If you did not find the tour you need on our website, this does not mean that it does not exist.
Call and our staff will find a tour that suits all your wishes
Zheleznovodsk(879З2) З-20-2З, Pyatigorsk(879Z) Z6-58-Z6
Kislovodsk(879З7) 9-81-79, Essentuki(879З4) 5-17-45
If it’s difficult to get through by phone, fill out the form and we’ll call you.

Departures from Mineralnye Vody, Rostov-on-Don, Krasnodar, Sochi, Stavropol

Geographical location and nature

A state in southeastern Europe, located in the southern part of the Balkan Peninsula and on the islands of the Aegean, Ionian and Mediterranean seas. In the north it borders with Bulgaria (border length 494 km) and Macedonia (228 km), in the northwest - with Albania (282 km), in the northeast - with Turkey (206 km). In the south it is washed by the Mediterranean Sea, in the east by the Aegean Sea, and in the west by the Ionian Sea. The total length of the border is 1,210 km, the Alina coastline is 13,944 km. The total area is 131,957 km2 (land area - 130,800 km2). Approximately one fifth of the country's territory is occupied by the islands of Crete, Euboea, Rhodes, Lesvos and many others. The coast of Greece is highly indented. Medium-altitude mountains and plateaus occupy about 2/3 of the territory, the highest altitude being Mount Olympus (2917 m). Plains and lowlands are located mainly in coastal areas. Main rivers: Alyakmon, Acheloos, Strymon (Struma), Nestos. In the depths of the country there are reserves of bauxite, lignite, nickel, magnesite, and oil. 23% of the territory is used for arable land, meadows and pastures occupy 40%, forests and shrubs - 20%.

Population

The population is 10,647,511 people (1995), the average population density is about 80 people per km 2. Over 95% of the country's inhabitants are Greeks, other ethnic groups: Turks, Albanians, Armenians. The official language is Greek, but English and French are also widely spoken. The dominant religion is Orthodox Christianity (Greek Orthodox Church). Birth rate - 10.56 newborns per 1,000 people (1995). Mortality - 9.31 deaths per 1,000 people (infant mortality rate - 8.3 deaths per 1,000 births). Average life expectancy: men - 75 years, women - 80 years (1995). The working-age population is 4,077,000 people, of which 52% are employed in the service sector, 25% in industry, and 23% in agriculture (1994).

The plains and lower parts of the mountains near the sea are characterized by a Mediterranean subtropical climate with mild, wet winters and hot, dry summers. The higher you go in the mountains, the lower the temperature and the greater the amount of precipitation. In the mountains above 1,000 m, in the northern and northeastern parts of Greece, at altitudes of 500-600 m, snow falls annually in winter, and summer, unlike the plains, is not so dry. The ridges, which stretch predominantly from north to south, are a significant barrier to moisture-carrying westerly winds. The western part of the Greek Peninsula has a wetter and milder climate than its eastern half. On the windward side of the mountains, 1,200-1,400 mm falls, on the leeward side - half as much, on the plains in the eastern part of the country - up to 350-500 mm per year. The average January temperature in the north of the country is 4°C, and in the southern part of the Aegean Sea - 11-13°C. Negative average monthly temperatures in January are observed only in the mountains: in the north of Greece at an altitude of more than 700-800 m, in the south - at an altitude of 1,400 -1,500 m above sea level. The driest and hottest months are July and August. The average air temperature in the lowlands ranges from 25 to 28 ° C, but often it rises to 40 and even 45 "C. On the coast, the summer heat is softened by sea breezes.

Vegetable world

Forests occupy only 10-11% of the country's territory, but thickets of evergreen and deciduous shrubs - maquis and shiblyak - are widespread here. Typical of Greece and freegan are thickets of low thorny bushes and subshrubs. There are groves of pines, evergreen oaks, cypresses and plane trees. Vineyards and orchards of Mediterranean fruit trees are widespread on the plains and in the foothills. Above the evergreen belt there are belts of mountain forests and shrubs, in which, with increasing altitude, cultivated vegetation is gradually replaced by natural vegetation, evergreen forests and shrubs turn into deciduous, and the latter into coniferous.

Animal world

The fauna is poor in mammals, especially large ones. Occasionally, a bear is found in the mountains in the north-west of the country, and the remaining predators are the wild cat, fox, jackal, stone marten, and badger. Of the ungulates, the Cretan mountain goat, fallow deer, roe deer, red deer, and wild boar are found in small numbers. The most numerous mammals are rodents (porcupine, gray hamster, mice, dormouse, voles, etc.), southern species of bats and insectivores - shrews, hedgehogs, moles. There are many reptiles in Greece - turtles, lizards, snakes. The bird fauna is diverse and abundant: quails, wild ducks, wood pigeons and cowbirds, gray and, especially, mountain partridges, brightly feathered hoopoes, kingfishers, and among raptors - kites, black vultures, eagles, falcons, owls. Greece is also characterized by the long-billed cormorant, Dalmatian pelican, and stork. Among the invertebrates there are many terrestrial mollusks (snails): in Crete there are 120 species of mollusks, of which 77 are found only in this territory.

