Appeals to the Revolution of 1821 During the Financial and Economic Crisis in Greece

The Greek revolution of 1821 is generally seen as the starting point of the history of contemporary Greek state, and is one of the foundations of Greek national consciousness. The idea of a struggle for independence, the memory of the 1821 Revolution, remains a crucial part of Greek identity to this day. It took special prominence in the last decade, during the financial and economic crisis. It is not surprising that appeals to the events of 1821 have grown more frequent during the crisis. The key theme which unites these drastically different and chronologically distant periods is the struggle for liberation of Greece, be it from the Ottoman reign or from the burden of the financial crisis. During the crisis years, the liberation rhetoric was eagerly used by many politicians, from the far right to the far left ends of the political spectrum, from the government officials to opposition leaders. Radical politicians often appealed to the struggle for independence while calling for reevaluation of Greek relations with the EU or the Troika of creditors, presented in those cases as foreign powers seeking to undermine Greek sovereignty. Moderates were more restrained, using the Revolution as a difficult, but formative experience that the Greek nation had lived through with honor and dignity. The financial and economic crisis, and later the COVID pandemic were presented as similar challenges ― equally difficult, equally transformative, and equally surmountable. Since the Revolution still occupies such a prominent place in Greek public consciousness, such historic analogies were readily accepted by the general public. They became a convenient populist tool for curtailing public dissatisfaction with the political elites. This chapter examines the appeals of Greek politicians to the 1821 Revolution during the financial and economic crisis period.