• We have updated our Community Code of Conduct. Please read through the new rules for the forum that are an integral part of Paradox Interactive’s User Agreement.

Stuckenschmidt

Deus Vult
53 Badges
Jun 25, 2004
3.789
5.048
  • Europa Universalis IV: Common Sense
  • Cities: Skylines - Green Cities
  • Cities: Skylines - Parklife
  • Cities: Skylines Industries
  • BATTLETECH
  • Imperator: Rome
  • Crusader Kings II
  • Rome Gold
Table of Content

Chapter I - Introduction
Chapter II - Ioannis Kolettis (1836 - 1840)
Chapter III - Andreas Metaxas (1840 - 1844)
Chapter IV - Georgios Kountouriotis (1845 - 1849)
Chapter V - Konstantinos Kanaris (1849 - 1853)
Chapter VI - The Great Russo-Turkish War (1852 - 1854)
Chapter VII - Antonios Kriezis (1854 - 1858)
Chapter VIII - Dimitrios Voulgaris (1858 - 1862)
Chapter IX - Dimitrios Voulgaris (1863 - 1867)
Chapter X - Zinovios Valvis (1867 - 1871)
Chapter XI - The Great Macedonian War (1869 - 1870)
Chapter XII - Epaminondas Deligiorgis (1872 - 1876)
Chapter XIII - Charilaos Trikoupis (1876 - 1880)
Chapter XIV - Charilaos Trikoupis (1881 - 1885)
Chapter XV - The Liberation Wars (1881 - 1885)
Chapter XVI - Theodoros Deligiannis (1885 - 1889)
Chapter XVII - Theodoros Deligiannis (1890 - 1894)
Chapter XVIII - Dimitrios Rallis (1894 - 1898)
Chapter XIX - World War I (1896 - 1898)
Chapter XX - Georgios Theotokis (1899 - 1903)
Chapter XXI - Georgios Theotokis (1903 - 1907)
Chapter XXII - Stephanos Dragoumis (1908 - 1912)
Chapter XXIII - Eleftherios Venizelos (1912 - 1916)
Chapter XXIV - World War II (1913 - 1915)
Chapter XXV - Eleftherios Venizelos (1917 - 1921)
Chapter XXVI - Stylianos Gonatas (1921 - 1925)
Chapter XXVII - Alexandros Zaimis (1926 - 1930)
Chapter XXVIII - Alexandros Othoneos (1930 - 1935)
Chapter XXIX - Epilog
 
Last edited:
After playing Bhutan, Japan and Siam it is finally time to return to Europe. So what to play? I have a bias toward minor countries, and what better way to cater to that than playing the cradle of Democracy? Before I begin I beg pardon from all Greek forumites here, for I will use the names of historical Greek Prime Ministers (one chapter for one term each), although dates and political allegiances will differ.
 
Awesome! Rhomaion Empire AAR!
 
Subbed
 
Just in case you don't know, take as much Ottoman land as you can while you're still Greece, because you get cores on whatever you have (or at least Turkish-cultured provinces) when you form Byzantium. I didn't know that until it was too late and I ragequit my Byzantine Vic2 game when I found out (and it lays sadly uncompleted on my computer).

I await to see how you'll deal with the initial decade or two as Greece.
 
Introduction​

Hellas. Cradle of European Democracy and Philosophy. Stronghold of ancient Literature and Science. And, for roughly 2.000 years, dependent part of several Empires.

As of 146 BC, when it became part of the Roman Empire as the province Achaea, mainland Greece changed hands several times between the Roman Empire, Byzantine Empire, Latin Empire, Venice and the Ottoman Empire and experienced several raids from other factions like the Normans and Bulgarians.

During the Ottoman Wars around 1700 the slow decline of the Ottoman Empire began. But despite the weakening of the Ottomans and a first Russian attempt to conquer Greece in 1770, it took until the end of the 18th century, before a Greek national movement evolved.

First political movements with the intent to further Greek independence were established, although often outside Greece respectively the Ottoman Empire. One of the first advocates of this idea, Rigas Velestinlis, got executed in Belgrade in 1798 (after being arrested and extradited by Austria-Hungary).