Government system, political parties

Full name - Hellenic Republic. The government system is a republic. The country consists of 13 dioceses, which in turn are divided into 51 prefectures. The capital is Athens. Greece received independence in 1830 from Turkey. The legislation is based on Roman law. National holiday - March 25 - Independence Day (beginning of the 1821 war for Greek independence). Executive power belongs to the president (head of state) and the government headed by the prime minister. Legislative power is exercised by a unicameral parliament. The most influential political parties: New Democracy - ND). Panhellenic Socialist Movement, Coalition of Left and Progressive Forces, Communist Party of Greece (KKE).

Economics, transport communications

Tourism is one of the most important sectors of the Greek economy. Among the industries, the most developed are food, light, textile, mining, chemical, and metallurgical. Agriculture (including fishing and forestry) provides 17% of GNP; the main crops are millet, barley, olives, tomatoes, grapes, tobacco, potatoes, sugar beets. The country fully meets its domestic food needs, except for meat and dairy products. GNP in 1991 amounted to $93.7 billion (GNP per capita - $8,870). The monetary unit is the drachma (1 drachma (Dr) is equal to 100 lepta). The main trading partners are EU countries: Germany, Italy, France, Great Britain.

The total length of railways is 2,577 km, roads are about 42,000 km (25,000 km are paved). The main ports of the country are Alexandroupolis, Heraklion, Patras, Rhodes, Thessaloniki.

Already in 3 thousand BC. e. On the territory of modern Greece there was a highly developed civilization, which was divided into the Cretan, Peloponnesian and Mycenaean periods. Before the Dorian invasion at the end of the 12th century. BC e. in Hellas (the ancient name of Greece), crafts and trade, as well as various types of arts, flourished. After the period of the Hellenic Middle Ages in the 6th century. BC e. The stage of classical Greece began when Athenian democracy reached its apogee. After the victory of Greece over Persia in 500-449. BC e. and the creation of the Delian League, led by Athens, a prosperous state was formed on the territory of modern Greece. After the weakening of Athens as a result of the war with Sparta and Corinth (Peloponnesian Wars 431-404 BC), the role of Macedonia grew, whose ruler Philip II managed to subjugate the entire territory of modern Greece. His son, Alexander the Great, proved himself a skilled commander, creating a huge empire that included, in addition to Greece, Egypt and Western Asia and extended to the borders of India. In the 2nd century. BC e. Greece came under the rule of Ancient Rome, which, for its part, was greatly influenced culturally by Greek civilization. The last Olympic Games, held in 393 BC. e., were the symbolic date of the end of the era of Ancient Greece. After the collapse of the Ancient Roman Empire, Greece became part of the Byzantine state in 395. After the invasion of the Slavic, Albanian, Wallachian tribes, gradually assimilated with the local population, onto the Balkan Peninsula, Greece was occupied by the Arabs in the 9th century, then by the Bulgarians at the end of the 10th century. At the beginning of the 13th century. Venetian influence spread to the coast of Greece. The Turks poured into the territory of the Byzantine Empire in 1460 G. conquered Greece, which remained under Ottoman rule for more than three centuries. The Greek people, reduced to the status of slaves, repeatedly rose up to fight against the Turkish conquerors, but only the revolution of 1821 brought independence to Greece, which Turkey recognized in 1830. As a result of the Balkan Wars at the beginning of the 20th century. The Greek kingdom regained Macedonia, Epirus, Crete and the islands in the Aegean Sea. After the First World War, anti-monarchical sentiments arose in the country, in 1923 there was a coup d'etat, as a result of which Tsar Constantine was forced to abdicate the throne in favor of his son George II, and in 1924 Greece was proclaimed a republic. The political crisis of 1935 led to the restoration of the monarchy. Having repelled attacks by Italian troops in October 1940, Greece was unable to resist the German invasion in 1941. After the liberation of the country in 1945, fighting continued until 1949 between the rebels of the Democratic Army of Greece (communists) and government troops supported by Great Britain. On April 21, 1967, a coup d'état took place in the country, as a result of which a military junta came to power and abolished the constitution and parliamentary system. In 1973, the military (“black colonels”) abolished the monarchy, deposing Tsar Constantine, who was forced to leave the country in December 1967. In 1974, the military junta was removed from power, thanks to which about 40,000 Greeks were able to return to the country, fled from persecution by the regime. The referendum held in December 1974 confirmed the negative attitude of the country's residents towards the restoration of the monarchy, and in 1975 a new republican constitution was adopted.

