The Greek state in the nineteenth century between "patronage" and international trusteeship Life Ideas: What were the challenges faced was the young Greek state at its inception in the nineteenth century? Anastasios Anastassiadis: The Greek state has gone through roughly three phases during the nineteenth century (1833-1843: significant efforts to assert a central State 1843-1875: stagnation or regression of centralization, 1875-1897: Accelerating nationalization). It should be noted first that the transition to a national state was not self-evident. Greek revolutionaries may not know what they wanted, but they were not at all motivated by a clear vision, and even less common, what they wanted, or at least how to manage independence. So, to cope with the geographical, social and political divisions that were in the second year of the War of Independence led to a civil war (as anachronistic to speak of "pre-modern" dissensions, which cost the life including the first Governor of the Greek state in 1831), the great powers had established a Bavarian monarchy in 1833, whose mission was to establish a centralized, modern state. The Bavarians took this mission very seriously, but were soon faced with the enormity of the dual task of reconstruction and legitimacy of the new regime. Now there are only two ways to be successful at this stage of nationalization: provide the public services legitimizing the role of the central government, and suppress attempts to challenge state authority. During their first decade of power, the Bavarians tried to execute this plan. They set up a modern administrative system, reorganized all sectors of the economy and society, a European law applied it, etc.. Meanwhile, they repressed the local resistance. Their efforts would probably have resulted if they had more time and resources. But from birth, Greece was indebted: creditors and European public opinion began to get impatient with the lack of results. The country and experienced its first bankruptcy in 1843. So, the objective of implementing the central government was upstaged. No longer afford to establish the legitimacy of their power through the establishment of an effective state, the Bavarians came, explains very well the historian Kostas Kostis, the Ottoman model, in which central government through local elites, which he returns to ensure the allegiance of the people. Obviously, the Bavarian dynasty, aware of the dangers inherent in such a policy, still tried to forge a direct legitimation cheaply to the people playing the card "nationalist irredentism." As a result, successive failures on the international scene coûtèrent him dearly. After the humiliation in the Crimean War (1853-1856), she put in more local elites to ensure its survival, which gave him a brief respite. After the deposition of the Bavarian King Otto in 1862, Greece saw the arrival of a new dynasty, Danish this time, which was accompanied by the enactment of one of the most liberal constitutions in Europe. It should be remembered that Greece was among the first countries to grant universal male suffrage (de facto in 1843, de jure in 1864) and to practice consistently throughout the second half of the nineteenth century. In a context where the central government had few resources to distribute the configuration policy was clear: the central government co-opted local elites, who were to turn their pressure on him to get the allocation of resources on behalf the legitimacy they derived from their local role. This legitimacy was also institutionalized through universal suffrage. Now the competition which engaged elites, both against the central government and among themselves was happening in Parliament and not in the mountains as the Bavarian time. Banditry, a phenomenon linked to the localist practices challenge the central authority, which had prevailed until the 1870s, disappeared towards the end of the century. If the parliamentary traditionally been a way for local officials to access as a priority to the allocation of scarce state resources, it induces the same time, sometimes unintentionally, belonging to the imagined national community. So, when in the last quarter of the nineteenth century the Greek government embarked a second time after the Bavarians in a new race forward in terms of nationalization (infrastructure, administrative organization, etc..) Project he met fewer local reactions than in the 1830s. Unfortunately, this phase, financed by international borrowing by évergétique action (see below) and an aggressive fiscal policy but focuses more on consumption than income, stopped violently by a second bankruptcy in 1893. The politicians tried to defuse the situation by playing the nationalist card, resulting in the defeat in the Greco-Turkish war of 1897, and the international control of Greek finances.
Posted on: Fri, 23 Aug 2013 18:07:34 +0000