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{{Hatnote|This article covers the Greek civilization as a whole. For the history of the modern [[nation state]], see [[History of modern Greece]].}}
{{History of Greece}}
{{Culture of Greece}}

The '''history of Greece''' encompasses the history of the territory of the modern nation-state of [[Greece]] as well as that of the [[Greeks|Greek people]] and the areas they inhabited and ruled historically. The scope of Greek habitation and rule has varied throughout the ages and as a result, the history of Greece is similarly elastic in what it includes. Generally, the history of Greece is divided into the following periods:

* [[Paleolithic]] [[Greece]], starting {{circa}} 3.3 million years ago and ending in 20000 BC. Significant [[Geomorphology|geomorphological]] and climatic changes occurred in the modern Greek area which were definitive for the development of [[fauna]] and [[flora]] and the survival of ''[[Homo sapiens]]'' in the region.
* [[Mesolithic]] [[Greece]], starting in 13000 BC and ending around 7000 BC, was a period of long and slow development of primitive human "proto-communities".
*[[Neolithic Greece]], beginning with the establishment of agricultural societies around 7000 BC and ending {{circa|3200|3100}} BC, was a vital part of the early history of Greece because it was the base for early Bronze Age civilizations in the area. The first organized communities developed and basic art became more advanced in Neolithic Greece.
*[[Bronze Age Greece]] ({{Circa|3200|1100 BC}}) began with the transition to a metal-based economy during the [[Helladic chronology#Early Helladic (EH)|Early Helladic]] period of mainland Greece ({{Circa|3200|2000 BC}}). Meanwhile, [[Cycladic culture]] prospered in the [[Cyclades]] ({{Circa|3200|1050 BC}}) and [[Minoan civilization]] around [[Crete]] ({{Circa|3500|1100 BC}}). The Bronze Age ended with the rise and fall of the [[Mycenaean Greece|Mycenaean Greek palace culture]] ({{Circa|1750|1050 BC}}) in the [[Late Bronze Age collapse]].
*[[Ancient Greece]] usually encompasses Greek antiquity, as well as part of the region's late prehistory (Late Bronze Age). It lasted from {{Circa|1200 BC|600 AD}} and can be subdivided into the following periods:
**[[Greek Dark Ages]] (or Iron Age, [[Homer]]ic Age), 1100–800 BC
**[[Archaic Greece|Archaic period]], 800–490 BC
**[[Classical Greece|Classical period]], 490–323 BC
**[[Hellenistic Greece|Hellenistic period]], 323–146 BC
**[[Greece in the Roman era|Roman Greece]], covering the period of the [[Roman Empire|Roman]] conquest of Greece from 146 BC – 324 AD
*[[Byzantine Greece]] covers the period of Greece under the [[Byzantine Empire]], lasting from the establishment of [[Constantinople]] as the capital city of [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantium]] in 324 AD until the [[fall of Constantinople]] in 1453.
*[[Frankokratia|Frankish/Latin Greece]] (including the [[Stato da Mar|Venetian possessions]]) lasted from the [[Fourth Crusade]] in 1204 AD to 1797, the year of the disestablishment of the [[Republic of Venice|Venetian Republic]].
*[[Ottoman Greece]] covers the period of [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] occupation of Greece from 1453 until the [[Greek Revolution of 1821]].
*[[Modern Greece]] covers the period from 1821 to present.

At its cultural and geographical peak, Greek civilization spread from [[Egypt]] all the way to the [[Hindu Kush]] mountains in [[Afghanistan]]. Since then, Greek minorities have continued to inhabit former Greek territories (e.g. [[Turkey]], [[Albania]], [[Italy]], [[Libya]], [[Levant]], [[Armenia]], [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]]), and Greek emigrants have assimilated into differing societies across the globe (e.g., North America, Australia, Northern Europe, [[South Africa]]). At present, most Greeks live in the modern states of Greece (independent since 1821) and [[Cyprus]].

==Prehistoric Greece==
{{main|Prehistoric Balkans|Prehistory of Anatolia|Prehistoric Cyprus}}
{{see also|Dimini|Sesklo|Dispilio|Theopetra cave|Trachilos footprints}}

===Pre-Paleolithic Period===
Fossils of one of the earliest pre-humans (''[[Ouranopithecus macedoniensis]]'', 9.6–8.7 million years ago),<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Merceron|first=G.|date=2005-12-01|title=A New Method of Dental Microwear Analysis: Application to Extant Primates and Ouranopithecus macedoniensis (Late Miocene of Greece)|url=https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/palaios/article/20/6/551-561/145784|journal=PALAIOS|language=en|volume=20|issue=6|pages=551–561|doi=10.2110/palo.2004.p04-17|bibcode=2005Palai..20..551M|s2cid=84921970|issn=}}</ref> and of quite possibly the oldest direct ancestor of all humans (''[[Graecopithecus]]'', 7.2 million years ago) were found in Greece.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Fuss|first1=Jochen|last2=Spassov|first2=Nikolai|last3=Begun|first3=David R.|last4=Böhme|first4=Madelaine|date=2017-05-22|title=Potential hominin affinities of Graecopithecus from the Late Miocene of Europe|journal=PLOS ONE|volume=12|issue=5|pages=e0177127|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0177127|issn=1932-6203|pmc=5439669|pmid=28531170|bibcode=2017PLoSO..1277127F|doi-access=free}}</ref> In addition, 5.7 million year old footprints were found on the Greek island of [[Crete]],<ref>{{Cite journal|date=2017-09-02|title=Footprints on Greek island are 5.7 million years old|journal=Nature|language=en|volume=549|issue=7670|pages=8|doi=10.1038/d41586-017-03029-9|pmid=32080375 |bibcode=2017Natur.549S...8. |doi-access=free}}</ref> which may suggest [[Human evolution|hominin evolution]] outside of [[Africa]], contrary to current hypotheses.<ref>{{Cite journal|date=2017-10-01|title=Possible hominin footprints from the late Miocene (c. 5.7 Ma) of Crete?|url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S001678781730113X|journal=Proceedings of the Geologists' Association|language=en|volume=128|issue=5–6|pages=697–710|doi=10.1016/j.pgeola.2017.07.006|issn=0016-7878|hdl=20.500.12128/3647|hdl-access=free|last1=Gierliński |first1=Gerard D. |last2=Niedźwiedzki |first2=Grzegorz |last3=Lockley |first3=Martin G. |last4=Athanassiou |first4=Athanassios |last5=Fassoulas |first5=Charalampos |last6=Dubicka |first6=Zofia |last7=Boczarowski |first7=Andrzej |last8=Bennett |first8=Matthew R. |last9=Ahlberg |first9=Per Erik |bibcode=2017PrGA..128..697G }}</ref>

=== Paleolithic Period ({{circa}} 3.3M BC – 13000 BC) ===

The [[Palaeolithic period|Paleolithic period]] is generally understudied in Greece because research has traditionally focused on the later parts of prehistory (Neolithic, Bronze Age) and the Classical times. Nevertheless, significant advances have been achieved over recent years, and the archaeological record has been enriched with new material, collected mostly in the framework of regional surveys but also through systematic or [[rescue excavation]]s. New caves and [[rock shelter]]s, as well as recently discovered and important open-air sites are now being excavated.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last1=Tourloukis|first1=Vangelis|last2=Harvati|first2=Katerina|date=2017|title=The Palaeolithic record of Greece: A synthesis of the evidence and a research agenda for the future|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/316750974 |access-date=2021-08-13|website=[[ResearchGate]]|language=en}}</ref> The earliest traces of human habitation in present-day Greece were discovered at [[Petralona Cave]] in [[Chalkidiki]], [[Macedonia (Greece)|Macedonia]] and date back 1 million years.<ref>{{Cite journal| url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0031018289900096| doi=10.1016/0031-0182(89)90009-6| title=Petralona cave within Lower-Middle Pleistocene sites| year=1989| last1=Poulianos| first1=Nickos A.| journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology| volume=73| issue=3–4| pages=287–294| bibcode=1989PPP....73..287P}}</ref> The [[Apidima Cave]] in [[Mani Peninsula|Mani]], southern Greece, contains the oldest known remains of [[Early modern human|anatomically modern humans]] outside of [[Africa]], dated to 210,000 years ago.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Harvati|first1=Katerina|last2=Röding|first2=Carolin|last3=Bosman|first3=Abel M.|last4=Karakostis|first4=Fotios A.|last5=Grün|first5=Rainer|last6=Stringer|first6=Chris|last7=Karkanas|first7=Panagiotis|last8=Thompson|first8=Nicholas C.|last9=Koutoulidis|first9=Vassilis|last10=Moulopoulos|first10=Lia A.|last11=Gorgoulis|first11=Vassilis G.|date=2019|title=Apidima Cave fossils provide earliest evidence of Homo sapiens in Eurasia|url=http://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-019-1376-z|journal=Nature|language=en|volume=571|issue=7766|pages=500–504|doi=10.1038/s41586-019-1376-z|pmid=31292546|s2cid=195873640|issn=0028-0836}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Zimmer|first=Carl|author-link=Carl Zimmer|date=2019|title=A Skull Bone Discovered in Greece May Alter the Story of Human Prehistory|language=en-US|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/10/science/skull-neanderthal-human-europe-greece.html|access-date=2021-08-25|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-07-10|title='Oldest remains' outside Africa reset human migration clock|url=https://phys.org/news/2019-07-oldest-africa-reset-human-migration.html |access-date=2021-08-25|website=phys.org|language=en}}</ref> Currently known anthropological and archaeological finds allow the division of the Paleolithic in the Greek area into Lower (350,000–100,000 BP), Middle (100,000–35,000 BP) and Upper Palaeolithic (35,000–11,000 BP).<ref name=":1" /> There are, to date, few sites of the Lower Paleolithic, whereas there are more of the Middle and Upper. This is partly due to the intense [[List of earthquakes in Greece|tectonic activity in the Greek area]] and the rise and fall of the [[Aegean Sea]] which destroyed every trace of habitation from some geographical regions.<ref name=":0" />

