The most complete information guide about Athens, Greece
HISTORY
OF ATHENS
Greek
War of Independence
Just
before the Greek War of Independence of 1821, the population of
Athens was about 11.000: Greek- and Albanian-speaking Christians
and Turkish, Greek- and Albanian-speaking Muslims, the majority
being the Christians. Haseki had built a defensive wall around
the city to protect the inhabitants against the raids of armed
“Avanites” (Albanian-speaking population) from rural
Attica.
The
walls followed the line of more ancient defences and started
from the Theatre of Herodes Atticus, reached Hadrian’s
Gate and continued along what is today Amalias Avenue, Syntagma,
Stadiou Street, Psirri, Thissio and the southern side of the
Acropolis, covering some 11.000m² in total.
Athenian
houses at the time were stone-built with wooden roofs covered
with tiles. The city’s administrative and financial centre
was the area around Monastiraki where the markets also were held.
The largest market was behind Pandrossou Street, at the end of
what is today Aiolou Street.
Beginning of the revolution
In
1814, Greek nationalists formed a secret organization called the
Friendly Society (Filiki Eteria) in Odessa. With the support of
wealthy Greek exile communities in Britain and the United States,
the aid of sympathizers in Western Europe and covert assistance
from Russia, they planned a rebellion.
The
Revolution initially broke in the Peloponnese and Central Greece
and quickly spread across the whole Aegean to Crete and Cyprus.
In January 1822 the 1st National Assembly at Epidavros declared
the independence of the Greek Nation and consolidated their position
with remarkable victories on land and sea until 1823 when attempts
by the revolutionaries to assert control beyond the Peloponnese
ended in a stalemate.
The
Ottomans retaliated violently in other parts of Greece and uprisings
were suppressed by the Ottoman government massacring the Greek
population of Chios and other towns. These incidents, however,
drew sympathy for the Greek cause in Western Europe although the
British and French governments suspected that the uprising was
a Russian plot to seize Greece and possibly Constantinople from
the Ottomans. The Greeks were unable to establish a coherent government
in the areas they controlled and started fighting among themselves.
Inconclusive fighting between Greeks and Ottomans continued until
1825 when the Sultan asked for help from his most powerful vassal,
Egypt.
Egypt
was then ruled by the Albanian Mehmet Ali Pasha who was eager
to test his newly modernized armed forces. The Ottoman sultan
also promised Ali concessions in Syria if Egypt participated.
The Egyptian force, under the command of Ali's son Ibrahim, was
successful and quickly gained dominance of the seas and Aegean
islands through the navy. Ibrahim was also successful in the Peloponnese
where he managed to recapture Tripolis, the administrative center
of the area.
Foreign intervention
In
Europe, the Greek revolt aroused widespread sympathy. Greece was
viewed as the cradle of western civilization and it was especially
lauded by the spirit of romanticism that was current at the time.
The sight of a Christian nation attempting to cast off the rule
of a Muslim Empire also appealed to the western European public.
One
of those who heard the call was the poet Lord Byron who spent
time in Albania and Greece organizing funds and supplies. He died
from fever at Messolonghi in 1824. Byron's death did even more
to augment European sympathy for the Greek cause. This eventually
led the western powers to intervene directly.
On
20 October 1827 the British, Russian and French fleets, on the
initiative of local commanders but with the tacit approval of
their governments, attacked and destroyed the Ottoman fleet at
the Battle of Navarino. This was the decisive moment in the War
of Independence, although the British Admiral Edward Codrington
nearly ruined his career since he wasn't ordered to achieve such
a victory or destroy the Turkish-Egyptian fleet completely.
In
October 1828, the Greeks regrouped and formed a new government
under Ioannis Kapodistrias. They then advanced to seize as much
territory as possible, including Athens and Thebes, before the
western powers imposed a ceasefire. The Greeks seized the last
Turkish strongholds in the Peloponnese with the help of the French
general, Nicolas Joseph Maison.
The Kingdom of Greece
Kapodistrias
was assassinated in 1831 in Nafplio. As a state of confusion continued
in the Greek peninsula, the Great Powers sought a formal end of
the war and a recognized government in Greece. The Greek throne
was initially offered to Leopold I of Belgium but he refused as
he was not at all satisfied with the Aspropotamos-Zitouni borderline,
which replaced the more favorable Arta-Volos line considered by
the Great Powers earlier.
The
withdrawal of Leopold as a candidate for the throne of Greece
and the July Revolution in France, delayed the final settlement
of the frontiers of the new kingdom until a new government was
formed in the United Kingdom. Lord Palmerston, who took over as
British Foreign Secretary, agreed to the Arta-Volos borderline.
In
May 1832, Palmerston convened the London Conference of 1832. The
three Great Powers (Great Britain, France and Russia) offered
the throne to the Bavarian Prince, Otto Wittelsbach, without regard
to Greek views on this. The line of succession was also established
which would pass the crown to the heirs of Otto, or his younger
brothers in succession, should he have no heirs. In no case would
the crowns of Greece and Bavaria be joined.
Under
the protocol signed on 7 May 1832 between Bavaria and the protecting
Powers and basically dealing with the way in which the regency
was to be managed until Otto reached his majority, Greece was
defined as an independent kingdom, with the Arta-Volos line as
its northern frontier. The Ottoman Empire was given 40.000.000
piastres (one piastre = one 100th of a Turkish Lira) in compensation
for the loss of the territory.
On
21 July 1832, British Ambassador, Sir Stratford Canning, and the
other representatives concluded the Treaty of Constantinople,
which set the boundaries of the new Greek Kingdom at a line running
from Arta to Volos. The borders of the Kingdom were reiterated
in the London Protocol of 30 August 1832 signed by the Great Powers,
which ratified the terms of the Constantinople Arrangement. The
new state, however, contained less than one third of the Greek
inhabitants of the Ottoman Empire and for much of the next century
the Greek state sought the liberation of the “unredeemed”
Greeks of the Ottoman Empire.
Athens and the war
The
military campaigns of the Greek War of Independence destroyed
much of the city. In April 1821, the revolutionary army took over
the city and besieged the Acropolis where the Ottomans had taken
refuge. In June 1822, the Ottomans surrendered but in Augustus
1826 the situation reversed.
After
their military successes in the Peloponnese, the Ottomans
took over Athens and the Greeks took refuge on the Acropolis
which remained under siege until May 1827 when the Greeks
surrendered and left Athens after the declaration of the Independence
in 1830. However, the Ottomans remained on the Acropolis.
Finally, in March 1833, the Acropolis was returned to Greece
and the Ottomans left Athens, this time for good. Five years
later, and after 400 years of Ottoman rule, the first municipal
elections were held in a free city of Athens.