090049 VO The Greek Revolution 1821-1828 (2017S)

The Greek Revolution or Greek War of Independence (1821-1828) can be considered at the same time as an after-effect of the French revolutionary wars and a precursor of the mid-19th-century​ national revolutions. In the wake of the Vienna Congress, the Concert of Europe initially conceived the revolt of Christian subjects in the European provinces of the Ottoman empire as a potential threat. The military victories of the insurgents in Peloponnese and a strong Philhellenic movement in various countries soon internationalized the Greek question. The rivalries between the Great Powers over the control of Eastern Mediterranean led, by the end of the decade, to the creation of a small independent Christian​ kingdom at the southern edge of the Balkan peninsula under joint British, French and Russian protection.
After reviewing the different historiographical approaches, the Greek revolution will be discussed as a component of the internal conflicts in the Ottoman empire and as a nation-making process in the context of post-Napoleonic Europe. Using historical accounts and primary sources of the period, we will acquaint ourselves with the social and political subjects, the intellectual and ideological traditions at play, as well as with the transnational aspects of the Greek uprising.
The lectures will be held in English, but the students can also write their exams in German.