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Byzantine Empire takes Control of Greece
The Byzantine empire split from the Roman Empire and were handed control of Greece and other eastern territories. They ruled over Greece until they were overthrown by the Ottomans in 1453. It is important that the Byzantines had control over Greece because they introduced the Orthodox church to Greece. Greek Orthodox is the main religion practiced in Greece today. -
Apr 23, 1453
Ottomans Conquer Greece
The Ottomans conquered the Byzantine Empire and took over Greece. When they took over, the people of Greece had to pay super high taxes. The leaders form the Ottoman empire had control of all of Greece’s ports, ships, and islands for centuries afterwards. Athens, once a rich city, became a poor farming town. -
Revolution of 1821
The Revolution of 1821 is when the Greek people overthrew the Ottoman Empire in their part of the world. They had help to liberate themselves from Britain, France, and Germany. This was important because most of modern Greece became its own free country at this point. -
King George I Reign
He Created the Greek constitution of 1864, which gave Greece a more democratic view, and gave himself as king, less power. Greece was a fairly poor country during his rule. It only got a little bit better during the revival of the Olympics. His rule was important because he was the longest reigning ruler of modern Greece. -
The First Modern Day Olympic Games
The First Modern Day Olympic Games were held in Athens, Greece in the summer of 1896. Only 14 nations competed in 43 different events. This event is important to Greek history because the Olympic Games originated in Greece and had lots of significance religiously to the people of ancient Greece. It was important to the people of Greece in that time because they wanted to continue their ancestors traditions. It is important to the rest of the world because the Olympic games unite all nations. -
Balkan Wars
During the Balkan Wars, Greece added Macedonia, Crete, and some of the Aegean Islands to Greek territory. This is gave Greece a large territory expansion. While fighting in the war though, Greece lost around 10000 people. This is an important factor today because those spots are popular tourist destinations and Greece’s economy would be completely failed if not for tourism. -
Greek Genocide (1914-1923_
During the first world war, the Greek minority of the Ottoman Empire were killed off. It began with a boycott of Greek goods, but turned into thousands of murders when the Turks forcibly tried converted the Greeks to Islam and they resisted. There was also burning of churches and even entire towns. This is important because it is an untold story of many Greeks, and it is estimate that the upwards of 400,000 Ottoman Greeks were killed. -
Greek Civil War (1945-1949)
In 1946, there were elections in Greece and the republican party won in a landslide victory. It was discovered by the Communists that the election was corrupt, and the communists created the Democratic Army of Greece. The Democratic army was fighting to return democracy to Greece and were receiving help from Yugoslavia. The U.S. joined the war in 1947 to help battle the communists. This war was important because Greece did not become a communist state. -
New Constitution of the Republic of Greece
During this constitution, it establishes a Greek president. The constitution ended Greek’s constitutional monarchy until 1967, when they turned into a Military dictatorship. Greek Presidents are elected for 5 years. This is important because this is how most of the modern day governments are run. -
Debt Crisis and Stock Market Crash
Starting in 2009 and still going on today, Greek owed a lot of money to the EU. They were issued a 143 billion dollar debt bailout loan. People of Greece were upset at all of the budget cuts and the way the money crisis was being handled. There were lots of protests. Today, their national debt is around 375 billion dollars. This has an impact because a lot of Greek citizens lost a lot money.
