Abstract
This study of documents explores the struggle for Greek independence and the Spring of the Nations, a typically European movement that took place in Western Europe in 1848. The Greeks sought to reintegrate Europe as an independent nation, highlighting their common points with other European peoples. Meanwhile, the Austro-Hungarian Empire faced revolutionary hotbeds in Prague, Budapest, and Venice, while the Ottomans opposed Greek independence at all costs, leading to massacres. The Congress of Vienna's restoration of monarchies and exclusion of popular sovereignty sparked a wave of revolutionary movements across Western Europe, with the French, Germans, and Italians at the forefront. The philhellenism movement mobilized European support for the Greek cause, leading to a military intervention and the eventual signing of the Treaty of Adrianople in 1829.
Extract
[...] The impetus of this revolutionary movement comes from Paris and spreads to several major European cities, whether Berlin, Prague, Vienna or Budapest. Other foci of uprisings, less important, also develop in all of Italy, in Germany and in the United Kingdom. Thus, in 1848, more than a dozen uprisings break out in many major cities of Western Europe. The Czechs, being part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, want: - to be considered as Austrians in terms of their law (justice, school); - to have a national representation and a chancellery in Prague in order to have a certain political freedom; - to apply the freedom of the press, personal freedom, and equality. [...]
[...] The goal is to alert French public opinion and affirm that the Greek people have the right to self-determination. Similarly, Eugène Delacroix shows these massacres through his painting, Scenes of the Massacres of Scio, dating back to 1824. Through this painting, he defends the Greek cause and prompts Europeans to react. On the English side, Lord Byron, a wealthy aristocrat, provides financial and military support to defeat the Ottomans. These great figures of the 19th century are part of the philhellenic and romantic movement, which advocates for the independence of Greece. [...]
[...] In addition, its supporters highlighted the fact that Greece is in some way the 'mother' of Europe due to the numerous riches it has bequeathed to it, including democracy. Synthesis: How the Greek struggle reveals the desire of European peoples to govern themselves? The Greeks revolt in 1821 against the yoke of the Ottoman Empire to obtain independence. The Greeks claim their attachment to Europe, considering that they have many common points with it, whether at the level of religion, culture, or customs. The confrontation with the Ottoman Empire is violent and leads to more than eight years of war. [...]
[...] This movement is called the Spring of the Peoples. It takes place in almost all the countries of Central and Western Europe, with France, Italy, Prussia, and Austria at the forefront. The demands of the people are almost the same in all these countries, namely: the establishment of a constitution, the recognition of political rights for citizens, respect for human rights, etc. The final result of this movement is that the monarchies are totally shaken, in France, the IIème Republic is established. [...]
[...] This represents all European peoples, and particularly in the foreground those who have most distinguished themselves during the Spring of the Peoples (French, Germans and Italians). All peoples hold the same rope that unites them (Europe) and march in front of the principles that found these revolutionary movements, namely the Rights of Man, freedom, and Christ representing Christianity. One can also see in the foreground the crowns of the monarchies that are on the ground in front of a triumphant Universal Republic. [...]
