1821, 25 March: According to tradition, Metropolitan
Germanos of Patras blesses a big Greek flag at the Monastery of Agia Lavra in Peloponnesia and proclaims to people assembled the beginning of a Greek Revolution.[1][2]Greece declares its independence. Beginning of the
Greek War of Independence.
1821, 17 April: Former Ecumenical Patriarch Cyril VI is hanged in the gate of the
Adrianople's cathedral[4]
1821, 4 April: Constantine
Mourousis, Dimitrios Paparigopoulos and Antonios Tsouras are decapitated by the Ottomans in
Constantinople[5]
1821, 5 April: The
Phanariotes Petros Tsigris, Dimitrios Skanavis and Manuel Hotzeris are decapitated by the Turks, while Georgios
Mavrocordatos is hanged by the Sultan forces in Constantinople[5]
1821, May: The Turkish governor Yusuf Bey orders his men to kill every Greek in
Thessaloniki that they find. The killings last for days, with the metropolitan and major notables among the victims[6]
1821, 2 June: Destruction of
Kydonies in
Asia Minor by the Ottoman army. Tens of thousands of Greek inhabitants become refugees [7]
1821, 24 June: The massacre of
Heraklion or 'the great ravage' occurs against the Greek community in
Crete. Among the victims are the metropolitan of Crete and bishops [8]
1821, 9 July: The chief of the
Cypriot Orthodox Church Archbishop
Kyprianos, along with 486 prominent Greek Cypriots, amongst them the Metropolitans Chrysanthos of
Paphos, Meletios of
Kition and Lavrentios of
Kyrenia, are executed by beheading or hanging by the Turks in
Nicosia[9]
1821, July: Küçük Mehmet carries out several days of massacres of Greek Cypriots in Cyprus since July 9 and continues on for forty days, despite the Vizier's command to end the plundering since 20 July 1821 [10]
1821, 11 September:
Tripolitsa captured by the Greeks, who proceed to eliminate the Turkish garrison, officials and civilians. A total of about 30,000 people perish.
1821, 15 October: Turkish Cypriot mobs hang most of the Greek Cypriots in
Larnaca and other towns, among them an archbishop, five bishops, thirty six ecclesiastics[11]
1822, 9 April: After a month's resistance, the city of
Naousa is captured by Abdul Abud, devastating the city and massacring its Greek population.[12] Ending of the Greek revolution in Macedonia.
1822: The
Chios massacre occurs. A total of about 100,000 people perish, mostly Greeks.
1822, 26 July,
Battle at Dervenakia. A decisive victory of the Greeks which saved the revolution.
1823, 18 January:
Nafplio becomes the site of the Revolutionary Government.
The First Hellenic Republic (Greek: Αʹ Ελληνική Δημοκρατία) is a historiographic term used for a series of councils and "Provisional Governments" during the Greek War of Independence. During the first stages of the rebellion, various areas elected their own regional governing councils. These were replaced by the united administration at the First National Assembly of Epidaurus during early 1822, which also adopted the first Greek Constitution. A series of National Assemblies ensued, while Greece was threatened with collapse due to civil war and the victories of Ibrahim Pasha. In 1827, the Third National Assembly at Troezen selected Count
Ioannis Kapodistrias as Governor of Greece for seven years. He arrived in 1828 and established the Hellenic State, commanding with quasi-dictatorial powers. He was assassinated by political rivals in 1831 and was succeeded by his brother,
Augustinos Kapodistrias until the Great Powers declared Greece a Kingdom and selected the Bavarian Prince
Otto to be its king.
1850, 4 January:
Pacifico incident. Blockade of the port of Piraeus by the British fleet.
1854, 14 May: Anglo-French occupation of Piraeus to ensure Greek neutrality during the
Crimean War, although a Greek volunteer battalion participates in the
Siege of Sevastopol.
Cholera epidemic begins in the capital, transmitted by the foreign troops.
