Present day Greece is located in the Southeastern portion of Europe. Mainland Greece is bordered by Albania, Macedonia (formerly Yugoslavia) and Bulgaria on the north and Turkey on the east. The mainlands of Turkey and Greece form a horseshoe shape, connecting at the top of the arc. The body of water between them is called the Aegean Sea, and most of the islands in the Aegean are part of Greece.
Greece is a surprisingly small country, only 51,000 square miles (133,000 square kilometers), making it just bigger than Pennsylvania. There are 11 million people, almost half of whom live in the largest city, Athens, on the mainland. 80% of the land is mountainous.
The first great civilization in Greece were the Minoans, who ruled from the island of Crete (the largest and most southern island in the Aegan) from 2700 BC to 1450 BC. Minoans were primarily a mercantile people engaged in overseas trade, selling natural resources, such as timber, to surrounding nations, such as Egypt. They also were known for their powerful naval forces. They had written language, and built great palaces.
The Minoans fell to the Mycenaeans of mainland Greece around 1400 BC. It is likely that the Minoan civilization was seriously weakened after one of the largest volcano eruptions recorded in history occurred on the island of Thera (AKA Santorini), located just north of Crete. Minoan settlements on Thera were buried. It is believed the volcano triggered a tsunami that did major damage to the northern coast of Crete, probably destroying key ports. It is also believed that ash and climate change adversely affected agriculture, leading to famine. In their weakened state, they likely could not effectively fight off the Mycenaeans.
The Mycenaean civilization was centered 90 kilometers southwest of Athens, on the large peninsula on the southern mainland of Greece called the Peloponnese. This area has been inhabited since pre-historic times, and they rose to be a significant power around 1600 BC when they started conquering the Aegean Islands. They ruled until about 1100 BC, and this era is commonly called the Bronze Age. The Mycenaeans adopted the Minoans written language.
It is unknown what caused the Mycenean empire to fall. It is clear that a people group with iron weapons invaded and sacked many cities. Some believe the invaders were another group of Greeks from either northern Greece or modern day Turkey, the Dorians, who then settled in the conquered region. Others believe the conquerors to be the “Sea People”, a confederacy of seafaring raiders believed to be involved in the falls of the Egyptian and Hittite empires about the same time, and that the Dorians moved into the Aegean and Peloponnese regions after the Mycenaeans had already fallen.
The time period from 1100 BC, when the Mycenaeans fell, to about 800 BC is referred to as the Dark Ages because civilization collapsed. They were ruled by kings and aristocrats. The great palaces of the Mycenaeans were destroyed or abandoned. Language ceased to be written. Artwork on pottery went back to simplistic geometric designs. There were fewer and smaller settlements, suggesting depopulation. Foreign goods have not been found at any of the dark age archeological sites, suggesting isolation from other countries. Eventually, the people overthrew the ruling class and a renaissance began.
This renaissance is called the Ancient or Classical period, and it is the period of history Greece is most famous for. Mathematical knowledge was developed, the Olympic games began, and their political system took shape. Homer, Sophocles, Plato, Aristotle and most of the other highly famous authors and politicians came from this era. Ancient Greek civilization has been immensely influential on the language, politics, educational systems, philosophy, art and architecture of the modern western world.
Initially, each city was a self-ruled independent entity, but for certain things, such as war, the cities all formed an alliance. Alexander the Great of Macedonia formalized this alliance into a federation called the League of Corinth that eventually came to be controlled by the Macedonians. Alexander the Great went on to conquer Egypt and a large portion of the Middle East, including the Persian Empire (Persia is modern day Iran), making Greece a super power, before he died in Babylon (modern day Iraq) of illness in 323 BC. Alexander the Great never lost a battle and was one of the most successful military commanders in history. Upon his death, the empire was divided up amongst several of his generals.
The death of Alexander the Great ushered in a new era called the Hellenistic Period (as an FYI, the Greek word for Greece is Hellas and Greek people refer to themselves as Hellenes). The Hellenistic period was fraught with wars amongst the different cities within Greece as they vied for power. By using the divide and conquer method, Rome was able to conquer Macedonia in 197 BC, and by 123 BC controlled all of Greece, which began the Roman Period. The conquering Romans took control of Greece politically, but allowed the Hellenistic society and culture to remain intact. The Greek culture was so highly respected by the Romans that the Romans melded Greek culture into their own, hence the term Greco-Roman. Greek was the “lingua franca”, and thus a common second language for Romans, and Romans frequented schools in Greece.