Finally, in 1821, the Greek Revolution began and had early successes on the Peloponnese. During the following years the frontline between Ottomans and Greeks froze. Partially due to military, mostly due to diplomatic reasons. Great Britain, France and Russia had vital but varied interests in the region. They were forced to find a common ground after the intervention of Muhammad Ali of Egypt. In the battle of Navarino (1827) the Egyptian-Ottoman Fleet was destroyed.

In the same year the Greek National Assembly elected Ioannis Kapodistrias as President for seven years, but he got killed already in 1831. At the same time the major powers deliberated on the future of Greece. During the London Conference of 1832 they decided, that Greece should become an independent Kingdom and the 17 year old prince Otto von Wittelsbach the first Greek King.

170px-Otto_of_Greece.jpg
Otto I.​

This choice was made without consideration of local Greek interests. Otto von Wittelsbach, now Otto I, realized, that it was not possible to rule as Absolute Monarch and as of 1st January 1836 he established the Vouli ton Ellinon, the first Hellenic Parliament. Although less than 10% of the population were entitled to vote (with the individual wealth being the decisive factor) and the King was entitled to constitute the governing party, Greece experienced the first touch of modern Democracy.
 
Last edited:
Subbed!
 
Ioannis Kolettis
(1836 - 1840)​

Ioannis_Kolettis_s.jpg

In 1836 the Kingdom of Greece was a country with approximately 900.000 inhabitants, thereof roughly 20% alphabetized, an economy that was based on agricultural output, a thin middle class, an almost non-existent upper class and a huge problem: It was on the way to bankruptcy.

Ioannis Kolettis (1773? - 1847) became the first Greek Prime Minister and had to deal with this situation. It is Kolettis` merit, that he immediately took proper measures to avoid the impending crisis. First he imposed moderate tax hikes, although he was probably aware that this would not solve the situation.

Hence he enforced dramatic cuts in the military budget. The already small Greek navy was silently disbanded and the standing army reduced by roughly one third. Although these steps were radical, the remaining forces were probably still too large and, as a result, ill-equipped.

With the military budget being minimized and first measures for an advancement of the freedom of trade being taken, Kolettis could achieve a small budget surplus. He invested a part of it into the educational sector, which had been traditionally underfunded, and thus stopped the exodus of qualified teachers.

Kolettis` agenda concerning the domestic politics had certain impacts on the foreign affairs and he pursued a policy of double security. On the one hand his term was characterized by a normalization of relations to the Ottoman Empire. On the other hand he tightened the ties with the main guarantor power, the United Kingdom.

Kolettis` administration was, despite its catastrophic effects for the armed forces, rather popular due to its successful consolidation of the country. This sentiment found expression during the elections of 1840, when his faction gained 100% of the votes. Although this was a clear mandate for a second term, Kolettis resigned due to health issues and was succeeded by Metaxas.
 
Andreas Metaxas
(1840 - 1844)​

220px-Andreas_Metaxas.jpg

The term of Andreas Metaxas (1790? - 1860) did not stand out due to the passed legislation, primarily due to a lack thereof, but rather due to the personality of the Prime Minister itself.

Metaxas` domestic and foreign policy was basically the continuation of the guidelines established by his predecessor. In fact the fiscal situation relaxed to a point, that at the end of 1844 Greece had deposits worth the size of 1.5 annual budgets and the Greek National Bank began to give small loans to other countries such as Argentina and Bolivia.

Although Metaxas did not give the Greek politics a distinctive character, he had a nameable influence on the Greek cultural life. When Greece gained its independence it got integrated into the "western" cultural sphere again and got influenced by the contemporary intellectual and cultural trends. Metaxas himself promoted the Hegelian school of Idealism and although not everyone followed him on this path, it led to an opening of the Greek intellectual and scientific life.

In May 1842 Metaxas travelled to London to attend the coronation of Queen Victoria. There he had several meetings with Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel. During these meetings a friendship between these men evolved and led to an extensive correspondence during the following years until Peel`s death in 1850. Although Peel held Metaxas in high esteem, he never made a secret about their differences. In 1843 he wrote a letter to a friend and described Metaxas: "More intellectual than statesman he is a worthy successor of Plato and Socrates, but right now Greece needs a second Pericles."

