Abstract
The Greeks became independent from Ottoman rule in 1832, ahead of their Balkan neighbors. The small size of the initial Greek state, its level of economic development, and the time it took to establish frontiers acceptable to the Greeks as definitive cast serious doubts on its viability as an independent entity. For a long time to come, the number of Greeks living within Greek frontiers was to remain smaller than those under Ottoman rule. So in the era of nationalism, the issue of the unredeemed (the liberation of ethnic Greeks living under Ottoman rule) became a key reference of the new country’s foreign policy.
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Notes
- 1.
22 June 1825: Greeks put forward proposals to place themselves under the protection of the powers through “Acts of Submission”. C. M. Woodhouse, Modern Greece, A Short History, Faber and Faber, third edition, London, 1984, p. 143. See also J. Campbell and P. Sherrard, Modern Greece, London, Ernest Benn Limited, 1968, p. 74; T. Lignadis, H Ξενική Εξάρτηση κατά την Πορείαν του Νεο-Ελληνικού Κράτους (1821–1945), (Foreign Dependence in the course of history of the modern Greek state, 1821–1945), Athens, 1975, p. 102. A. I. Psomas, The Nation, the State and the International System; The Case of Modern Greece, National Centre for Social Research, (EKKE), Athens, 1978, p. 70.
- 2.
The use of loans for financing army expenditure was a common feature of the newly independent Balkan countries; see I. Berend and G. Ranki, The European Periphery and Industrialization, 1780–1914, C.U.P., 1982, p. 125.
- 3.
Woodhouse (1984) p. 173.
- 4.
Inclusive of the 1922 defeat-generated 1.3 million refugee population.
- 5.
Woodhouse (1984) p. 175; Zolotas , X. Griechenland auf dem Wege zur Industrialisierung, Verlag Teubner, Leipzig, 1926. First edition in Greek, Η Ελλάς εις το Στάδιον της Εκβιομηχανίσεως, (Greece at the stage of industrialization), Athens 1926; p. 76. [Second edition Bank of Greece, 1964; page refer to the 2nd edition as it is widely available] p. 76; Svoronos , N., Επισκόπηση της Νεολληνικής Ιστορίας (A survey of the history of Modern Greece) Themelio, Athens 1976, p. 90.
- 6.
1914/8, Greece participated between 1916 and 1918.
- 7.
N. I. Hadjivasileiou Η Ελληνική Εξωτερική Εμπορική Πολιτική, (Greek foreign trade policy), Athens 1936, pp. 12–13, speaks of a risk of blockade as an argument for increased self-sufficiency in both agriculture and industry.
- 8.
C.M. Cipolla, editor, The Fontana Economic History of Europe, Collins/Fontana Books, London 1976, vol. 6 p. 327; Zolotas (1926) p. 13.
- 9.
- 10.
M. Mazower, The Greek Economy & The Inter-War Depression, Oxford 1985, p. 17.
- 11.
Hadjivasileiou (1936) p. 5.
- 12.
X. Zolotas Το Δημόσιο Χρέος στην Ελλάδα, (Greek Public Debt), Athens 1930, p. 13. In per capita terms increased by 29%, though it should be considered that part of the new population were refugees.
- 13.
Zolotas (1930) p. 20.
- 14.
Zolotas (1930) p. 38.
- 15.
INSEE, Collection de Conjoncture et d’ Etudes Economiques, Mémento Economique, LA GRECE, PUF, Paris 1952, p. 222. Zolotas (1930) p. 29.
- 16.
Zolotas (1930) p. 44.
- 17.
Zolotas (1930) p. 40.
- 18.
For instance, Austrian stabilization, introduced in 1922 under the auspices of the League of Nations, led to the creation of a Central Bank and benefited from an initial loan, as in Greece; similar loans were extended to Hungary and Bulgaria. F.E.H.E. 5(2), p. 581.
- 19.
Mazower (1985) p. 12.
- 20.
Zolotas (1926) p. 124.