1885, May: Prime Minister
Theodoros Deligiannis mobilizes the Greek Army in accordance with the Bulgarian revolt. Fearing modification of the Treaty of Berlin, the British Royal Navy blockades Greece.
1885, 6 September: Bloodless revolution in Eastern Rumelia and unification of the province with Bulgaria.
1897, 27 April: Greece loses the war, agrees to surrender Crete to international administration, to make minor territorial concessions in Thessaly in favor of the Turks and to pay a large indemnity.
1915, October: French and British forces land in Thessaloniki, establishing the
Salonika front.
1915, December: Constantine I forces Venizelos to resign for a second time and dissolves the Liberal-dominated parliament. Venizelos leaves Athens.
1916, April: The autonomy of Northern Epirus is revoked by the Albanian government, in violation of the Protocol of Corfu.
1916, August:
1916, 30 August: Successful anti-royalist coup by the
Movement of National Defence. Venizelos returns to the Greek mainland. Henceforth, Greece has two governments: the royalist government in Athens commanded by the King and the "Temporary Government of National Defence" commanded by Venizelos in Thessaloniki.
1916, 18 November: The "
Noemvriana" (November events). Royalist paramilitary units, named the "League of Reservists", target the Venizelists. Armed clashes between Reservists and French marines in Athens. The Allies institute a naval blockade of Greece. French and British forces land in
Thessaly and enter the regional capital of
Larissa.
1916, 21 November: HMHS Britannic, British merchant ship, sinks by a mine near
Kea. 30 people die.
1917, June: French and British forces occupy Piraeus, bombard Athens and force the Greek fleet to surrender. Constantine I abdicates, he and his eldest son George (barred from succession) leave the country. His second son
Alexander becomes King Alexander I and Venizelos is restored as Prime Minister in Athens.
1922, September: The Greek Army, Navy and people revolt. The government is deposed and the King forced to resign. Venizelos returns in Greece.
1922, 27 September: King Constantine I abdicates (second time), being succeeded by his eldest son King
George II.
1922, 28 November: According to the verdict of the
Trial of the Six, the former Prime Minister
Dimitrios Gounaris, the Commander in Chief of the Greek Armies
Georgios Hatzianestis and four other politicians are executed as responsible for the Asia Minor Catastrophe.
1923, 24 July: Signing of the
Treaty of Lausanne. The Greeks of Istanbul, Imbros and Tenedos (about 279,788 in Istanbul alone the next year) are excluded from the
population exchange. The islands of
Imbros and
Tenedos are granted autonomy, by article 14, which was never implemented.
Restoration of stability
1923: Greece has an enormous refugee problem with the arrival of approximately 1.5 million Greeks from Asia Minor (according to the
population exchange agreement of the Treaty of Lausanne. The population of the bankrupt Greece increased by 1/3 in a period of a few months. The fate of the rest 1 million Greeks of Asia Minor (according to the Ottoman census) remains unknown.
1933, 6 June: Second assassination attempt against Venizelos in Athens.
1935, March:
Failed coup directed by Venizelos and
Nikolaos Plastiras. Venizelos flees in France and dies in Paris the next year, the armed forces are purged of Venizelist and Republican officers.
1935, 10 October: Coup directed by
Georgios Kondylis abolishes the Republic, confirmed by a rigged
plebiscite later the same year.
Kingdom of Greece restored (1935–1967)
1935, 3 November: George II is restored to the throne.
4 August Regime (1936–1940)
1936, 4 August: Coup by General
Ioannis Metaxas, who declares a
state of emergency, decrees
martial law, annuls various articles of the Constitution and establishes a crisis cabinet to end the increasing riots and to restore social order.
1937, 15 December: Mass NKVD operation against Greeks in the USSR begins, based on Joseph Stalin's Directive 50125 of Dec. 1937, resulting in the loss of 38,000 Soviet citizens of Hellenic descent at the Gulags of Siberia.[18]
1939:
Hatay is annexed by Turkey. The immigration of the
Antiochian Greeks reaches its maximum.
