Russia and the Making of Modern Greek Identity 1821-1844

313 Pages·2020·6.29 MB·English

OXFORD STUDIES IN
MODERN EUROPEAN HISTORY

General Editors
simon dixon
mark mazower
james retallack

OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 27/5/2015, SPi

OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 27/5/2015, SPi

Russia and the Making of
Modern Greek Identity,
1821–1844

L U C I E N J . F R A R Y

1

3

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© Lucien J. Frary 2015

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First Edition published in 2015
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Acknowledgments

At first, I conceived of this work as a critique of Paul Schroeder’s magisterial study
of the transformation of modern European politics based on the cosmopolitan
approach of Franco Venturi’s monumental analysis of the Italian Enlightenment. It
began with a vision that I realize, in hindsight, was overly ambitious for a first
monograph. Fortunately, the tradition of Mediterranean, Slavic, and Eastern
Orthodox studies at the University of Minnesota inspired me to focus on one
aspect of the revolutions and reforms taking place within the European periphery
during the Congress of Vienna era. I was especially fortunate to move in this
direction, since the posthumously published book by the late Richard Stites, The
Four Horsemen: Riding to Liberty in Post-Napoleonic Europe, provides a splendidly
original impression of the crises and insurrections emerging on the European
fringes during this period.
Many individuals working in Russian and Greek archives and libraries rendered
me timely and professional assistance. Much of the Greek research was conducted
at the Gennadius Library in Athens and facilitated by its helpful staff, particularly
Andreas Sideris, Soula Panagopoulou, Dimitris Velentzas, and Mary Stavropoulou.
In Athens, Evanthis Hatzivassiliou paid special attention to my project at a
preliminary stage, and in Thessaloniki, the staff at the Institute of Balkan Studies
provided valuable assistance. I have spent nearly two academic years and many
summers working in the reading rooms of RGADA, AVPRI, GARF, RGIA, IRLI,
the Russian Public Library, the Russian State Library, and elsewhere in Moscow
and St Petersburg. At AVPRI, Natalia V. Borodina and Alla V. Abramenkova
deserve special thanks for helping me make the most of my visits. To the wonder-
fully friendly staff at the State Public Historical Library in Moscow, I give a
resounding thank you. Rider University’s Interlibrary Loan filled many lacunae,
and access privileges to the amazing riches of the Firestone Library at Princeton
University have been very important.
Since the 1990s, the ready response and assistance of Dr Timothy O’Connor
have made numerous research stints in Russia possible, and I am grateful for his
continued friendship. In Moscow, for more than fifteen years, Liudmilla
N. Dorofeevoi has opened her home and dacha to me, and I would like to thank
her and her family for countless hours of laughter, learning, and conversation.
Correspondence with Lora Gerd of St Petersburg State University and Olga
E. Petrunina of Moscow State University has been inspiring.
As a graduate student at the University of Minnesota, I benefitted greatly from
many devoted scholars who helped me focus my intellectual curiosity. It is my
pleasure to thank Professor Eric D. Weitz, now Dean of Humanities and Arts and
Distinguished Professor of History at the City College of New York, for his
kindness in advising me about many topics over the years. I am indebted to
Professors J. Kim Munholland and Gary Jahn for overseeing my intellectual

