I am proud to be a Greek American!
«Θέλει αρετήν και τόλμην η ελευθερία….Αυτή επτέρωσε τον Ίκαρον»
(Α.Κάλβος – Εις Σάμον)
Greek life did not end when the Ottoman Turks took Constantinople in 1453.
Greeks held administrative roles in the central Ottoman administration itself. Many of them were in the sultan’s interpreters’ service, because muslims were discouraged from learning foreign languages. Greeks therefore became de facto ambassadors and participated in diplomatic negotiations.
The «Phanar» or lighthouse district of Instabul became the center of the Ottoman Greek culture afer the patriach took up residence there and the Greek orthodox clergy had substantial religious, educational, admistrative, and legal power in the Balkans. Greek shipowners in the islands enjoyed similar advantages.
Greeks dominated Balkan commerce by the 1700s. They were permitted commercial contacts with non-believers, an awkward matter for Muslims. Westerners who did business in the region used Greeks as agents for reasons of safety, language and convenience. On the other hand Greek civilization was never completely separated from the rest of Europe. After the fall of Constantinople, some Greeks fled to Italy and played a role in the Renaissance.
There were Greek printing presses at work in Venice and Greek merchants and enterpreneurs found the economic and political concepts of liberalism and the Enlightment attractive. Wealthy Greeks went to France to study and they were heavily influenced by the doctrines of the French Revolution.
In 1814 three Greek businessmen Athanassios Tsakalof, Emanuel Xanthos and Nikolaos Skoufas founded the «Philiki Etairia» (Friendly Society), in the Russian port of Odessa. It was a Greek independence party that held the firm belief that armed force was the only effective means of liberation and made generous monetary contributions to the freedom fighters. Word of the «Philiki Etairia» spread quickly and branches opened all over Greece. Members met in secret and were planning to revolt. Ali Pasha’s private rebellion against the sultan in 1820 gave the Greeks the opportunity they had been waiting for.
On 25th March 1821 the Bishop of Patras, Germanos, raised the Greek flag at the monastery of Aghia Lavra in Peloponese, an act that marked the beginning of the war of Independence. Fighting broke out throughout the Peloponese at first and then in the mainland and many islands as well.
Greek Independence was proclaimed at Epidaurus on the 13th January 1822. The other European countries were reluctant to intervene, fearing the consequences but help came from the Philhellenes. They were young men of classical education who saw themselves as the inheritors of a glorious civilization and were willing to fight to liberate the oppressed descendants of the ancient Greeks. Among them were Shelley, Goethe, Victor Hugo, Schiller, Lord Byron who died of pneumonia in Messolonghi a greek city of major resistance in the Revolution.
At last the western countries intervened , and a combined British, French and Russian fleet destroyed the Turkish-Egyptian navy in the Bay of Navarino (Pylos) in October 1827. The Sultan proclaimed a holy war but was again defeated by the Russian army which arrived at the gates of Constantinople and he had to accept the Greek Independence by the Treaty of Adrianopole. Finally the London Protocol created a small, independent Greek kingdom and appointed Prince Otto of Bavaria as the new King of Greece.
ΕΛΕΥΘΕΡΟΙ ΠΟΛΙΟΡΚΗΜΕΝΟΙ
Άκρα του τάφου σιωπή στον τάφο βασιλεύει
Λαλεί πουλί,παίρνει σπυρί,κι η μάνα το ζηλεύει.
Τα μάτια η πείνα εμαύρισε,στα μάτια η μάνα μνέει,
Στέκει ο Σουλιώτης ο καλός παράμερα και κλαίει.
«Έρμο τουφέκι σκοτεινό,τι σ’έχω γω στο χέρι;
οπού συ μου `γινες βαρύ κι ο Αγαρηνός το ξέρει».
Poem written by Dionissios Solomos after the siege of the town of Messolonghi during the Greek Revolution.
The poet shows us the way things were going. Death silence was everywhere and the atmosphere was heavy.Only a bird can find a seed and a mother of the town of Messolonghi is jealous because she does not have anything to give to her children.There is no food to eat and people are starving. The proud man from the Souli area is humiliated because he cannot use his weapon and thinks that because of this his pistol became unbearably heavy. ( At that time it was very humiliating not to be able to use their weapons to defend their country and their families)
Catherine - 6th grade
ΠΑΤΡΙΔΑ ΕΛΛΑΔΑ
Η καρδιά σου χτυπάει τόσους αιώνες
και ακούραστη, αγέραστη εσύ παραμένεις.
κι αν η μοίρα σου σ’ έριξε μες στους κυκλώνες
«ασφαλής κιβωτός» τους περνάς … κι ανεβαίνεις.
Τον ασύγκριτο, υπέρλαμπρο, μέγα ναό σου
πόσοι, αλίμονο, άφρονα να συλήσουν ζήτησαν.
μάταιη προσπάθεια … δεν πέφτει ο βωμός σου !
τα παιδιά σου με το αίμα τους, χρόνια πριν τον στοίχειωσαν.
Κι αν το χώμα σου κάποτε πάτησαν ξένοι
κι αν ξαπόστασαν έστω για λίγο σιμά σου
από ‘κείνο το χώμα ξεπηδούν οι αντρειωμένοι
που ανεπίστρεπτα – όλους – ξαποστέλλουν μακριά σου.
Λευκογάλανη κόρη, γλυκιά μάνα – πατρίδα
σ’ ακρογιάλια και όρη, από κάθε μεριά
ημιθέων, σοφών, ακριτών η κοιτίδα
τα τραγούδια σε σένα, θάναι για λευτεριά …
Poem by Teacher - Vassiliki
25th March
25th March is a very important day for Greece.On that day the Greeks started the revolution that freed them from the Turks.Greeks were very few and almost unarmed but Turks were a lot and had many weapons.The Greeks' motto was "Liberty or Death" so they fought many battles and a lot of them died, but they finally won.Now we are a free nation because our ancestors died for our freedom.
George - 5th grade
25th March 1821
On the 25th of March we celebrate the revolution against the Turks,after 400 years of slavery. The Greeks fought bravely and died for their freedom.Our ancestors liberated our country after many years of sacrifices.On this day we honour them with celebrations and parades.All the pupils and students dressed in blue and white march in front of many people who admire and applaude them.We have many celebrations in which we dance Greek folk dances dressed in traditional costumes and act theatrical plays about the war of revolution.
Stamatis - 5th grade