1940, 15 August:
Torpedoing and sinking of the Greek light cruiser Elli in
Tinos harbor on 15 August 1940 (a
national religious holiday), by an Italian submarine. The Greek government announced that the attack had been performed by a submarine of "unknown nationality", in an attempt to keep Greece neutral.
World War II (1940–1944)
Greco-Italian War and Battle of Greece (1940–1941)
1940, 28 October: After Greek dictator Ioannis Metaxas
rejects an Italian
ultimatum demanding the occupation of Greek territory, Italian forces invade Greece. Beginning of the
Greco-Italian War.
1940, 13 November: The
Battle of Pindus ends in a complete Greek victory.
1940, 14 November: The Greek forces enter Albanian territory.
1940, 24 December: The Greek army controls practically all of
Northern Epirus.
1941: Turkey mobilizes all Greeks between 18 and 45 years of age and deports them to
labour battalions in central
Anatolia.
1941, 29 January: Ioannis Metaxas dies in Athens.
1941, 1 March: Earthquake occurs in
Larissa leaving 40 people dead and thousands homeless.
1941, 9–20 March: The Italian Spring Offensive fails to dislocate the Greek forces.
1941, 18 April: The German Army advances towards Athens. Prime Minister
Alexandros Koryzis commits suicide.
1941, 20 April: The Greek First Army surrenders to the Germans.
1941, 21 April: The German forces manage to go through the
Metaxas Line.
1941, 22 April: The King, the Royal family and the Government flee Athens and go to
Crete.
1941, 27 April: The German Army enters Athens. Greek writer
Penelope Delta commits suicide. The
Nazi flag is raised on
Acropolis;
Evzone soldier on guard duty jumps off the Acropolis wrapped in the
Greek flag.
1941, May: The Allied forces impose a naval blockade of Greece, ending off all imports, including foods.
1941, 4 May: Out of respect for the Greek nation,
Hitler orders the
Wehrmacht not to take Greek war prisoners and allows them to carry weapons.
1941, 22 May: The King, the Royal family and the Government are evacuated to
Alexandria.
1941, 1 June: The remaining defenders at
Sphakia surrender to the German Army.
Axis occupation and Resistance (1941–1944)
1941, 30 May: The first resistance act occur in Athens. Two law students tear down the
Flag of Nazi Germany from the Acropolis.
1941, 27 September: The
National Liberation Front (EAM), the largest resistance group, is initiated.
1941, 28–29 September: A spontaneous rebellion in
Drama is repressed by the Bulgarian occupation forces with a death toll of 3,000.
1941, 17 October: Executions of the male population and burning of the village Kerdyllia by the Nazis, with a death toll of 235.[19]
1941, 23–28 October: Massive executions of the inhabitants of the villages Mesovouno, Cleisto, Kidonia and Ambelofito by the Nazis.
1941–1942, Winter:
The Great Famine. An estimated 300,000 Greeks perish during the period of occupation, with mortality reaching a maximum during that winter.
1942: The Fortune Tax (Varlık Vergisi) is imposed on the
Greeks in Turkey (as well as on others, mostly non-Muslims), resulting in their financial ruination.
1942, Summer: The great suffering and the pressure of the exiled Greek government eventually forces the British partially to lift the blockade. The
International Red Cross is able to distribute food supplies in sufficient quantities.
1942, 25 November: The
Gorgopotamos bridge is blown up in a common operation between the Greek militants and British saboteurs (
Operation Harling). This successful operation disrupted the German transportation of ammunition via Greece to the Nazi
Africa Corps commanded by
Rommel.
1943, 27 February: Poet
Kostis Palamas dies. His funeral becomes a public show of defiance to the occupation authorities.
