The Greek Revolution: 1821 and the Making of Modern Europe by Mark Mazower, and: The Greek Revolution in the Age of Revolutions (1776–1848): Reappraisals and Comparisons by ed by Paschalis M. Kitromilides (review)

Anniversaries are good times to think about history. The centenaries of World War I and the Russian Revolution, for example, have inspired new approaches and interpretations that sharpen our understanding of these momentous events, their origins, and their consequences. With regard to the bicentenary of the Greek Revolution, the books under review are prime specimens from an early harvest: an authoritative survey and a cutting-edge compendium, both illuminate the saga of 1821 and integrate the Greek question more fully into the mainstream of modern European history.

In terms of politics, the evolution of modern Greece resembles the development of many states that transitioned from multiethnic empires to independent nations. A peripheral country (at least until now), Greece has served as a useful case study (small in stature, yet rich in history), a textbook subheading illustrating the power of nationalism during the so-called Age of Restoration (1815–1848). The recent trend among historians to recast this era as the Age of Revolution (ca. 1770–1848) is fortuitous, for it strengthens the point made by Paschalis Kitromilides a few years ago (2009) about how Greece represents a uniquely equipped laboratory (“the paradigm nation”) for studying the mechanisms of nation-building. Epistemologically speaking, in other words, the Greek experiment epitomizes the historical unfolding of the political ideology known as nationalism at its seminal stage. The books under review explore how this experiment took place.

Mark Mazower’s highly readable The Greek Revolution: 1821 and the Making of Modern Europe ought to be the main source on the War of Independence for many years to come. A master stylist as well as a first-class historian, Mazower divides his work into 18 mostly chronological chapters that survey well-known phases of the war and illuminate dark corners and unknown facets of the revolution. His thesis is clear: what the Greeks accomplished in 1821 was unique, for their struggle not only obliterated the Ottoman regime but replaced it with a completely new political philosophy founded on the watchwords of faith, nation, and constitution. In sum, the book makes a dual argument about nationalism’s triumph and Greek exceptionalism.

The main narrative of the book commences with post-Napoleonic diplomacy, led by Russia, and the plans of Greek patriots living in Russia to create the Filiki Etaireia (Φιλική Εταιρεία, Friendly Society), “the catalyst for Europe’s first successful national revolution” (8). Mazower’s judicious assessment of Ali Pasha Tependenli reveals the links between this durable despot and the freedom fighters at the heart of the insurrection. Galvanized by the rupture between the so-called Lion of Ioannina and the sultan, the notables (the kodzabashis), the klephts, and the Christian peasant-farmers in the Peloponnese girded their loins for war. In or around late March 1821, the anti-Ottoman uprising erupted in a number of places, more or less simultaneously. Mazower underscores the “unstoppable wave of enthusiasm” generated by the expectation of Russian support and fear of the sultan’s response. Although the rebels initially lacked organization, the speed of their victories and the general sense of euphoria made it necessary to form a government. Alexandros Mavrokordatos (a cosmopolitan aristocrat who arrived in the Greek theater from Pisa), provided the necessary leadership to establish the central institutions, including a national economy and a legislature. Although his extensive learning and foreign experience irritated certain Greek captains, his revolutionary decrees added cohesion and legitimacy to the independence movement during its honeymoon phase. However, a thin line separated modernity and tradition in the political culture of the Morea, which was still rooted in regional conflicts, class anger, and the quest for spoils.

Mazower gives the Ottoman military commanders...