DIPLOMATIC TURMOIL IN THE ΜODERN HISTORY OF GREECE

The national uprising of 1821 was a revolution of an entire nation against a conqueror that had occupied Greek soil for over four centuries. The Ottoman Empire had been steadily and methodically driving the Greek nation toward complete annihilation. In response, the Greek people revolted, rebelled, and, after many bloody struggles, ultimately won their freedom. This revolution led to the creation of the first nation-state in modern Europe and marked Greece as the first nation-state founded in the 19th century. The driving force behind the Greek uprising was the necessity of freedom. The motto of their patriotic revolutionary struggle was: "Freedom or Death." The military training of the Greeks, gained through educational institutions or honed through personal experiences on the battlefields and at sea, culminated in the victorious campaigns of the Greek army and navy. However, military victories alone were not sufficient for Greece to secure its independence. The country also had to engage in a different kind of "war"—a continuous struggle on the diplomatic front.