Editing History of modern Greece (section)

==Reign of King George I, 1864–1913==
[[File:King George of Hellenes.jpg|thumb|upright|[[George I of Greece|King George I of the Hellenes]] in [[Hellenic Navy]] uniform.]]

At the urging of Britain and [[George I of Greece|King George]], Greece adopted the much more democratic [[Greek Constitution of 1864]]. The powers of the King were reduced, the Senate was abolished, and the franchise was extended to all adult males. [[Approval voting]] was used in elections, with one urn for each candidate divided into "yes" and "no" portions into which voters dropped lead beads. Nevertheless, Greek politics remained heavily dynastic, as it has always been. Family names such as Zaimis, Rallis and Trikoupis occurred repeatedly as prime ministers.{{Sfn|Koliopoulos|Veremis|2009|pp=45–46}}

Although parties were centered around the individual leaders, often bearing their names, two broad political tendencies existed: the liberals, led first by [[Charilaos Trikoupis]] and later by [[Eleftherios Venizelos]], and the conservatives, led initially by [[Theodoros Deligiannis]] and later by [[Thrasivoulos Zaimis]]. Trikoupis and Deligiannis dominated Greek politics in the later 19th century, alternating in office. Trikoupis favoured co-operation with Great Britain in foreign affairs, the creation of infrastructure and an indigenous industry, raising protective tariffs and progressive social legislation, while the more populist Deligiannis depended on the promotion of Greek nationalism and the ''[[Megali Idea]]''.

Greece remained a very poor country throughout the 19th century. The country lacked raw materials, infrastructure and capital. Agriculture was mostly at the subsistence level, and the only important export commodities were [[Ribes|currants]], [[raisin]]s and [[tobacco]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=On the industrial history of Greece |url=https://www.erih.net/how-it-started/industrial-history-of-european-countries/greece |access-date=2025-02-15 |website=European Route of Industrial Heritage}}</ref> Some Greeks grew rich as merchants and shipowners, and [[Piraeus]] became a major port, but little of this wealth found its way to the Greek peasantry.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Review of: Maritime Traders in the Ancient Greek World |url=https://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2004/2004.07.22/ |journal=Bryn Mawr Classical Review |issn=1055-7660}}</ref> Greece remained hopelessly in debt to London finance houses.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dunley |first=Richard |date=2015-10-19 |title=The National Archives - Echoes of the past: Greek debt and the International Finance Commission |url=https://blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk/echoes-past-greek-debt-international-finance-commission/ |access-date=2025-02-15 |website=The National Archives blog |language=en-GB}}</ref>

By the 1890s, Greece was virtually bankrupt. Poverty was rife in the rural areas and the islands, and was eased only by large-scale emigration to the [[United States]].{{Sfn|Koliopoulos|Veremis|2009|p=61}} There was little education in the rural areas. Nevertheless, there was progress in building communications and infrastructure, and fine public buildings were erected in Athens. The capital staged the [[1896 Summer Olympics|revival of the Olympic Games]] in 1896, which proved a great success.

[[File:The Hellenic Parliament by N. Orlof (1930) on November 3, 2022.jpg|thumb|The [[Hellenic Parliament]] in the 1880s, with PM [[Charilaos Trikoupis]] standing at the podium.]]
The parliamentary process developed greatly in Greece during the reign of George I. Initially, the royal prerogative in choosing his prime minister remained and contributed to governmental instability, until the introduction of the ''dedilomeni'' principle of [[Confidence and supply|parliamentary confidence]] in 1875 by the reformist [[Charilaos Trikoupis]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-03-11 |title=Charilaos Trikoupis. One of the most important politicians of Greece. He was prime minister seven times |url=https://www.lecturesbureau.gr/1/charilaos-trikoupis-3205/?lang=en |access-date=2025-02-15 |website=Lectures Bureau |language=en-US}}</ref> Clientelism and frequent electoral upheavals however remained the norm in Greek politics, and frustrated the country's development.{{Sfn|Gallant|2015|p=147}}

Corruption and Trikoupis' increased spending (to create necessary infrastructure such as the [[Corinth Canal]]) overtaxed the weak Greek economy,{{Sfn|Koliopoulos|Veremis|2009|pp=60–62}} forcing the declaration of [[National bankruptcy|public insolvency]] in 1893 and to accept the imposition of an International Financial Control authority to pay off the country's creditors.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Schepens |first=Pieterjan |title=A comparison of solutions to Greek sovereign debt crises 1898 and 2010-2018 |date=2018–2019 |publisher=Faculty of Law and Criminology, [[Ghent University]]}}</ref>

Another political issue in 19th-century Greece was the [[Greek language question]]. The Greek people spoke a form of Greek called [[Modern Greek|Demotic]]. Many of the educated elite saw this as a peasant dialect and were determined to restore the glories of [[Ancient Greek]].{{Sfn|Koliopoulos|Veremis|2009|p=65}} Government documents and newspapers were consequently published in ''[[Katharevousa]]'' (purified) Greek, a form that few ordinary Greeks could read. Liberals favoured recognising Demotic as the national language, but conservatives and the Orthodox Church resisted all such efforts, to the extent that when the [[New Testament]] was translated into Demotic in 1901, riots erupted in Athens and the government fell (the ''Evangeliaka'').{{Sfn|Gallant|2015|pp=304–305}} This issue would continue to plague Greek politics until the 1970s.