Attractions

Greece is one of the main centers of international tourism. The most popular among tourists are Athens, Rhodes, and Crete. In Athens there are: the Acropolis with ancient temples, the Temple of Olympian Zeus (2nd century BC - 2nd century AD), medieval churches of the Byzantine era, the National Archaeological Museum, the Agora Museum, the Byzantine Museum, the National Gallery. The island of Crete is one of the centers of ancient Aegean culture; here are the ruins of the ancient city of Knossos. On the island of Rhodes there are monuments of ancient and medieval architecture. In Thessaloniki, Byzantine churches from the 4th to 14th centuries are notable. with beautiful mosaics and frescoes.

Participation in international organizations

BIS, TCC, CERN, CSCE, EBRD, EU, ECE, EIB, FAO, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, MAP, IEA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, ICF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ISO, ITU, NATO, ESR, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WTO.

Tags: : : :
Bottom line Victory and independence of Greece Opponents Greece

Russian empire

France

Great Britain

Ottoman Empire

Egypt

Commanders Theodoros Kolokotronis Ibrahim Pasha

Greek War of Independence, sometimes also called Greek revolution(Greek Ελληνική Επανάσταση του 1821) - the armed struggle of the Greek people for independence from the Ottoman Empire, which began in the city and ended in the city with the Treaty of Constantinople, which established Greece as an independent state. The Greeks were the first of the subject peoples of the Ottoman Empire to gain independence. It is with these events that the history of modern Greece begins.

Background

The Ottoman Empire ruled almost all of Greece, with the exception of the Ionian Islands, during the 14th and 15th centuries. But in the 18th and 19th centuries, a wave of revolutions swept across Europe. The power of Turkey was decreasing, Greek nationalism began to assert itself and increasingly gained support from Western European countries.

In 1814, Greek patriots N. Skoufas, E. Xanthos and A. Tsakalov formed a secret organization “Φιλική Εταιρεία” (“Friendly Society”) in Odessa. In 1818, the center of the organization was moved to Constantinople. With the support of wealthy Greek communities located in Britain and the United States, with the help of sympathizers in Western Europe and secret help from Russia, they planned an uprising against Turkey.

The revolt against Ottoman rule was launched by a group of conspirators led by Ypsilanti, which consisted largely of Russian officers of Greek origin. John Kapodistrias was offered to lead the liberation movement, but he, holding important diplomatic posts in the Russian administration, for a long time considered it impossible for himself to participate in an uprising that was not officially supported by Russia.

Ypsilanti Rising

Alexander Konstantinovich Ypsilanti

The uprising began on March 6, 1821, when Alexander Ypsilanti, accompanied by several other Greek officials of the Russian army, crossed the Prut River in Romania and entered the territory of modern Moldavia with his small detachment. He was soon defeated by the Turkish army.

The uprising broke out in the Southern Peloponnese (Morea) on March 25 ( See article Herman (Metropolitan of Old Patras)). Within 3 months, the uprising covered the entire Peloponnese, part of mainland Greece, the island of Crete, Cyprus and some other islands of the Aegean Sea. The rebels captured significant territory. On January 22, 1822, the 1st National Assembly in Piado (near Epidaurus) proclaimed the independence of Greece and adopted a democratic constitution. Military operations against Turkish troops were relatively successful. Turkey's response was terrible, thousands of Greeks were repressed by Turkish soldiers, and Patriarch Gregory V of Constantinople was hanged. However, the Greeks did not remain in debt. Greek rebels executed thousands of Muslims, many of whom had nothing to do with Turkey or the revolution. All these events were poorly received by Western Europe. The British and French governments suspected that the uprising was a Russian plot to take over Greece and even perhaps Constantinople. However, the rebel leaders clashed with each other and were unable to establish regular administration of the liberated territories. All this led to internecine struggle. A civil war began in Greece (late 1823 - May 1824 and 1824-1825).

Intervention by international forces

In the city, the Turkish Sultan turned for help to the vassal, but who showed great independence, Khedive of Egypt Muhammad Ali, who had just carried out serious reforms of the Egyptian army according to European models. The Sultan of Turkey promised to make concessions regarding Syria if Ali helped. Egyptian forces, under the command of Ali's son Ibrahim, quickly took possession of the Aegean Sea. Ibrahim also enjoyed success in the Peloponnese, where he managed to return Tripolis, the administrative center of the region.