- 21.
Zolotas (1926) pp. 109–110, 112, 114.
- 22.
Zolotas (1926) p. 29.
- 23.
I. Berend and G. Ranki (1982) pp. 79–80.
- 24.
Woodhouse (1984) p. 225.
- 25.
Zolotas (1926) 109–110, 112, 114.
- 26.
Zolotas (1926) p. 34.
- 27.
P. Pipinelis Ιστορία της Εξωτερικής Πολιτικής της Ελλάδος, (History of Greek Foreign Policy, 1923–41), M. Saliveros, Athens 1948, p. 135.
- 28.
F.E.H.E. 5(2), p. 547; Pipinelis (1948) pp. 135–136.
- 29.
Woodhouse (1984) p. 224.
- 30.
Even freezing (as opposed to reduction) was not a satisfactory solution, since primary producing countries saw their receipts elsewhere being reduced, and consequently were faced with a very acute trade balance problem. F.E.H.E. 5(2), p. 548.
- 31.
Pipinelis (1948) p. 246.
- 32.
E.H. Carr, The Twenty Years Crisis, 1919–1939, First Edition London 1938, p. 129.
- 33.
N. Momtchiloff, Ten Years of Controlled Trade in South Eastern Europe, London N.I.E.S.R, C.U.P. 1944, p. 12.
- 34.
Woodhouse (1984) p. 235.
- 35.
K. Varvaressos Archive at the Bank of Greece, Historical Archives: HABoG_A4S1Y1F32T4. in particular pp. 4–6.
- 36.
A policy meticulously presented by J.S. Koliopoulos, in Greece and the British Connection, OUP, Oxford 1977; this deficiency of Greek external policy was also stressed by V. Mathiopoulos in To Vima, 27 August 1989.
- 37.
In fact this is a typical history of a debtor country, a settlement of a previously defaulted debt being a prerequisite for further loans. Greece in fact had already defaulted on payments before, in 1827/33, 1843 and 1893; T. Lignadis (1975) pp. 100,102,103,105,147; N. Svoronos (1976) p. 83; I.N.S.E.E. (1952) pp. 223–224, 264. On the issue of debt repudiation as a result of the depression among the countries of South-Eastern Europe, see Momtchiloff (1944) pp. 16, 28 in F.E.H.E. (5) 2, p. 582. Payments were largely reduced, usually limited to arrears of interest.
- 38.
K. Varvaressos Έκθεσις επί του Οικονομικού Προβλήματος της Ελλάδος, (Report on the Economic Problem of Greece), Athens 1952, p. 15.
- 39.
Bank II, p. 148.
- 40.
Hadjivasileiou (1936) p. 42.
- 41.
Havana (1949) pp. 36–37.
- 42.
According to the Program of Reconstruction and Development, 1950–53, quoted in Bacon (1974) pp. 14–15.
- 43.
It is not clear how he estimates the value added, so 75% is probably an over-estimate. Hadjivasileiou (1936) pp. 42, 44.
- 44.
Mazower (1985); Momtchiloff (1944) p. 30.
- 45.
On 04/08/1950, La Bourse Egyptienne described the pre-war Greek economy as an “économie de la disette” (scarcity economy), which held prices at unnecessarily high levels.
- 46.
In the case of machinery, the reason for fast growth lies probably in the encouragement of local production through increased external protection. In the case of textiles, it was one of the branches of industry which met most of the necessary conditions of growth: not only was it light industry and could take advantage of cheap labor, but also it benefited from the domestic supply of the raw material, namely cotton.
- 47.
