman state were always tense as a result. Greek nationalist feeling was aroused by regular nationalist revolts against Ottoman rule, particularly in Crete, which the Ottomans suppressed with considerable brutality.
During the Crimean War (1854 to 1856), Britain and France had to restrain Greece from attacking the Ottomans, by occupying Piraeus. Again during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877 the Greeks were keen to join in and liberate Greek lands from the Ottomans, but Greece was unable to take any real part in the war. Nevertheless the Congress of Berlin in 1881 gave Greece most of Thessaly and part of Epirus.
In 1897 a new revolt in Crete led to the first Greco-Turkish War. The Greeks were unable to dislodge the Ottomans from their fortifications along the northern border and the war ended in humiliation for Greece, with some small losses of territory. This war aroused Turkish nationalist sentiment within the Ottoman Empire and made the position of Greeks in the Empire worse.
The Young Turks, who seized power in the Ottoman Empire in 1907, were Turkish nationalists whose objective was to create a strong, centrally governed state. The Christian minorities, the Greeks and Armenians, saw their position in the Empire deteriorate. Crete was once again the flashpoint of Greek and Turkish nationalism. This led directly to the Balkan Wars of 1912-1913, in which Greece seized Crete, the islands, the rest of Thessaly and Epirus, and coastal Macedonia from the Ottomans, in alliance with Serbia and Bulgaria.
The First World War and after
Greece entered the First World War with the intention of seizing Istanbul and Izmir from the Ottomans, with the encouragement of Britain and France, who also promised the Greeks Cyprus. Although there was little direct fighting between Greeks and Turks, when the Ottoman Empire collapsed in 1918 the Greeks were quick to claim the lands the Allies had promised them. The Treaty of Sèvres (1920) gave Greece eastern Thrace and a large area of western Anatolia around Smyrna. This Treaty, however, was never legally ratified.
Greece occupied Smyrna on May 15th 1919. Mustafa Kemal (later Atatürk) landed in Samsun on May 19th 1919, this is regarded as the beginning of the War of Asia Minor (Turks call it "The Independence War"). Kemal established a nationalist movement to repel the armies that had occupied Turkey (including Italy, France and Britain) and establish new borders for a sovereign Turkish nation. Having created a separate government in Ankara, Kemals government did not recognise the Treaty of Sevres which the Sultans government accepted, and fought to have it revoked. The Greek advances into Anatolia were eventually checked and the Greek army was forced into retreat.
The Turks reoccupied Asia Minor and entered Izmir on 9 September 1922. The Greek army and administration had already left by sea and the city was undefended. Many Greeks feared Turkish reprisals for actions that British High Commissioner Sir H. Rumbold described to Lord Curzon as acts of "bestiality and barbarity" commited by the Greek army. Their retreat involved a scorched earth policy, this left large tracts of land and property ruined or destroyed. The burning of crops left the inhabitants of Smyrna close to starvation. With the possibility of social disorder once the Turkish army occupied Smyrna, Kemal was quick to issue a proclamation, sentencing any Turkish soldier to death who harmed non-combatants.
Feelings ran high however, many Turkish soldiers massacred Greek and Armenians. An American observer estimated the total deaths, from all causes, to be around 2,000 people. Some sources accuse the Turkish commander Nureddin Pasha of playing a direct role in the violence, others show the fighting to be of a sporadic and individual kind. During the hostility, a fire had left Izmır devastated. The cause of the fire is disputed, some accounts say it was started by Turkish troops who were looting Armenian shops. Others believe the fire to have escalated beyond control with Turks and Armenians creating fires to exact retribution, while a strong wind carried the flames across flimsily constructed buildings.
In the wake of this conflict there was a violent reaction against the Greek communities throughout Turkey, who were seen as disloyal since they identified more with their Greek heritage and Greece than Turkey. Ethnic minorities in Turkey suffered lootings and massacres. To end this situation, the Treaty of Lausanne of July 1923 provided for an exchange of populations between Greece and Turkey. About a million Greeks left Turkey for Greece and about half a million Turks left Greece for Turkey. The exceptions to the population exchange were Istanbul, where the Greek minority (including the Ecumenical Patriarch of the Greek Orthodox Church) was allowed to stay, and the eastern part of Greek Thrace, whose Turkish minority was also allowed to stay. Due to the failure of the invasion and the heavy loss of life, Greece refers to the events following World War I as the Asia Minor Catastrophe/Disaster.
Between conflicts
The postwar leaders of Turkey and Greece, Kemal Atatürk and Eleftherios Venizelos, were determined to establish normal relations between the two states. After years of negotiations, a treaty was concluded in 1930, and Venizelos made a successful visit to Istanbul and Ankara. Greece renounced all its claims to Turkish territory. This was followed by the Balkan Pact of 1934, in which Greece and Turkey joined Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Romania and Albania in a treaty of mutual assistance and settled outstanding issues (Bulgaria refused to join). Both leaders recognising the need for peace resulted in more friendly relations, with Venizelos even nominating Atatürk for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1934.
The main irritant to Turkish-Greek relations was now Cyprus, a British protectorate whose population was 80 percent Greek and 20 percent Turkish. The Greek Cypriots desired unity (enosis) with Greece, and in 1931 there were nationalist riots in Nicosia. The Turks opposed this, desiring that the British stay in Cyprus indefinitely. The Greek government was forced by its financial and diplomatic dependence on Britain to disavow any desire for unification with Cyprus.
During World War II Greece was occupied by Nazi Germany while Turkey remained neutral. The Greeks suffered terrible privations in the last years of the war. In 1954 Greece, Turkey and Yugoslavia formed a new Balkan Pact for mutual defence against the Soviet Union.
The Cyprus crisis
Main article: Cyprus dispute
In the 1950s the Cyprus issue flared up again, with the Greek Cypriots under Archbishop Makarios demanding union with Greece, and the EOKA group launching a guerilla movement against the British in the island. At first the Greek government gave no support to the movement, but by 1954 Greek public sympathy for the Cypriots was so great that Prime Minister Alexander Papagos took the Cyprus issue to the United Nations.
Turkish nationalist sentiment became inflamed at the idea that Cyprus would be ceded to Greece, and the Greek communities of Istanbul and Izmir were targetted in the Istanbul Pogrom of 1955. It was suspected, and later proved, that the Turkish government of Adnan Menderes had covertly organised the riots, in which many Greeks were killed and many more made refugees. In response Greece withdrew from all co-operation with Turkey and the Balkan Pact collapsed.
In 1960 a compromise solution to the Cyprus issue was agreed on. Cyprus became independent, with a constitution guaranteeing a Greek president and a Turkish vice-president. Both Greek and Turkish troops were stationed on the island to protect the respective communities. Greek Prime Minister Constantine Caramanlis was the main architect of this plan, which led to an immediate improvement of relations with Turkey, particularly once Menderes was removed from power in Turkey.
Both Greek and Turkish Cypriots were displaced during the period of inter-communal strife in 1963 and 1964. A Liaison Committee was established, comprising of representatives of the three guarantor powers and the two communities. This established that in February 1964 1,600 Greek Cypriots had been displaced because of the fighting. The UN Secretary General estimated that eventually 25,000 Turkish Cypriots moved from their homes to nearby villages/towns as a result of the Christmas Massacre.
On 30 December, Makarios declared his proposal of Constitutional amendment which included 13 articles. However, Turkey restated that it was against this and threatened war if Cyprus tried to achieve unity with Greece. In August Turkish aircraft bombed Greek troops that surrounded a Turkish village (Erenkoy) and war seemed imminent. Once again the Greek minority in Turkey suffered from the crisis, many Greeks fled the country, and there were even threats to expel the Ecumenical Patriarch. Eventually intervention by the United Nations led to another compromise settlement.