However, in European countries, especially in England and France (and, of course, in Russia), sympathy for the Greek patriots grew among the educated elite and the desire to further weaken the Ottoman Empire among politicians. In 1827, a convention supporting Greek independence was adopted in London. On October 20, 1827, British, French and Russian squadrons, under the overall command of the English Vice Admiral E. Codrington, entered Greek waters. On the same day, the allies met with the Turkish-Egyptian fleet in the Navarino Bay of the Peloponnese. During the four-hour battle of Navarino, the Turkish-Egyptian fleet was defeated by the allies. Following this, the French landing force landed on land and helped the Greeks complete the defeat of the Turks. Having won this victory, the allies did not take further joint actions aimed at undermining Turkey's military power. Moreover, disagreements began in the camp of the former allies over the division of the former possessions of the Ottoman Empire. Taking advantage of this, Türkiye declared war on Russia in December 1827. The Russian-Turkish War of 1828-1829 began. , in which Türkiye was defeated. According to the Treaty of Adrianople of 1829, Türkiye recognized the autonomy of Greece.

Independent Greece

On February 3, 1830, the London Protocol was adopted in London, which officially recognized the independence of Greece. By mid-1832, the borders of the new European state were finally drawn.

Statistics of the Greek Revolution

Warring countries	Population (1821)	Soldier mobilized	Soldier killed	Civilians killed
England	14 100 000	8 000	10
France	31 150 000	10 000	100
Russia	49 300 000	1 200 000	10 000
Greece	950 000	100 000	50 000
TOTAL ALLIES	95 500 000	1 318 00	60 110
Ottoman Empire	26 500 000	400 000	15 000
Egypt	4 400 000	12 000	5 000
TOTAL	30 900 000	412 000	20 000
TOTAL	126 400 000	1 730 000	80 110	105 000

Literature

• Mernikov A. G., Spektor A. A. World history of wars. - Minsk, 2005.

Plan
Introduction
1 Background
2 Ypsilanti Rising
3 Intervention by international forces
4 Independent Greece
5 Statistics of the Greek Revolution
6 Interesting facts

Bibliography
Greek Revolution

Introduction

Greek War of Independence, sometimes also called Greek revolution(Greek Ελληνική Επανάσταση του 1821) - the armed struggle of the Greek people for independence from the Ottoman Empire, which began in 1821 and ended in 1832 with the Treaty of Constantinople, which established Greece as an independent state. The Greeks were the first of the peoples conquered by the Ottoman Empire to gain independence. It is with these events that the history of modern Greece begins.

1. Background

The Ottoman Empire ruled almost all of Greece, with the exception of the Ionian Islands, Crete and parts of the Peloponnese, from the turn of the 14th and 15th centuries. In the 17th century, the Ottomans conquered the Peloponnese and Crete. But in the 18th and 19th centuries, a wave of revolutions swept across Europe. The power of Turkey was decreasing, Greek nationalism began to assert itself and increasingly gained support from Western European countries.

In 1814, Greek patriots N. Nikolaos Skoufas, E. Xanthos and A. Tsakalof Athanasios formed the secret organization Filiki Eteria (Greek: Φιλική Εταιρεία - Friendly Society) in Odessa. In 1818, the center of the organization was moved to Constantinople. With the support of wealthy Greek communities located in Britain and the United States, with the help of sympathizers in Western Europe and secret help from Russia, they planned an uprising against Turkey.

The revolt against Ottoman rule was launched by a group of conspirators led by Ypsilanti, which consisted largely of Russian officers of Greek origin. John Kapodistrias was offered to lead the liberation movement, but he, holding important diplomatic posts in the Russian administration, for a long time considered it impossible for himself to participate in an uprising that was not officially supported by Russia.

2. Ypsilanti Rising

The uprising began on March 6, 1821, when Alexander Ypsilanti, accompanied by several other Greek officials of the Russian army, crossed the Prut River in Romania and entered what is now Moldavia with his small force. He was soon defeated by the Turkish army.

The uprising broke out in the Southern Peloponnese (Morea) on March 25 ( See article Herman (Metropolitan of Old Patras)). Within 3 months, the uprising covered the entire Peloponnese, part of mainland Greece, the island of Crete, Cyprus and some other islands of the Aegean Sea. The rebels captured significant territory. On January 22, 1822, the 1st National Assembly in Piado (near Epidaurus) proclaimed the independence of Greece and adopted a democratic constitution. Military operations against Turkish troops were relatively successful. Turkey's response was terrible, thousands of Greeks were repressed by Turkish soldiers, and Patriarch Gregory V of Constantinople was hanged. All these events were poorly received by Western Europe. The British and French governments suspected that the uprising was a Russian plot to take over Greece and even perhaps Constantinople. However, the rebel leaders clashed with each other and were unable to establish regular administration of the liberated territories. All this led to internecine struggle. A civil war began in Greece (late 1823 - May 1824 and 1824-1825).

