[FH] Greeks

John Atkinson schrieb:
> --- Roger Burton West <roger@firedrake.org> wrote:

Basically concur here, but...

> They kicked the Turks out with minor Brit assistance.

I am not so sure about the culture here. Or, at least, how much of this was an
achievement.

If you look at the former Ottoman empire, they don't seem to have cared much
about reforming the locals, as long as they didn't revolt. See Armenia, the
Arab countries, the Balkans.

Much of Ancient Greek culture was gone by the time Byzantium fell. And, from
what I have read, at the time of Greek independence, large areas
of present-day Greece was settled by Slavs and Albanians and the Greek
language was heavily laced with foreign words. Though they did manage to
preserve their Orthodox Christianity, as did the Serbs, Bulgars, Syrians,
Armenians, Copts...

A typically 19th century nationalistic drive set out to reverse the linguistic
and cultural trends and to restore much of the ancient orthography etc.

Greetings