The Struggle for Greek Independence: Essays to mark the 150th anniversary of the Greek War of Independence PDF
Preview The Struggle for Greek Independence: Essays to mark the 150th anniversary of the Greek War of Independence
The Struggle for Greek Independence Also by Richard Clagg GREECE UNDER MILITARY RuLE (edited with George Y annopoulos) The Struggle for Greek Independence of Essays to mark the 5oth anniversary the 1 Greek War of Independence Edited by RICHARD CLOGG Lecturer in Modern Greek History, School of Slavonic and East European Studies and King's College, University of London Palgrave Macmillan ©The Macmillan Press Ltd 1973 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1973 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without permission, First published I973 by THE MACMILLAN PRESS LTD London and Basingstoke Associated companies in New York Dublin Melbourne Johannesburg and Madras SBN 333 14701 4 ISBN 978-1-349-01847-5 ISBN 978-1-349-01845-1 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-01845-1 Contents Preface I. Aspects of the Movement for Greek Independence I Richard Clogg, Lecturer in Modern Greek History, School of Slavonic and East European Studies and King's College, University of London 2. The Phanariots and the Byzantine Tradition 4I Cyril Mango, Bywater and Sotheby Professor of Byzantine and Modern Greek Language and Literature, University of Oxford 3· The Contribution of the Intelligentsia towards the Greek Independence Movement, I7g8-I82I 67 Catherine Koumarianou, Athens 4· The Philiki Etairia: A Premature National Coalition 87 George D. Frangos, Assistant Professor of History, Vassar College 5· Kapodistrias and the Philiki Etairia, r8r4-21 104 C. M. Woodhouse, Conservative MP for Oxford 6. The I82I Revolution in the Rumanian Principalities 135 E. D. Tappe, Reader in Rumanian Studies, School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University of London 7· The Formation ofthe Greek State, I821-33 156 Douglas Dakin, Professor of History, Birkbeck College, University of London 8. Church, State and the Greek War of Independence I82 Philip Sherrard, Lecturer in the History of the Orthodox Church, School of Slavonic and East European Studies and King's College, University of London g. The Other British Philhellenes 200 Alexis Dimaras, Athens, formerly of King's College, University of London vi Contents ro. Byron in Nineteenth-century Greek Literature 224 Robin Fletcher, Fellow of T riniry College, Oxford, Universiry Lecturer in Modem Greek Index 249 Preface With two exceptions the essays printed in this collection are based on papers read at a seminar organised under the auspices of the History Department of the School of Slavonic and East European Studies and the Department of Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies, King's College, University of London. The seminar was held during the winter term 1971, to mark the I 50th anniversary of the outbreak of the Greek War of Independence in 1821. The two additional contributions are those of Professors Cyril Mango and George Frangos. Regret tably, one of the papers given at the seminar, that of Professor Bernard Lewis on the Ottoman background to 1821, is not included. I have tried to give some account of this Ottoman background in my introductory chapter, which accounts for its greater length. I should like to thank the contributors to this volume for the readiness with which they agreed to prepare their papers for publication, and also those who attended the seminar and whose participation in the discussion greatly contributed to its live liness. Thanks are also due to Anne Pilcher of King's College and to Mary Jo Clogg for help in the preparation of this book. Richard Clogg January 1973 Aspects of the Movement 1 for Greek Independence RICHARD CLOGG This introductory chapter does not seek to provide a comprehen sive analysis of the movement for Greek independence, but rather to sketch in some features of the movement not covered in subsequent chapters and to give some indication of the nature of Greek society during the pre-independence period. For the period of the Tourkokratia remains the least studied and least understood period of Greek history and is likely to remain so for as long as the Ottoman sources relating to this period remain inaccessible, for linguistic and other reasons, to most historians (including myself). This neglect of the Ottoman background has inevitably led to a somewhat one-sided picture. For the growth of the movement for Greek independence, a nationalist move ment which has a number of distinctively modern features, 1 can only be properly understood within the overall Ottoman imperial context, and more particularly within the context of Ottoman decline. During the four centuries of Ottoman rule, the preservation of a sense of corporate identity among the Greeks was materially assisted by the general policy adopted by the Ottomans towards their non-Muslim subjects. All the Orthodox Christians within the Empire, irrespective of ethnic origin, constituted the Ortho dox millet. The head (millet haft) of this Rum milleti was the Ecumenical Patriarch, who was always a Greek, as indeed were the members of the Holy Synod. 2 In addition to his spiritual jurisdiction over the Orthodox pliroma, the Patriarch, together with the Orthodox hierarchy, exercised a considerable jurisdiction in civil affairs, and more particularly in marital and testamentary matters. As Bishop Theophilos of Kampania observed in his Nomikon of 1788: 2 Richard Clogg In the days of the Christian kingdom (alas) [i.e., the Byzan tine Empire] prelates had jurisdiction only over the priesthood and ecclesiastical matters and did not meddle in civil matters ... now prelates must have experience not only in ecclesi astical law ... but also in civil law so as not to make illegal and stupid judgements. a At the same time the Orthodox subjects of the Empire suffered from certain disabilities. The Christian, among other obligations, was liable to the cizye (poll-tax) and harac (a tax levied in lieu of military service); his evidence in the Muslim kadi's court was not accepted against that of a Muslim; he could not marry a Muslim woman; he had to wear distinctive cloth ing; he was forbidden to bear arms and to ride horses, although these latter prohibitions were honoured more in the breach than in the observance (see also Chapter 7). In the early centuries of the Tourkokratia, the most onerous imposition to which the Balkan Orthodox Christians were sub ject was the devjirme or paidoma~oma. This was the obligation, imposed at regular intervals, to hand over a certain proportion of Christian children, who were to be raised in the Muslim faith and serve the Ottoman state either in a civilian or in a military capacity as janissaries. This forced tribute was, of course, often bitterly resented, but there is also evidence that Christian, and indeed Muslim, parents actively sought enrol ment in the janissary corps for their children, as this was seen as an important means of worldly advancement. This system, however, seems to have lapsed into almost complete abeyance by the end of the seventeenth century, although there are indica tions that it lingered on in isolated areas until the early years of the eighteenth century. 4 Moreover, in certain areas of the Empire the Greeks enjoyed virtual autonomy and a high degree of self-government, often combined with special tax privileges. Among these areas were the Dervenokhoria (seven villages in the Megarid plain), the Eleftherokhoria (three confederations of villages in Khalkidiki), Zagora, Sphakia, Mani, Ayvahk (Kydonies), Chios and the Peloponnese. 6 Of major relevance to the growth of the Greek national move ment was the protracted process of Ottoman decline. This had
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