The other members of his political faction shared this evaluation and after the elections of 1844 he was replaced by Kountouriotis.
 
Georgios Kountouriotis
(1845 - 1849)

220px-GeorgiosKountouriotis.jpg

Georgios Kountouriotis (1782 - 1858) was, contrary to his predecessor, a politician with a distinct political agenda.

He encouraged investments into the agricultural sector, especially its "industrialization" via usage of the first harvesters, which significantly increased the output. On the other hand he paved the way for the establishment of the Greek Stock Exchange in Athens in 1848 and regulations for the capital and share market.

Both measures did not only increase the GDP, but also the national budget. And Kountouriotis did not hesitate to spend the additional revenue on revoking parts of the dramatic cuts in the military budget. Although the army remained underfunded, the first step toward the reorganization of the armed forces, which would take place during the terms of his successors, was made.

Also during his term a certain liberalization within the Greek society, that found expression in a Greek version of the British Chartism movement, took place. Kountouriotis supported these moderate reform movements even after the so-called "Pallados Conspiracy", when a plot to murder the current government was revealed and more conservative members of the administration called for the removal of the right of free assembly.

The Foreign Policy was characterized by a further normalization of relations between Greece and Egypt as well as the Ottoman Empire. The latter experienced the first in a series of crises concerning its European holdings, when the "Serbian Crisis" evolved in late 1847. In the time period prior to that an irredentist Serbian national movement with the intent to unite all Serbian lands performed terrorist attacks in territories belonging to the Ottoman Empire. In December 1847 the government of Russia issued a memorandum with the proposal to transfer southern Serbia from the Ottoman Empire to Serbia. While Russia had the support of France and Spain, the Ottomans were backed by Austria and the North German Confederation. During the London Conference in May 1848 it was, mostly due to British political pressure, agreed upon to reject the Serbian claims and maintain the status quo.

During the election of 1849 it came to a debate concerning the relation between Church and State, with the general opinion leaning toward a secularization. Despite this rather progressive opinion, the election result confirmed the current administration, although Kountouriotis was succeeded by Kanaris.
 
Your style is diffrent but I love it
 
Oops. I (or better: the Russians) accidentally caused a World War. But don`t worry, the boys will be home on Christmas. I guess. :eek:o

EDIT:

Well, at least it did not last too long. Unfortunately it lasted past the term of the next Prime Minister. So the PM and the War get one post each.
 
Last edited:
Good job so far with Greece and defeating your number 2 enemy after the Turks: bankruptcy!

When I played Greece, I took a bunch of loans, appointed the reactionaries to build a few factories, allied the Russians, and had Mother Russia take back my cores for me. Did you not do that because it's rather gamey, or...?
 
Greece and loans. You know that does not end well. :p

Apart from that I don`t want to intervene too much directly. I am trying to give some incentives, so the people do what I want them to.
 
Konstantinos Kanaris
(1849 - 1853)​

220px-Constantine_Kanaris.jpg

The term of Konstantinos Kanaris (1790 - 1877) was, without any doubt, one of the most bustling in Greek history.

Kanaris` main focus was the economic situation of his country. During his administration Greece invented a decimal currency and the silver standard. The efficiency of the tax authorities were improved. To raise the national revenues he implemented tariffs.

Government spending also focused on the development of the country. Kanaris encouraged investments into a further mechanization of the agricultural sector and as of 1850 the first railroad lines were set into operation, although the first line was a privately funded enterprise on Euboea. Furthermore he raised the research budget, especially for natural sciences and medicine. The latter probably in the wake of the cholera epidemic of 1852.

But the main event of his term was the Great Russo-Turkish War (see Chapter VI), although the war did not have serious direct effects on Greece besides casualties of probably less than 5.000 soldiers and a short occupation of the northernmost province of Lamia in late 1853, causing about 3.000 people to flee southward.

The elections of 1853, held while the war was still going on, revealed the changes going on within the Greek electorate. Greece had contacts to the European intellectual movements for two decades and some contemporary liberal ideas began to spread. The governing conservative and reactionary political factions remained in power, but they only received 58% of the votes, while 42% voted for liberal candidates.