Paleolithic finds from Greece were first reported in 1867, but the first organized research on the sites was conducted many years later, between 1927 and 1931, by the Austrian archaeologist Adalbert Markovits. The first excavation of a Paleolithic site took place in 1942 at Seidi Cave in [[Boeotia]] by the German archaeologist Rudolf Stampfuss. More systematic research, however, was conducted during the 1960s in [[Epirus (region)|Epirus]], [[Macedonia (Greece)|Macedonia]], [[Thessaly]] and the [[Peloponnese]] by English, American and German research groups.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=Paleolithic habitation in Greece|url=http://www.ime.gr/chronos/01/en/pl/housing/index.html |access-date=2021-08-13|website=Foundation of the Hellenic World (Ίδρυμα Μείζονος Ελληνισμού)}}</ref>

=== Mesolithic Period (13000–7000 BC) ===

The [[Mesolithic]] in [[Greece]] occurred between the [[Upper Paleolithic]] and the [[Neolithic]]. Mesolithic sites in Greece were limited, and the majority are located near the coast. [[Franchthi Cave]], the [[Kalamakia Cave]]<ref>{{Cite journal|title=The Palaeolithic cave of Kalamakia|journal=Heliyon |date=May 2020 |volume=6 |issue=5 |pages=e03958 |doi=10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e03958 |last1=Kolendrianou |first1=Maria |last2=Ligkovanlis |first2=Stefanos |last3=Maniakas |first3=Ioannis |last4=Tzortzi |first4=Marianthi |last5=Iliopoulos |first5=George |pmid=32490227 |pmc=7253483 }}</ref> in Mani ([[Peloponnese (region)|Peloponnese]]), the [[Asprochaliko Cave]] in [[Epirus (region)|Epirus]] (where the first excavation took place in 1960)<ref>{{Cite web|title=Greek history|url=https://www.in2greece.com/english/historymyth/ancient_hist_and_myth.htm}}</ref> and the [[Theopetra Cave]] are among the most important [[Mesolithic]] sites in Greece and [[Southeast Europe]],<ref>{{Cite book|last=Perles|first=Catherine|title=The Mesolithic at Franchth|publisher=The British school at Athens|year=2003}}</ref> and were inhabited almost continuously throughout the Paleolithic and the Mesolithic Period.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Palaeolithic habitation in Greece|url=http://www.ime.gr/chronos/01/en/pl/housing/index.html |access-date=2021-08-25|website=Foundation of the Hellenic World (Ίδρυμα Μείζονος Ελληνισμού)}}</ref>

=== Neolithic Period to Bronze Age (7000–{{bc-i|1100 BC}}) ===
[[File:Proto Greek Area reconstruction.png|thumb|275px|[[Proto-Greek language|Proto-Greek]] linguistic area according to linguist [[Vladimir I. Georgiev]].<ref>{{harvnb|Georgiev|1981|loc=pp. 156, 192}}.</ref>]]
{{main|Neolithic Europe|Neolithic Greece|Pelasgians|Helladic period|Proto-Greek}}
The [[Neolithic Revolution]] reached Europe beginning in 7000–6500&nbsp;BC when agriculturalists from the [[Near East]] entered the Greek peninsula from [[Anatolia]] by island-hopping through the [[Aegean Sea]]. The earliest known Neolithic sites with developed agricultural economies in Europe, dated 8500–9000&nbsp;BP, were found in Greece.<ref>{{harvnb|Pashou|Drineas|Yannaki|2014|loc=p. 5: "The earliest Neolithic sites with developed agricultural economies in Europe dated 8500–9000 BPE are found in Greece. The general features of the material culture of the Greek Neolithic and the genetic features of the preserved crops and associated weeds of the earliest Greek Neolithic sites point to Near Eastern origins. How these Near Eastern migrants reached Greece is a matter of speculation...Our data support the Anatolian rather than the Levantine route because they consistently show the Aegean islands to be connected to the Near East through Anatolia. Archaeological evidence from Greek and Near Eastern and Anatolian Neolithic sites suggest that multiple waves of Neolithic migrants reached Greece and Southern Europe. Most likely multiple routes were used in these migrations but, as our data show, the maritime route and island hopping was prominent."}}</ref> The [[Proto-Greek language|first Greek-speaking tribes]], speaking the predecessor of the [[Mycenaean Greek|Mycenaean language]], arrived in the Greek mainland sometime in the [[Neolithic Europe|Neolithic period]] or the [[Bronze Age|Early Bronze Age]] ({{circa}} 3200&nbsp;BC).<ref>A comprehensive overview in J.T. Hooker's ''Mycenaean Greece'' ({{harvnb|Hooker|1976|loc=Chapter 2: "Before the Mycenaean Age", pp. 11–33 and passim}}); for a different hypothesis excluding massive migrations and favoring an autochthonous scenario, see Colin Renfrew's "Problems in the General Correlation of Archaeological and Linguistic Strata in Prehistoric Greece: The Model of Autochthonous Origin" ({{harvnb|Renfrew|1973|pp=263–276, especially p. 267}}) in ''Bronze Age Migrations'' by R.A. Crossland and A. Birchall, eds. (1973).</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Coleman|2000|pp=101–153}}.</ref>

====Cycladic and Minoan civilization====
{{main|Cycladic civilization|Minoan civilization}}
The [[Cycladic culture]] is a significant Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age [[material culture]] from the [[Cyclades]], best known for its schematic [[Cycladic art|flat female idols]] carved out of the islands' pure white marble.

The Middle Bronze Age [[Minoan civilization]] in [[Crete]] lasted from {{circa|3000|1400 BC}}.<ref name="Waldman-Mason">{{harvnb|Waldman|Mason|2006|loc="Minoans", pp. 521–526}}.</ref> Little specific information is known about the Minoans, including their written system, which was recorded with the undeciphered [[Linear A]] script<ref name="Waldman-Mason" /> and [[Cretan hieroglyphs]]. Even the name ''Minoans'' is a modern appellation, derived from [[Minos]], the legendary king of Crete. They were primarily a mercantile people engaged in extensive overseas trade throughout the Mediterranean region.<ref name=Waldman-Mason/>

Minoan civilization was affected by a number of natural cataclysms, such as the volcanic eruption at [[Thera]] ({{Circa|1628-1627 BC}}) and [[earthquakes]] ({{Circa|1600 BC}}).<ref name=Waldman-Mason/> In 1425&nbsp;BC, all the [[Minoan palaces]] except [[Knossos]] were devastated by fire, which allowed the [[Mycenaean Greece|Mycenaean Greeks]], influenced by the Minoans' culture, to expand into Crete.<ref name=Waldman-Mason/> Remains of the Minoan civilization which preceded the Mycenaean civilization on Crete were first discovered in the modern era by Sir [[Arthur Evans]] in 1900, when he purchased and began excavating the site at [[Knossos]].<ref>{{harvnb|Castleden|1993|pp=1–2}}; {{harvnb|Waldman|Mason|2006|loc="Minoans", pp. 521–526}}.</ref>

'''Pre-Mycenean Helladic period'''

Following the end of the [[Neolithic Greece|Neolithic]], the last [[Stone Age]] period, the Early and Middle [[Helladic chronology|Helladic periods]] were established on the Greek mainland. The slow transition from the Final Neolithic period took place with the [[Eutresis culture]] ({{Circa|3200|2650 BC}}). Over hundreds of years, agricultural communities transitioned from stone tools to metal ones. Following such materialistic developments, more powerful micro-states and the base of the future [[Mycenaean Greece|Mycenean civilization]] were developed. Early [[Bronze Age Greece|Bronze Age]] settlements saw further development during Helladic III, exemplified by the [[Tiryns culture]] ({{Circa|2200|2000 BC}}), and the Middle Helladic period before the Mycenean period discussed below.

====Mycenaean civilization====
{{main|Mycenaean Greece}}
[[File:Mycenaean World en.png|thumb|left|275px|Mycenaean Greece, {{circa}} 1400–1100 BC.]]