The Cyprus dispute fatally weakened the liberal Greek government of George Papandreou, and in April 1967 there was a military coup in Greece. Under the clumsy diplomacy of the military regime, there were periodic crises with Turkey. Turkey rightly suspected that the Greek regime was planning a pro-unification coup in Cyprus.
The Closure of the Halki Theological School
In 1971 the Turkish government closed down the Halki Theological School which was founded in the 19th century on the grounds of the Patriarchal Monastery of the Holy Trinity, which had occupied the site for over a thousand years. The Seminary, located on the island of Halki was closed in conformity with a Turkish law that forbids private universities, despite Article 24 of the Turkish Constitution which guarantees religious freedom and education. In 1998, Halki's board of trustees were ordered to disband until international pressure persuaded the Turkish authorities to reverse their decision. In October 1998, both houses of the US Congress passed [http://www.greece.org/themis/halki2/hcon_res345.pdf resolutions that supported the reopening of Halki]. In addition, human rights groups including Helsinki Watch support the reopening of Halki.
The 1974 crisis and after
On 15 July 1974 the Greek military regime staged a coup against Makarios, led by the Greek officers leading the National Guard. An ex-EOKA man, Nicos Sampson (who took part in the fights against the Turkish Cypriots, during the Christmas of 1963 mentioned above) was appointed president. Makarios escaped to Britain. On 20 July Turkey invaded without any resistance from the British forces in the island, occupying the northern 40% and expelling the Greek population. Once again war between Greece and Turkey seemed imminent. War was averted when Sampson's coup collapsed a few days later and Makarios returned to power, and the Greek military regime also fell from power on 24 July, but the damage to Turkish-Greek relations was done, and the occupation of northern Cyprus by Turkish troops would be a sticking point in Greco-Turkish relations for decades to come.
An additional complication arose in Greek-Turkish relations during the 1970s: the discovery of oil in the Aegean Sea. The Balkan Wars of 1913 had given Greece all the Aegean islands except Imbros and Tenedos), some of them only a few kilometres (but more than 3 nautical miles) off the Turkish coast. According to the Turkish government, the Greek-Turkish maritime border had never been properly defined, and Turkey now claimed that the seabed resources, namely oil, should be shared by the two countries, while the Greeks insisted that 12 nautical miles (22 km), as defined by the International Law of the Sea, is their sovereign right.
In recent years relations between Greece and Turkey have considerably improved, although various territorial issues have never been fully resolved and remain constant sources of potential conflict. The retirement of the socialist Greek prime minister Andreas Papandreou helped this improvement. His son, foreign minister George Papandreou, made considerable progress in improving relations. He found a willing partner in Ismail Cem and later in Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has little sympathy for the Turkish military and its determination to hang on to northern Cyprus.
Timeline
- July 20 1974 to July 24 1974: Cyprus Crisis (as mentioned above)
- 1974 to today: Turkey engages a new aggressive policy in daily violations of the Greek Athens FIR and Greek airspace including overflights of Greek landmases and offensive recce missions using large numbers of fighters. The response of the Greek airforce is to identify intercept and pursue those fighters till they exit Greek territory.
Athens has by ICAO rules legally extended its airspace, which runs 10 nautical miles (16 kilometers) from its coastline, while Ankara only recognizes 6 nautical miles (10 kilometers), the same distance as for territorial waters.
- 25 December 1995 to 31 January 1996: Imia (in Greek) / Kardak (in Turkish) crisis brought the two countries one step away from war.
- 2004 Turkey declares a "casus belli" if Greece extends its territorial waters to 12nm as the recent international treaty and international law allows and requires. Turkey hasn't signed the treaty, however it has extended its territorial waters in the Black sea and the eastern mediterranean to 12nm. Greece hasn't yet extended its territorial waters in the Aegean, which by some would effectivelly solve most of the Greko-Turkish problems in the Aegean (such as continental self and airspace disputes).
- 12 April 2005 Greece and Turkey have agreed to establish direct communications between two air bases in an effort to defuse tension over mutual allegations of air space violations over the Aegean Sea. This did not resolve the airspace dispute.
Further reading
- Brewer, David (2003). The Greek War of Independence: The Struggle for Freedom from the Ottoman Oppression and the Birth of the Modern Greek Nation. Overlook Press. ISBN 1-58567-395-1.
- Horton, George (1925)The Blight of Asia Indianapolis: Bobb and Merryl.
- Keridis, Dimitris et al (2001). Greek-Turkish Relations: In the Era of Globalization (The Ifpa-Kokkalis Series on Southeast European Policy, V. 1). Brassey's Inc. ISBN 1-57488-312-7.
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- Smith, Michael L.(1999). Ionian Vision: Greece in Asia Minor, 1919-1922. University of Michigan Press. ISBN 0-47208-569-7.
Related articles
- History of Greece, History of Turkey, and History of Cyprus.
- Foreign relations of Greece, Foreign relations of Turkey and Foreign relations of Cyprus.
- Accession of Turkey to the European Union
External links
- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3689687.stm Turkish PM on landmark Greek trip]
- [http://www.law.fsu.edu/library/collection/LimitsinSeas/IBS041.pdf Greece-Turkey boundary study by Florida State University, College of Law]
Category:History of Greece
Category:Foreign relations of Greece
Category:Foreign relations of Turkey
Category:History of Turkey
Greece
Greece, (Greek: Ελλάδα, older form: Ελλάς, Hellas), officially the Hellenic Republic (Greek: Ελληνική Δημοκρατία, Ellinikí Dimokratía; see also List of traditional Greek place names), is a country in southern Europe on the tip of the Balkan peninsula. It has land boundaries with Bulgaria, The Republic of Macedonia, and Albania to the north and with Turkey to the east. The waters of the Aegean Sea border Greece to the east, and those of the Ionian and Mediterranean Sea to the west and south. Regarded by many as the cradle of Western civilization and the birthplace of democracy, Greece has a long and rich history during which its culture has proven especially influential in Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East.
Name
Main article: Names of the Greeks
The historical name of Greece in Greek is Ellás . This name is also written Hellas in English, following the ancient Greek pronunciation . In modern Greek it is called more commonly Ελλάδα Elládha . The mythical ancestor of the Greeks is the eponymous Hellen.
The name of Greece in European languages (English: Greece, French: Grèce, Portuguese: Grécia, Spanish and Italian: Grecia, Welsh: Groeg, German: Griechenland, Dutch: Griekenland, Russian: Греция, etc.) comes from a different root: Graikós (via Latin Graecus) which according to Aristotle was an ancient name for the Greeks. The Japanese name is ギリシャ (Girisha), lent from European languages. On the other hand, the name of Greece in some Middle Eastern and Eastern languages (Turkish: Yunanistan, Arabic: يونان, Hebrew: יוון, ancient Persian: Yaunâ, Indian Pali: Yona, Malay and Indonesian: Yunani) derives from the Greek toponym Iōnía. Norwegian, Chinese (希腊 Xila) and Vietnamese are three of the few languages apart from Greek in which the name Hellas predominates.
An interesting and unique form is kept in Georgian. In ancient times, Georgians (Colchs and Iberians) called Greeks ბერძენი berdzeni. This form derives from the Georgian word ბრძენი brdzeni – wise. According to Georgian historians, the name is connected with the notion that philosophy was born in Greece. Modern Georgians still call Greeks ბერძენი berdzeni and Greece საბერძნეთი saberdznet'i, 'Greeks' land' or literally 'land of the wise'.
