Elefthería i thánatos - A Greece AAR

The Great Russo-Turkish War
(1852 - 1854)​

A. Pre History of the conflict

The antagonism between Russia and the Ottoman Empire dates back to the 16th century. At first, Russia`s main interest was the access to the Black Sea, but in the 19th century this changed and the safe passage or maybe even control of the Bosporus and the Dardanelles became a long-term goal.

Secondly Russia saw itself as protecting power of all orthodox Christians under Muslim rule. Which was also the reason why it supported the Greek revolution, although the latter had a more nationalist cause, that did not fit in the general Russian political agenda.

Nevertheless Russia tried to curtail the influence of the Ottoman Empire on the Balkans by supporting nationalist movements. A first attempt during the "Serbian Crisis" in 1847/8 did not succeed, but a second attempt was made in October 1851, when the major powers were invited to consult together about the future of Thessaly.

It became clear pretty early during the Madrid Conference, that the United Kingdom, although being Allied with Greece, would support the Ottoman Empire and it was soon followed by the North German Confederation. Russia, on the other side, could gain the support of Austria and France. Only the host of the Conference, Spain, remained undecided until early 1852. Greece was represented by Andreas Metaxas during the Conference, who had been the Greek Ambassador in Spain in the early 1830s and still maintained contacts to several Spanish politicians. It was probably due to his influence, that Spain eventually supported the Russian plan as of March 1852.

During the following two months all involved nations tried to find common ground, but failed. On Friday, the 28th May 1852, the Russian Ambassador turned over a declaration of war to his Ottoman counterpart.


B. Course of the War

The Russian Alliance planned for a fast, three-pronged Russo-Austrian attack versus the Ottoman Empire via Bosnia, Moldova and Kars, while France and Spain were supposed to tie Germany and Great Britain in the west. The German Confederation, on the other hand, planned an early offensive in Bohemia and Poland while holding the western border until Great Britain would enter the theater.

In the early stage of the war the Russian Alliance was surprised by the German offensive and the strong Turkish counterattack. Apart from first gains in Bosnia, the attack versus the Ottoman Empire came to a halt.

It took one year, until it became apparent, that the Russian Alliance would gain the upper hand. Eventually the German troops were pushed out of Austria and Russia and French troops crossed the Rhine, while the French and Spanish navy kept the Royal Navy in check.

During this time the small Greek army under the command of Georgios Pangalos had to operate without support in eastern Thessaly with rather small gains. In the course of 1853 a strong Turkish army appeared, pushed the Greeks back and even occupied Lamia for a short time, before Allied reinforcements arrived. As of late 1853 more Allied troops arrived in the southern Theater and eventually reached a strength of up to 80.000 troops. During the battle of Takkala, the Greco-Austrian force under Gottfried Wittmann defeated the Turkish army under Ferid Pasha and occupied all of Thessaly.

At the same time, the North German Confederation was almost completely occupied and a French Army even managed to cross the Channel, make landfall in Kent and march toward London. The Ottoman Empire, now completely outnumbered and with Russian troops closing in on Constantinople, sued for peace. On 21st August 1854 the Treaty of Saint Petersburg was signed and the war came to an end.


C. Aftermath

The regulations concerning new demarcations were rather short and stipulated, that Greece shall gain Thessaly and Russia Kars. Considering the fact, that several hundred thousand people had died in this war, the minor territorial changes made the French Foreign Minister Édouard Drouyn de Lhuys say that "Greece and Russia hardly gained enough soil to bury all the dead".

Greece and the Russo-Turkish border after the Treaty of Saint Petersburg
(territorial changes highlighted)​

Nevertheless the result of the war led to major gains for Greece. Its population doubled to slightly more than 2 million people and its agricultural sector gained access to the vast wool production in western Thessaly. But exactly this sudden increase in size also caused a shift within the Greek society. Roughly 25% of the Thessalian population were Muslims of either Turkish or Albanian ethnicity, so Greece now comprised a religious and ethnic minority of roughly 12% of the total population. Additionally the whole population of Thessaly had a different history than their southern neighbors and hence different political priorities.

But the most important result of the war was that, just 37 years after the end of the Congress of Vienna, the "Concert of Europe" had failed for the first time to avoid a great war between the major powers. The short era of "Conference Diplomacy" had not come to an end yet, but was already declining.

Barkingdragon13 said:

Things would be simpler if everyone was Greek

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Working on it.

Jacobi-99 said:

Destry those damn ottomans, you should try and get Albania as well

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This is a tricky thing. I pump a lot of money into the military budget, but I can hardly maintain the current level of soldier pop despite a decent population growth. Obviously other professions are more attractive.

Antonios Kriezis
(1854 - 1858)​

The term of Antonios Kriezis was characterized by the Foreign Affairs, that did not only affect Greece itself, but whole Europe.

Firstly the election of 1853 took place amidst the Great Russo-Turkish War (see Chapter VI), but since Greece itself was almost completely unaffected by it, the elections could take place in proper order. The war itself ended in August 1854 with huge territorial gains.

Just two years later it came to the "Dodecanese Treaty". In March 1856 Russia put the future of the East Aegean Islands, whose population was mostly Greek, up for negotiation. During the next six months the major powers consulted together during the Congress of Brussels. As in 1852 the Ottoman Empire was supported by Great Britain, but since the North German Confederation was eliminated as a possible Ally due to the harsh peace conditions of 1854, these two nations stood alone versus an Alliance of Russia, France and Austria, with Spain and possibly even Belgium also being on their side. Faced with this overwhelming threat, the Ottoman Empire agreed to cede the Dodecanese as well as several northern islands including Chios and Lesbos to Greece.

