Hellenes Celebrate the 119th Anniversary of Greek Independence

My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ God the Only True God and the Only True Savior,CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

+

THE 199TH ANNIVERSARY OF GREEK INDEPENDENCE

Today marks the 199th Anniversary of Greek Independence Day. This is when Hellenes remember their long struggle against the Ottoman Empire, an effort that eventually leads to Greece's Independence.  

The Ottoman Empire enslaved the Greek people for 400 years. Greece had been part of the Ottoman Empire since 1453. The Greek revolt was precipitated on March 25, 1821, when Bishop Germanos of Patras raised the flag of revolution over the Monastery of Agia Lavra in the Peloponnese. The cry "Freedom or Death" became the motto of the revolution.

 Greeks experienced early successes on the battlefield, including the capture of Athens in June 1822, but infighting ensued. By 1827 Athens and most of the Greek isles had been recaptured by the Turks.

Just as the revolution appeared to be on the verge of failure, Great Britain, France, and Russia intervened in the conflict. The Greek struggle had elicited strong sympathy in Europe, and many leading intellectuals had promoted the Greek cause, including the English poet Lord Byron. At the naval battle of Navarino, the combined British, French, and Russian forces destroyed an Ottoman-Egyptian fleet. Although this severely crippled the Ottoman forces, the war continued, complicated by the Russo-Turkish War (1828-1829). A Greco-Turkish settlement was finally determined by the European powers at a conference in London; they adopted a London protocol (Feb. 3, 1830), declaring Greece an independent monarchical state under their protection. By mid-1832 the northern frontier of the new state had been set along the line extending from south of Volos to south of Arta; Prince Otto of Bavaria had accepted the crown, and the Turkish sultan had recognized Greek Independence (Treaty of Constantinople; July 1832).

The celebration of the Greek Independence coincides with the Orthodox Church's celebration of the Annunciation to the Theotokos, when the Archangel Gabriel appeared to the Ever-Virgin Mary and told her that she would bear the Son of God.

Zeto e Ellas!  Zeo to Ethnos!

+ Father George