Some Greeks prefer the name Hellas for the country and Hellenes for the people even in English. See Hellenes for discussion.
History
Hellenes
Main Article: History of Greece.
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 these, a Dark Age followed until around 800 BC, when a new era of Greek city-states emerged establishing colonies along the Mediterranean. Greek culture would later become the basis of the Hellenistic civilization that followed the empire of Alexander the Great. For a detailed history of Ancient Greece see the relevant articles in: History of Greece.
Roman rule and Middle Ages
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. From the 4th century to the 15th century, the Byzantine Empire survived eleven centuries of attacks from the north, west and east until Constantinople fell on May 29 1453 to the Ottoman Empire, when Constantine XI, the last emperor of the Palaeologus dynasty, fell. Greece was gradually conquered by the Ottomans during the 15th century.
Ottoman rule
While the Ottomans completed the conquest of the Greek Mainland, two Greek migrations occurred. The first migration saw the Greek intelligentsia migrate to Western Europe 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 Ottomans were unable to create a permanent military and administrative presence in these mountainous regions. 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 strong national character, helped 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 stictly 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 (Greeks 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. There were no "Greek Muslims", and no "Christian Turks". As a result, religion played an integral part in the formation of the Modern Greek and other post-Ottoman national identities.
Turks
Creation of the modern Greek state
The Ottomans ruled Greece until the early 19th century. In 1821, the Greeks rebelled and declared their independence, but did not succeed in winning it 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, actually a noble from the Ionian Islands, a British protectorate in the Ionian Sea, was chosen as President of the new Republic following Greek independence. That republic disappeared when a few years later Western powers helped turn Greece into a monarchy, the first king coming from Bavaria and the second from Denmark. 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 State however was 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.
In World War I, Greece sided with the entente powers against Turkey and the other Central Powers. In the war's aftermath, the Great Powers awarded parts of Asia Minor to Greece, including the city of Smyrna (known as Izmir today) which had a large Greek population. At that time, however, the Turkish nationalists, led by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, denounced the Sultan's government in Istanbul and organised 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, hundreds of thousands of Turks then living in mainland Greek territory left for Turkey in exchange for about a million Greeks living in Turkey. The refugees from Asia Minor revived the population, provided cheap labour and hellenized the now depopulated regions, especially in Macedonia.
In 1936, General Ioannis Metaxas established an authoritarian conservative dictatorship in Greece, seen as similar to Antonio Salazar's "New State". Greece under Metaxas is also compared to Spain at the time, although it lacked the political violence associated with Francisco Franco's regime.
Despite the country's numerically small and ill-equipped armed forces, Greece made an important contribution to the Allied efforts in World War II. At the start of the war Greece sided with the Allies and refused to give in to Italian demands (see Oxi Day). Italy invaded Greece on 28 October 1940, but Greek troops repelled the invaders after a bitter struggle (see Greco-Italian War). This marked the first Allied victory in the war. Hitler then reluctantly stepped in, primarily to secure his strategic southern flank. Troops from Germany, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Italy successfully invaded Greece, overcoming Greek, British, Australian, and New Zealand units within weeks.
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 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.
During the years of Nazi occupation, hundreds of thousands of Greeks died in direct combat, in concentration camps, or of starvation. The occupiers murdered the greater part of the Jewish community despite efforts by the Greek Orthodox Church and many Christian Greeks to shelter Jews. 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.
In the 1950s and 1960s, Greece continued to develop slowly with grants and loans through the Marshall Plan, and later through growth, notably in the tourism sector. In 1967, the Greek military seized power in a coup d'état and overthrew the conservative government of Panayiotis Kanellopoulos which had been preparing a general election set for May 28. The military established what became known as the Régime of the Colonels. In 1973, the régime abolished the Greek monarchy. In October 1973, George Papadopoulos appointed politician Spiros Markezinis as Prime Minister, with a mission undertake a transition to parliamentary democracy. Following the events of the Athens Polytechnic uprising, Papadopoulos and Markezinis were overthrown by a countercoup headed by junta hardliner Brigadier Ioannides on November 25, 1973. A new president, Phaedon Ghizikis, and a new Prime Minister, Adamantios Androutsopoulos, were appointed.
Ioannides organised a military coup against President Makarios of Cyprus, which was considered a pretext for the first Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974 and the resulting crisis between Greece and Turkey. Escalation in Cyprus led to the implosion of the military régime. Ex-premier Konstantinos Karamanlis was invited from Paris as interim prime minister under President Ghizikis. He later gained re-election for two further terms at the head of the conservative Nea Dimokratia party, which he founded. In 1975, following a referendum to confirm the deposition of King Constantine II, a democratic republican constitution came into force. Another previously exiled politician, Andreas Papandreou also returned and founded the socialist PASOK party, which won the elections in 1981 and dominated the country's political course for almost two decades.
Since the restoration of democracy, the stability and economic prosperity of Greece have grown. Greece joined the European Union in 1981 and adopted the Euro as its currency in 2001. New infrastructure, funds from the EU and growing revenues from tourism, shipping, services, light industry, and the telecommunications industry have greatly raised the standard of living in Greece. Tensions continue to exist between Greece and Turkey over Cyprus and the delimitation of borders in the Aegean Sea, but relations have thawed considerably following successive earthquakes - first in Turkey and then in Greece - and an outpouring of sympathy and generous assistance by ordinary Greeks and Turks. This is in stark contrast to decades of hostility between these two countries, which saw repeated threats of war. Even though both were members of NATO, at times more than half of the entire Greek military was positioned against Turkey. In recent years, Greece has become one of the chief advocates of Turkey's application to join the European Union.
The 2004 Summer Olympic Games were held in Athens, returning to Greece for the first time since their modern inception in 1896. Despite widespread initial concerns over the city's ability to meet construction deadlines as well as over its ability to handle a potential terrorist threat, the Athens Games were widely praised as a success [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3610014.stm].
Politics
Main article: Politics of Greece
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 that play the central role in the political process, while the president performs very 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% of the total national vote to gain representation.
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.
For a list of Greek political parties, see List of political parties in Greece.
Local government
Main article: Peripheries of Greece
Peripheries of Greece
Peripheries of Greece
Peripheries of Greece
Greece consists of 13 administrative regions known as peripheries, which subdivide further into the 51 prefectures (nomoi, singular - nomos):
Beyond these one autonomous region exists: Mount Athos (Agio Oros - Holy Mountain), a monastic state under Greek sovereignty.
The 51 nomoi subdivide into 147 eparchies (singular eparchia), which contain 1,033 municipalities and communities: 900 urban municipalities (demoi) and 133 rural communities (koinotetes). Before 1999, Greece's local government structure featured 5,775 local authorities: 457 demoi and 5,318 koinotetes, subdivided into 12,817 localities (oikosmoi).
Geography
Main article: Geography of Greece
Geography of Greece
Geography of Greece]
Geography of Greece
The country consists of a large mainland at the southern end of the Balkans; the Peloponnesus peninsula (separated from the mainland by the canal of the Isthmus of Corinth); and numerous islands (around 3,000), including Crete, Rhodes, Kos, Euboea and the Dodecanese and Cycladic groups of the Aegean Sea as well as the Ionian sea islands. Greece has more than 15,000 kilometres of coastline and a land boundary of 1,160 kilometres.