3. Intervention by international forces

In 1825, the Turkish Sultan turned for help to the vassal, but very independent Khedive of Egypt, Muhammad Ali, who had just carried out serious reforms of the Egyptian army according to European models. The Sultan of Turkey promised to make concessions regarding Syria if Ali helped. Egyptian forces, under the command of Ali's son Ibrahim, quickly took possession of the Aegean Sea. Ibrahim also enjoyed success in the Peloponnese, where he managed to return Tripolis, the administrative center of the region.

However, in European countries, especially in England and France (and, of course, in Russia), sympathy for the Greek patriots grew among the educated elite and the desire to further weaken the Ottoman Empire among politicians.

In 1827, a convention supporting Greek independence was adopted in London. On October 20, 1827, British, French and Russian squadrons, under the overall command of the English Vice Admiral Edward Codrington, entered Greek waters. On the same day, the allies met with the Turkish-Egyptian fleet in the Navarino Bay of the Peloponnese. During the four-hour battle of Navarino, the Turkish-Egyptian fleet was defeated by the allies. Following this, the French landing force landed on land and helped the Greeks complete the defeat of the Turks.

Having won this victory, the allies did not take further joint actions aimed at undermining Turkey's military power. Moreover, disagreements began in the camp of the former allies over the division of the former possessions of the Ottoman Empire. Taking advantage of this, Türkiye declared war on Russia in December 1827. The Russian-Turkish War of 1828-1829 began, in which Türkiye was defeated. According to the Treaty of Adrianople of 1829, Türkiye recognized the autonomy of Greece.

4. Independent Greece

On February 3, 1830, the London Protocol was adopted in London, which officially recognized the independence of Greece. By mid-1832, the borders of the new European state were finally drawn.

5. Statistics of the Greek Revolution

6. Interesting facts

· The Greek poet George Zalokostas (1805-1858) took an active part in the war, whose patriotic poems and songs brought him popularity and were translated into many European languages.

Literature

· Mernikov A. G., Spektor A. A. World history of wars. - Minsk, 2005.

· Paleologist G.N. The history of the intervention of Russia, England and France in the Greek War of Independence. - St. Petersburg: Printing house of the Maritime Ministry, 1863. - 231 p.

· Paleolog G.N., Sivinis A. Historical sketch of the people's war for Greek independence. - Printing house of the Maritime Ministry, 1867. - 552 p.

Bibliography:

1. Greek national liberation revolution 1821-1829

2. Greek War of Independence 1821-1832 (English)

3. Nina M. Athanassoglou-Kallmyer French images from the Greek War of Independence (1821-1830) Publisher: Yale University Press (September 10, 1989) ISBN 0-300-04532-8 ISBN 978-0-300-04532-1 (English)

4. The population is indicated within the boundaries of the corresponding year of registration (Russia: Encyclopedic Dictionary. L., 1991.).

Thus, the Greek question entered the last phase of its development. At the head of the government, if this expression can be used here, was the chosen one of the Cybernet, Count Kapodistrias, who arrived in Nauplia in January 1828. His task was extremely difficult in a country devastated, with an unknown future, party rivalry, passions and intrigues. The fate of the country was to be finally decided at the conference of the great powers in London. In the final Anglo-Franco-Russian decree of February 3, 1830, Greece was freed from all tribute to Turkey and, therefore, made a completely independent state, but in order to reward the Ports, they narrowed the borders compared to the original assumptions. They were looking for a king for the new kingdom: Prince Leopold of Coburg, son-in-law of George IV of England, after much deliberation, refused, among other things because the borders did not correspond, in his opinion, to the needs of the country.

Thus, Kapodistrias remained temporarily at the head of the government of a country that had experienced a lot, but was finally freed from an intolerable and unnatural yoke. Its further structure, of course, had to be in the closest connection and dependence on the will and mutual consent of the great European powers.

CHAPTER FOUR

July Revolution

Holy Alliance

In the Greek question, the principles of the congress turned out to be inapplicable. The Ottoman yoke was a completely legal yoke, and the Greek uprising was a revolution like any other. Meanwhile, this revolution achieved its goal precisely thanks to the help of Emperor Nicholas, an autocrat and strict legitimist. This is not the only case where it was clearly shown that the phrase about “supporting the existing” cannot serve as a basis for serious policy and can serve as a dogma only for very limited minds, at that time special circumstances pushed into the dominant role and position to which they were also little prepared, like Franz I, for the rank of Emperor of Austria. What Metternich, his imitators and followers called a revolution, so as not to search for the real causes and means of healing, five years after the victory of absolutism in Spain, won one victory after another and fifteen years after the founding of the Holy Alliance, shocked with a major victory in France to the foundations, the order established with such labor and zeal.

