Fall of Constantinople
For the first six years the new allaince was in place it was of little use, neither country entered a war until 1461. With the Greeks at their back the Wallachians felt it was high time to take care of the troublesome region of Transylvania. War comenced on June 7, many skirmishes would occure in Romania and Bulgaria, as the Transylvanians had called in the Knight of Rhodes to aid them. War was waged on the seas as well with the fledgling Greek Navy sinking all the ships the Knights could muster in a series of engagements in the Aegan, which effectivly cut off the Knights from anywhere except their small island. Even with the Knights restricted from the theater the Wallachians were having a rough time in the mountines of Romania, in the end they tired of the war and accepted the monetary compensation that was offered. Hostilities ceased on March 18 1464.
After the war with Hellas, Byzantium was further hit by regional players, several costly wars with Karaman striped the empire of men, money, and all its Anetolian possesions. The once proud empire was reduced to Constantinople and minor Romanian holdings south of the Danube, which could only be accessed by the sea. The Wallachian/Greek allaince pounced upon the meager empire, the offical declaration of war give by Hellas on Febuary 16, 1461. In December Wallachia seized all the Bulgarian possesions of the Knights of St. John, the Knights were in no position to contest this themselves and their Siebenburgen allies would not be part of another costly war. This opened up the Byzantines Thracian flank, until then the Byzantine army was preventing their Hellenic counterparts from advancing into Thrace. With their flank exposed the Roman army had no choice but to retreat behind the walls of Constantinople, which was put under seige by the combined Wallachian Greek force. THe seige lasted just 7 months, the formibible Byzantine navy could have kept the city supplied indefinetly, if the empire still had lands from which to draw supplies from, but those had fallen long before, and their treasury was empty, they traded away what privlages to the Italian Trading states they could, but it was not enuf. On Febuary 5, 1468 the Byzantine empire ceased to be, Wallachia recived its Romanian holdings and Hellas took Thrace and Constantinople, the emperor was taken to Athens in chains, he was imprisioned in the Acropolis, when he would live out his life, an exile in the middle of a burgening city. At this point the history of the Hellenic Republic took important road, with Constantinople in their hands the Romanus could have elected a plyable emperor, claimed the name of the Eastern Roman Empire, gaining the right to expand in all directions(at least to them), but they did not, they remained in Athens, dissoled the Senate in Constantinople, and imprisoned the emperor.
At the close of the decade the Republic was going thru many changes. Venice had never been viewed kindly by the Romanus or the people, so stripping them of trading privlages in Constantinople and Greece was just the next logical step in a worsening of relations between the Republics. Forifications were expanded in Athens, Morea, Macedonia, and Constantinople, whos once mighty walls had been reduced to little more then a stockade in places. Trade was booming, with the capture of Constaninople and Thrace, and with it controll of the Bhosporus and Hellspont straights, the Greeks were reaping the rewards of their position, and it could take full advantage of it with the Navy it had seized at the end of the Byzantine war.
The most remarkible change that would take place in the period after the Byzantine war was a great change in the way the Republic, and the Romanus functioned. Since the begining of the Romanus to vote you had to own land, and like wise to be elected to the Romanus you had to meet certin requirements, there was a minimum of land and finances required. While this was a step above the Duke and lords that were inplace before it still did not reach the majority of the Greek people, and discontent was slowly gathering. It reached an apex in 1469, a protest was organized in Athens and it marched on the Senate building while the Romanus was still in session, they surrounded it and effectivly traped all the senators preasent inside. The mobs leader walked brazenly into the Romanus, inturruping an ongoing oritation and made his demands, the right of every citizen of Hellas above the age of 20 to vote, and the right of every citizen above the age of 25 to take part in the Romanus, regardless of ownership of land. These two demands seem simple, but for the time they were revolutionary, and the mod outside the Senate was quite ready to oblige if the did not have their way. The Romanus entered into debate on the subject for several days, during which time they were not allowed to leave by the mob, which brought them food and water. The senate was bitterly divided between former lords and nobles of the dutchy, and the newer land owners, many from Macedonia and Morea, in the end, on December 23, 1469 after nearly 2 weeks of deliberations traped in the senate building the Romanus agreed to the demands. When the decision was annouced to the mob waiting outside, it rushed into the building and carried the sentaors out on their backs, what fallowed was several days of celebration thru out Athens.