Re: [FH] Greeks

John Atkinson schrieb:
> 
> --- Roger Burton West <roger@firedrake.org> wrote:
> 
> > the Greeks...
> > none of them is really a country to make someone
> > brought up with the British or American military traditions pay
much
> > attention.
> 
> ???

Basically concur here, but...

> They kicked the Turks out with minor Brit assistance. 
> This counts for much.  Hell, just keeping their
> culture alive under the Turks is a major achievement.

I am not so sure about the culture here. Or, at least, how much of this
was an achievement. 

If you look at the former Ottoman empire, they don't seem to have cared
much about reforming the locals, as long as they didn't revolt. See
Armenia, the Arab countries, the Balkans.

Much of Ancient Greek culture was gone by the time Byzantium fell. And,
from what I have read, at the time of Greek independence, large areas
of present-day Greece was settled by Slavs and Albanians and the Greek
language was heavily laced with foreign words. Though they did manage
to preserve their Orthodox Christianity, as did the Serbs, Bulgars,
Syrians, Armenians, Copts...

A typically 19th century nationalistic drive set out to reverse the
linguistic and cultural trends and to restore much of the ancient
orthography etc.

Greetings