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Have you ever seen a place that you just absolutely wanted to go too? So you sit there and think to yourself, "one day.. I will make it there?" For many people, Greece is that place. Whether it's to see the beautiful landmarks and the view, or the individual is intrigued by the history of this country the thought of "I will make it there" becomes a reality at one point or another.
Greece is located in Southern Europe, between Albania and Turkey. It borders the Aegean Sea, Ionian Sea, and the Mediterranean Sea. It is made up mostly of mountains which extend into the sea as peninsula. Their winters are wet, and the summers are hot and dry.
History of Greece
Greece was ran under the Ottoman's rule until the early 19th century. In 1821, the Greeks rebelled and declared their independence from the Ottoman Empire, but didn't achieve it until 1829. It was then that the Russian minister for foreign affairs, who was a Greek himself, returned home and became President of the New Republic.
In the 19th and early 20th century, Greece looked to enlarge its boundaries to include the ethnic Greek population of the Ottoman Empire. In 1947, Greece reached its present configuration, gaining the Ionian Islands (which were returned by Britain), Thessaly, Epirus, Macedonia, Crete and the Aegean Islands.
After siding with the Triple Entente (Great Britain, French Third Republic, and Russia) during World War I, the Great Powers awarded parts of Asia Minor to Greece. But the Turkish nationalists, overthrew the Ottoman government which ultimately defeated the Greek troops forcing over one million native Greeks of Turkey to leave and return back to Greece.
During World War II, Greece sided with the Allies and refused to give into Italian demands. It was in 1940 that Italy invaded Greece, and despite how small and limited their equipment was, they did not give up. After a bitter struggle in the Greco-Italian War, the first Allied victory was marked. It was in 1941-44 that Adolf Hitler stepped in and launched the Battle of Greece, where troops from Germany, Bulgaria, and Italy invaded Greece and overcame Greek, British, Australian, and New Zealand units. A civil war between supporters of the king and Communists arose, as a result Greece joined NATO in 1952, while relationships with its Communist northern neighbours became strained.
After the war, Greece developed rapidly. New attention was given to the women's rights, and suffrage for women was guaranteed in the Constitution in 1952. In 1967, the Greek military seized power,established a military dictatorship, and forced the King to flee the country. In 1975, a democratic republican constitution came into force after the Greek forces withdrew from the integrated structure of NATO. Five years later in 1980, Greece rejoined Nato. A year later, Greece joined the European Union and adopted the euro as its currency in 2001. With new infrastructure, funds from the EU and growing revenues from tourism, shipping, services, light industry and the telecommunications industry, the Greeks saw a new light to their standard of living, one that they had never seen before.
To this day, tensions continue to exist between Greece and Turkey over Cyprus, but after experiencing successive earthquakes, the Greeks and Turks have sympathized with one another causing the tension to settle a bit.
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