About 80% of Greece consists of mountains or hills, thus making Greece one of the most montainous countries of Europe. Western Greece contains lakes and wetlands. Pindus, the central mountain range, has a maximum elevation of 2,636 m. The Pindus can be considered as a prolongation of the Dinaric Alps. The range continues by means of the Peloponnese, the islands of Kythera and Antikythera to find its final point in the island of Crete. (Actually the islands of the Aegean are peaks of underwater mountains that once consisted an extension of the mainland).
The Central and Western Greece area contains high, steep peaks dissected by many canyons and other karstic landscapes, including the Meteora and the Vikos gorge the later being the second largest one on earth after the Grand Canyon in the US.
Mount Olympus forms the highest point in Greece at 2,919 m above sea level. Also northern Greece presents another high range, the Rhodope, located in Eastern Macedonia and Thrace; this area is covered with vast and thick century old forests like the famous Dadia.
Plains are mainly found in Eastern Thessaly, Central Macedonia and Thrace.
Greece's climate is divided into three well defined classes the Mediterranean, Alpine and Temperate, the first one features mild, wet winters and hot, dry summers. Temperatures rarely reach extremes, although snowfalls do occur occasionally even in Athens, Cyclades or Crete during the winter. Alpine is found primarily in Western Greece (Epirus, Central Greece, Thessaly, Western Macedonia as well as central parts of Peloponessus like Achaea, Arkadia and parts of Lakonia where the Alpine range pass by). Finally the temperate climate is found in Central and Eastern Macedonia as well as in Thrace at places like Komotini, Xanthi and northern Evros; with cold, damp winters and hot, dry summers. It's worth to mention that Athens is located in a transition area between the Mediterranean and Alpine climate, thus finding that in its southern suburbs weather is of Mediterranean type while in the Northern suburbs of the Alpine type.
About 50% of Greek land is covered by forests with a rich varied vegetation which spans from Alpine coniferous to mediterranean type vegetation.
Seals, sea turtles and other rare marine life live in the seas around Greece, while Greece's forests provide a home to Western Europe's last brown bears and lynx as well as other species like Wolf, Roe Deer, Wild Goat, Fox and Wild Boar among others.
Economy
Main article: Economy of Greece
Greece has a mixed capitalist economy with the public sector accounting for about half of GDP. Tourism has great importance, providing a large portion of GDP and foreign exchange earnings. Greece also counts as a world leader in shipping (first in terms of ownership of vessels and third by flag registration) [http://www.marad.dot.gov/MARAD_statistics/Country-MFW-7-04.pdf]. Greece figures prominently as a major beneficiary of EU aid, equal to about 2.4% of its GNP. The export of manufactured goods, including telecommunications hardware and software, foodstuffs, and fuels accounts for a large part of the rest of Greek income.
The country has a high standard of living, ranking 24th on the 2005 Human Development Index and 22nd on The Economist's 2005 world-wide quality-of-life index[http://www.economist.com/media/pdf/QUALITY_OF_LIFE.pdf]. The economy has improved steadily over the last few years, as the government tightened fiscal policy in the run-up to Greece's entry into the Eurozone on January 1, 2001. Average per capita income in 2004 was estimated at $22,000 [http://www.worldbank.org/data/databytopic/GNIPC.pdf]. Greece has an expanding services sector and telecommunications industry and has become one of the largest investors in the immediate region. Moreover, Greece now operates as a net importer of labour and foreign workers (mainly from Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Pakistan, and Africa). People from these areas now account for 10% of the total population.
2001
Major challenges faced by the country include the reduction of unemployment, privatising of several state enterprises, social security reforms, overhauling the tax system, and minimising bureaucratic inefficiencies. Forecasts predicted economic growth of 4 - 4.5 % in 2004. Reducing the government deficit also remains a major issue, as it is currently running at nearly twice the Eurozone target of 3% of GDP. The new conservative government revealed to Eurostat that the previous figures supplied, which were the basis of Greek entry into the Eurozone, were incorrect. Under a negotiated agreement, the EU gave Greece two years (budgets of 2005 and 2006) to bring the economy in line with the criteria of the European stability pact.
The Bank of Greece, now a subsidiary of the European Central Bank, functions as the nation's central bank. This bank is not the same as the "National Bank of Greece", a commercial bank.
Tourism
In the year of 2004, Greece ranked 12th interms of International tourist Arrivals world wide with a figure of 14.180 Million visitors, some of which came for the 2004 Olympic Games. Since the promotion of Greece from the Olympic Games, the Government expects significant growth in the years to come. In 2003, tourists spent an estimated 11 billion Euros contributing 8% to Greeces GDP. Tourism in Greece has multiplied 50 times in the past 40 years and is expected to only get bigger in the next 10 years.
The main problem for Greece and its tourism industry is that many people are now going to places such as Turkey or Egypt were they can get a similar summer holiday for alot cheaper. Unfortunatly, the Government dosen't spend much on promoting tourism in Greece, although they have now hired Greek singer, Elena Paparizou, as there official Ambassador as well as having released a new campaign. One suggestion is to focus now on the Winter side of Greece as Greece's tourism industry is really only a 6 month tourism season. If promoted correctly, Greece could almost double its tourist statistics since most of the 14 million tourists are accounted for in only 6 months of a 12 month year.
Demographics
Main article: Demographics of Greece
Greece has various linguistic and cultural minorities. A non-comprehensive list of these would include Pomaks and various Roma groups. A number of religious minorities exist, including the Muslim minority in western Thrace, which makes up about a third of that region's population.
Around one million immigrants live full or part time in Greece today, of which 65% have come from Albania following the fall of communism in Albania. This was a very rapid phenomena and the Greek legal and social culture has had some difficulties adapting. Several prominent Greek sportsmen immigrated to Greece as ethnic Greeks from Albania and Georgia in the 1990s, including legendary weightlifters Pyrros Dimas and Kakhi Kakhiashvili. Smaller numbers of immigrants came from Bulgaria, Serbia, Romania. The exact number remains unknown, since the majority live illegally in Greece.
Religion
Prior to Ottoman rule, Greece was part of the Byzantine Empire. The civil and religious capital of the Empire was moved to Constantinople (modern day Istanbul) by Constantine I. Since Constantine’s time the Orthodox Christian faith has flourished and spread throughout Eastern Europe. Even under Turkish rule and repeated attempts at being proselytised firstly by the Jesuits and then by the Protestants, Orthodox Christianity survived and flourished.
The role of the Orthodox Church in maintaining Greek ethnic and cultural identity during the 400 years of Ottoman rule, has strengthened the bond between religion and government. Most Greeks, even many non-practicing Christians, revere and respect the Orthodox Christian faith, attend Church and Major Feast days, and are emotionally attached to Orthodox Christianity as their 'national' religion.
The Greek Constitution reflects this relationship by guaranteeing absolute freedom of religion while still defining the "prevailing religion" of Greece as the Eastern Orthodox Church of Christ. In practice, the Orthodox Church and the secular state are intimately involved with one another. Joint approval is needed for the building of churches and the Church has even blocked the building of places of worship for other religions in Athens. Priests receive state salaries. The President of the Republic takes an oath on the Bible and Orthodox Christianity is given privileged place in religious studies in primary education. The Church has also been allowed to keep its large portfolio of financial assets exempt from taxation and fiscal auditing.
Starting in January 2005, a series of highly publicised corruption scandals involving high rank church officials have led to many calls by secular Greeks for the complete separation of Church and State and greater control of Church assets.