[[File:Map of Greece 1903.png|thumb|Map of the [[Kingdom of Greece]], the [[Cretan State]] and the [[Principality of Samos]] in 1903, before the [[Balkan Wars]].]]
All Greeks were united, however, in their determination to liberate the Greek-speaking provinces of the Ottoman Empire. Especially in Crete, the [[Cretan Revolt (1866–1869)]] raised nationalist fervour. When war broke out between Russian and the Ottomans in the [[Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878)]], Greek popular sentiment rallied to Russia's side, but Greece was too poor and too concerned about British intervention to enter the war officially. Nevertheless, in 1881, [[Thessaly]] and small parts of [[Epirus (region)|Epirus]] were ceded to Greece as part of the [[Treaty of Berlin (1878)|Treaty of Berlin]].{{Sfn|Koliopoulos|Veremis|2009|p=55}}

Greeks in Crete continued to stage regular revolts, and in 1897, the Greek government under Theodoros Deligiannis, bowing to popular pressure, declared war on the Ottomans. In the ensuing [[Greco-Turkish War (1897)|Greco-Turkish War of 1897]], the badly trained and equipped Greek army was defeated by the Ottomans. Through the intervention of the Great Powers however, Greece lost only a little territory along the border to Turkey, while Crete was established as an autonomous state under [[Prince George of Greece]] as the [[Cretan State]].{{Sfn|Koliopoulos|Veremis|2009|p=56}}

[[File:Goudi coup poster.jpg|thumb|Popular lithograph celebrating the success of the [[Goudi coup|Goudi pronunciamiento]] of 1909 as a national rebirth.]]
Nationalist sentiment among Greeks in the Ottoman Empire continued to grow, and by the 1890s there were constant disturbances in [[Macedonia (region)|Macedonia]]. Here, the Greeks were in competition not only with the Ottomans, but also with the Bulgarians, in an armed propaganda struggle for the hearts and minds of the ethnically mixed local population, the so-called "[[Greek Struggle for Macedonia|Macedonian Struggle]]".

In July 1908, the [[Young Turk Revolution]] broke out in the [[Ottoman Empire]]. Taking advantage of the Ottoman internal turmoil, [[Austria-Hungary]] annexed [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]] and [[Bulgaria]] declared its independence from the Ottoman Empire.{{Sfn|Koliopoulos|Veremis|2009|p=73}} On Crete, the local population, led by a young politician named [[Eleftherios Venizelos]], declared ''[[Enosis]]'', union with Greece, provoking another crisis.{{Sfn|Gallant|2015|p=154}} The fact that the Greek government, led by [[Dimitrios Rallis]], proved unable to likewise take advantage of the situation and bring Crete into the fold, rankled many Greeks, especially young military officers. These formed a secret society, the "[[Military League]]", with the purpose of emulating their Ottoman colleagues to seek governmental reforms.

The resulting [[Goudi coup]] on 15 August 1909 marked a watershed in modern Greek history: as the military conspirators were inexperienced in politics, they asked Venizelos, who had impeccable liberal credentials, to come to Greece as their political adviser.{{Sfn|Gallant|2015|p=309}} Venizelos quickly established himself as a powerful political figure, and his allies won the August 1910 elections.{{Sfn|Koliopoulos|Veremis|2009|p=68}} Venizelos became prime minister in October 1910, ushering a period of 25 years where his personality would dominate Greek politics.

Venizelos initiated a major reform program, including a [[Greek Constitution of 1911|new and more liberal constitution]] and reforms in the spheres of public administration, education and economy.{{Sfn|Koliopoulos|Veremis|2009|pp=68–69}} French and British military missions were invited for the army and navy respectively, and arms purchases were made. In the meantime, the Ottoman Empire's weaknesses were revealed by the ongoing [[Italo-Turkish War]] in Libya.{{Sfn|Koliopoulos|Veremis|2009|pp=69–70}}

===Balkan Wars===
{{Main|Balkan Wars|Greece in the Balkan Wars}}
[[File:Lahanas1913.jpg|thumb|Greek lithograph of the [[Battle of Kilkis–Lachanas]]]]
Through the spring of 1912, a series of bilateral agreements between the Christian Balkan states (Greece, [[Bulgaria]], [[Montenegro]] and [[Serbia]]) formed the [[Balkan League]], which in October 1912 declared war on the Ottoman Empire.{{Sfn|Koliopoulos|Veremis|2009|pp=70–71}} In the [[First Balkan War]], the Ottomans were defeated on all fronts, and the four allies rushed to grab as much territory as they could. The Greeks occupied [[Thessaloniki]] just ahead of the Bulgarians, and also took much of [[Epirus (region)|Epirus]] with [[Ioannina]], as well as [[Crete]] and the [[Aegean Islands]].{{Sfn|Koliopoulos|Veremis|2009|pp=71–72}}

The [[Treaty of London (1913)]] ended the war, but no one was left satisfied, and soon, the four allies fell out over the partition of [[Macedonia (region)|Macedonia]].{{Sfn|Koliopoulos|Veremis|2009|p=73}} In June 1913, Bulgaria attacked Greece and Serbia, beginning the [[Second Balkan War]], but was beaten back. The [[Treaty of Bucharest (1913)]], which concluded the Second Balkan War, left Greece with southern Epirus, the southern half of Macedonia (known as [[Macedonia (Greece)|Greek Macedonia]]), Crete and the Aegean islands, except for the [[Dodecanese]], which had been occupied by [[Italy]] since 1911. These gains nearly doubled Greece's area and population.{{Sfn|Koliopoulos|Veremis|2009|p=74}}

In March 1913, an anarchist, [[Alexandros Schinas]], [[Assassination of George I of Greece|assassinated King George]] in Thessaloniki, and his son came to the throne as Constantine I. Constantine was the first Greek king born in Greece and the first to be Greek Orthodox by birth. His very name had been chosen in the spirit of romantic Greek nationalism (the ''[[Megali Idea]]''), evoking the Byzantine emperors of that name. In addition, as the Commander-in-chief of the Greek Army during the [[Balkan Wars]], his popularity was enormous, rivalled only by that of Venizelos, his prime minister.