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The sun rose, breaking into a cloudy sky, as Greeks celebrated on Thursday the bicentennial of the revolt that would lead to independence, with parades, a military flight and all the fanfare that would allow a global pandemic.
Right from the start when the cannon rumbled back in 200 anniversary of the Lycabettus hill of Athens, the day was rich in symbolism. It was on March 25, 1821 that the Greeks rose up against the Ottoman Empire, launching a battle that would ultimately usher in the founding of their modern state. “Today the nation celebrates,” Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said as the flag was raised over the ancient Acropolis. “Two centuries ago, a handful of determined fighters inside and outside Greece raised the flag of independence … with the help of their allies they fought heroically and won their freedom.”
Britain, honored alongside France and Russia for its pivotal role in a war that had been fought for nearly a decade, was represented by the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall, on their first overseas trip this year.
Speaking in the former royal palace that is now the official residence of the President of the Hellenic Republic, Charles spoke of the “extraordinary courage and fortitude” displayed by the Greeks during the revolution of 1821 and of his own “deep connection” to the country.
“My wife and I could not be more delighted to be back in Greece, which has long held the most special place in my heart,” he told dignitaries before an official state dinner. After all, Greece is my grandfather’s land; and the birth of my father, almost a hundred years ago, on the centenary of Greek independence. Later, it was in Athens that my dear grandmother, Princess Alice, during the dark years of the Nazi occupation, sheltered a Jewish family, an act for which in Israel she is considered ‘Righteous Among the Nations.’
Charles appeared to cry when a Greek military band played God Save the Queen at a flower offering ceremony before the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
The state broadcaster, ERT, devoted most of its broadcast time to royalty as reporters covered their every move in the absence of the French or Russian president; both were invited but did not attend, but instead sent substitutes. “There is a lot of Greek blood flowing around me,” he joked upon receiving the gold medal for valor from the mayor of the city.
It was not always like this. The royal family’s tense history with Greece had previously been at the heart of an official coldness towards the country, the only EU member state not to have been officially visited by the Queen. Although born a prince on the island of Corfu in 1921, the Duke of Edinburgh was soon forced to flee after the disaster in Asia Minor: his father, Prince Andrew, narrowly avoided being sentenced to death and shot. When, after the collapse of the military government, the Greeks voted to replace the monarchy, overthrowing King Constantine in a referendum in 1974, relations deteriorated further.
The former king’s return to Greece at the height of the nation’s economic crisis and Charles’s personal affection for the country (he is a frequent visitor to the male monastic republic of Mount Athos) have helped heal the wound. This week’s overnight visit follows a three-day tour by the couple in 2018, in which British diplomats described Charles as “a strategic resource” to bolster post-Brexit ties.
The prince said: “Feeling a deep connection to Greece – its landscapes, its history and its culture – I am not alone: there is something of its essence in all of us … As the source of Western civilization, the spirit of Greece runs through our societies and our democracies. Without it, our laws, our art, our way of life, would never have flourished as they have. “
The success of the 1821 uprising, in the face of factional intrigues and almost impossible odds, was far from assured.
“It seemed doomed to fail,” said Richard Clogg, a leading historian of modern Greece, noting that the contribution of foreign volunteers was also vital in boosting support for the cause. “Greece was such a small part of the mighty Ottoman Empire, that it was still a considerable force even in the early 19th century.”
He added: “What changed was that the insurgents were able to keep up the fight until the great powers decided to intervene.”
In what the historian has described as “the last great battle of the sailing age,” the combined British, Russian, and French fleets defeated the Ottomans and their Egyptian allies at Navarino Bay on October 20, 1827.
Because of the pandemic, the anniversary commemorative events were reduced in a ceremony that was distinguished instead by the use of masks and social distancing.
But even that has historical resonance: of the four-anniversary celebrations held so far, Clogg noted that only one, the first in 1871, was not overshadowed by troubles in the Greek state.
For a nation with a large diaspora, the bicentennial is also being marked in cities as diverse as San Francisco, Johannesburg, Rio de Janeiro, and Hanoi. “It is an iconic day, but in a symbolic year there will be other commemorations,” said Gianna Angelopoulos, chair of the Greece 2021 committee, adding that “live” events had been scheduled across the country during the summer, when the pandemic has subsided.