The majority of Greeks (95-98%) have at least nominal membership in the Eastern Orthodox Church, although religious observance has declined in recent years. Greek Muslims make up about 1.3% of the population, and live primarily in Thrace. Greece also has some Roman Catholics, mainly in the city of Patras and the Cyclades islands of Syros, Paros,Tinos and Naxos; some Protestants and some Jews, mainly in Thessaloniki (which was once a major Jewish city until the Holocaust). Some groups in Greece have started an attempt to reconstruct Hellenic polytheism, the ancient Greek pagan religion. See also: Greek Orthodox Church.
One small part of Greece, Mount Athos, is recognised by the Greek constitution as an autonomous monastic republic, although foreign relations, however, remain the prerogative of the Greek state.
Spiritually, Mount Athos is under the Patriarchate of Constantinople and is therefore in communion with all the monasteries on Mount Athos and with the Orthodox Church based in various countries. One monastery has recently broken away and has formed a completely independent schism on the Holy Mountain -- Esphygmenou Monastery. Esphygmenou is composed of 117 Zealot monks who stubbornly oppose the head of the Church and do not commemorate him any more. They believe that they are the last remaining true Christians in the world and that Orthodoxy has been corrupted by having dialogue with other faiths. They also object to the lifting of the anathemas against the Roman Catholic Church in the 1960's by Patriarch Athenagoras.
Jews have been present in Greece for the last 2000 years. The earliest reference to a Greek Jew is in an inscription, dated c. 300-250 BCE found in Oropos, a small coastal town between Athens and Boeotia, and refers to him as "Moschos, son of Moschion the Jew" who was in all likelihood, a slave. The first Greek Jewish population became known as the Romaniotes and their language became known as Yevanic (from the Hebrew word for Greece: יון/Yavan). From the 16th century onwards, Salonica, a city in northern Greece, had one of the largest (mostly Sephardic by then) Jewish communities in the world and a solid rabbinical tradition. On the island of Crete, the Jews played an important part in the transport trade. During World War II, when Greece was occupied by Nazi Germany, 86% of the Greek Jews were murdered by the invading Axis and only a minority survived and most of them have emigrated to Israel. Greece's Jewish community today is estimated at 4,500.
Culture
Main article: Culture of Greece
Greece has produced a vast number of contributors to philosophy, astronomy, science, and the arts. For a list of famous Greek men and women, see List of Greeks.
See also:
- Classics
- Education in Greece
- List of Greek dances
- List of museums in Greece
- Greek National Holidays
- List of research institutes in Greece
- Tourism in Greece
- List of universities in Greece
Miscellaneous topics
- History of Greece
- Ancient Greece
- Greek mythology
- Hellenistic civilization
- Byzantine Empire
- Byzantium
- Greek Language
- Communications in Greece
- List of Greek language television channels
- List of radio stations in Greece
- Greek newspapers
- Transportation in Greece
- List of Greek roads
- Rio-Antirio bridge
- Foreign relations of Greece
- Military of Greece
- Postage stamps and postal history of Greece
- Conscription in Greece
- Popular Greek Entertainment
- Plateia Syntagmatos and Vouli ton Ellinon
- Turkish Greek Civic Dialogue Project
- Greeks
- List of Greeks
- Greek American
- Category:Greek-Americans
- Greek Canadians
- Greek Australian
Sport in Greece
- Summer Olympics of 1896, 1906 & 2004
- Greece national football team (Euro 2004 Cup Winners)
- Greece national basketball team (Eurobasket 1987 & 2005 Cup Winners)
The Greek government built a world class sport infrastructure specifically for the 2004 Summer Olympics which is generally regarded as a [http://www.athens2004.com/en/Legacy legacy]to the country. Greece was one of the smallest countries to ever host a modern summer Olympic games. The organisation and conduct of the games were considered highly successful.
Unlike other western European countries, basketball has become a popular sport in Greece. This is largely the result of the victory achieved by the Greek national basketball team against the Soviet Union in the European championship final of 1987 held in Athens. Eighteen years later, Greece won its second Europen basketball championship in the 2005 Eurobasket, held in Belgrade.
See also
- Hellenic National Intelligence Service
- National Statistical Service of Greece
External links
- [http://www.balkanforums.com Greece and the Balkans] Discussion Forum
- [http://www.go4less.gr/main.php?lang=EN Internet Travel Service to Greece and Smartest Accommodation Search Engine]
- [http://www.hri.org HR-Net (Hellenic Resources Network)/ comprehensive Greek news site]
- [http://www.statistics.gr/ Official Greek Statistics Site]
- [http://www.ask4greece.org Ask for Greece/ A volunteer community for Q&As about Greece]
- [http://www.gnto.gr/?langID=2/ Official Tourist Site]
- [http://www.greece-museums.com Greece Museums/ Museum directory of Greece]
- [http://www.athensvirtualtour.com/ Take a short virtual tour of Athens]
- [http://webcam.deili.info/en,1,8 Greece Webcam]
- [http://www.ert.gr/radio/liveradioTritovraxea.asp Radio Greece live]
- [http://greece.ianandwendy.com Photos of Greece from a backpacker's trip]
- [http://www.superbgreece.com Greece travel information]
- [http://www.phigita.net/ Greek Blogs and News]
- [http://dmoz.org/Regional/Europe/Greece/ Open Directory Project: Greece]
- [http://www.olympion.de/greek-embassies-worldwide.html A list of Greek Embassies Worldwide]
- [http://ozhanozturk.com/content/view/374/1/ History of Ottoman Greece]
Other official sites
- [http://www.presidency.gr/en/index.htm President of the Hellenic Republic]
- [http://www.greece.gr/index.htm Greece Now Government sponsored e-zine on Greek life]
- [http://www.primeminister.gr/gr/lang/en/primeminister.asp Prime Minister of Greece]
- [http://www.parliament.gr/english/default.asp Hellenic Parliament]
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Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire (Ottoman Turkish: دولتِ عَليه عُثمانيه, Devlet-i Aliye-i Osmaniye, literally "Ottoman Sublime State") was an imperial power, centered around the borders of the Mediterranean Sea, that existed from 1299 to 1922. At the height of its power in the 16th century, it included Anatolia, the Middle East, parts of North Africa, much of south-eastern Europe to the Caucasus in the north. It comprised an area of about 19.9 million km², though much of this was under indirect control of the central government. The Empire was situated in the middle of East and West, and interacted throughout its six-century history with both the East and the West.
It was established by a tribe of Oghuz Turks in western Anatolia, and was ruled by the Osmanlı dynasty, the descendants of those Turks. The Empire was founded by Osman I (in Arabic ʿUthmān, عُثمَان , hence the name Ottoman Empire). In 1453, after the Ottomans captured Constantinople (modern İstanbul), the last remnant of the Byzantine Empire, it became the Ottomans' third capital. In the 16th and 17th centuries, the Ottoman Empire was among the world's most powerful political entities, and the countries of Europe felt threatened by its steady advance through the Balkans and the southern part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
At its highest point, the Empire contained many of the important places of classical antiquity, including Homer's Olympus and Dardenus, Zeus' Europa, Io's Bosporus, temple of Diana in Ephesus, sarcophagus of Alexander the Great, the Garden of Eden, Noah's Mount Ararat, Abraham's oasis and wells, Nile, Mount of the Sermon, the Hill of Golgotha.
The dissolution of the Ottoman Empire was a consequence of World War I, when Allied forces including the Arabs eventually defeated Ottoman forces in the Middle East. At the end of the war the Ottoman government collapsed completely; and the empire was divided among the victorious powers. The following couple of years ended with declarations of new states. One of the new states was the Republic of Turkey. The members of the Ottoman dynasty were banned from the lands of Anatolia, where they once built one of the great empires of the world. In 1999, Turkey's parliament granted Turkish citizenship to the members of the Ottoman family, after 76 years.