After the death of Jesus Christ in 33 AD, the apostles began spreading the message of Christianity heavily in Greece. As a result, Greece quickly became one of the most highly Christianized areas of the Roman Empire.
By the 3rd century, the Roman Empire was faced with external invasions, internal conflicts, and economic problems. In 330 AD, Constatine decided to open a second administration center in the town of Byzantium, later renamed Constantanople (today Istanbul). Byzantium was a central location on the east-west trade route, and a key military location for defending the Danube River. This move effectively split the empire in half the Latin west and the Greek east. Contrary to common belief, Constantine did not make Christianity the official state religion for Rome, but he did offer preferential treatment to Christians, creating a similar effect in terms of Christianity becoming a dominant force in the politics and culture of the empire. Western Rome continued to be plagued with problems, while Eastern Rome was relatively stable. The last emperor to rule over both halves of the Roman Empire died in 395 AD, and from then on each half was ruled by separate leaders. Western Rome fell in 476 and entered into the Dark Ages. Eastern Rome, or Greek Rome as it was called then, entered into the Byzantine period.
The Byzantine period was marked by economic prosperity, population growth, and urbanization. It was admired throughout the Christian world for its stylized art and architecture. While very different from the Classical style, the Byzantine style has probably had just as much influence and lasting effect on western art and architecture as the Classical has. In the 1100’s, the Venetians were a rising power in the region. The Venetians gained extensive trading privileges with the Byzantine empire and the Byzantines would often use Venetian ships in their navy. Many Greeks became jealous of the Venetians power and influence, and in 1182 there was a riot in which Venetian property was seized and the owners were jailed or banished. In 1204 the Venetians got their revenge. They sacked the city of Constantinople in one of history’s most profitable and disgracing raids of all time. They also managed to seize 3/8 of the Byzantine territory.
The Byzantines never fully recovered from the Venetian attack, and in 1453 the weakened Byzantines fell to the Islamic Ottoman Turk Empire. The Turks went to war with the Venetians in 1387 over the city of Thessoloniki in Macedonia, and over the next 200+ years the two fought on and off over Greek territory. The Venetians gradually lost it all to the Ottomans. The Ottomans were Islamic, and the Greeks were faced with religious conflict from their new government. Many Greeks fled to western Europe and were influential in the renaissance. Many fled to the isolated mountain areas within Greece, where it was easier to hide from Turkish forces. Many pretended to convert to Islam, while secretly practicing Christianity. The Greek Orthodox Church, an ethno-religious institution, helped the Greeks preserve their language, religion and culture during the Ottoman rule.
In 1821, the Greeks went to war with the Ottoman’s for their independence. They won their independence in the southern mainland and Peloponnese in 1829, thanks to the help of many allies who were sympathetic to the Greeks because of terrible atrocities committed against them by the Ottomans. They continued to fight the Ottomans to gain additional land until the early 20th century. They also briefly went to war with Bulgaria over territory in 1913, as well. In 1923, Turkey and Greece agreed to a population exchange. People of the Greek-Orthodox religion living in Turkey were sent to Greece, and Muslims living in Greece were sent to Turkey. 2,000,000 people were involved in the exchange.
When World War II began, the Greeks sided with the Allies. Italy invaded Greece in 1940, and the Greeks managed to fight them off in the Allies’ first victory over the Axis. Six months later, German forces invaded Greece and conquered the capital, Athens. During the Nazi occupation, thousands of Greeks died in combat, in concentration camps, or starved to death. Christi’s dad was a child in Athens in those days and remembers the desperation for food and the brutality of the Nazis. After the war, the economy was devastated.
When World War II ended, the returning Greek government was confronted by the communist party, which had military control at the time. New elections were held that were boycotted by the communist party. The new government was internationally recognized, but the communists continued coordinated attacks until the communist party was made illegal and ousted in 1948. This drastic move strained relations with communist countries and caused political polarization within Greece. In 1967 the elected government was overthrown by a coup and a military junta was established. In 1974, the junta imploded, and in 1975 democracy was restored. Since the restoration of democracy, the stability and economic prosperity of Greece have grown remarkably. Greece joined the European Union in 1981.