1943, March: The Germans began mass deportations of the Jews of Thessaloniki to Auschwitz. By the end of the war, an estimated 60,000 Greek Jews were murdered.
1943, 16 August: 317 inhabitants of
Kommeno are murdered and the village is burned by the Nazis.
1943, September: The Nazi attempt to exterminate the Jews of Athens fails, thanks to the combined efforts of
Archbishop Damaskinos, Greek resistance groups and some of the Greek people.
1943, 13 September: More than 5,000 Italian soldiers are
executed by the Nazis in
Cephallonia or perish in the sea, during the German takeover of the Italian occupation areas.
1947, 20 January: The deadliest shipwreck of modern Greek history occurs when Himara sinks in the
South Evian Gulf, resulting in 391 deaths. It remains unknown if the cause was the bad weather, a mine or sabotage.
1947, 1 April: King George II dies of sudden heart failure in the Palace in Athens. Some Greeks do not believe the announcement,
considering it a joke. He is succeeded by his younger brother
Paul.
1947, December: Approximately 1,200 Communist militants are killed in a battle near
Konitsa
1948: The Communists reach the maximum of their power.
1949, August: General
Alexander Papagos begins a major counter-offensive against Communist forces in northern Greece, pushing them into Albania.
1949, 16 October:
Nikolaos Zachariadis, commander of the Communist guerillas, announces a ceasefire that ends the Greek Civil War.
Postwar Greece (1950–1967)
1950, 10 January: The eruption of the
Thera volcano for the fourth time in the century, causes the evacuation of the island.
1950, 9 December: Greece
participates with the
Korean War in favor of
South Korea. By the end of the war during 1953, 194 Greek soldiers will be killed.
1952, 18 February: Greece and Turkey become members of
NATO.
1954, 30 April:
Sofades is struck by an . 25 people die.
1955, 6–7 September: The
Istanbul Pogrom, directed primarily against the city's 100,000-strong Greek minority, occurs. A total of 16 Greeks are killed, while many others are severely wounded, raped and circumcised by mobs. Thousands of Greek-owned buildings are badly damaged or destroyed, accelerating emigration of ethnic Greeks from the city.
1956: Failed coup against
King Paul I by a group of colonels.
1956, 9 July: The 7.7 MwAmorgos earthquake shakes the
Cyclades island group in the
Aegean Sea with a maximum
Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent). The shaking and the destructive tsunami that followed left fifty-three people dead. A damaging M7.2 aftershock occurred minutes after the mainshock.
1963, 17 June:
Constantine Karamanlis resigns the premiership after a disagreement with King Paul.
1963, November: The
Center Union party under George Papandreou wins the elections. Karamanlis is self-exiled in Paris.
1964, 6 March: The
royal government announces the death of
King Paul. Rumors circulate in Athens that in fact he had died several days earlier. He is succeeded by his son
Constantine II.
1964: The Ankara government reneges on the 1930 Greco-Turkish Ankara Convention. Deported with two days' notice, the Greek community of Istanbul shrunk from 100,000 persons in 1955 to only 48,000 in 1965.
1965, 15 July: Royal Coup, involving King Constantine II and a group of politicians, known as
Apostasia of 1965. Premier
George Papandreou is forced to resign.
1966, 7 December: Ferry
SS Heraklion sinks in the
Mirtoon Sea. 247 people lose their lives in the worst shipwreck of postwar Greece.
1966–1980: About 160,000 Greeks emigrated to the USA.[17]
Military dictatorship (1967–1974)
1967, 21 April: Successful coup d'état led by a group of colonels.
1968: Counter-coup organized by
King Constantine II fails. Constantine II leaves the country.
1968, 13 August: Assassination attempt against Dictator Papadopoulos by
Alexandros Panagoulis.
1968, 1 November: George Papandreou dies. His funeral becomes the occasion for a large anti-dictatorship demonstration.