Timeline
:See Timeline of the Ottoman Empire.
History
Origins
The Ottoman Empire originated as a Uç Beyliği (cf. Marquisate, Marches) within the Seljukid State of Anatolia in the late 13th century; which, by then, was a puppet and vassal of Ilkhanate, itself. Traditionally, in 1299, Osman I declared independence for the Beylik.
Rise (1299–1453)
With the rise of the empire, the characteristics and nature of the state were defined, and the Ottomans definitively carved out their own preserve in history under the rule of Mehmed II.
One of the first things the devout Islamic Turks did was name the city previously known as Constantinople, to its new name "Islambol" (meaning "Islam-Bound" or "lots of"). Bol in Turkish means "a lot of" so this name reflected the new state of the city and its people. The name of Islambol was used throughout the empire by the Ottomans right upto the beginning of the twentieth century.
Even though Ottoman state existed before Osman I, he is regarded as the founder of the Empire, having given it its name and being the first bey to declare his independence. He extended the frontiers of the empire towards the Byzantine Empire, while other Turkish beyliks suffered from infighting. Under Osman I, the Ottoman capital was moved to Bursa. He published the first coin under his name, demonstrating the trust he built. For the coming centuries his time was recalled with the words "May he be as good as Osman".
coin]
Mehmed II was only 12 years old when he became sultan, and was reputed to have been an erudite warrior. His military prowess was demonstrated with his conquest of Constantinople (see the Fall of Constantinople). Mehmed also enjoyed the full support of the empire. He used this to reorganize the state structure and military.
Growth (1453–1683)
Fall of Constantinople–1683]]
The growth of Ottoman power can be grouped into two main, characteristic periods. The first period is one of stable conquest and growth; from the conquest of Constantinople in 1453, to the death of Suleiman the Magnificent, in 1566. This was a period of amazing achievements for the Ottoman Empire.
Following the acquisition of Constantinople, the Ottomans ended Serbian power at the Battle of Kosovo, which paved the way for expansion into Europe. Sultan Selim I (1512–1520) expanded the Empire's eastern frontiers, defeating Safavid Persia in the Battle of Chaldiran and establishing a navy in the Red Sea. His successor, Suleiman the Magnificent, would increase the Empire's size and power even further. After capturing Belgrade, Suleiman would conquer Hungary at the Battle of Mohacs, moving right up to Vienna. In the east, he would take Baghdad in 1535 from the Persians, giving the Ottomans control of the Middle East.
Koca Mimar Sinan Agha was a skilled architect and engineer during this period. He took part in Selim's engineering corps. Later Sinan was promoted chief architect and was given the privilege of design, develop and implementation of the captured cities (according to the city plan). He was also appointed the command of the artillery. During a Persian campaign in 1535 he built ships for the army to cross Lake Van. For this he was given the title Haseki'i, Sergeant-at-Arms in the body guard of the Sultan, a rank equivalent to that of the Janissary Ağa.
The Ottomans reached their "Golden Age" during Suleiman the Magnificent's reign.
The end of these 230 years of growth marked with the end of extension into Europe. The Siege of Vienna was not part of an Ottoman extension into Germany. The Turks wanted to react to interventions of Austrian Habsburg interference into Hungary. But this turned some of the Ottoman allies against it. The Pope abandoned his secular interests, to agitate for a general Crusade against the Ottoman Empire. With the coming decades, the Ottoman Empire was not just an occupying force; it became an instrument in European politics. The Battle of Vienna brought a long period of stagnation, as it was a turning point in the 300-year struggle between the forces of the Central European kingdoms and the Ottoman Empire.
Stagnation (1683–1827)
Eventually, after the defeat of Kara Mustafa by Jan III Sobieski of Poland at the Battle of Vienna, in 1683, the Ottoman Empire lost some of its standing in Europe. In 1699, for the first time in its history, the Ottomans acknowledged that the Austrian empire could sign a treaty with the Ottomans on equal terms, and actually lost a large territory which had been in Ottoman possession for two centuries. There was a long succession of sultans after that, who were not as good as the generation of Mehmed II, Selim I and Suleyman I.
During the stagnation, the Ottomans were weakened by wars, especially against Persia, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Russia and Austria-Hungary. The Russian expansionism was a series of ten wars, fought between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. The Ottoman Empire demonstrated notable resilience among these setbacks for long time. The Ottomans managed to pull themselves together to defeat the Russians in in the Battle of Pruth in 1712, and the Austrians in 1736, regaining some of their European territories. Later, during the Crimean War, the Empire would enter into alliance with Britain and France to defeat Russia.
Crimean War
The Treaty of Passarowitz produced a short, peaceful era between 1718–1730. The change in Ottoman policies toward Europe already had given its signals. The Empire began to improve the cities along the Balkans, that would become their defense against the expansionist movements of the Europeans. More public policies were sought, such as drops in the taxation rates; public relations improvements, such as the institution of consulates, and the first civilian industrial investments all fall into this period. It was called the "Tulip Era" as this motif was extensively used. However, the scientific advantage the Ottomans had over the European countries decreased. While the Ottomans were stagnating in a stalemate with their European and Asian neighboring countries, the European development sped up. The Ottoman Empire did not keep up technologically with its European rivals, especially Russia.
Wars and territories were lost, to Austria and Russia. Areas of the empire such as Egypt, became independent in all but name only. During this time, beginning with Selim III, there were efforts to modernize the system. Many of the reforms the sultans tried to impose to revitalise the Empire, were reverted by conservative forces within the Empire, either by the religious cadre, or by the now-corrupt Janissaries, even after the Janissaries were disbanded in 1826.
Decline (1828–1908)
1826 The declining period of the Empire was shaped by reorganization, and transformations in every aspect of the Empire. The caricature on the left is from the period and shows the sentiments of the Ottomans. It is a parody of clerks in the legal bureau of the Ottoman foreign office by Yussuf Bey (the duck). The parrot, monkey and pig (British, Italians, Germans) that nag him are the chief custodians and interpreters (European powers). The Russians are in the background as bears.
The Tanzimat was a period of reform, that lasted from 1839 to 1876. During this time, a fairly modern conscripted army was formed. The banking system was also reformed, and the guilds were replaced with modern factories. Economically, the Empire had trouble re-paying the loans to European banks. Militarily, it had trouble defending itself from foreign occupation (e.g. Egypt was occupied by the French in 1798; Cyprus was occupied by the British in 1876, etc.).
A significant change of this period was this: the Empire stopped going into conflicts alone, and started entering into alliances with European countries. There was a series of alliances with countries such as France, Holland, Britain and Russia. A prime example of this was the Crimean War, in which the British, French, Ottomans and others united against Tsarist Russia.