Mycenaean civilization originated and evolved from the society and culture of the Early and Middle [[Helladic chronology|Helladic periods]] in mainland Greece.<ref>{{harvnb|Dickinson|1977|pp=32, 53, 107–108}}; {{harvnb|Dickinson|1999|pp=97–107}}.</ref> It emerged {{circa|1600 BC}}, when Helladic culture was transformed under influences from [[Minoan civilization|Minoan Crete]], and it lasted until the collapse of the Mycenaean palaces {{Circa|1100 BC}}. Mycenaean Greece is the Late Helladic [[Bronze Age Greece|Bronze Age civilization of Ancient Greece]], and it formed the historical setting of the [[Epic poetry|epic]]s of [[Homer]] and most of [[Greek mythology]] and [[Greek polytheism|religion]]. The Mycenaean period takes its name from the archaeological site [[Mycenae]] in the northeastern [[Argolid]], in the [[Peloponnesos]] of southern Greece. [[Athens]], [[Pylos]], [[Thebes (Greece)|Thebes]], and [[Tiryns]] also have important Mycenaean sites.

Mycenaean civilization was dominated by a warrior [[aristocracy]]. Around 1400&nbsp;BC, the Mycenaeans extended their control to [[Crete]], the center of the [[Minoan civilization]], and adopted a form of the Minoan script [[Linear A]] to write an early form of [[Greek language|Greek]]. The Mycenaean-era script is called [[Linear B]], which was deciphered in 1952 by [[Michael Ventris]]. The Mycenaeans buried their nobles in [[beehive tombs]] (''tholoi''), large circular burial chambers with a high-vaulted roof and straight entry passage lined with stone. They often buried daggers or some other form of military equipment with the deceased. Nobility were also often buried with gold masks, tiaras, armor, and jeweled weapons. Mycenaeans were buried in a sitting position, and some of the nobility underwent [[mummy|mummification]].

Around 1100–1050&nbsp;BC, the Mycenaean civilization collapsed. Numerous cities were sacked and the region entered what historians see as a "[[Greek Dark Ages|dark age]]". During this period, Greece experienced a decline in [[population]] and [[literacy]]. The Greeks themselves have traditionally blamed this decline on an [[Dorian invasion|invasion]] by another wave of Greek people, the [[Dorians]], although there is scant archaeological evidence for this view.

==Ancient Greece (1100–146 BC)==
{{main|Ancient Greece}}
{{further|Classical Anatolia|Ancient history of Cyprus}}
[[File:Dodona Theater - Gallery version.jpg|thumb|240px|The ancient theatre of [[Dodona]]]]
[[File:Hephaistos Temple.JPG|thumb|The [[Temple of Hephaestus]] in Athens]]

[[Ancient Greece]] refers to a period of Greek history that lasted from the [[Greek Dark Ages]] ({{Circa|1050|750 BC}}) to the end of [[Classical Antiquity|antiquity]] ({{circa|600 AD}}). In common usage, it can refer to all Greek history before{{Em dash}}or including{{Em dash}}the [[Roman Empire]], but historians tend use the term more precisely. Some include the periods of the [[Minoan civilization|Minoan]] and [[History of Mycenaean Greece|Mycenaean]] civilizations, while others argue that these civilizations were so different from later Greek cultures that they should be classed separately. Traditionally, the Ancient Greek period was taken to begin with the date of the first [[Olympic Games]] in 776&nbsp;BC, but most historians now extend the term back to about 1000&nbsp;BC, toward the beginning of the Greek Dark Ages.{{Citation needed|date=January 2023}}

The Greek Dark Ages are succeeded by the [[Archaic Greece|Archaic period]], which began {{Circa|800 BC}} and lasted until the [[second Persian invasion of Greece]] in 480&nbsp;BC. It was during this period that the [[History of the Greek alphabet|Greek alphabet]] and [[Ancient Greek literature|early Greek literature]] developed, as well as the ''[[Polis|poleis]]'' ("city-states") of Ancient Greece. With the end of the Dark Ages, [[Greek colonisation|Greeks spread]] to the shores of the [[Black Sea]], [[Southern Italy]] (the so-called "[[Magna Graecia]]") and [[Anatolia|Asia Minor]]. The [[Classical Greece|Classical period]] began during the [[Greco-Persian Wars|Greco-Persian wars]] in the 5th century BC and was marked by increased autonomy from the [[Persian Empire]], as well as the flourishing of Ancient Greek [[Greek democracy|democracy]], [[Ancient Greek art|art]], [[Theatre of ancient Greece|theater]], [[Ancient Greek literature|literature]], and [[Ancient Greek philosophy|philosophy]]. The traditional date for the end of the Classical Greek period is the death of [[Alexander the Great]] in 323 BC, and the period that follows is termed the [[History of Hellenistic Greece|Hellenistic]], ending with the rise of the [[Roman Empire]] at the end of the first millennium BC. Not everyone treats the Classical Greek and Hellenic periods as distinct{{Em dash}}some writers treat the Ancient Greek civilization as a continuum running until the proliferation of [[Christianity]] in the 3rd century AD.{{Citation needed|date=January 2023}}

Ancient Greece is considered by many historians to be the foundational culture of [[Western world|Western civilization]]. Greek culture was a powerful influence in the Roman Empire, which carried a version of it to many parts of Europe. Ancient Greek civilization has been immensely influential on the language, politics, educational systems, philosophy, art, and architecture of the modern world, particularly during the [[Renaissance]] in Western Europe and again during various [[Neoclassicism|neo-classical]] revivals in 18th- and 19th-century Europe and the Americas.

===Iron Age (1100–800 BC)===
{{main|Greek Dark Ages}}
{{further|Protogeometric art}}

The Greek Dark Ages ({{circa|1100|800}}&nbsp;BC) refers to the period of Greek history from the presumed [[Dorian invasion]] and [[Late Bronze Age collapse|end of the Mycenaean civilization]] in the 11th century BC to the rise of the first [[Polis|Greek city-states]] in the 9th century BC and the epics of [[Homer]] and earliest writings in the [[Greek alphabet]] in the 8th century BC.

The collapse of the Mycenaean civilization coincided with the fall of several other large empires in the near east, most notably the [[Hittites|Hittite]] and the [[Ancient Egypt|Egyptian]]. The cause is still somewhat mysterious, but has often been attributed to the invasion of hypothesized [[Sea Peoples]] wielding iron weapons. A hypothesized [[Dorian invasion]] may have also contributed, as asserted by ancient Greek legend but unsubstantiated by the archaeological record. Legend asserts that [[Dorians]] migrated down into Greece equipped with superior iron weapons, colonizing and easily dispersing the already weakened Mycenaeans. The period that follows these events is collectively known as the Greek Dark Ages.

Kings ruled throughout this period until eventually they were replaced with an [[aristocracy]], then still later, in some areas, an aristocracy within an aristocracy—an elite of the elite. Warfare shifted from a focus on the cavalry to a great emphasis on infantry. Due to its cheapness of production and local availability, iron replaced bronze as the metal of choice in the manufacturing of tools and weapons. Slowly, however, equality grew among the different sects of people, leading to the dethronement of the various kings and the rise of the family.{{Clarification needed|reason=What is meant by "the family"?|date=January 2023}}{{Citation needed|date=January 2023}}

At the end of this period of stagnation, the Greek civilization was engulfed in a renaissance that spread throughout the Greek world as far as the [[Black Sea]] and [[Spain]].{{Citation needed|date=January 2023}} Writing was relearned from the [[Phoenicians]], eventually spreading north into [[Italy]] and the [[Gauls]].

===Archaic Greece===
{{main|Archaic Greece}} 
{{further|Orientalizing Period|Geometric Art}}

In the 8th century BC, Greece began to emerge from the Dark Ages which followed the fall of the Mycenaean civilization. Literacy had been lost and [[Linear B|Mycenaean script]] forgotten, but the Greeks adopted the [[Phoenician alphabet]], modifying it to create the Greek alphabet. From about the 9th century BC, written records begin to appear.<ref>{{harvnb|Hall|2014|loc=3: The End of the Mycenaean World and Its Aftermath (The Loss and Recovery of Writing)}}.</ref> Greece was divided into many small self-governing communities, a pattern largely dictated by Greek geography, where every island, valley, and plain is cut off from its neighbors by the sea or mountain ranges.<ref>{{harvnb|Sealey|1976|pp=10–11}}.</ref>

The Archaic period can be understood as the [[Orientalizing period]], when Greece was at the fringe, but not under the sway, of the budding [[Neo-Assyrian Empire]]. Greece adopted significant amounts of cultural elements from the Orient, in art as well as in religion and mythology. Archaeologically, Archaic Greece is marked by [[Geometric pottery]].