Spain and Portugal since 1824

Spain since 1824

The senseless system established in Spain after the invasion soon had to be changed somewhat. The king himself changed direction, not because his vindictiveness and cruelty were satisfied or because he realized that excessive persecution of the constitutionalists could have a harmful effect on the victors themselves, but simply because he did not trust anyone; without honor and conscience himself, he always assumed insidious plans in others. He had some reason for this: Ferdinand was childless, and the Apostolic Junta, a subsidiary government with reliable connections throughout the country, relied more on his heir, Infanta Don Carlos, the king's brother, than on himself. For some time the situation was uncertain, the country was ruled by a ministry, sometimes reactionary, sometimes moderate - from July 1824 to October 1825 - Zea Bermudez. Needless to say, the absolutist party allowed itself not only conspiracies, but also open rebellion. All radical parties are like that. Power was in her hands and the future seemed secure. Then an event occurred that was not part of her calculations. The king, having become a widow for the third time, married for the fourth time the Neapolitan princess Maria Christina, which was very unpleasant for the apostles. This gave the liberals an opportunity to express themselves to the new queen; She soon gained influence over the now middle-aged king and noticed the unsympathetic attitude of the apostles towards her. Bearing in mind the fact that she would provide an heir to the throne in the event of the birth of a daughter, the king issued the so-called pragmatic sanction on March 29, 1830; This law restored the Old Castilian succession to the throne, until Philip V, which also extended to the French dynasty, approved by the meeting of the Cortes in 1789, which did not recognize the Salian law and allowed women to govern. Indeed, the king's daughter Isabella was born on October 10; the liberals seized on this as an opportunity to raise a legitimist-dynastic banner around which they could gather.

Portugal since 1824

Things took a slightly different turn in Portugal. In March 1826, Dom John died; his heir Dom Pedro renounced the throne and on April 23, 1826, granted them a magnanimous constitution, and the Portuguese crown passed to his seven-year-old daughter Maria de Gloria, whom he immediately betrothed to her uncle, Dom Miguel, while he himself remained Emperor of Brazil. The king's sister, Isabella, is made regent until the time the wedding can take place. She was soon forced to turn to England for help due to the indignation of the apostolic party. Three days later, upon receipt of a dispatch from the Portuguese government in London, troops were sent. On January 1, 1827, they landed at Lisbon and provided a service with their very appearance. Between the government troops and the rebels, under the command of the Marquis de Chave, at Mondeo there came a clash on January 9, which, however, was indecisive and interrupted in the evening. When at night a rumor spread in the camp of the rebels about the approach of English troops, they abandoned further struggle and dispersed.

More important than the events was the speech with which George Canning justified in the English House of Commons on December 12, 1826 this assistance to Portugal: “a friendly government for a long time,” and in connection with this his entire foreign policy. “England is far from being,” said the minister, “to support by force the constitution adopted by Portugal, but she will also not tolerate being destroyed by others, foreigners or the Portuguese, to whom Spain supplies arms.” He pointed to the universal struggle of principles or opinions - liberalism and absolutism, success and stagnation, no matter how you designate the well-known opposites: “England,” he said, “is neutral, neutral even in a dispute about fundamentals and political principles.” He is happy to have the opportunity to say that those opposites, over the reconciliation and resolution of which there is a struggle everywhere - princely power and popular law - have long been established amicably in England. He insisted that if England were attacked in a big war, immediately, even against her wishes, all those dissatisfied with the existing order in all countries would join her. Rarely can the words of a poet be applied so opportunely as Canning applied the verses of the Roman poet Virgil, which describes the keeper of storms Aeolus and the cave of the winds; he compared his island to this cave.

In his opinion, it was in the power of England, at the very least, to awaken revolutionary forces on the mainland at any time and with the desired force. Of course, this was somewhat exaggerated, but it was useful to remind the world of the Metternichs, the home of Miguel and Ferdinand. An example of this was recently when in reactionary circles there was talk of discussing the restoration of a legitimate government in the fallen Spanish colonies at the upcoming congress: this unfounded assumption was put to an end by the fact that the British government formally recognized on January 1, 1825 the independence of the states of Mexico, Colombia and Buenos Aires, former Spanish possessions.

Canning died that same year (1827) and Portuguese affairs remained unresolved. Dom Miguel swore the carta de ley and accepted the betrothal to Maria. Dom Pedro appointed him viceroy of the empire, but he appeared in Lisbon in 1828 and took advantage of his stay to seize the crown. He destroyed the constitution to which he swore allegiance, supported by the mob and the clergy, convened the state estates in the ancient order and ruled Portugal in the same way as his uncle ruled Spain. On one of the Azores islands, Terceira, the governor still adhered to the rights of Maria de Gloria and her royal father: all the adherents of the constitution who managed to escape the tyranny of Don Miguel gathered there. Meanwhile, a great change had taken place in France and better times were coming.