Zolotas, X. Griechenland auf dem Wege zur Industrialisierung, Verlag Teubner, Leipzig, 1926. First edition in Greek, Η Ελλάς εις το Στάδιον της Εκβιομηχανίσεως, (Greece at the stage of industrialization), Athens 1926; Second edition Bank of Greece, 1964. Venizelos intervention quoted by A. Angelopoulos, Οικονομικά Προβλήματα Ελληνικά και Διεθνή (Greek and International Economic Problems), Estia, Athens 1986, p. 10. Venizelos though cautioned his audience that agriculture would continue to remain the main source of revenue for the foreseeable future, “If up to 1912 we could believe that Greece could remain an exclusively agricultural country, because (especially after the wars) the density of our population had increased, this is now impossible. Naturally, agriculture will always be our most important source of wealth.” Quoted in G. Dertilis Κοινωνικός Μετασχηματισμός και Στρατιωτική Επέμβαση, 1880–1909, (Social Transformation and Military Intervention, 1880–1909), Exantas, Athens 1977, p. 88.
- 48.
Angelopoulos (1986) p. 9.
- 49.
Hadjivasileiou (1936) p. 5.
- 50.
Hadjivasileiou (1936) p. 5. Emigration of Greeks and other Southern Europeans to the USA was restricted; a quota of 100 Greeks per annum was imposed in the mid-1920s.
- 51.
Hence the term “δασμόβιος” (owing its survival to tariffs) applied to Greek industry; INSEE (1952) p. 188.
- 52.
Zolotas (1926) p. 38.
- 53.
Zolotas (1926) p. 34; Bacon (1974) p. 12 ff.
- 54.
Zolotas (1926) p. 43.
- 55.
Vergopoulos (1977) p. 133.
- 56.
Svoronos (1976) p. 124; Bacon (1974) pp. 5–6.
- 57.
Land redistribution was not an uncommon phenomenon in the Balkans in the post-independence era. Earlier in Greece, 265,000 hectares were redistributed between 1871 and 1911; Svoronos (1976) p. 102. A further 40% of total agricultural land was distributed between 1924 and 1940; Woodhouse (1984) p. 223. Among the factors that prompted this reform were a concern to limit social unrest and the refugee resettlement; Vergopoulos (1977) p. 138.
- 58.
Vergopoulos (1977) p. 151.
- 59.
Boyazoglu (1931) p. 142.
- 60.
- 61.
Zolotas (1926) p. 42.
- 62.
UNRRA Division of Operational Analysis, European Regional Office, Foreign Trade in Greece, [hereafter referred to as UNRRA I] London, December 1946, p. 1; D. Halikias Οικονομική Ανάπτυξη της Ελλάδος και Ισοζύγιο Πληρωμών (Economic Development of Greece and the Balance of Payments), Bank of Greece, Athens 1963, p. 47.
- 63.
- 64.
Halikias (1963) p. 47.
- 65.
UNRRA, Mission to Greece, Committee for the Valorization of Mineral Resources of Greece, [EAPPE] Ο Ορυκτός Πλούτος της Ελλάδος (The Mineral Wealth of Greece), Athens 1947, p. XIII.
- 66.
Woodhouse (1984) pp. 173–175.
- 67.
Hadjivasileiou (1936) p. 8.
- 68.
Here the example of Swiss and Italian industrialization using low-cost hydroelectric power was mentioned as a relevant example; Zolotas (1926) p. 63.
- 69.
Zolotas (1926) p. 60. This idea was retained by the Higher Economic Council, (AOS), the economics think tank of the 1930s; Angelopoulos (1986) p. 11, though the figure of potential lignite deposits was estimated at 156 million tons. In 1938–1939, following an one year long survey of Ptolemais, in NW Greece, surveyed stock was estimated at 300 million stocks and potential stock at 7.2 billion (Technika Chronika 1939 issue 176). Angelopoulos estimates and Kegel’s survey should be compared to the Public Power Corporation and its predecessor Liptol extraction from its mines in Greece 1.5 billion tons of lignite between 1951–2016, and left usable deposits of 3 billion tons. Around 60% of exploitable lignite deposits are located in Ptolemais.
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Politakis, G. (2018). Greece’s Pre-war Economic Development and External Economic Relations. In: The Post-War Reconstruction of Greece. Palgrave Studies in Democracy, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship for Growth. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-57734-4_2
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