Figure 1.--This evocative romantic scene, "Kryfoscholio" (The Secret School), was painted by Gyzis about 1880. According to some historians secret schools operated in Ottoman Greece. Priests played the role of teachers, and they taught the Greek language and history. The costumes depicted by Gyzis are imagined, but may well be accurate. |
The Ottoman Turks in 1453 seized Constantinople and by 1460 controlled most of Greece. Thousands of Greeks went into exile in Christain Europe and had an important influence on the European Renaissance. For the next three centuries, the regional Christan powers (Venice, Austria, and Russia) warred intermitently with the Turks and Greece changed hands several times. Turkish rule was confirmed in 1718 under the Trety of Passarowitz. After the fall of Byzantium, Greece became a province of the Ottoman Turks. A Greek readers tells us that he can find some paintings, but unfortunately many artists "invented" the clothing, rather that did research before painting.
The Ottoman Empire was founded by Othman, a Trurish leader. He and succesive Ottoman leaders rapiddy seized control of Anatolia. After a protracted struggle the Ottomans in 1453 breached the massive walls of Constantinople and seized a major center of Christendom. Even before Constantinople fell, Greek communities in wrstern Anatolia had fallen under Ottoman rule. Athens fell in 1456. The Ottomans by 1460 had gained control over most of the rest of Greece. Thousands of Greeks/Byzantines went into exile in Christain Europe and had an important influence on the European Renaissance. After the fall of Byzantium, Greece became a province of the Ottoman Turks. The Ottomans then seizedthe Balkans and were only stopped at the gates of Vienna from entering Western Europe.
The Greeks and other Balkan Christian peolple remained under Ottoman control for nearly 400 years. Greek historians look on this period bitterly referring to the "Turkish Yoke". There are many stories of attrocities, both in Greece and other subject Christian areas of the Balkans. The Greeks look back with particular bitterness to the ensalvement of Christian children to serve the Sultan. The Ottoman regime, in realtive terms terms compared with practices in Christain kingdoms, Ottoman controls were realtively benign. During the Ottoman period, in part because of relatively tolerant Ottoman policies, the Greeks retained their language, their religion and their sense of natioanl identity. The Ottoman conquest meant the end of the Hellenist tradition in much of the eastern Mediterrabean. In Greece itself, the Orthodox religious faith played an important role in preserving Greek cultural identity. Ottoman rule was in many ways benign compared to other conquering nations. The Turks allowed subject peoples who recognized the Sultans' political authority to retain their cultural identies and way of life. The Greeks were allowed to pursue their trade, arts, and crafts.
For the next three centuries, the regional Christan powers (Venice, Austria, and Russia) warred intermitently with the Turks and Greece changed hands several times. Notably some of the period of Venetian/Austrian rule were more difficult than Ottoman rule because of sometimes harsh efforts to promote Roman Catholocism. Finally Turkish rule was confirmed in 1718 under the Trety of Passarowitz. Many of the extensive military operations conducted by and against the Ottomans are mentioned in our review of Ottoman sultans.
The event marking the decline of Ottoman rule in Greece was the Treaty of Kuchuk Kaynarja in 1774 which is often seen as the beginning of modern Greek history. The Ottomans suffered a devestaing defeat in the Ottoman-Russian war during 1768. The Russian navy destroyed the Ottoman fleet off the coast of Anatolia. The engamements on land were equally disastrous for the Ottomans. The War ended with the signing of the Treaty of Kuchuk Kaynarja (1774) in which the Sultan was forced to grant the Russians the right to construct an Orthodox church in Instanbul and
to make representations to the Ottoman government on behalf of the Greek Orthodox. Greece finally had a Christian champion. These provisions of the treaty were the basis for future Russian claim to be the protector of the entire Greek Orthodox millet within the Ottoman
Empire. The War also made possible the negotiation of a Russo-Turkish commercial convention in 1783 which permitted Greek ships to trade in the Black Sea, which had previously been dominated by the Ottomans, under the Russian flag. These agreements, allowed the Greek Orthodox church to gain considerable dvantage in the Ottoman Empire, and spread its influence in the Balkans and other Black Sea regions. The Ottomans continued to exclude Roman Catholic activity. Another major development was that the Tsarist Government encouraged Greeks to settle within the Russian Empire. This resulted in the foundation of large Greek communities in Odessa and Sevastopole. It was these communities that in the 19th century played a major role in the Greek independence movement. Greek national sentiment began to grow in the late 18th century, fueld by both religious feeling and a desire to pressure the Ottomans.
Several aborative rebellions were put down by the Turks. By the 1820s the Greeks
launched a sustained war for independence. At first fighting alone, they succeded in attracting considerable sympathy and monetary assiastance. Lord Byron was their most fervent supporter. His death (1824) at Missolonghi did much to create popular and official support for the Greeks. The vaunted Janissaries are unable to crush the Greek fight for
independence. The rebels had some initial success until the
Ottomans were strengthened in 1825 by Egyptian forces. The Great Powers (Britain, France, and and Russia) offered to mediate and when rebuffed by the Ottomans defeated the combined Ottoman and Egyptian fleet at the battle of Navarino (1827). A land war erupted between Russia and the Ottomans in 1828. The Ottomans fought on briefly but peace negotiations were begun in London in 1829 and independence was proclaimed, being recognized by the Ottoman Empire in 1832, when a Greek monarchy was established. Greek resistance fighters at first attempted to establish a republic. The Great Powers, however, insisted on a Greek monarchy which was duly established. The Greeks named a Bavarian prince, Otto, king in 1833. He was deposed 30 years later, and the Great Powers chose a Danish prince as his successor. He became George I, King of the Hellenes.
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