1821–1831: Transition from pre-modernity to modern society in Greece

ABSTRACT

Within a decade of the Greek War of Independence, social entities, segmented by familial institutions, client-based networks, and ties of locality, began their transition to modernity. Instead of exclusive loyalty to the family and place of birth, modern identity turns to the abstraction of an ‘imagined community’ – that of the nation. Embracing modernity involved an expansion of cognition to accept the reality of concepts not subject to sensory verification. A variety of autobiographical works and historical memoirs will provide evidence of transition and the difficulties that its verification entails. The views of different segments of society concerning their place and role in the war were never uniform nor unchanging. This article discusses the works that produce conflicting evidence on the decade in question and subsequent times when most of the memoirs appeared in print.

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Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1. ‘Roman’ in Byzantium is the equivalent of Orthodox Christian

2. The editor, a Professor Emeritus at Pantion University, is the author of many books on 1821.

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Notes on contributors

Thanos Μ. Veremis

Thanos Veremis (D. Phil, Oxon) is Professor Emeritus of Political history at the University of Athens, Department of European and International Studies and Founding Member of the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP). He has been Research Associate, at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, London 1978-79; Visiting Scholar, Center for European Studies, Harvard Univ. 1983; Visiting Professor at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton Univ. 1987; Visiting Fellow, St. Antony’s College, Oxford 1993-94; Constantine Karamanlis Professor at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Medford Massachusetts (2000-2003); and more recently President of the National Council of Education, 2004-2010.