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Greece History:
Greece (and the Greek Islands) is a country
with a particularly rich and ancient history.
Excavations show that the first settlement is dating from the
Palaeolithic era (11.000-3000 BC). During the second millennium
BC, Greece gave birth to the great civilisations of the Minoan
(2600-1500 BC), the Mycenaean (1500-1150 BC) and the Cycladic
civilisation on the greek islands of the Centre Aegean.
The Classical Period of Greece History (6th -4th centuries
BC) was the Golden Age and the most famous world
wide; during this period lived the greatest philosophers and
mathematicians.
Then, the history of Greece is a succession of various invasions
and dominations: the Macedonians formed a strong Empire, followed
by the Romans and the Byzantine Empire which ended with the
invasion of the Turks. The Ottoman rule lasted for 400 years
and was a dark period for the inhabitants of the ex-Byzantine
Empire. Wanting to finally win their freedom, people of the
Greece territory started to organise themselves and various
revolts exploded against the Turkish oppressor.
The Independence War started from the Peloponnese in 1821 and
ended on March 1831, with the establishment of the new and independent
Greek State. A monarchy was established a few years after that
by the Great Powers. Then Greeks elected Eleutherios Venizelos
as their Prime Minister; but only a few years after, he was
assassinated. A civilian war followed as well as the terrible
German and Italian occupation and the dictatorship of Metaxas
(1967), which ended in 1974. This very incomplete and summarized
recapitulation of the Greek history gives a taste of its complexity
and of the sufferings alienation of its population who often
fought for its freedom.
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