Of all the ideas that Ottomans acquired from west; the ethnic nationalism, or named at that time as religion of the modern world was the most influential ideology. Ottomans were not just dealing with ethnic nationalism within their boundaries, but across boundaries. Uprisings had many effects on other groups during the 19th century. It was claimed that these uprisings determined the path that Ottomans had to take during the 20th century, but the rhetoric regarding the cause of 19th century uprisings is sharply divided. Ottomans claim that the source of the inter-ethnic conflicts should be sought within their dynamics and the sources that were supporting the conflicts with hidden goals. The decline period had many achievements, such as organization of the economy, military, communication, etc, but whether the Ottoman state was strong and influential on a scope that would have any effect on the ethnic uprisings is another question.
ethnic conflicts
Young Turks was a group of Ottomans who were educated in western universities and believed that constitutional monarchy could create an ease to the social unrest in the Empire. Mesrutiyet Era explains the political and social dynamics of the first constitution written by İttihat ve Terakki Cemiyeti and its social and economical consequences. Through a military coup, İttihat ve Terakki Cemiyeti had forced Sultan Abdülaziz to leave his position to Murad V. However, Murad V turned out mentally ill and had to be deposed in a few months. Heir apparent Prince Abdülhamid had been invited to assume power under the promise that he would declare constitutional monarchy, which he did at 23 November 1876. Constitution was called Kanun-i Esasi (Basic Law in Turkish).
Dissolution (1908–1922)
The dissolution period begins with the onset of II. Constitutional government.
Basic Law
Three new Balkan states were shaped during the end of the 19th century. All three as well as Montenegro sought additional territories within the large Turkish-ruled regions known as Albania, Macedonia, and Thrace. The background to the wars lies in the incomplete emergence of nation-states on the fringes of the Ottoman Empire during the nineteenth century. Initially under the encouragement of Russia, a series of agreements were concluded: between Serbia and Bulgaria in March 1912 and between Greece and Bulgaria in May 1912. Montenegro subsequently concluded agreements between Serbia and Bulgaria respectively in October 1912. The Serbian-Bulgarian agreement specifically called for the partition of Macedonia, that resulted with the First Balkan War. The second Balkan War followed the first.
second Balkan War
second Balkan War
In a final effort to keep power in their hands by regaining at least some of the lost territories, the triumvirate led by Enver Pasha joined the Central Powers in World War I. The Ottoman Empire had some successes in the beginning years of the war. The Allies, including the newly formed ANZACs were defeated in the Battle of Gallipoli, Iraq and the Balkans, and some territories were regained. In the Caucasus the Ottomans lost ground in a series of battles and Russians moved to a line from Trabzon, Erzurum, to Van. The Russian revolution gave the Ottomans a chance to regain these areas. The Ottomans were eventually defeated at the end of the war by the Allies, Arabs, and Republic of Armenia, which Armenian Republic was being declared during the war, in contrast to Arab nations. Ottoman territories were annexed. The initial agreement was Mundros treaty, and was followed by the Sevres treaty. After a century, what it seems came out of Serves was the achievement of British policy in the Near East. Great Britain had obtained most of her desires, in the partition of the Ottoman Empire.
However, for other powers of Entente, we have to look at the results of Turkish War of Independence. Turks were raised against the Serves, to expel the Greeks, to confront the Republic of Armenia, the Italians, the French and to threaten the British in the region of Straits. Finally Turks asserted their right to an independent national existence.
Turkish independence resulted with the 'coup de grâce' to the Ottoman state, in 1922, with the overthrow of Sultan Mehmet VI Vahdettin by the new republican assembly of Turkey. Republic of Turkey was founded on October 29, 1923 from the remnants of the empire, like many other states.
State
There are some Ottoman State characters which did not change throughout the centuries.
1923 The Ottoman state revolutionized the system with the aid and experience of Christians, and Jews, while other states were holding on to their religion and national identity. That was an eclectic path for the rapidly expanding state, which needed local sources to manage the system, such as the adaptation of advisors (vizier) to the sultans, sometimes being selected from loyal Christians, Greeks, Italians, and so many others. Even from the western perspective the developments over the Byzantine structure were highly apparent in the diplomatic correspondence of the rising state, which was performed in Greek language.
In diplomatic circles, the empire was often referred to as the Divan: بابِ علی Bâb-i-âlî ("great gate"), the grand Palace Gate of the Imperial Topkapı Palace, where the sultan greeted foreign ambassadors. It has also been interpreted as referring to the Empire's (and especially the capital Istanbul's) position as "gateway" between Europe and Asia. In its day, the Ottoman Empire was also commonly referred to as the Turkish Empire or Turkey by Westerners, though it should not be confused with the modern nation-state of Turkey.
The Ottomans were administrators and not producers, except for the Turkish peasants producing foodstuff. The Ottoman Empire was not the program of economic exploitation, like the colonial empires of the modern Europe states. The government under Ottoman understanding was shaped around defending the land, building the security and harmony within the land. Against the common belief among the Christians, the source of violence during the last years of Ottoman Empire was the nation building process, not the Ottoman way of administration.
Sultans
The Sultan, was the sole regent and government of the empire, at least officially.
The dynasty is most often called the Osmanli or the House of Osman. The first rulers called themselves bey thereby acknowledging the sovereignty of the Seljuk sultanate and its successor the Ilkhanate sultanate. Murad I was the first Ottoman to claim the title of "sultan" (king). With the capture of Constantinople in 1453, the state was on its way to becoming a mighty empire, with Mehmed II as its emperor, or padishah, in Europe sometimes the Grand Turk. From 1517 onwards, the Ottoman Sultan was also the Caliph of Islam, and the Ottoman Empire was from 1517 until 1922 (or 1924) synonymous with the Caliphate, the Islamic State. The sultan enjoyed many titles such as Sovereign of the House of Osman, Sultan of Sultans, Khan of Khans, and from 1517 onwards, Commander of the Faithful and Successor of the Prophet of the Lord of the Universe, i.e. Caliph, which theoretically also gave him overlordship over other Muslim rulers around the world. For example, among the Mughal Emperors of India, only Aurangzeb had the Khutba read in his own name.
Organization
Khutba]
Although the Ottoman state had many reorganizations, several main structures remained the same. There was a person who was totally responsible, always in command of the state. That was called the Sultan of the Empire. The decisions were always taken by a court of people at the divan, with the last word on Sultan. At the initial stages, court was composed from the elders of the tribe. Then it was modified to include professionals from military and local elites, such as high-ranking religious and political advisors. They were named as the viziers. This structure was later modified to include Grand Vizier to lift of some of the responsibilities from the Sultan. The Sublime Porte was the open court of the Sultan, named after the gate to the headquarters to the Grand Vizier, where the sultan held the greeting ceremony for foreign ambassadors. At times, the Grand Vizier became as or more important than the Sultan. From 1908 onwards the state was constitutional monarch without executive powers, with parliament consisting of chosen representatives from the provinces.
Subdivisions
Even though there is no election, there was a very interesting democratic structure within the Ottoman State. From an outside view, Ottoman state organization was based on a hierarchy with the Sultan, but there were many historical incidences that local governors acted by their own, sometimes just opposite of the Sultan. There are eleven incidences that Sultans were dethroned as they were perceived threats to the state. Sultans were chosen from the sons of the previous Sultan, but one has to understand the educational system and how it eliminates the unfit, or builds a common trust among the ruling elite for the son before they were throned. There were only two failed attempts to overthrow the ruling family, which suggests an extreme political stability.
At the height of its power, the Ottoman Empire had 29 provinces plus three tributary principalities and Transylvania, a kingdom which swore allegiance to the Porte.
Failures of the state
The fall of the Ottoman state is attributed to the failure of its economic structure. Many of the Ottoman Empire's failures are commonly attributed to an inability to establish economic and political hegemony over other nations, despite the fact that it was an empire. The term "the sick man of Europe" originated from these frustrations.
Without economic participation the inns, hospitals, libraries, or indeed on this term any public benefit depended on public investments, named as vakif. The economy of the Ottoman state was no match to its counterparts.