===Classical Greece===
{{main|Classical Greece}}
{{further|Classical Athens}}
[[File:3393 - Athens - Stoà of Attalus - Herodotus - Photo by Giovanni Dall'Orto, Nov 9 2009.jpg|thumb|Bust of [[Herodotus]] in [[Stoa of Attalus]], one of the earliest nameable historians whose work survives.]]
[[File:Leónidas en las Termópilas, por Jacques-Louis David.jpg|thumb|''[[Leonidas]] at [[Thermopylae]]'' by [[Jacques-Louis David]].]]

The basic unit of politics in Ancient Greece was the ''[[polis]]'' ({{lang-grc-gre|[[:wikt:πόλις|πόλις]]}}), sometimes translated as "[[city-state]]". The term lends itself to the modern English word "politics", which literally means "the things of the ''polis''". At least in theory, each ''polis'' was politically independent. However, some ''poleis'' were subordinate to others (e.g., a colony traditionally deferred to its mother city, and some had governments wholly dependent upon others (e.g., the [[Thirty Tyrants]] in [[Athens]] was imposed by [[Sparta]] following the [[Peloponnesian War]]), but the titularly supreme power in each ''polis'' was located within that city. This meant that when Greece went to war (e.g., against the [[Persian Empire]]), it took the form of an alliance going to war. It also gave ample opportunity for wars within Greece between different ''poleis''.

====Persian Wars====
{{Main|Greco-Persian Wars}}

Two major wars shaped the Classical Greek world. The first was the [[Greco-Persian Wars|Persian Wars]] (499–449&nbsp;BC), recounted in the Greek historian [[Herodotus]]'s ''[[The Histories of Herodotus|Histories]]''. By the late 6th century BC, the [[Achaemenid Empire|Achaemenid Persian Empire]] ruled over all Greek city-states in [[Ionia]] (the western coast of modern-day [[Turkey]]) and had made territorial gains in the [[Balkans]] and Eastern Europe proper as well. In 499&nbsp;BC, the Greek cities of [[Ionia]], led by [[Miletus]], [[Ionian Revolt|revolted]] against the [[Persian Empire]] and were supported by some mainland cities, including [[History of Athens|Athens]] and [[Eretria]]. After the uprising had been quelled, [[Darius I]] launched the [[first Persian invasion of Greece]] to exact revenge on the mainland Greeks. In 492&nbsp;BC, Persian general [[Mardonius (general)|Mardonius]] led an army (supported by a fleet) across the [[Dardanelles|Hellespont]], re-subjugating [[Thrace]] and adding [[Macedonia (ancient kingdom)|Macedonia]] as a fully-subjugated client kingdom.<ref>{{harvnb|Olbrycht|2011|pp=343}}.</ref> However, before he could reach Greece proper, his fleet was destroyed in a storm near [[Mount Athos]]. In 490&nbsp;BC, Darius sent another fleet directly across the [[Aegean Sea]] (rather than following the land route as Mardonius had done) to subdue Athens. After destroying the city of [[Eretria]], the fleet landed and faced the Athenian army at [[Battle of Marathon|Marathon]], which ended in a decisive Athenian victory. Darius's successor, [[Xerxes I]], launched the [[Second Persian invasion of Greece]] in 480 BC. Despite Greek defeat at [[Battle of Thermopylae|Thermopylae]], after which the Persians briefly overran northern and central Greece,<ref>{{harvnb|Rhodes|2007|p=3}}.</ref> the Greek city-states once again managed to comprehensively defeat the invaders with naval victory at [[Battle of Salamis|Salamis]] and victory on land at [[Battle of Plataea|Plataea]].

To prosecute the war and then to defend Greece from further Persian attack, Athens founded the [[Delian League]] in 477&nbsp;BC. Initially, each city in the League would contribute ships and soldiers to a common army, but in time Athens allowed (and then compelled) the smaller cities to contribute funds so that it could supply their quota of ships. Secession from the League could be punished. Following military reversals against the Persians, the treasury was moved from [[Delos]] to Athens, further strengthening the latter's control over the League. The Delian League was eventually referred to pejoratively as the Athenian Empire.

In 458&nbsp;BC, while the Persian Wars were still ongoing, war broke out between the Delian League and the [[Peloponnesian League]], comprising [[Sparta]] and its allies. After some inconclusive fighting, the two sides signed a peace treaty in 447&nbsp;BC. That peace was stipulated to last thirty years: instead, it held only until 431&nbsp;BC, with the onset of the [[Peloponnesian War]].

====Peloponnesian War====
{{Main|Peloponnesian War}}

The main sources concerning the Peloponnesian war (431{{En dash}}404&nbsp;BC) are [[Thucydides]]'s ''[[History of the Peloponnesian War]]'' and [[Xenophon]]'s ''[[Hellenica (Xenophon)|Hellenica]]''. Both historians were also Athenian generals who lived through the war.

The war began in 431&nbsp;BC over a dispute between the cities of [[Corcyra]] and [[Epidamnus]]. [[Corinth]], an ally of [[Sparta]] in the [[Peloponnesian League]], intervened on the Epidamnian side. Fearful lest Corinth capture the Corcyran navy (second only to the Athenian in size), Athens intervened. They prevented Corinth from landing on Corcyra at the [[Battle of Sybota]], laid siege to [[Battle of Potidaea|Potidaea]], and forbade all commerce with Corinth's closely situated ally, [[Megara]], with the [[Megarian decree]].

There was disagreement among the Greeks as to which party violated the treaty between the [[Delian League|Delian]] and Peloponnesian Leagues, as Athens was technically defending a new ally. The Corinthians turned to Sparta for aid. Fearing the growing might of Athens and witnessing Athens' willingness to use it against the Megarians (the embargo would have ruined them), Sparta declared the treaty violated, and the Peloponnesian War began in earnest.

The first stage of the war (known as the [[Archidamian War]] for the Spartan king [[Archidamus II]]) lasted until 421&nbsp;BC with the signing of the [[Peace of Nicias]]. It began with the Athenian general [[Pericles]] recommending that his city fight a defensive war, avoiding battle against the superior land forces led by Sparta, and importing everything needful by maintaining its powerful navy. Athens would simply outlast Sparta, whose citizens feared leave their city for long lest the [[helots]], a subjugated population of Sparta, revolt.

This strategy required that Athens endure regular [[siege]]s, and in 430&nbsp;BC it was visited with an awful [[Plague of Athens|plague that killed about a quarter of its people]], including Pericles. With Pericles gone, less conservative elements gained power in the city and Athens went on the offensive. In 425&nbsp;BC, it captured 300–400 Spartan [[hoplite]]s (soldiers) at the [[Battle of Pylos]], a significant fraction of the Spartan fighting force which it could not afford to lose. Meanwhile, Athens suffered humiliating defeats at [[Battle of Delium|Delium]] in 424&nbsp;BC and [[Battle of Amphipolis|Amphipolis]] in 422. The Peace of Nicias in 421 concluded the first stage of the war, with Sparta recovering its hoplites and Athens recovering the city of [[Amphipolis]].[[File:Map athenian empire 431 BC-en.svg|thumb|350px|Map of the [[Delian League]] ("Athenian Empire or Alliance") in 431 BC, just prior to the [[Peloponnesian War]].]]Those who signed the Peace of Nicias in 421&nbsp;BC swore to uphold it for fifty years, but peace lasted only seven years. The second stage of the Peloponnesian War began in 415&nbsp;BC when Athens embarked on the [[Sicilian Expedition]] in [[Magna Graecia]] to support its ally [[Segesta]] in [[Sicily]] against an attack by [[Syracuse, Italy|Syracuse]] (a Spartan ally also in Sicily) and conquer the island. Initially, Sparta was reluctant to help Syracuse, but [[Alcibiades]], the Athenian general who had argued for the Sicilian Expedition, defected to the Spartan cause after being accused of grossly impious acts. Alcibiades convinced the Spartans that they could not allow Athens to subjugate Syracuse. The campaign ended in disaster for the Athenians.

After the Athenian defeat in Sicily, Athens' [[Ionia]]n possessions rebelled with the support of Sparta, as advised by Alcibiades. In 411&nbsp;BC, an [[Athenian coup of 411 BC|oligarchical revolt]] in Athens held out the chance for peace, but the Athenian navy, which remained committed to the democracy, refused to accept the change and continued fighting in Athens' name. The navy recalled Alcibiades, who had been forced to abandon the Spartan cause after reputedly seducing the wife of [[Agis II]], a Spartan king, and made him its head. The oligarchy in Athens collapsed and Alcibiades reconquered what had been lost for Athens.

In 407&nbsp;BC, Alcibiades was replaced following a minor naval defeat at the [[Battle of Notium]]. The Spartan general [[Lysander]], having fortified his city's naval power, began winning victory after victory. Athens won the [[Battle of Arginusae]] in 406&nbsp;BC but was prevented by bad weather from rescuing many of its sailors, leading the city to execute or exile eight of its top naval commanders. Lysander followed with a crushing blow at the [[Battle of Aegospotami]] in 405&nbsp;BC which almost destroyed the Athenian fleet. Athens surrendered one year later, ending the Peloponnesian War and beginning a brief of period of [[Spartan hegemony]] in Greece.

