MARCH 25, 1821: GREECE ERUPTS INTO REBELLION AGAINST OTTOMAN TURKS!
A Brief Summary of the Establishment of the Kingdom of Greece:
March 25, 1821, was the date of the start of the uprising of the peoples of Greece against more than 400 years of the occupation and oppression by the Ottoman Turkey invaders. This marked the beginning of the end of the Ottoman Turkey Empire and the revival of the independence of the Kingdom of Greece!
March 25, also is the Feast of the Annunciation of the Theotokos (Virgin Mary, Mother of God) not only in the Greek Orthodox Church but in all churches of the Eastern Orthodox religion. The organizers of the rebellion selected this feast date to initiate the insurrection under the protection of the Theotokos as patron of the movement.
Early in the morning, Bishop Germanos raised the banner of the revolt over the Monastery of Agia (saint) Lavra in the Pelopannese with the cry: Freedom or Death! The flying of the banner was the planned symbol for the commencement of hostilities and the words of Bishop Germanos were popularly adopted as the official motto of the revolution.
The decision to begin the struggle against the Ottoman domination on the date was based on the belief that the action would be brief, over by the autumn season. It was thought that the elderly, women and children could best manage the planting of the agricultural crop and the men would return in time for the harvesting of the yield.
The conflict wasn’t as easy to determine as originally planned. The battles were frequent and draining on the Turkish forces. They often involved the importing of the military reserves of the Ottoman Turk dependencies in North Africa, especially Algeria, Egypt, Tripolitania (Libya) and Tunis (Tunisia). These auxiliary troops were frequently defeated by the untrained Greek locals who were often armed with dated and inferior firearms.
The fighting ended with the signing of the Treaty of Adrianople in 1829. France, Imperial Russia and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland were the guarantors of the independence of the Kingdom of Greece. The Ottoman Turks agreed to withdraw completely from Greece. In 1830, the sovereign independence of the Kingdom was recognized by the London Protocol agreement and Ottoman Turkey acknowledged the protocol. In 1832, the Treaty of Constantinople defined the official borders between Greece and Turkey and established Prince Otto of Bavaria as the first King of Greece.
The London Protocol established the Greek Orthodox Church as supreme throughout the kingdom. This remains in effect still today.
The government of the newly liberated Haiti was the very first country in the world to diplomatically and officially recognize the the revolution – and therefore Greek independence. This happened in 1821, barely six months after the initiation of the struggle and long before the war was actually over. Haiti acknowledged Greece just before becoming the first nation in the world to outlaw the slavery of Africans.
After several revisions adopted over time, the above is the current official flag of Greece to be flown outside the actual country. The version used internally features identical with “lighter” (baby) blue colours. The upper corner is the Cross of St. George, the official patron saint of all of Greece.
Considerations:
There is proof that the ancient Greeks engaged in man-to-man penetrative sexual practices and of the widespread practice/traditions of public nudity/social nudity. These were viewed as “everyday” and “normal” by Greek society at that time. In all honesty, this Greek – yours truly – feels the same, today. In fact, I know for certain that I am not alone in these thoughts!
The ancient Greeks culturally embraced and practiced social nudity, publicly and privately. There existed nude competitions and competitors in the original Olympic events for centuries. The military practiced/trained while naked and the entire population accepted and expected nakedness, both publicly and socially, from both genders. Admittedly, males were more prone to nudity than females but remember, in that era, they were the dominant gender.
Historically, Greek culture didn’t look upon the state of clothes freedom as synonymous with being evil, sinful, despicable nor judged as a disgraceful or as a perversion.
Same-sex physical intimacy, especially between men, was both acceptable and expected. It was not an official endorsement of same gender love. Rather, it was often seen as an educational action to instruct males on how to actually be “real men.” The instructional benefit was the belief that there was no better method to teach a man how to properly treat a woman than to show them him physically hot it feels to have a male penile erection physically inside him.
As a contemporary same gender loving Greek man, after limited research, my humble opinion is that ancient Greece had no preponderance of same gender love. The numbers look and probably reflect the same percentage of the general population as they do today.
To my knowledge, there is no irrefutable evidence of any actual battle that occurred with opposing forces engaged while completely naked. Humanity – very early – recognized the futility of belligerence without any armour or protection for as much of the body as possible! No “rocket science” involved in that solution!
Naked hugs!
Happy Annunciation Day!
Roger Poladopoulos/ReNude Pride
Author’s Note: The next post entry here is planned for Monday, March 27, 2023, and the proposed topic is: “Naturally!”
ReNude Pride: Guys Without Boxers! 