development at an early stage. Professor David O. Kieft deserves special acknow-
ledgment for his genuine interest, encouragement, and generosity. Theophilus
Prousis, Distinguished Professor of History at Northern Florida, has been one of
my most valuable critics and advisors. In addition, I am truly grateful for the
continued guidance and support of my friends and colleagues David Goldfrank,
Mara Kozelsky, Joe Gowaskie, and Tom Callahan. Ani Chikovani and Medea
Metreveli, both outstanding scholars of Modern Greek Studies at Tbilisi State
University, have my warmest thanks for their many kindnesses over the years.
I wish to express my grateful thanks to the Delegates of Oxford University Press
for undertaking the publication of this book, and to all the members of the press
who have been concerned in any way with its appearance in print. Funding has
come from three sources: Summer Research Fellowships and a Research Leave from
Rider University have been fundamental. The University of Minnesota’s Doctoral
Dissertation Fellowship enabled me to spend nearly two years in Greece and Russia
doing preliminary research, and the Basil Laourdas Fellowship allowed me to
conceptualize the project at an early stage as well as compose it.
Theofanis G. Stavrou, the world’s leading promoter of Greek-Slavic studies,
professor of Russian and Near Eastern history and director of Modern Greek
Studies at the University of Minnesota, is most responsible for what is worthwhile
within this study. Since I first met him he has been an amazing source of
inspiration, and I am deeply grateful for his wisdom, guidance, and encouragement.
Lastly, my family has provided me with an inexhaustible reserve of support.
I dedicate this book to my loving wife, Elena, and to our young son Nikola Hristov.

Lucien J. Frary
Lawrenceville, NJ
January 2015

Acknowledgments
vi

Contents

List of Maps and Figures
ix
List of Abbreviations
xi
Note on Transliteration, Names, and Dates
xiii

Introduction
1

1. Russia and the Movement for Greek Independence
18

2. From Anarchy to Absolutism
54

3. Autocephaly and Facets of Orthodoxy
93

4. The Russian Ecclesiastical Mission and the Defense of Orthodoxy
123

5. Secret Societies, Armed Rebellions, and Oracular Prophecies
167

6. Absolutism under Siege
204

Conclusion
241

Bibliography
251
Index
285

OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 6/5/2015, SPi

List of Maps and Figures

MAPS

1. Greece and Surrounding Regions, 1820–56.
xiv
2. Expansion of the Greek Kingdom.
xv

FIGURES

1.1. Surprise attack on the Turkish Camp at Zeituni in September 1824. Color
engraving by J. Hussbiegel after Christian Gottfried Heinrich Geissler
(1825). Courtesy of the Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection,
Brown University.
36
1.2. President of Greece Ioannis Kapodistrias, from Sergei Glinka, Kartina
istoricheskaia i politicheskaia Novoi Gretsii (Moscow: Tip. Avgusta Semena,
1829).
41
2.1. Theodoros Kolokotronis, from Sergei Glinka, Kartina istoricheskaia
i politicheskaia Novoi Gretsii (Moscow: Tip. Avgusta Semena, 1829).
58
2.2. Arrival of His Majesty King Othon in Nafplion, February 6, 1833.
Lithographic plate by I. B. Dreseli and Gustav Wilhelm Kraus (1833).
Courtesy of the Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection, Brown University.
63
2.3. King Othon of Greece in national costume. Gustav Wilhelm Kraus (1840).
Courtesy of the Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection, Brown University.
70
3.1. Adamantios Korais, Aristotelous Politikon ta sozomena
(Paris: I. M. Everartos/Firmin Didot, 1821).
99
4.1. Konstantinos Oikonomos, from G. S. Destunis, “O zhizni i trudakh
K. Ekonomosa,” Strannik 3 (1860), facing p. 1.
140
4.2. Othon, King of Greece, bids farewell. December 1832. Lithograph by
G. Podt after Philipp von Foltz. Courtesy of the Anne S. K. Brown Military
Collection, Brown University.
156
5.1. King Othon in national dress. Courtesy of the Bayerische Verwaltung
der Staatlichen Schlösser, Gärten und Seen.
174
5.2. Greek Captain leads his palikaria, c.1835. Lithograph by P. Hess after Krazeisen,
printed by Selb. Courtesy of the Bayerische Verwaltung der staatlichen
Schlösser, Gärten und Seen.
193
6.1. Ambassador Gavriil Katakazy, from A. V. Nekliudov, Starye portrety.
Semeinaia letopis, 2 vols (Nice: n.p., 1932–3).
206
7.1. Imperial Bears Grease (Greece) or a peep into futurity. London: T. McClean,
1828. William Heath (artist). Courtesy of the Anne S. K. Brown Military
Collection, Brown University.
243