Graeco-Ottomanism Against Pan-Slavism: Vlasis Gavriilidis and His Views on Russian Balkan Policy

In the years following the Crimean War, a segment of the Greek elite recognized the incompatibility between the so-called “Great Idea” of Greek unification and Russian imperial ambitions regarding the Straits and the Ottoman capital. On an ideological level, the rise of Pan-Slavism also posed a threat to Greek claims of cultural supremacy over the Orthodox Slavic populations in the Balkans, fueling Russophobic sentiments within Greek society. Against this backdrop, the Bulgarian-Greek church dispute erupted, reinforcing fears of a Slavic conspiracy orchestrated by Russia. It was in this context that Vlasios Gavriilidis’ text Greece and Pan-Slavism appeared in 1869. The present article critically examines the historical overview of Russian eastern policy as presented by the author.