Early Greek Parties

Early Greek Parties

Early Greek parties were not features of the provisional and regional governments that were set up between 1821 and 1832. Nascent political parties were organized around a variety of interests and backgrounds, but regardless of these various factors, the political formations were named after one of the three Great Powers (the United Kingdom, France and Russia) that established the Kingdom of Greece in 1832.

The political history of Modern Greece begins with the start of the Greek War of Independence in 1821. Although political parties were not fully developed until the establishment of the Kingdom of Greece and the arrival of King Otto, many of the organizing interests and factions had already begun to gel by the time Ioannis Capodistrias was elected as "Governor" in 1827. Greeks in that period were divided in a number of different ways:

*Regional identity, especially whether the person or family was from territory that was free of Ottoman control (Peloponesos, Rumeli, Euboea, Attica, islands of the Saronic Gulf) sometimes called autochtons or were from areas still under Turkish suzerainty, such as Constantinople, Epirus, Thessaly, Macedonia, Crete, the Dodecanese, Asia Minor, Pontus, Cyprus or under British control in the Ionian Islands, who were called heterocthons;

*Social status, including whether the person was a landowner like the Mavromichalis clan of Mani or naval captains like the Miaoulis family of Hydra, were an armed force like the Kolokotronis family of Arcadia or were wealthy Phanariotes from Constantinople was another factor in political groupings.

*Education--Greeks educated in one of the Great Powers: Britain, France or Russia, would often identify with the country of their education

*Family relations--either marriage or longstanding enmity would drive individuals into political alliances.

The Parties

*The Russian Party (also called the Napist party) was a philorthodox and socially conservative party. Some of the Greek leaders of that era who were affiliated with the Russian party include: Constantine Kanaris,Theodoros Kolokotronis, Kitsos Tzavelas, Andreas Metaxas;

*The French Party was a more liberal grouping which was born out of the struggle in 1828-31 over the adoption of a constitution and which was most closely identified with Ioannis Kolettis, but also counted Ioannis Makriyannis, Dimitrios Voulgaris, Nikolaos Krieziotes among its most well-known members;

*The English Party was also socially liberal, supportive of a constitution and allied with the British legate Lord Lyons. Its most well-known exponents were Alexander Mavrocordatos, Kostas Botsaris, Andreas Miaoulis, Spyridon Trikoupis, Andreas Zaimis.

Eventually, these parties lost salience after the deposition of King Otto, when his successor, King George I was able to minimize the interference of the three Great Powers in internal Greek politics after 1864.

Notes and references

# Clogg, Richard; "A Short History of Modern Greece"; Cambridge University Press, 1979; ISBN 0-521-32837-3
# John A. Petropulos; "Politics and Statecraft in the Kingdom of Greece"; Princeton University Press, 1968


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Greek Civil War — For the civil wars during the Greek War of Independence, see Greek civil wars of 1824–1825. Greek Civil War Part of the Cold War Map of Balkans should be current Date March 1946–October 1949 …   Wikipedia

  • Greek Church — • Details the history and various divisions of the church Catholic Encyclopedia. Kevin Knight. 2006. Greek Church     Greek Church     † …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • Greek Catholics in America — • Includes the history and statistics Catholic Encyclopedia. Kevin Knight. 2006. Greek Catholics in America     Greek Catholics in America      …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • Early Islamic philosophy — or classical Islamic philosophy is a period of intense philosophical development beginning in the 2nd century AH of the Islamic calendar (early 9th century CE) and lasting until the 6th century AH (late 12th century CE). The period is known as… …   Wikipedia

  • Greek language — Greek Ελληνικά Ellīniká Pronunciation [eliniˈka] Spoken in Greece, Cyprus …   Wikipedia

  • Early thermal weapons — were devices or substances used in warfare during the classical and medieval periods (approx 8th century BC until the mid 16th century AD) which used heat or burning action to destroy or damage enemy personnel, fortifications or territories.… …   Wikipedia

  • Greek Cypriots — Ελληνοκύπριοι Ellinokyprioi …   Wikipedia

  • Greek civil wars of 1824–1825 — Part of the Greek War of Independence Date March 1824 – February 1825 Location Peloponnese Result …   Wikipedia

  • Greek military junta of 1967–1974 — Regime of the Colonels redirects here. For the generic usage as a term for military rule, see military junta. For the Polish regime of colonels, see Piłsudski s colonels. For other uses, see Colonels regime. History of Greece …   Wikipedia

  • Greek literature — Introduction       body of writings in the Greek language, with a continuous history extending from the 1st millennium BC to the present day. From the beginning its writers were Greeks living not only in Greece proper but also in Asia Minor, the… …   Universalium

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”