The war left devastation in its wake. Discontent with Spartan hegemony from both Athenian and former Spartan allies led to the [[Corinthian War]] of 395–387&nbsp;BC. Backed by the [[Achaemenid Empire|Achaemenid Persian Empire]], Athens, [[Thebes, Greece|Thebes]], Corinth, and [[Argos, Peloponnese|Argos]] significantly weakened Spartan military power, though unsuccessful in ending Spartan dominance. The war concluded with the [[Treaty of Antalcidas]] in 387&nbsp;BC, in which Sparta was forced to cede [[Ionia]] and [[Cyprus]] to the [[Persian Empire]]. The Corinthian War and its aftermath further sowed the seeds of discontent in Spartan Greece, inducing the Thebans to attack once more. Their general, [[Epaminondas]], crushed Sparta at the [[Battle of Leuctra]] in 371&nbsp;BC, inaugurating a period of Theban dominance in Greece.

In 346&nbsp;BC, unable to prevail in its [[Third Sacred War|ten-year war]] with [[Phocis (ancient region)|Phocis]], Thebes called upon [[Philip II of Macedon]] for aid. [[Macedon]] quickly unified the Greek city-states under Macedonian hegemony into the [[League of Corinth]] in 338{{En dash}}337&nbsp;BC. In 336&nbsp;BC, power was transferred to Philip's son, [[Alexander the Great]], who spent the next ten years conquering the Persian Empire and much of Western Asia and Egypt. By the age of 30, Alexander had created one of the [[List of largest empires|largest empires]] in history, stretching from [[Greece]] to northwestern [[Historical India|India]].<ref>Bloom, Jonathan M.; Blair, Sheila S. (2009) ''The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture: Mosul to Zirid, Volume 3''. (Oxford University Press Incorporated, 2009), 385; "[Khojand, Tajikistan]; As the easternmost outpost of the empire of Alexander the Great, the city was renamed Alexandria Eschate ("furthest Alexandria") in 329 BCE."{{pb}}Golden, Peter B. ''Central Asia in World History'' (Oxford University Press, 2011), 25;"[...] his campaigns in Central Asia brought Khwarazm, Sogdia and Bactria under Graeco-Macedonian rule. As elsewhere, Alexander founded or renamed a number of cities, such as Alexandria Eschate ("Outernmost Alexandria", near modern Khojent in Tajikistan)."</ref> He was undefeated in battle and is widely considered to be one of history's greatest and most successful military commanders.{{Sfn|Yenne|2010|page=159}}<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Alexander the Great's Achievements |encyclopedia=Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/summary/Alexander-the-Greats-Achievements |access-date=19 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210702234248/https://www.britannica.com/summary/Alexander-the-Greats-Achievements |archive-date=2 July 2021 |url-status=live}} "Alexander the Great was one of the greatest military strategists and leaders in world history."</ref> After Alexander's death in 323&nbsp;BC, the [[Macedonia (ancient kingdom)|Macedonian Empire]] disintegrated under [[Wars of the Diadochi|widespread civil wars]], beginning the Hellenistic Age of Greek history.

===Hellenistic Greece===
{{main|Hellenistic Period|Hellenistic Greece}}

The Hellenistic period of Greek history begins with the death of [[Alexander the Great]] in 323&nbsp;BC and ends with the [[Achaean War|conquest of the Greek peninsula and islands]] by [[Roman Republic|Rome]] in 146&nbsp;BC. Although the establishment of Roman rule did not break the continuity of Hellenistic society and culture, which remained essentially unchanged until the advent of [[Christianity]], it did mark the end of Greek political independence.

During the Hellenistic period, the importance of "Greece proper" (that is, the territory of modern Greece) within the Greek-speaking world declined sharply. The great centres of Hellenistic culture were [[Alexandria]] and [[Antioch]], capitals of [[Ptolemaic Egypt]] and [[Seleucid Empire|Seleucid Syria]], respectively. (See [[Hellenistic civilization]] for the history of Greek culture outside Greece in this period.)

[[Athens]] and her allies revolted against [[Macedon]] upon hearing that Alexander the Great had died in 323&nbsp;BC, but were defeated within a year in the [[Lamian War]]. Meanwhile, a struggle for power broke out among Alexander's generals, which resulted in the break-up of his empire and the establishment of a number of new kingdoms in the [[Wars of the Diadochi]]. [[Ptolemy I Soter|Ptolemy]] was left with [[Egypt]], and [[Seleucus I Nicator|Seleucus]] with the [[Levant]], [[Mesopotamia]], and points east. Control of Greece, [[Thrace]], and [[Anatolia]] was contested, but by 298&nbsp;BC the [[Antigonid dynasty]] had supplanted the [[Antipatrid dynasty|Antipatrid]].

[[File:Stag hunt mosaic, Pella.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Stag Hunt Mosaic]] at the [[Archaeological Museum of Pella]] (3rd century BC)]]

Macedonian control of the city-states was intermittent, with a number of revolts. Athens, [[Rhodes]], [[Pergamum]], and other Greek states retained substantial independence and joined the [[Aetolian League]] as a means of defending it and restoring democracy in their states, as they saw Macedon as a tyrannical kingdom. The [[Achaean League]], while nominally subject to the [[Ptolemaic dynasty|Ptolemies]], was in effect independent, and controlled most of southern Greece. Sparta also remained independent, but generally refused to join any league.

[[File:Diadochen1.png|thumb|300px|The major [[Hellenistic civilization|Hellenistic]] realms included the [[Diadochi|Diadoch kingdoms]]:
{{legend|#787CAD|Kingdom of [[Ptolemy I Soter]]}}
{{legend|#50A249|Kingdom of [[Cassander]]}}
{{legend|#C38833|Kingdom of [[Lysimachus]]}}
{{legend|#C3B933|Kingdom of [[Seleucus I Nicator]]}}
{{legend|#AF3662|[[Epirus]]}}
Also shown on the map:
{{legend|#85AB54|[[Greek colonies]]}}
{{legend|#A361BD|[[Carthage]] (non-Greek)}}
{{legend|#70A9BE|[[Ancient Rome|Rome]] (non-Greek)}}
The orange areas were often in dispute after 281 BC. The [[Attalid kingdom]] occupied some of this area. Not shown: [[Indo-Greek Kingdom]].]]
In 267&nbsp;BC, [[Ptolemy II]] persuaded the Greek cities to revolt against Macedon in what became the [[Chremonidean War]], named after the Athenian leader [[Chremonides]]. The cities were defeated and Athens lost her independence and democratic institutions. This marked the end of Athens as a political actor, although it remained the largest, wealthiest, and most cultivated city in Greece. In 225&nbsp;BC, Macedon defeated the Egyptian fleet at [[Kos|Cos]] and brought the [[Aegean Sea|Aegean]] islands, except Rhodes, under its rule as well.

[[Sparta]] remained hostile to the Achaeans, and in 227&nbsp;BC it invaded [[Achaean League|Achaea]] and seized control of the League. The remaining Achaeans preferred distant Macedon to nearby Sparta and allied with the former. In 222&nbsp;BC, the Macedonian army defeated the Spartans and annexed their city—the first time Sparta had ever been occupied by a different state.

[[Philip V of Macedon]] was the last Greek ruler with both the talent and the opportunity to unite Greece and preserve its independence against the ever-increasing power of Rome. Under his auspices, the Peace of Naupactus (217&nbsp;BC) brought conflict between Macedon and the Greek leagues to an end, and at this time he controlled all of Greece except Athens, Rhodes, and Pergamum.

In 215&nbsp;BC, however, Philip formed an alliance with Rome's enemy [[Carthage]]. Rome promptly lured the Achaean cities away from their nominal loyalty to Philip, and formed alliances with Rhodes and Pergamum, now the strongest power in [[Asia Minor]]. The [[First Macedonian War]] broke out in 212&nbsp;BC and ended inconclusively in 205 BC, but Macedon was now marked as an enemy of Rome.

In 202&nbsp;BC, Rome defeated Carthage and was free to turn her attention eastwards. In 198&nbsp;BC, the [[Second Macedonian War]] broke out because Rome saw Macedon as a potential ally of the [[Seleucid Empire]], the greatest power in the East. Philip's allies in Greece deserted him, and in 197&nbsp;BC he was decisively defeated at the [[Battle of Cynoscephalae]] by the Roman [[proconsul]] [[Titus Quinctius Flaminius]].

Luckily for the Greeks, Flaminius was a moderate man and an admirer of Greek culture. Philip had to surrender his fleet and become a Roman ally, but he was otherwise spared. At the [[Isthmian Games]] in 196&nbsp;BC, Flaminius declared all the Greek cities free, although Roman garrisons were placed at Corinth and [[Chalcis]]. But the freedom promised by Rome was an illusion. All the cities except Rhodes were enrolled in a new League which Rome ultimately controlled, and aristocratic constitutions were favored and actively promoted.

