Demokratia: Ideas on Republic and Democracy in the Greek War of Independence

The paper consists in an analytical attempt to examine the extent of the presence of republican and democratic ideas in the times of the Greek War of Independence (1821-1832). Even though Greece and its long and outstanding literate history could be considered by no means to be an outsider to any sound definition of the West, the formative years of its modern state in the decade of the Greek War of Independence against the rule of the Ottoman Empire provide an interesting case study in terms of the current international research focus on republican and democratic ideas for a number of reasons. In the first place, the War served as a chance for testing numerous Western European and American relevant ideas of the times in practice, allowing thus living people as well as retrospective readers to bear witness to the actual extents and limitations of an early attempt of introducing republican and democratic practices in the midst of a new and quite adverse context. Furthermore, one should not forget that a quite crucial part of the Greeks had been retaining a privileged interest in their classical past, which also seems to have played a more peculiar role in the turn to republican and democratic ideas in the examined case. Finally, and in close relation to the previous point, in contrast to most Latin-based languages the Greeks have been tending to adopt a single Greek etymology for both republic and democracy on the basis of the word demokratia, a state of affairs that seems to have urged to their treatment as an indistinguishable ensemble. This being so, the Greek case in the study of republican and democratic ideas could possibly yield not only a missing link in the international literature, but also a vital testing of the soundness of current perspectives on the topic. The main part of the paper is divided as follows: A. Contexts and Method. A brief presentation of the wide chronological framing of the Greek War of Independence and of the way more particular contexts will be introduced in the following parts as well as of the more specific method that will be used in this paper vis-à-vis the dominant trends in conceptual history and the history of ideas. B. Ideas on Republic and Democracy Entering the War. C. The Fates of Republican and Democratic Ideas in the Midst of the War. D. Relevant Interests in the War’s Final Years. E. Conclusions. An overall assessment of the way republican and democratic ideas featured in the Greek War of Independence and of the extent of their persistence, as well as an overview of their importance for Greece’s subsequent constitutional and political life.