1971:
Halki seminary,
Orthodoxy's most prominent theological school, is closed by the Turkish government. Despite international pressure for its reopening, it remains closed ever since.
1972, 2 March:
Ecclesiastical coup in Cyprus fails to remove Makarios from the Presidency.
1973, 1 June: Dictator
George Papadopoulos declares Greece a republic and himself President, thus deposing King Constantine II via abolishing the monarchy.
1974, 23 July: Nikos Sampson is removed from office and replaced with
Glafkos Klerides. The coup regime ends. A general ceasefire is declared.
1974, 23 July: Junta-appointed President
Phaedon Gizikis calls a meeting of old guard politicians with the participation of the commanders of the armed forces. Konstantinos Karamanlis is chosen to assume the premiership.
Third Hellenic Republic (1974–today)
1974, 24 July: Constantine Karamanlis returns with the French Presidential jet. Democracy in Athens is restored.
1974, 14 August: Second phase of the Attila Operation in Cyprus. The Turkish forces advance capturing the 37% of the island. A total of about 3,000 are killed or missing. Another 200,000 become refugees.
1974, 14 August: Greece withdraws its forces from
NATO's military command structure, as a result of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus.[20][21]
1974, 8 September:
TWA Flight 841 crashes into the
Ionian Sea. All 79 passengers and 9 crew members are killed.
1974, 1 October: Death of
Spyridon Marinatos, one of the premier Greek archaeologists of the 20th century.
1974: Makarios returns as President in Cyprus.
1974, 13 December: With a national referendum, the monarchy is not restored and a parliamentary republic is established.
1974, 18 December: President
pro tempore Phaedon Gizikis is replaced by
Michail Stasinopoulos, the first duly elected President of the Third Hellenic Republic.
1981, 24 February: A strong earthquake strikes Athens and
Corinth, resulting in 20 deaths.
1981, 21 October:
Andreas Papandreou becomes Greece's first socialist Premier.
1986, 2 April:
TWA Flight 840 is bombed on the way to Athens, sucking out 4 people aboard; the plane lands safely.
1986, 13 September: The
Kalamata earthquake causes much damage and kills 20 people.
1987: The
Sismik incident. Premier Andreas Papandreou orders the ship to be sunk if found within Greek waters.
1989: Political crisis after a series of elections in which no party secured a substantial percentage of popular vote, nor was willing to participate with a coalition.
1991, 5 February: The worst accident in the history of the
Hellenic Air Force. Lockheed C-130H Hercules 748 crashes into
Mount Othrys. 63 people are reported killed.
1992, January: After a "special court" trial, Andreas Papandreou is cleared of the charges resulting from the
Bank of Crete scandal.
1992, 3 July: The adoption of a
flag incorporating the
Vergina Sun by the Republic of Macedonia, increases tensions between the two countries.
1993, 13 October: Andreas Papandreou's Panhellenic Socialist Movement (
PASOK) wins the general elections.
1994, 16 February: Greece imposes an
embargo on the Republic of Macedonia.
1994, 6 March: Greek actress, singer, political activist of the anti-dictatoric struggle and Minister of Culture
Melina Mercouri dies of cancer. She receives an elaborate state funeral, which is attended by hundreds of thousands of people.
1995, 13 May:
Grevena and
Kozani are struck by an earthquake. Several villages are destroyed and hundreds of people are left homeless.
1995, 15 June: An earthquake shatters
Aigio. 26 people are reported dead.
1995, November: Greece ends the embargo that had imposed on the Republic of Macedonia, after the later's decision to change its flag and controversial articles of its constitution.
1996, 16 January: Andreas Papandreou, hospitalized with advanced heart disease and kidney failure since November 1995, retires from office.
1996, 31 January: The
Imia/Kardak crisis. Greece and Turkey are brought to the brink of war. A Greek military helicopter crashes in the area, killing the three pilots aboard. Later a Turkish F-16 was shot down by a Greek mirage-2000 over the Aegean, killing its pilot Nail Erdogan and the co-pilot bailing out.