Greece after the Dodecanese Treaty
(territorial gains highlighted)​

Although these events had a major impact on Greece and its society, the domestic policy during Kriezis` term was no less important. The application of modern medical knowledge and equipment led to an increased life expectancy as well as a lower child mortality rate, eventually resulting in higher population growth.

Similar adaptations were made within the armed forces in order to reduce future combat losses and improve the medical corps organization. Simultaneously the first measures were taken to improve the organization as well as the leadership of the Greek army.

Finally he continued the economic modernization program of his predecessors. The building of railway lines progressed, especially in western Thessaly. Additionally further inventions in the agricultural sector increased the output, especially in wool production.

Despite these successes in the administration of the country, Greece faced a major change in its political landscape. Since 1836 the country was administrated by rather conservative and reactionary political factions. But already during the election of 1853 the liberal movement gained 42% of the votes. And the electorate of Thessaly would eventually cause the shift. According to the Greek electoral law votes of the upper class weighed two times than those of the middle class. With the transfer of Thessaly from the Ottoman Empire to Greece, the Greek electorate gained a strong and liberal-oriented upper class and on 1st July 1858 the Liberal candidate Dimitrios Voulgaris was elected with 69% of the votes.

Mathrim said:

It's concise,

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It just seems so, because there are no 12 screenies per post.

Jacobi-99 said:

Are you using your national foci to make tensions in ottoman lands?
Also has England given you the inion islands yet?

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No and no, although the former will inevitably begin someday.

Dimitrios Voulgaris
(1858 - 1862)​

With Dimitrios Voulgaris (1802 - 1878) started the "liberal" period in Greek history, although the beginning was rather calm.

Voulgaris was a follower of Auguste Comte`s concept of positivism and initiated an educational reform with a curriculum, that was designed around that concept especially in natural sciences. Although the concept of positivism was discarded later, it had a major influence at its time and also positive effects on the educational system.

During his term further scientific breakthroughs were made, which increased the living standard and life expectancy of the average citizen. The government additionally invested in the continuing expansion of the railroad network and in 1860 the first passengers could travel from Athens to Larissa respectively Ioannina in the north, while the Peloponnese still did not contain a single mile of tracks.

Concerning the Foreign Policy these years were considerably calm. Voulgaris was a friend and correspondent of Henry Dunant and so Greece played an active part in the establishment of the Geneva Conventions and belonged to the 12 initial signers.

The main issue of this term was a split within the Greek Liberal faction. The mainstream within the movement was moderate with several intersections to the conservative political agenda. But a minority within the Liberal faction supported an extreme liberalism, that was also called Anarcho-Liberalism. The line of reasoning within this faction was, that the state should not meddle in any way in economical matters and restrict itself to core competences such as national defense.

Although this new idea attracted some followers, the overwhelming majority was against it. During the elections of 1862 the electorate awarded Voulgaris a clear mandate with 92% of the votes and he became the first Prime Minister to be elected for a second term.

GulMacet said:

Why do you not take Crete? Judging by your last map, Egypt has it - with a Great Power ally by your side, surely they will not be capable of successfully resisting!

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Are we a bit belligerent today?

There is still time for Crete. Macedonia is more important.

Dimitrios Voulgaris
(1863 - 1867)​

Voulgaris` second term was more or less the continuation of the first one with similar results.

He remained a supporter of new intellectual concepts. Following the introduction of Positivism the teachings of several prominent advocates of Empiricism gained significant influence within the Greek academic institutions. It is also notable, that Greece became the first country outside the United States of America, which got influenced by the thoughts of Pragmatism, although the influence of this new philosophical tradition remained small.

Voulgaris` administration maintained the high investments into the building of railroad tracks and in 1866 the whole mainland was fully developed in this respect. Additionally reforms in the financial sector eased the terms for the establishment of commercial banks.

In the second half of the term, Voulgaris began a large reform of the armed forces. The Greek army was small and its equipment outdated. The government approved an expansion of the army size to 15.000 soldiers and allocated funds for the purchase of modern arms. Amidst this change, General Georgios Pangalos, the "Hero of ´54", died and tens of thousands of Greek citizens attended his funeral on 11th November 1866.

Although the Foreign Policy of Voulgaris` second term was calm, the region got shaken by the "Russo-Turkish War" of 1865/6 and the "Bosnia Crisis" of 1866. The Russo-Turkish War began on 05.02.1865 with the Russian intent to occupy Trabzon in today`s northern Turkey. The Russian Alliance, consisting of Russia, Serbia and the Netherlands, faced the Ottoman Empire, that got supported by the North German Federation. Already two months later Serbia was knocked out. In October 1865 the Netherlands surrendered and paid high reparations in order to not lose Gelderland to Germany. Russia continued to fight, but despite successes in Turkey, the German forces were marching toward Moscow. On 7th July 1866 Russia had to surrender.

While the war was still going on, France ignited the "Bosnia Crisis", trying to force the Ottoman Empire to cede Bosnia to Serbia. But during the Vienna Conference from July to November 1866 it became obvious, that France was not able to gain enough political support to achieve its goal.

The elections of 1867 gained a lot of attention, since for the first time candidates appeared which described themselves as "Socialist". This new ideology, born as a result of the industrialization of western Europe, advocated a "strong state" when it came to economic control and thus contradicted the ideology of the governing liberal faction. The election result confirmed the rule of the Liberals with 93% of the votes. Nevertheless Voulgaris resigned and was succeeded by Valvis.

30 days until the next Greece-induced Great War. Let`s pray for peace.