This book attempts to explain why despite widespread popular support (the “Greek Fire”) in the United States of America for the Greek Revolution, the promulgation in 1823 of the Monroe Doctrine led to Washington D.C.’s non-recognition of the Hellenic efforts. It examines the origins and tradition of the diplomatic doctrine of neutrality and argues that the Monroe Doctrine represents its full realization. The new foreign policy doctrine is placed within its proper diplomatic framework, while the role of Secretary of State John Quincy Adams is highlighted. What remains remarkable, is how high on the U.S. policy agenda the Greek War of Independence was and how close it came to being politically vindicated. The epilogue of this book demonstrates based on specific historical episodes, that the “Greek Fire” and the Monroe Doctrine set in many ways the political framework that came to define Hellenic-American relations for almost the next two centuries.
This book attempts to explain why despite widespread popular support (the "Greek Fire") in the United States of America for the Greek Revolution, the promulgation in 1823 of the Monroe Doctrine led to Washington D.C.'s non-recognition of the Hellenic efforts. It examines the origins and tradition of the diplomatic doctrine of neutrality and argues that the Monroe Doctrine represents its full realization. The new foreign policy doctrine is placed within its proper diplomatic framework, while the role of Secretary of State John Quincy Adams is highlighted. What remains remarkable, is how high on the U.S. policy agenda the Greek War of Independence was and how close it came to being politically vindicated. The epilogue of this book demonstrates based on specific historical episodes, that the "Greek Fire" and the Monroe Doctrine set in many ways the political framework that came to define Hellenic-American relations for almost the next two centuries.
When in 1821, the Greeks rose in violent revolution against the rule of the Ottoman Turks, waves of sympathy spread across Western Europe and the United States. More than a thousand volunteers set out to fight for the cause. The Philhellenes, whether they set out to recreate the Athens of Pericles, start a new crusade, or make money out of a war, all felt that Greece had unique claim on the sympathy of the world. As Byron wrote, 'I dreamed that Greece might Still be Free'; and he died at Missolonghi trying to translate that dream into reality. William St Clair's meticulously researched and highly readable account of their aspirations and experiences was hailed as definitive when it was first published. Long out of print, it remains the standard account of the Philhellenic movement and essential reading for any students of the Greek War of Independence, Byron, and European Romanticism. Its relevance to more modern ethnic and religious conflicts is becoming increasingly appreciated by scholars worldwide. This new and revised edition includes a new Introduction by Roderick Beaton, an updated Bibliography and many new illustrations.
Winner of the Duff Cooper Prize • One of The Economist's top history books of the year From one of our leading historians, an important new history of the Greek War of Independence—the ultimate worldwide liberal cause célèbre of the age of Byron, Europe’s first nationalist uprising, and the beginning of the downward spiral of the Ottoman Empire—published two hundred years after its outbreak As Mark Mazower shows us in his enthralling and definitive new account, myths about the Greek War of Independence outpaced the facts from the very beginning, and for good reason. This was an unlikely cause, against long odds, a disorganized collection of Greek patriots up against what was still one of the most storied empires in the world, the Ottomans. The revolutionaries needed all the help they could get. And they got it as Europeans and Americans embraced the idea that the heirs to ancient Greece, the wellspring of Western civilization, were fighting for their freedom against the proverbial Eastern despot, the Turkish sultan. This was Christianity versus Islam, now given urgency by new ideas about the nation-state and democracy that were shaking up the old order. Lord Byron is only the most famous of the combatants who went to Greece to fight and die—along with many more who followed events passionately and supported the cause through art, music, and humanitarian aid. To many who did go, it was a rude awakening to find that the Greeks were a far cry from their illustrious forebears, and were often hard to tell apart from the Ottomans. Mazower does full justice to the realities on the ground as a revolutionary conspiracy triggered outright rebellion, and a fraying and distracted Ottoman leadership first missed the plot and then overreacted disastrously. He shows how and why ethnic cleansing commenced almost immediately on both sides. By the time the dust settled, Greece was free, and Europe was changed forever. It was a victory for a completely new kind of politics—international in its range and affiliations, popular in its origins, romantic in sentiment, and radical in its goals. It was here on the very edge of Europe that the first successful revolution took place in which a people claimed liberty for themselves and overthrew an entire empire to attain it, transforming diplomatic norms and the direction of European politics forever, and inaugurating a new world of nation-states, the world in which we still live.
Using a variety of methodologies from multi-disciplinary backgrounds, this volume is the first to present an in-depth analysis of the life and times of Laskarina Bouboulina, the legendary heroine of the Greek Revolution and one of the most important figures in modern Greek history, the Mediterranean, and indeed, the world. At the age of fifty and mother to ten children, Bouboulina commanded a fleet of ships from the island of Spetses and became the first female admiral in world naval history. But her success on the battlefield is only part of the story – by considering her three-century impact on feminism, cultural production, and as a touchstone of diasporic Greek identity, the contributors to this volume also expand our understanding of her far-reaching and under-recognized contributions.
