Disasters and Triumphs (2022)
Two hundred years after the outbreak of the Greek Revolution and twelve years after the outbreak of an unprecedented economic crisis, we turn our gaze to the past to be able to imagine the future. Unfortunately, the crisis has taught us to look at the past exclusively from its own perspective. Naturally, depression and pessimism prevailed. Are we worthy and capable of something better?
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Disasters and Triumphs
2022Seasons & Episode
In 1824, the Sultan instructed Mehmet Ali to quell the Greek uprising. In the years that followed, his army occupied the Peloponnese, leaving behind scorched earth. At the same time, Messolonghi and Athens are falling. The Greek uprising that started with great hopes and military successes has been defeated militarily and the flame of the revolution is fading. How did the triumph of independence finally emerge from the disaster?
Gaining independence may have been a huge success, but it was only the first step. The new state of the Greeks is tiny and powerless. The state apparatus is non-existent and central power is challenged by everyone: armed militants, local leaders and robbers. As modern experience shows, building a functioning state is much more difficult than gaining your independence.
In 1921, Greece celebrates the hundredth anniversary of the beginning of the Greek Revolution. The triumph of the Balkan Wars has preceded while the Greek army is already in Smyrna. The country is a breath away from the realization of the creation of a state that will include the Hellenism of the Balkans and Asia Minor. But a year later, he will experience an inconceivable catastrophe, the traces of which are still visible today.
After the Asia Minor Catastrophe, the country’s big bet is to replace the Great Idea with a new national vision. And this is nothing more than achieving prosperity instead of territorial expansion. Thus, in place of the Great Idea comes the goal of modernization. But what kind of modernization are we talking about?
The economic miracle of the twenty years 1950-1970 is unique and leads the country to its final exit from underdevelopment and poverty. Economic success, however, does not guarantee political development.
In 1974, the country acquires the most democratic and liberal state it has ever had in its history. A few years later it became a member of the European Economic Community, a closed club of the richest and most developed countries in Europe. At the same time, however, the expectations of a radically changing society are growing, expectations for even greater freedoms and more prosperity.
Two hundred years after the outbreak of the Greek Revolution and twelve years after the outbreak of an unprecedented economic crisis, we turn our gaze to the past to be able to imagine the future. Unfortunately, the crisis has taught us to look at the past exclusively from its own perspective. Naturally, depression and pessimism prevailed. Are we worthy and capable of something better?
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