Kingdoms of the Eastern Mediterranean

Kingdom of Greece
AD 1830 - 1974
Incorporating Greek State (1924-1925), & Greek Republic (1925-1935)

Occupying a territory which was larger than that of the modern republic of Greece, the region had formed the starting point for the spread in Europe of the Neolithic Farmer revolution. Migrants from Anatolia first settled around 7000-6700 BC to found the Sesklo culture. Very quickly further arrivals used it as a springboard to venture into the Balkans or to island-hop into the western Mediterranean.

The first true Greeks were the Mycenaeans. They were part of the South-West Indo-European group of Indo-Europeans, arriving relatively late during the Indo-European migrations, between about 2500-2000 BC. Migrating into Greece from the Balkans they either dominated or expelled the indigenous Pelasgians, pushing them into the Greek islands.

Climate-induced social collapse towards the end of the thirteenth century BC meant large-scale upheaval across the eastern Mediterranean. The Mycenaeans themselves were largely displaced or submerged by new arrivals, the Dorians, whilst surviving in enclaves such as Athens.

Ancient Greece flourished from the seventh century BC, following the end of a short dark age. It reached the height of overseas expansion and power under the Macedonian-led Hellenic empire of Alexander the Great. Subsequently fading, Greece was conquered piecemeal by the Roman republic in the last two centuries BC.

From then until the fall of Constantinople in AD 1453, Greece was part of the Roman empire, through to its division as the Eastern Roman empire (based at Byzantium, the early name for Constantinople). Various smaller states rose and fell during the empire's later centuries, while the autonomous monastic state of Athos still existed into the twentieth century. Then the Ottoman empire controlled Greece until, during the early years of the nineteenth century, the Greeks revolted against their fading power.

The stage was set by the founding of the Filiki Eteria in 1814, a secret organisation which had the independence of Greece as its aim. One of its leaders was Alexander Ypsilanti, grandson of a former prince of the Danubian principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia.

Several revolts were planned across Greece and the first of them was launched on 6 March 1821, in the Danubian principalities. It was put down by the Ottomans, but the torch had been lit and by the end of the same month the Peloponnese was in open revolt.

With the Greeks finding a good deal of success in their fight against the Ottoman Turks, it was the modernised Egyptian army under Muhammed Ali which was ordered by Constantinople to sail to Greece to put a stop to their efforts. Popular European support of the revolt led to the Russians, French, and British sending a fleet which sank the Egyptians at Navarino in 1827.

This was the last serious threat to Greek efforts, and independence was fully established by 1830. The Peloponnese - and the entire Balkans - remained unstable however. The Greek kingship was subject to enormous pressures, both internal and external as the chaos of failing Ottoman control led to the establishment of independent Balkan states.

The king was overthrown in 1924, with the monarchy being replaced by the short-lived Greek State in 1924-1925 and then the marginally longer-lived Greek Republic in 1925-1935 (the republican period is backed below in light blue).

This suffered at least two major military coups, the second bringing the republic to an end and reintroducing the monarchy which then held on until 1974. Modern Greeks are partial descendants of the ancient Greeks, but infused with Roman and Turkic settlers from throughout these empires and with a large addition of barbarian Celts, Germanics, and probably some Slavs as well.

European Kingdoms

Eastern Mediterranean

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