==Roman Greece (146 BC – 324 AD)==
{{main|Roman Empire|Greco-Roman world|Roman Greece}}
[[File:Tony robert-fleury, l'ultimo giorno di corinto, ante 1870.JPG|thumb|upright=1.2|Depiction of the [[Battle of Corinth (146 BC)]] on the last day before Roman legions looted and burned the city of [[Corinth]]. ''The last day on Corinth'', [[Tony Robert-Fleury]], 1870.]]
[[File:Patras Roman Odeon 9281478.jpg|thumb|View of the Roman Odeon of [[Patras]]]]

In the 2nd century BC, Greece was conquered by the [[Roman Republic]] and came under its control. Still, Greek culture flourished during this period{{Em dash}}city-states maintained a level of political autonomy, and Roman society adopted many aspects of Greek culture. For example, [[Roman poetry|Roman poets]] like [[Ovid]], [[Virgil]], and [[Horace]] retold and adopted many Greek myths of old, folding them into Roman culture. Roman society even claimed to share a cultural lineage with Greece, as exemplified by Virgil's [[Epic poetry|epic]], the ''[[Aeneid]]'', which details their [[founding myth]] of how the Roman people descended from the [[Troy|Trojan]] [[Aeneas]] of [[Homer]]ic lore.

Although the period of Roman rule in Greece is conventionally dated as starting from the [[Battle of Corinth (146 BC)|sacking of Corinth]] by the Roman [[Lucius Mummius]] in 146&nbsp;BC, [[Macedonia (ancient kingdom)|Macedonia]] had already come under Roman control with the defeat of its king, [[Perseus of Macedon|Perseus]], by the Roman [[Aemilius Paullus]] at [[Pydna]] in 168&nbsp;BC.

The Romans divided the region into four smaller republics, and in 146&nbsp;BC [[Macedonia (Roman province)|Macedonia]] officially became a province, with its capital at [[Thessalonica]]. The rest of the Greek [[city-states]] eventually paid homage to Rome, ending their ''[[de jure]]'' autonomy as well. The Romans left local administration to the Greeks without making any attempt to abolish traditional political patterns. The [[Athenian Agora|agora in Athens]] continued to be the center of civic and political life.

Emperor [[Caracalla]]'s decree in 212&nbsp;AD, the ''[[Constitutio Antoniniana]]'', extended citizenship outside [[Italy]] to all free adult men in the entire Roman Empire, effectively raising provincial populations to equal status with the city of Rome itself. The importance of this decree is historical, not political. It set the basis for [[Cultural assimilation|integration]], where the economic and judicial mechanisms of the state could be applied throughout the Mediterranean as was once done from [[Latium]] into all Italy. In practice, integration did not take place uniformly. Societies already integrated with Rome, such as Greece, were favored by the decree, as opposed to the further away, poorer, or more culturally different provinces like [[Roman Britain|Britain]], [[Roman Palestine|Palestine]], or [[Roman Egypt|Egypt]].

Caracalla's decree did not set in motion the processes that led to the transfer of power from Italy and the West to Greece and the East, but rather accelerated them, setting the foundations for the millennium-long rise of Greece, in the form of the [[Eastern Roman Empire]], as a major power in Europe and the Mediterranean in the [[Middle Ages]].

==Middle Ages==
===Byzantine rule (324–1204)===
{{main|Byzantine Empire|Byzantine Greece|Barbarian invasions}}
{{See also|Decline of Greco-Roman polytheism|Persecution of pagans in the late Roman Empire}}
{{Further|Byzantine Anatolia|Cyprus in the Middle Ages}}
[[Image:Greece meteora monasteries.JPG|thumb|Byzantine-era [[Eastern Orthodoxy|Orthodox]] monasteries in [[Meteora]].]]
[[File:Greekfire-madridskylitzes1.jpg|thumb|240px|Depiction of the [[Greek fire]] in [[John Skylitzes]]' ''[[Madrid Skylitzes]]'' (late 11th century).]]

The division of the [[Roman Empire]] into [[East Roman Empire|East]] and [[Western Roman Empire|West]] and the subsequent collapse of the Western one accentuated the position of Greece in the empire and eventually brought it into the imperial center of power. [[Constantinople]] (now modern-day [[Istanbul]]) became the central city of the empire when [[Constantine the Great]] declared [[Byzantium]] the new capital of the Roman Empire, renaming the city in his honor. This political change signified the broader eastward migration of [[Hellenism (Academia)|Hellenism]] toward [[Anatolia]], and it nominally placed the city as the center of [[Hellenic Culture|Hellenic culture]], a beacon for Greeks that lasted into the modern era.

The East Roman Empire, now also known as the [[Byzantine Empire]], was dominated politically by Emperors Constantine the Great and [[Justinian I|Justinian]] from 324 to 610. Assimilating the Roman tradition, the emperors sought to build the foundation for later developments and formation of the Empire. The early centuries of the Empire were marked by efforts to secure its borders and restore the Roman territories, as well as the formation and establishment of the [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox Church]] and several of religious schisms following it.

In the first period of the middle Byzantine era (610–867), the empire was attacked both by old enemies ([[Persian Empire|Persians]], [[Lombards]], [[Pannonian Avars|Avars]], and [[Slavs]]) as well as by new ones ([[Arabs]], [[Bulgars]]). The main characteristic of this period was instability, as enemy attacks tended to extend deep into the Empire's interior, even threatening the capital itself.

The attacks of the Slavs became less frequent as the [[Slavic migrations to the Balkans|Balkan Slavic migration]] ended and permanent Slavic settlements and states began to form. Initially hostile to Constantinople until their [[Christianization of the Slavs|Christianization]], the Byzantines referred to these tribes and states as ''[[Sclavinia]]s''.

Changes also occurred in the internal structure of the empire, due to both external and internal conditions. The predominance of small free farmers, the expansion of military estates, and the development of the system of [[theme (Byzantine administrative unit)|theme]]s brought to completion the developments started by early Byzantine Emperors. Cultural and religious changes occurred as well. Byzantine administration and society became inseparably Greek. Additionally, the restoration of Orthodoxy after the [[Byzantine Iconoclasm|iconoclast movements]] (726{{En dash}}787 and 814{{En dash}}842) allowed the successful resumption of missionary action among neighboring peoples and their placement within the sphere of Byzantine cultural influence. During this period, the Empire was geographically reduced and economically damaged since it lost wealth-producing regions. However, it obtained greater lingual, dogmatic, and cultural homogeneity.

From the late 8th century, the Empire began to recover from the devastating impact of successive invasions, and the reconquest of the Greek peninsula began. Greeks from [[Sicily]] and [[Asia-Minor|Asia Minor]] were brought in as settlers. Slavs were either driven out to Asia Minor or assimilated, and the ''Sclavinias'' were forcibly eradicated. By the middle of the 9th century, the Greek peninsula was under Byzantine control again, and its cities began to recover due to improved security and the restoration of effective central control.

===Economic prosperity===
[[File:Wallsthess.jpg|thumb|Part of the Byzantine [[Walls of Thessaloniki]]]]

After the Byzantine Empire was [[Komnenian restoration|rescued from a period of crisis]] through the resolute leadership of the three [[Komnenos|Komnenoi]] emperors [[Alexios I Komnenos|Alexios]], [[John II Komnenos|John]], and [[Manuel I Komnenos|Manuel]] in the 12th century, Greece prospered. Recent research has revealed that this period was a time of significant growth in the rural economy, with rising population levels and extensive tracts of new agricultural land being brought into production.{{Citation needed|date=January 2023|reason=What recent research?}} The widespread construction of new rural churches around this time is a strong indication that prosperity was being generated even in remote areas.

A steady increase in population led to a higher [[population density]], and there is good evidence that the demographic increase was accompanied by the revival of towns. According to Alan Harvey's ''Economic Expansion in the Byzantine Empire 900–1200'', towns expanded significantly in the twelfth century. Archaeological evidence shows an increase in the size of urban settlements, together with a "notable upsurge" in new towns. It also indicates that many medieval towns, including [[Athens]], [[Thessaloniki]], [[Thebes, Greece|Thebes]], and [[Corinth]], experienced a period of rapid and sustained growth, starting in the 11th century and continuing until the end of the 12th century.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Harvey |first=Alan |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/economic-expansion-in-the-byzantine-empire-9001200/D9F35883AC7AD37EF9A33BC7E8625BB2 |title=Economic Expansion in the Byzantine Empire, 900–1200 |date=1990 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-37151-3 |location=Cambridge |doi=10.1017/cbo9780511562433}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=January 2023}}

The growth of the towns attracted trade with the [[Venetian Republic]] in nearby Italy, and this interest in trade appears to have further increased economic prosperity in Greece. The Venetians and others were active traders in the ports of the [[Holy Land]], and they made a living out of shipping goods between the [[Crusader states|Crusader]] Kingdoms of [[Outremer]] and the West while also trading extensively with Byzantium and [[Egypt]].