With the change of trade roads, the Ottoman Empire lost its main income source. Inability to industrialize the state and too great a dependence on farmers as a source of revenue through taxation were also factors.
Inefficiencies originating from the size of the empire were also significant. Trying to keep the empire intact through internal and external wars was a costly process which compromised the Ottoman Empire's capacity to introduce reform.
With improvements in communication the population that was distributed along the trade routes became concentrated on the centers. This population was highly affected by the economic competition of that time. The populations that moved into cities were faced with hardships which tested their patience, persistence, and adaptability. The Ottomans had to keep the system running under these social pressures.
The dynamics of trade were curious—even as early as the 1470s Greeks and Jews were the premier traders, not the Ottomans. Consequently, the Ottomans were forced to protect the Greek elite in order to maintain a functioning economy. They were, moreover, constantly obliged to deal with social unrest among the empire's Greek community. When the Greek elite turned against the Ottomans, the Empire lost control. The Greek elite blamed the economic problems on the Ottomans and offered an escape route to Greeks by pursuing a nation of their own. In reality, even after the Greek revolution, the same elite was controlling the economy with the trade routes having already been altered.
By many accounts, the circumstances surrounding the fall of the Ottoman Empire closely paralleled the fall of Byzantium, particularly in terms of the ongoing tensions among the empires' populations and its inability to relate with them. In the case of the Ottomans, the introduction of a parliamentary system during the Tanzimat was too late to reverse the damage.
Economy
Tanzimat The economical structure of the Empire was defined by the geopolitical structure. The Ottoman Empire stood in between West and East, thus blocking the route eastward forcing Spanish and Portuguese navigators set out in search of a new route to the Orient. The Empire was holding the same path that Marco Polo once used. When Columbus discovered America, the Ottoman Empire was in its highest position as an economical power that extended over three continents. The current Ottoman studies imply that the change in politics between Ottomans and Central Europe did depend on the opening of the new sea routes. It is also possible to see the decay of the Ottoman Empire by tracing the loss of significance of the land routes. Decay is a very relative term, in reality while central Europe is moving forward, Ottoman were holding on to their traditions. The pragmatic thinking of Ottomans that once helped to reform the systems left behind by Roman Empire was once again giving out the same signs which Ottomans found centuries ago.
Law
The Ottoman empire was legally based around the philosophy of local jurisprudence. Local legal systems that did not conflict with the state as a whole were largely left alone. The Ottoman system had three court systems, one for the Muslims run by kadi (judges), one for non-Muslims (appointed Jews and Christians ruled over their religious areas), and another for trade (originated after the capitulations). The court used depended on the sides of the conflict. On top of everything was the Kanun Law (administrative in nature). These court categories were not exclusive; Muslim courts could be used for a trade conflict or inter-religious cases. The primary law system was the Islamic courts.
As for systems of law, there were Sharia Law and the Kanun Law. The Ottoman State did not interfere with religious law systems for other recognized faiths, even if it had a voice through local governors. Sharia Law evolved out of the Koran and from the word of Mohammed. Kanun Law was the secular law of the Sultan. Both were taught at law schools, which existed in Bursa and Istanbul. The court was run by sultan-appointed kadi.
Often Jews and Christians went to Islamic courts to get a more forceful ruling on an issue. Women almost always went to Islamic courts, as they tended to side more often with and gave fairer payments to women. In truth, the political judicial system was run for the betterment of the rulers. The Kanun overruled the Sharia Law, which showed a level of respect for the Sultan over religion.
Military
The Ottoman military was a complex system of recruiting and fief-holding. In the Ottoman army, light cavalry long formed the core and they were given fiefs called timars. Cavalry used bows and short swords and made use of nomad tactics similar to those of the Mongol Empire. The Ottoman army was once among the most advanced fighting forces in the world, being one of the first to employ muskets. The famous Janissary corps provided élite troops and bodyguards for the sultan. After the 17th century, however, the Ottomans could no longer produce a modern fighting force because of a lack of reforms, mainly because of the corrupted Janissaries. The abolition of the Janissary corps in 1826 was not enough, and in the war against Russia, the Ottoman Empire severely lacked modern weapons and technologies.
The modernisation of the Ottoman empire in the 19th century started with the military. This was the first institution to hire foreign experts and which sent their officer core for training in western European countries. Technology and new weapons were transferred to the Empire, such as German and British guns, Air force and a modern navy. The empire was successful in modernising its army. However, it was still no match against the major western powers.
“The beginnings of legal reform in the Middle East were initiated in the Ottoman Empire in the middle of the nineteenth century through the promulgation of commercial and penal codes such as the Ottoman Commercial code (1850) and the Ottoman Penal code (1858).” (Haddad, Y.Y., Byron H. and Ellison F., Eds.)
Culture
1826
Ottoman culture covers expressive activities and the symbolic structures that happened under the umbrella of Ottoman Empire. That is an inclusive statement for all the religious and ethnic cultures of the state. Also, there is a specific intersecting culture that originated from living multi-culturally that reached to its highest levels among the Ottoman elites. Ottoman elites were not monolithic and composed of many different ethnic and religious people.
With the turn of the 19th century, nationalistic states including Turkey began to write their own history. Most of the references to Ottoman culture were buried either in the archives or destroyed. What we know about that period mainly originates from opposing state archives and their official view points. These references can not be claimed fair or inclusive. It is also hard to reach defending views given the fact that Ottomans ceased to exist. Current studies show that empire culture was very rich and colorful.
Opposing to wide spread beliefs, coming from a nomadic culture, Ottoman Turks was in peace with different cultures that they have in contact. Originally Ottomans belong to central-Asian culture. Ottomans later integrated Persian and Byzantine cultures into their way of life, instead of being assimilated into these cultures. When considering the Turkish folkloric or Ottoman elite art, we can see that they have conserved the colors and symbols that were inherited from their origins. Ottoman elites used Persian in their art to express their own inner world. The Ottoman court life was a harmony of Turkish and the Persian Shahs, but had many Byzantine and European influences.
This Ottoman multicultural perspective reflects on their policies. One of the reasons that the Ottoman Empire lasted this long was the high tolerance policies pursued originating from their nomadic inheritance. This statement should be taken as a comparison to assimilative and ignorant medieval times (east and west). The Ottoman State pursued multi-cultural and multi-religious politics. When we talk about Ottoman tolerance, we talk about the structures that accommodate different perspectives. A good example was the Ottoman justice system. Another can be cited with the local governors to the regions. As the Ottomans moved further west, the Ottoman leaders themselves absorbed some of the culture of the conquered regions. With the intercultural marriages, the new cultural structures were gradually added to the Ottomans, creating the characteristic Ottoman elite culture. When compared to common Turkish arts (folkloric), the assimilation of the Ottoman elites to these new cultures is apparent.
Religion
marriages]
Before the Turks adopted Islam, they practiced a polytheistic religion. After their first contact with Arabs and the battle of Talas, a number of Turkic tribes accepted Islam and propogated their new faith further into Turkistan. The process of conversion was over long before the birth of the Ottoman empire.
As early as 1453, after having conquered Constantinople, they granted special privileges to the Christian people who had belonged to the old Byzantine Empire. Christians became subjects of the Ottoman Empire but not subject to Muslim faith or law.
The Ottoman State never officially enforced religious conformity, nor did it harshly pursue a policy of individual conversion. The fact that opposition to the Ottoman state had always been on a national scale supports this idea. Going back to 1391, Bayezid I with Thessalonica(Selanik) actively adopted policies of lenient behaviors towards those with different faiths. Sultans took their primary concern to be service | | |
