Stathis Kalyvas’s mini-documentary series, “Disasters and Triumphs”, is a journey into our past, through seven great historical circles of our history that share common elements: ambitious plans, great catastrophes but also impressive triumphs.
Last week, the audience welcomed and watched with great interest the first two episodes – A country is born, A state from scratch – which referred to the events that took place from 1821 to 1830 and from 1830 to 1912 respectively.
This week, academic and author Stathis Kalyvas investigates the events of the period 1912 to 1923 – For a Great Idea and from 1923 to 1950 – From discord to miracle.
Detailed what we will see in the 3rd and 4th episode:
Thursday 13 January
Episode 3 – For a Great Idea: 1912-1923
1922: Lost homelands
1844: The Great Idea
1912: Greece grows
1923: The new Greece
In 1921, Greece celebrates the hundredth anniversary of the beginning of the Greek Revolution. The triumph of the Balkan Wars has preceded while the Greek army is already in Smyrna. The country is a breath away from the realization of the creation of a state that will include the Hellenism of the Balkans and Asia Minor. But a year later, he will experience an inconceivable catastrophe, the traces of which are still visible today. 2022 marks one hundred years since perhaps the greatest catastrophe in modern Greek history: the Asia Minor Catastrophe. The “Great Idea”, the vision of the country’s territorial expansion to include the unredeemed Greeks who directed the course of the country, will be buried in the ashes of Smyrna. Greece must now restore and integrate a huge population of 1.5 million refugees who have lost everything. And he succeeded. The uprooting of Hellenism in Asia Minor was a great tragedy. But it was also the trigger for an incredibly radical restart. The integration of refugees is one of the greatest achievements of our modern history. The “lost homelands” of Asia Minor were replaced by the “won homelands” of Northern Greece where the majority of refugees settled. Thanks to their hard work, Greece became a richer and stronger country than at the beginning of the century.
Friday 14 January
Episode 4 – From discord to miracle: 1923-1950
1922: The years of division
1928: The vision of modernization
1940: The decade of violence
1950: The incredible achievement
After the Asia Minor Catastrophe, the country’s big bet is to replace the Great Idea with a new national vision. And this is nothing more than achieving prosperity instead of territorial expansion. Thus, in place of the Great Idea comes the goal of modernization. But what kind of modernization are we talking about? During the interwar period, the Greeks would experiment with three versions of it: Liberal, Fascist and Communist. This stake will divide them fatally and end in a catastrophic civil war: during the 1940s, Greece is fighting itself. Thousands of Greeks will die at the hands of Greeks. In 1950, the country will emerge from the war completely devastated. Moreover, the Civil War of the 1940s is not entirely new. It was preceded by another civil war that broke out during World War I and was called National Divide. Between these two civil wars, Greece will experience thirty years of unprecedented political unrest, economic crises, military movements, mass deportations, civil strife and two world wars. In 1950, at the end of this thirty years, the Greeks look to the future with awe. Restarting seems impossible. And yet, it will happen: in the 50’s, Greece enters a trajectory of rapid growth, catching incredible rhythms that rank it at the top of the world. The economic leap that the country achieves after the end of the civil war is unprecedented: that is when today’s Greece is born. It is a miracle, with the characteristics of the other triumphs of our history: successful international choices and sound public policies.
Watch the trailer
Follow Skai.gr on Google News
and be the first to know all the news
.