===Artistic revival===
{{Main|Macedonian Renaissance}}
[[File:20090803 hosiosloukas36.jpg|thumb|180px|Exterior view of [[Hosios Loukas]] monastery, artistic example of the [[Macedonian Renaissance]]]]

A renaissance of [[Byzantine art]] began in the 10th century. Many of the most important [[Byzantine churches (buildings)|Byzantine churches]] in and around Athens, for example, were built around this time. This artistic revival reflects the [[urbanization]] of Greece during this period. There was also a revival in [[Mosaic|mosaic art]], with artists showing great interest in depicting natural landscapes with wild animals and scenes from the hunt. Mosaics became more realistic and vivid, with an increased emphasis on depicting three-dimensional forms. With its love of luxury and passion for color, the art of this age delighted in the production of masterpieces that spread the fame of Byzantium throughout the Christian world.

Beautiful [[Byzantine silk|silks from the workshops of Constantinople]] portrayed animals in dazzling color, such as lions, elephants, eagles, and griffins confronting each other, or Emperors gorgeously arrayed on horseback or engaged in the chase. The eyes of many patrons were attracted and the economy of Greece grew. In the provinces, regional schools of architecture began producing many distinctive styles that drew on a range of cultural influences. All this suggests that there was an increased demand for art, with more people having access to the necessary wealth to commission and pay for such work.

Yet the marvelous expansion of Byzantine art during this period, one of the most remarkable facts in the history of the empire, did not stop there. From the 10th to the 12th century, Byzantium was the main source of artistic inspiration for the West. For example, the mosaics of [[St Mark's Basilica|St. Mark's Basilica]] the [[Torcello Cathedral]] in [[Venice]] clearly show Byzantine influence in their style, arrangement, and iconography. Similarly in [[Sicily]], the mosaics of the [[Palatine Chapel, Palermo|Palatine Chapel]], [[Martorana]], and [[Monreale Cathedral]] in [[Palermo]], as well as the [[Cefalù Cathedral]], show the influence of Byzantine art on [[Norman–Arab–Byzantine culture|Norman Sicily]] in the 12th century.

[[Al-andalus#Art and architecture|Andalusian art]] in Western Europe was also influenced by Byzantium. [[Romanesque art]], too, contains many Byzantine elements, including its decorative forms and the plans of some of its buildings (e.g., the domed churches of south-western France). [[Grand Prince of Kiev|Princes of Kiev]], [[Doge of Venice|Venetian Doges]], abbots of [[Monte Cassino]], merchants of [[Amalfi]], and the Norman kings of Sicily all drew from Byzantine culture in their art.

===The Fourth Crusade (1204)===
{{main|Fourth Crusade|Frankokratia}}
[[File:LatinEmpire2.png|thumb|350px|The division of the [[Byzantine Empire]] after the [[Fourth Crusade]].]]

The year 1204 marks the beginning of the [[Late-Byzantine|Late Byzantine]] period, when Constantinople and a number of Byzantine territories were conquered by the [[Latins]] during the [[Fourth Crusade]]. During this period, a number of Byzantine Greek successor states emerged. The [[Empire of Nicaea]], the [[Despotate of Epirus]], and the [[Empire of Trebizond]] each claimed to be the legitimate successor of the Byzantine Empire. Meanwhile, the Latin and [[Franks|Frank]] Crusaders founded the [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] [[Latin Empire]], known to the Byzantines as [[Frankokratia|''Frankokratia'' or ''Latinokratia'']], with Constantinople as its capital. Among its [[vassal state]]s were the [[Principality of Achaea]], the [[Duchy of Athens]], the [[Duchy of the Archipelago]], and the [[Kingdom of Thessalonica]]. Under the Latin Empire, elements of [[feudalism]] entered medieval Greek life.

===From partial Byzantine restoration to 1453===
The Latin Empire, lasted only 57 years, and in 1261 [[Reconquest of Constantinople|Constantinople was reclaimed]] by the Nicaean Empire and [[Restoration of the Byzantine Empire|the Byzantine Empire was restored]]. However, in mainland Greece and the Greek islands, various Latin and Venetian possessions continued to exist. From 1261 onwards, Byzantium underwent a gradual weakening of its internal structures and the reduction of its territories from [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] invasions, culminating in the [[fall of Constantinople]] on May 29, 1453. The Ottoman conquest of Constantinople resulted in the official end of both the Eastern Roman Empire and the Byzantine period of Greek history.

==Venetian and Ottoman rule (15th century – 1821 AD)==
{{main|Stato da Màr|Ottoman Greece|Septinsular Republic|Modern Greek Enlightenment}}

The Greeks held out in the [[Peloponnese]] until 1460, and the [[Republic of Venice|Venetians]] and [[Republic of Genoa|Genoese]] clung to some of the islands, but by the early 16th century all of mainland Greece and most of the [[Aegean Islands|Aegean islands]] were [[colonized]] by the [[Ottoman Empire]], excluding several port cities still held by the Venetians ([[Nafplio]], [[Monemvasia]], [[Parga]] and [[Methoni, Messenia|Methone]] the most important of them). The [[Cyclades]], in the middle of the [[Aegean Sea]], were officially annexed by the Ottomans in 1579, although they were under vassal status since the 1530s. [[Cyprus]] fell in 1571, and the Venetians retained [[Crete]] until 1669. The [[Ionian Islands]] were never ruled by the Ottomans, with the exception of [[Kefalonia]] (from 1479 to 1481 and from 1485 to 1500), and they remained under the rule of the [[Republic of Venice]]. It was in the Ionian Islands where modern Greek statehood was born, with the creation of the [[Septinsular Republic|Republic of the Seven Islands]] in 1800.

When the Ottomans arrived, two Greek migrations occurred. In the first, the Greek [[intelligentsia]] migrated to Western Europe, influencing the advent of the [[Renaissance|European Renaissance]]. In the second, Greeks left the plains of the Greek peninsula and resettled in the mountains.<ref>{{harvnb|Vacalopoulos|1976|loc=p. 45: "The Greeks never lost their desire to escape from the heavy hand of the Turks, bad government, the impressment of their children, the increasingly heavy taxation, and the sundry caprices of the conqueror. Indeed, anyone studying the last two centuries of Byzantine rule cannot help being struck by the propensity of the Greeks to flee misfortune. The routes they chiefly took were: first, to the predominantly Greek territories, which were either still free or Frankish-controlled (that is to say, the Venetian fortresses in the Despotate of Morea, as well as in the Aegean and Ionian Islands) or else to Italy and the West generally; second, to remote mountain districts in the interior where the conqueror's yoke was not yet felt."}}</ref>

[[Ottoman Greece]] was a [[multiethnic society]], but in a way very different from the modern Western notion of [[multiculturalism]].<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://freidok.uni-freiburg.de/data/4403|title=FreiDok plus - Ottoman "multiculturalism"? : the example of the confessional system in Lebanon ; a lecture|website=freidok.uni-freiburg.de|date=1999 |last1=Reinkowski |first1=Maurus }}</ref> The Greeks were given some privileges and freedom by the Empire, but they were exposed to tyranny deriving from malpractices of regional administrative personnel, over which the central government had only remote and incomplete control.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Rk1iVvOr6RUC|title=The Greek Struggle for Independence, 1821-1833|first=Douglas|last=Dakin|date=September 26, 1973|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=9780520023420 |via=Google Books}}</ref> The Ottoman [[millet system]] contributed to the ethnic cohesion of Orthodox Greeks by segregating the various peoples within the Ottoman Empire based on religion. Greeks living in the plains during Ottoman rule were either Christians or [[crypto-Christians]], Greek "Muslims" who were secret practitioners of the Greek Orthodox faith. Some Greeks became crypto-Christians to avoid heavy taxes while retaining their religious identity and ties to the [[Greek Orthodox Church]]. Greeks who converted to [[Islam]] and were not crypto-Christians were deemed "Turks" in the eyes of Orthodox Greeks even if they did not adopt the [[Turkish language]], evidence of the ethnic and religious tensions in Greece under Ottoman rule.{{Citation needed|date=January 2023}}

The Ottomans ruled most of Greece until the early 19th century. The first self-governed Hellenic state since the Middle Ages was established on the Ionian islands during the [[French Revolutionary Wars]] in 1800, 21 years before the outbreak of the [[Greek War of Independence|Greek revolution]] in mainland Greece. It was called the [[Septinsular Republic]] ([[Greek language|Greek]]: {{Lang|el|Ἑπτάνησος Πολιτεία}}), or Republic of the Seven United Islands, and it used [[Corfu (city)|Corfu]] as its capital.