France under Charles X

France after 1824

We have seen that the success of the Spanish enterprise, which worked out better for Bourbon than it once did for Napoleon, while the troops remained unconditionally loyal, increased the strength of the dominant party and its head, Villele. The elections of 1824 turned out to be quite favorable and Villel took advantage of this situation to introduce a new law on elections and rewards for emigrants. The billions of them needed for compensation were hoped, given the then state of the money market, to be easily obtained from the conversion of annuities; but this cleverly conceived law did not pass in the House of Peers. On the contrary, an election law was passed, according to which, instead of one quarter of the chamber being eliminated annually and replaced by new electors, general elections were proposed every seven years. The party became more and more bold: two weeks after the session closed, censorship was introduced by royal order; The clergy were especially active. In bookstores, prayer books and lives of saints replaced secular literature, and from everything it was clear that the time had come for the triumph of clericalism. On September 16, 1824, a long-awaited event took place - the death of Louis XVIII and the accession to the throne of the original head of the Ultra party, Count d'Artois, under the name Charles X.

For about four centuries, Greek soil was under the iron heel of Turkish invaders. The Turkish pashas and beys took away from the Greeks a significant part of the products of their labor and subjected the people to countless insults and humiliations. But freedom-loving Greece did not stop fighting foreign oppression.

The high mountains served as a shelter for partisans who fought against the conquerors. The Turks and their minions called the Greek partisans “klefts,” that is, thieves. However, for the people, the Klefts were not criminals, but valiant patriots, brave fighters against Turkish bondage.

From the end of the 17th century. the struggle of the Greek people for their liberation took on a wider scope. Trade developed in Greece, ties between individual cities and localities strengthened, and capitalist relations emerged. Greek entrepreneurs and merchants - wealthy owners of large trading ships - began their activities in coastal cities and islands. These ships, loaded with grain, skins, cloth, dried fruits, and resin, sailed between the ports of the Mediterranean and Black Seas and brought considerable profits to their owners. But as soon as the merchant got rich, a whole pack of greedy Turkish officials attacked him, trying to extract more money from the merchant. If the merchant resisted these advances, he could go to prison and even lose his head.

Many Greeks, fleeing the tyranny of the Turkish pashas, ​​moved abroad. Here they were engaged in trade and craft, and received education. But no matter what country fate brought the Greeks to, they never stopped thinking about the suffering of their homeland and looking for ways to rid it of cruel oppression.

In 1814, in Odessa, a group of Greek patriots created the secret society “Filiki Eteria” (“Union of Friends”) to fight for the liberation of Greece. Soon, wherever the Greeks lived - in large European cities and in small villages of Attica, Epirus, Morea, on the islands of the Aegean Sea and in the Kleft camps on the Pindus steeps - cells of etherists arose. In February - March 1821, an uprising prepared by this patriotic society broke out simultaneously in two places.

At the end of February of the same year, an armed detachment from Russia crossed the Prut River, along which the Russian-Turkish border then passed. It was led by Alexander Ypsilanti, a general in the Russian service, Greek by birth. When news of the first successes of this group reached Greek soil, the authorities were unable to keep the people from revolting. It began at the end of March 1821 in Moray. Detachments of klefts descended from the mountains. They were led by the fearless Kolokotronis, whose relatives were killed by the Turks. They were joined by thousands of peasants armed with clubs and scythes. They destroyed the estates of Turkish beys. The population of the islands also rose to fight. By the end of 1821, a significant part of Greece was in the hands of the rebels. In January 1822, the National Assembly in Epidaurus (Morea) declared Greece an independent state. A national government was created.

The Turkish Sultan and his ministers decided that the rebels could only be spoken to in the language of bullets and gallows. A wave of Greek pogroms swept across the Turkish Empire. In Constantinople, the Turks hanged the 84-year-old Greek Patriarch Gregory U. They committed a terrible massacre on the island of Chios, where they did not spare even infants and set fire to monasteries in which defenseless people were hiding. Of the island's 100,000 population, only about 2,000 people survived.

Large Turkish forces launched an attack on the liberated areas by sea and by land. But near every village, at every mountain pass, the hated oppressors were met with bullets. Flying partisan detachments attacked military units and convoys day and night. Under these continuous attacks, the enemy army melted away. The Turkish fleet also failed. Small, but fast and evasive Greek ships blocked the path of the multi-gun Turkish ships. One brave sailor in his fireship made his way into the parking lot of the enemy fleet on a moonless June night in 1822 and set fire to the flagship while a feast was being held on it on the occasion of a Muslim holiday. Panicked, the Turks hastened to shelter other ships in the Dardanelles.