This work offers the best of both worlds: broad analysis of the first five presidential administrations and specific excerpts from original documents supporting and opposing the presidents' positions. George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe speak for themselves as they argue for their positions on the key political, social, and economic issues of their time in excerpts from primary sources. Excerpts from opposing positions on each issue give the presidents' critics a voice. An explanatory overview of each issue will help students to understand the argument and the context of the issue and to apply critical thinking skills to their understanding. The section on each president includes entries on 4-5 key issues of his administration, from the president's title at the beginning of Washington's administration to American Indian removal at the close of Monroe's term. Primary documents include presidential memoirs, speeches, and letters, congressional speeches, Supreme Court decisions, newspaper editorials, and comments from prominent private citizens. An introductory overview of each president's administration provides a useful window through which to assess the specific debates and documents addressed. A timeline provides a chronological backdrop for the subject, and recommended readings following each section offer helpful direction for further study. Though the founding presidents remain revered today for their pioneering accomplishments in the early nation, this work reminds readers that the first executives faced ongoing opposition from members of the legislature, judiciary, and general public. Readers will gain a grounded understanding of the contested issues of the young nation and the way early decisions impacted our political system across time.
The Greek Fire examines the United States' early global influence as the fledgling nation that inserted itself in conflicts that were oceans away. Maureen Connors Santelli focuses on the American fascination with and involvement in the Greek Revolution in the 1820s and 1830s. That nationalist movement incited an American philhellenic movement that pushed the borders of US interests into the eastern Mediterranean and infused a global perspective into domestic conversations concerning freedom and reform. Perceiving strong cultural, intellectual, and racial ties with Greece, American men and women identified Greece as the seedbed of American democracy and a crucial source of American values. From Maryland to Missouri and Maine to Georgia, grassroots organizations sent men, money, and supplies to aid the Greeks. Defending the modern Greeks from Turkish slavery and oppression was an issue on which northerners and southerners agreed. Philhellenes, often led by women, joined efforts with benevolence and missionary groups and together they promoted humanitarianism, education reform, and evangelism. Public pressure on the US Congress, however, did not result in intervention on behalf of the Greeks. Commercial interests convinced US officials, who wished to cultivate commercial ties with the Ottomans, to remain out of the conflict. The Greek Fire analyzes the role of Americans in the Greek Revolution and the aftermath of US involvement. In doing so, Santelli revises understandings of US involvement in foreign affairs, and she shows how diplomacy developed at the same time as Americans were learning what it meant to be a country, and what that country stood for.
A critical tool for the study of U.S. history, this volume offers an analysis of important documents and decisions in U.S. foreign policy from George Washington to Barack Obama. The study of historical primary documents provides a uniquely beneficial and insightful view into history. To that end, U.S. Foreign Policy: A Documentary and Reference Guide presents and interprets important documents from throughout U.S. history, from the administration of George Washington to that of Barack Obama. Examining U.S. foreign policy through this lens identifies the ideals of the United States during different periods, illuminates the intent behind its military actions, and reveals how each American president interpreted his moral responsibilities as leader of one of the most powerful nations in the world. Organized to allow readers to examine the historical evolution of U.S. foreign policy, the book includes treaties, speeches, and other documents that illustrate important doctrines and decisions over the more than two centuries of American history, covering all presidential doctrines to the current administration. It also highlights various phases of foreign policy, from regionalism to westward expansion, from the Cold War to a New World Order. In addition to the documents themselves, the authors provide invaluable analysis and commentary that will help students understand what the documents mean—both in the context of their time, and in terms of their broader historical significance.
Winner of the 2022 London Hellenic Prize On the bicentennial of the Greek Revolution, an essential guide to the momentous war for independence of the Greeks from the Ottoman Empire. The Greek war for independence (1821–1830) often goes missing from discussion of the Age of Revolutions. Yet the rebellion against Ottoman rule was enormously influential in its time, and its resonances are felt across modern history. The Greeks inspired others to throw off the oppression that developed in the backlash to the French Revolution. And Europeans in general were hardly blind to the sight of Christian subjects toppling Muslim rulers. In this collection of essays, Paschalis Kitromilides and Constantinos Tsoukalas bring together scholars writing on the many facets of the Greek Revolution and placing it squarely within the revolutionary age. An impressive roster of contributors traces the revolution as it unfolded and analyzes its regional and transnational repercussions, including the Romanian and Serbian revolts that spread the spirit of the Greek uprising through the Balkans. The essays also elucidate religious and cultural dimensions of Greek nationalism, including the power of the Orthodox church. One essay looks at the triumph of the idea of a Greek “homeland,” which bound the Greek diaspora—and its financial contributions—to the revolutionary cause. Another essay examines the Ottoman response, involving a series of reforms to the imperial military and allegiance system. Noted scholars cover major figures of the revolution; events as they were interpreted in the press, art, literature, and music; and the impact of intellectual movements such as philhellenism and the Enlightenment. Authoritative and accessible, The Greek Revolution confirms the profound political significance and long-lasting cultural legacies of a pivotal event in world history.