1996, 23 June: Andreas Papandreou dies. His funeral procession produces a great outpouring of public emotion.
1996, 23 July: Greece's national actressAliki Vougiouklaki dies after short illness. Her funeral is attended by hundreds of thousands of people.
1997, 17 December: Yakovlev Yak-42 of the
Aerosvit Airlines crashes into the Pierian mountains in
Central Macedonia. The exact spot of the crash was discovered 3 days later, because of the bad weather conditions and the mountainous landscape. 70 people are killed.
1997, 20 December: Lockheed Hercules C-130 of the Hellenic Air Force crashes into Pastra Mountain near Tanagra, cause of bad weather conditions, killing 5 people. The military aircraft was due to transfer soldiers from
Tanagra to Pieria, in order to participate with the operations for the discovery of the Ukrainian plane which had crashed 3 days earlier.
1999, 7 September: Athens is struck by the most devastating earthquake in Greece of the past 20 years. A total of 145 people die. The Turkish aid is the first to arrive. The two earthquakes initiate the
Greek–Turkish earthquake diplomacy.
2000, 26 September: Passenger ferry
Express Samina sinks near the island of
Paros. 80 of the over 500 passengers are lost at sea.
2001, 4 May:
PopeJohn Paul II visits Athens and makes apologies for the sins of the
Crusader attack on Constantinople in 1204.
2004, 11 September: The helicopter carrying
Patriarch Peter VII of Alexandria along with 16 others (including journalists and three other bishops of the
Church of Alexandria) crashes into the
Aegean Sea while en route to the monastic community of
Mount Athos, arguably after an explosion. None survived. The cause of the crash remains unknown.
2005, 14 August: After fears that it could crash in Athens' center,
Helios Airways Flight 522 crashes in
Grammatiko, killing all 121 people aboard. This was the deadliest aviation accident in the history of Greece.
2010, 14–15 May: The Prime Minister of Turkey,
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, visits Greece along with 10
ministers; 21 agreements – memoranda of cooperation between the two countries' ministries were signed.
^"Greek Independence Day". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2009-09-09. The Greek revolt was precipitated on March 25, 1821, when Bishop Germanos of Patras raised the flag of revolution over the Monastery of Agia Lavra in Peloponnesia. The cry "Freedom or Death" became the motto of the revolution. The Greeks experienced early successes on the battlefield, including the capture of Athens during June 1822, but infighting ensued.
^McManners, John (2001). The Oxford illustrated history of Christianity. Oxford University Press. pp. 521–524.
ISBN0-19-285439-9. The Greek uprising and the church. Bishop Germanos of old Patras blesses the Greek banner at the outset of the national revolt against the Turks on 25 March 1821. The solemnity of the scene was enhanced two decades later in this painting by T. Vryzakis…. The fact that one of the Greek bishops, Germanos of Old Patras, had enthusiastically blessed the Greek uprising at the onset (25 March 1821) and had thereby helped to unleash a holy war, was not to gain the church a satisfactory, let alone a dominant, role in the new order of things.
^Brewer, D. The Greek War of Independence: The Struggle for Freedom from Ottoman Oppression and the Birth of the Modern Greek Nation. Overlook Press, 2001,
ISBN1-58567-172-X, pp. 235–236.
^
abC. Moskos. "The Greeks in the United States." In: R. Clogg (cd.). The Greek Diaspora in the Twentieth Century. St. Martin's Press, New York, 1999. p.105.
Thomas Bartlett (1841).
"Greece". New Tablet of Memory; or, Chronicle of Remarkable Events. London: Thomas Kelly.
J. Willoughby Rosse (1858).
"Greece". Index of Dates ... Facts in the Chronology and History of the World. London:
H.G. Bohn.
hdl:
2027/uva.x030807786 – via Hathi Trust.