Greece and The Megali Idea

The nationalistic ideology of Greece for the past two centuries was known as the Megali Idea (Great Idea). The goal of the Great Idea was ¡§to unite within the bounds of a single state, whose capital would be Constantinople, all the areas of Greek settlement in the Near East.¡¨ This idea originated in the 1700¡¦s, and was for some, a reason for the Greek war for independence. However, the Great Idea would not become popular until the mid 1800¡¦s. Ioannis Kolettis said:

¡§Not only were inhabitants of the kingdom Greeks but so too were those who lived in any land associated with Greek history or the Greek race. There were two main [centers] of Hellenism: Athens, the capital of the Kingdom; and the ¡¥CityÂ

What was meant by this saying was that the people became so enraptured in this nationalistic ideology that Greece, no matter, what would re-take the Empire that they had once had. Their minds were on a single track, to Re-establish the Byzantine Empire and unite all Greek speaking peoples between the two continents and five seas.

After an allied victory in WWI Greek nationalism swelled throughout the country. With so many victories between 1912 and 1918, the Greeks became infatuated with the Megali Idea. Seth Blacksburg said:

¡§The diplomatic machinations that accompanied the entrance of the smaller nations in the World War had now nearly destroyed the Greek royal family. The people¡¦s loyalty to their monarch was an affirmation of their belief in the Megali Idea; when Venizelos¡¦ visions seemed to offer its fruition, Greece braced itself as the Byzantine eagle soared overhead¡¨ (www.ase.tufts.edu)

Some topics in this essay:
Megali Idea, Hellenism Athens, Byzantine Empire, Idea Venizelos¡¦, Idea Greek, Balkan Wars, War Greco-Turkish, Prime Minister, Powers King, Britain Greek, megali idea, greek nationalism, asia minor, byzantine empire, re-establish byzantine empire, driving force, re-establish byzantine, greek troops, nationalistic ideology, prime minister, greco-turkish war, nationalistic ideology greece, driving force greek, british prime minister, greek foreign policy,