The heroic struggle of the Greek people for their independence aroused sympathy throughout the world. She was warmly welcomed by the leading people of many countries and among them great poets - Pushkin, Byron, Beranger. They collected money for the Greeks, and volunteers rushed to help them. One of them was Byron. An ardent desire to help the Greek people sounded in the poems of the Russian Decembrist poet V. Kuchelbecker:

Friends! The sons of Hellas are waiting for us.

Who will give us wings? Let's fly!

Hide yourself mountains, rivers, cities, -

They are waiting for us - come to them quickly!

In 1824-1825 The Sultan sent a well-trained and armed Egyptian army to suppress the uprising. Greece at this time was weakened by internal strife. The people bore all the hardships of the war against the Turks on their shoulders, and rich shipowners and landowners were at the head of the government. Having taken the place of the former Turkish masters, they wanted to preserve and increase their wealth and lands, and leave the common people disenfranchised and poor. At the same time, within the ruling camp, the struggle for power continued between individual groups, which ultimately led to a civil war.

Meanwhile, Egyptian troops were already advancing across Greek soil. The commander of the Egyptian army was ready to leave Greece without Greeks, just to suppress the uprising. His troops burned and trampled crops, destroyed cities and villages, and forcibly transported Greek peasants to Egypt. With unparalleled heroism, ordinary peasants, sailors, and artisans continued to defend every inch of their native land.

One of the most heroic episodes of the people's war was the defense of Missolonghi. In May 1825, the Turks besieged this city. The Sultan warned the commander of the Turkish army that if Missolonghi did not fall, then the commander’s head would fall.

To the proposal to send envoys who knew languages ​​to discuss the terms of Missolonghi’s surrender, the besieged responded: “We are ignorant people, we don’t know foreign languages ​​and we only know how to fight.” Soon Egyptian troops arrived to help the Turks. The city found itself in an iron ring of siege. Food supply has also come to an end. Even mice and rats were eaten. In the cold winter, residents froze in houses without roofs, torn off by bombs and shells. The weakened hands of the warriors could barely hold their weapons. But no one talked about surrender. The heroic defense continued for almost a year. On an April night in 1826, when forces were running out, the city's inhabitants, including women and children, headed to the Turkish trenches to break into the mountains. However, out of 16 thousand people, a little more than a thousand managed to escape. Those who did not fall in the battles were brutally killed by Turkish soldiers who burst into the city.

But the fall of Missolonghi did not break the will of the Greeks to fight. Kolokotronis, who led the Greek forces in Morea, gave a fitting response to the Turkish commander’s offer to surrender: “Even if you cut down all the branches of our trees, even if you burn all our houses and trees, if only piles of stones remain, we still will not bow to you.” knees. No matter how many trees you cut down and burn, you will not take the earth with you. And the land that raised them will remain ours, and trees will grow on it again. And if there is only one Greek left, he will still fight.”

Progressive people in Russia, England, France and other countries increasingly demanded an end to the violence and atrocities of the Turkish military. Greek patriots turned to the Russian government asking for military assistance. Sympathy for Russia was widespread among the Greek people. Tsar Nicholas I had a negative attitude towards the liberation war of the Greeks, considering them “rebels”. But he still decided to intervene in Greek affairs and use the heroic struggle of the rebellious people to strengthen his influence in the Balkans and weaken Russia's longtime enemy - the Sultan's Turkey. The governments of England and France, fearing that Russia alone would prevail over Turkey and that it would receive all the benefits from the victory, joined Russia.

On October 20, 1827, a united Russian-English-French squadron attacked the Turkish fleet in Navarino Bay. After a short battle, about 100 Turkish warships were reduced to splinters and smoking wreckage. Russian sailors, inspired by the desire to help the Greek people, fought with selfless courage.

However, even after the destruction of his fleet, the Sultan refused to stop hostilities in Greece. Then Russia declared war on Turkey in April 1828. In the hot summer of this year, Russian infantrymen, climbing steep mountain paths, broke through the chain of the Balkan mountains. When the Russian army pitched its tents near Adrianople, just 200 km from the Turkish capital - Constantinople - the Sultan sent commissioners to the Russian camp asking for peace.

According to the Peace of Adrianople with Russia (1829), the Turkish government recognized autonomy (self-government), and soon the independence of Greece (1830). It was not in vain that tens of thousands of the best sons of the Greek people and many Russian soldiers shed their blood - the chains of centuries-old slavery were broken.

If you find an error, please highlight a piece of text and click Ctrl+Enter.