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GREECE HISTORY
The history of Greece starts even from Stone
Age. Later appeared the first farmers and the first civilizations of the Minoan
and Mycenaean kings. There were a few historians who were able to record the
Ancient Greece . Most knowledge about Ancient Greece we know from the remained
temples, sculptures, artifacts and archaeological findings.
Time
periods of ancient Greece history
- Neolithic period
(6000 - 2900 BC) -is characterized by the climate stabilization and the
settlements of people.
Early Bronze Age (2900 -2000 BC) - is known because of the metal bronze
invention. With the appearance of metal the class system started to develop,
Bronze and copper were expensive, only the rich class could afford it.
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Minoan Age (2000 - 1400 BC) -named after
the king Minos. The Minoan civilization was one of the earliest in the world and
reached its prosperity in the 16th century BC till a huge earthquake brought the
Minoan area to the end.
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Mycenaean Age (1600 - 1100 BC) -the name is derived from
Mycenae, an archaeological place in Greece. During the Mycenaean civilization
the classes of rich and poor became more established. The Mycenaeans were
perfect engineers and built huge palaces, citadels, bridges, tombs. Textile and
metal industries were developed. There are 2 reasons for the end of the
civilization: population movement due to wars and the conflict between rich and
poor.
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The Dark Ages (1100 - 750 BC) - after the fall of the Mycenaean
civilization the country was invaded by the Dorians. Many villages were
abandoned, the Greeks lived non-urbanized live, many of them migrated to the
islands and were followed by the Dorians. Trading with other countries was also
stopped.
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Archaic period (750 -500 BC) -known through the development of
art, pottery and sculpture. After the Dark period strong city -states with
unique culture and political systems were founded. Some oligarchs selected from
the wealthiest citizens took control of the cities till the democracy came, the
new political system with laws appeared. Due to the growth of the Greek city
states forced the cities to stay far away from each other. The colonization
period started. Development of separate cultures.
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Classical period (500 - 336 BC) -known with the name of
conqueror Alexander the Great. in this period Athens reached its greatest
political and cultural prosperity. Full development of democratic system,
founding of philosophy schools
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Hellenistic period (336 - 146 BC) -the most triumphant period of
Greece. During this period Greece produced great literature,poetry, philosophy,
drama and art
The mixture of Roman and Hellenic cultures caused the foundation of Byzantine
Empire around 330 AD. The Byzantine regime remained till the Ottoman Turks came
in 1453. The Greek War of Independence against the Ottomans began in 1821 and
lasted till 1830, Greece with England, France and Russian forced the Ottoman
Empire to grant Greece the independence.
Greece entered the World War in 1917 and took part in the occupation of Turkey.
In 1921 the Greek army tried to invade Ankara, but was defeated by the Turk
forces led by Ataturk.
Greece entered World War II because of the Italian invasion in 1940. Though the
Italian army was superior in numbers of soldiers, Greek defenders drew the
invaders back. During the following German Occupation many Greeks died.
Demonstrations of the resistance forces ended in civil war in 1946. The civil
war left Greece community deeply divided in leftists and rightists.
 -Modern
Greece History
Greece became a NATO member in 1952. From 1952 till 1963 Greece was governed by
the National Radical Union. In 1963 the Center Union party was elected and it
governed Greece till 1965. After that Greece was ruled about 2 years by
different unstable coalitions.
In 1967 a group of colonels led by Papadopoulos tried to replace the existing
government. They established military courts and dissolved political parties. In
1973 Gen, Ioannides replaced Papadopoulos and attempted to overthrow the
President of Cyprus, what could be the reason for the war with Turkey. Turkey
invade the Cyprus and occupied a part of the island. Leading Greek citizens
persuaded the ex leader of the National Radical Union Karamanlis to come back
and establish the new government. Karamanlis  organized
a new party named New Democracy and after the election in 1974 he became Prime
Minister of Greece. In the same year the Parliament elected Constantine Tsatsos
as the President of the republic.
In 1981 Greece became a member of European Union. In the same year Greece
elected its first social party, the Panhellic Social Movement and Christos
Sartzetakis was elected president of the republic. During the following years ND
or PASOK had dominant positions during the elections.
The Summer Olympics 2004 in Athens influenced the international prestige and
reputation of Greece. |
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Greece Foreign Relations
Greece maintains good political, diplomatic and economic
relationships with its European neighbors except with Macedonia. Greece was
opposed to use the word "Macedonia" insisting that the word in Greek and should
not be used for a foreign country.
Greece has strained relations with Albania because of the many illegal migrants
coming from Albania to Greece. There are about 600,00 - 800,00 Albanian
Immigrants in Greece, many of them illegal.
Regarding the relations between Turkey and Greece they have still unresolved
problems concerning the Aegean boundary, the treatment of the Greek minority in
Istanbul and the Muslim minority in Thrace. The hugest reason of tension is
Cyprus conflict. The tensions between these countries have also caused the army
confrontations: in 1996 it was the dispute about the ownership of the
uninhabited island called Imia or Kardak in Turkish. After the large earthquakes
in 1999 both in
Greece and In Turkey the relations changed for the better, as both countries
were in trouble and the people tried to help each other. Greece even supported
Turkey for the candidacy to entering the European Union.
As for the Middle East Greece has defense agreements with Israel and Egypt.
However Greece-Israel relations are complicated now because of the Israel's'
cooperation with Turkey.
There is a strong cooperation between Greece and USA especially between
anti-terrorism authorities. The defense cooperation agreement was also signed
between the countries, besides Greece and USA work close together on economical
programs.
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