==Modern Greek nation state (1821 – present)==
{{Main|History of modern Greece}}
{{further|Greek War of Independence|First Hellenic Republic|Kingdom of Greece|Megali Idea}}
[[File:Navarino.jpg|thumb|The [[Battle of Navarino]], in October 1827, marked the effective end of Ottoman rule in Greece.]][[File:Nafplion view from Palamidi castle.JPG|thumb|[[Nafplio]], the first capital of independent Greece during the governance of [[Ioannis Kapodistrias]]]]

In the early months of 1821, the Greeks [[Greek War of Independence|declared their independence]], but did not achieve it until 1829. The Great Powers first shared the same view concerning the necessity of preserving the ''status quo'' of the Ottoman Empire, but soon changed their stance. Scores of non-Greeks [[philhellenes]] volunteered to fight for the cause, including [[Lord Byron]].

On October 20, 1827, a combined British, French and Russian naval force destroyed the Ottoman and Egyptian armada. The Russian minister of foreign affairs, [[Ioannis Kapodistrias]], himself a [[Corfu|Septinsular Greek]], returned home as Governor of the [[First Hellenic Republic|First Republic]] and with his diplomatic handling, managed to secure the Greek independence and the military dominination in [[Central Greece]]. The first capital of the independent Greece was temporarily [[Aigina]] (1828–1829) and later officially [[Nafplion]] (1828–1834). After his assassination, the European powers turned Greece into a monarchy; the first King, [[Otto of Greece|Otto]], came from [[Bavaria]] and the second, [[George I of Greece|George I]], from [[Denmark]]. In 1834, King Otto transferred the capital to Athens.

[[File:Territorial Expansion of Greece from 1832–1947.gif|thumb|left|340px|The territorial evolution of [[Kingdom of Greece]] until 1947]]

During the 19th and early 20th centuries, Greece sought to enlarge its boundaries to include the ethnic Greek population of the Ottoman Empire. Greece played a peripheral role in the [[Crimean War]]. When Russia attacked the Ottoman Empire in 1853, Greek leaders saw an opportunity to expand North and South into Ottoman areas that had a Christian majority. However, Greece did not coordinate its plans with Russia, did not declare war, and received no outside military or financial support. The French and British seized its major port and effectively neutralized the Greek army. Greek efforts to cause insurrections failed as they were easily crushed by Ottoman forces. Greece was not invited to the peace conference and made no gains out of the war. The frustrated Greek leadership blamed the King for failing to take advantage of the situation; his popularity plunged and he was later forced to abdicate. The [[Ionian Islands]] were given by Britain upon the arrival of the new King [[George I of Greece|George I]] in 1863 and [[Thessaly]] was ceded by the Ottomans in 1880.

===Modernization===
[[File:King George of Hellenes.jpg|thumb|180px|[[George I of Greece|George I]] was King of the Hellenes from 1862 to 1913]]

In the late 19th century, modernization transformed the social structure of Greece. The population grew rapidly, putting heavy pressure on the system of small farms with low productivity. Overall, population density more than doubled from 41 persons per square mile in 1829 to 114 in 1912 (16 to 44 per km<sup>2</sup>). One response was emigration to the United States, with a quarter million people leaving between 1906 and 1914. Entrepreneurs found numerous business opportunities in the retail and restaurant sectors of American cities; some sent money back to their families, others returned with hundreds of dollars, enough to purchase a farm or a small business in the old village. The urban population tripled from 8% in 1853 to 24% in 1907. Athens grew from a village of 6000 people in 1834, when it became the capital, to 63,000 in 1879, 111,000 in 1896, and 167,000 in 1907.<ref>{{harvnb|Myrsiades|Myrsiades|1992|pp=32–33}}.</ref>

In Athens and other cities, men arriving from rural areas set up workshops and stores, creating a middle class. They joined with bankers, professional men, university students, and military officers, to demand reform and modernization of the political and economic system. Athens became the center of the merchant marine, which quadrupled from 250,000 tons in 1875 to more than 1,000,000 tons in 1915. As the cities modernized, businessmen adopted the latest styles of Western European architecture.<ref>{{harvnb|Birēs|Kardamitsē-Adamē|2004|p=173}}.</ref>

===Balkan Wars===
{{Main|Goudi coup|Greece in the Balkan Wars}}
[[File:Vasileios Hatzis - Landing of Greek troops at Kavala.jpg|thumb|The landing of Greek troops in [[Kavala]] during the Balkan Wars]]

The participation of Greece in the [[Balkan Wars]] of 1912–1913 is one of the most important episodes in modern Greek history, as it allowed the Greek state to almost double its size and achieve most of its present territorial size. As a result of the Balkan Wars of 1912–1913, most of [[Epirus (region)|Epirus]], [[Macedonia (Greece)|Macedonia]], Crete and the northern [[Aegean islands]] were incorporated into the [[Kingdom of Greece]].

===World War I and Greco-Turkish War===
{{Main|Greece in World War I|Macedonian front|Provisional Government of National Defence|National Schism|Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)}}
[[File:1st Battalion of the National Defence army marches for the front.jpeg|thumb|right|200px|The I Battalion of the [[Army of National Defence]] marches on its way to the front, 1916. Greece joined united with the Allies side in summer 1917.]]
[[File:Greece in the Treaty of Sèvres.jpg|thumb|200px|A map of Greater Greece after the [[Treaty of Sèvres]], when the ''[[Megali Idea]]'' seemed close to fulfillment, featuring [[Eleftherios Venizelos]].]]
[[File:Greek Cavalry Asia Minor 1921.jpg|thumb|200px|Greek cavalry attacking during the [[Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)]].]]

The outbreak of [[World War I]] in 1914 produced a split in Greek politics, with [[Constantine I of Greece|King Constantine I]], an admirer of Germany, calling for neutrality while Prime Minister [[Eleftherios Venizelos]] pushed for Greece to join the Allies.<ref name="Clogg">{{harvnb|Clogg|2002|pp=86–98}}.</ref> The conflict between the monarchists and the Venizelists sometimes resulted in open warfare and became known as the [[National Schism]]. In 1917, the Allies forced Constantine to abdicate in favor of his son Alexander and Venizelos returned as premier. At the end of the war, the Great Powers agreed that the Ottoman city of [[Smyrna]] ([[Izmir]]) and its hinterland, both of which had large Greek populations, be handed over to Greece.<ref name="Clogg"/>

[[Occupation of Smyrna|Greek troops occupied Smyrna]] in 1919, and in 1920 the [[Treaty of Sèvres]] was signed by the Ottoman government; the treaty stipulated that in five years time a plebiscite would be held in Smyrna on whether the region would join Greece.<ref name="Clogg"/> However, [[Turkish National Movement|Turkish nationalists]], led by [[Kemal Atatürk|Mustafa Kemal Atatürk]], overthrew the Ottoman government and organised a military campaign against the Greek troops, resulting in the [[Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)]]. A major Greek offensive ground to a halt in 1921, and by 1922 Greek troops were in retreat. The Turkish forces recaptured Smyrna on 9 September 1922, and then [[Burning of Smyrna|a fire broke out in the city]]. It is debatable who is responsible for the fire. The fire resulted in the deaths of Armenians and Greeks in Smyrna.<ref name="Clogg"/>

The war was concluded by the [[Treaty of Lausanne (1923)]], according to which there was to be a [[population exchange between Greece and Turkey]] on the basis of religion. Over one million Orthodox Christians left Turkey in exchange for 400,000 Muslims from Greece.<ref name="Clogg"/> The events of 1919–1922 are regarded in Greece as a particularly calamitous period of history. Between 1914 and 1923, an estimated 750,000<ref name="Jones150-151">{{harvnb|Jones|2010|loc=pp. 150–151: "By the beginning of the First World War, a majority of the region's ethnic Greeks still lived in present-day Turkey, mostly in Thrace (the only remaining Ottoman territory in Europe, abutting the Greek border), and along the Aegean and Black Sea coasts. They would be targeted both prior to and alongside the Armenians of Anatolia and Assyrians of Anatolia and Mesopotamia...The major populations of "Anatolian Greeks" include those along the Aegean coast and in Cappadocia (central Anatolia), but not the Greeks of the Thrace region west of the Bosphorus...A "Christian genocide" framing acknowledges the historic claims of Assyrian and Greek peoples, and the movements now stirring for recognition and restitution among Greek and Assyrian diasporas. It also brings to light the quite staggering cumulative death toll among the various Christian groups targeted...of the 1.5 million Greeks of Asia minor – Ionians, Pontians, and Cappadocians – approximately 750,000 were massacred and 750,000 exiled. Pontian deaths alone totaled 353,000."}}</ref> to 900,000<ref name="Jones166">{{harvnb|Jones|2010|loc=p. 166: "An estimate of the Pontian Greek death toll at all stages of the anti-Christian genocide is about 350,000; for all the Greeks of the Ottoman realm taken together, the toll surely exceeded half a million, and may approach the 900,000 killed that a team of US researchers found in the early postwar period. Most surviving Greeks were expelled to Greece as part of the tumultuous "population exchanges" that set the seal on a heavily "Turkified" state."}}</ref> Greeks died at the hands of the Ottoman Turks, in what many scholars have termed a [[Greek genocide|genocide]].<ref name="Jones171–172">{{harvnb|Jones|2010|pp=171–172}}.</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Schaller|Zimmerer|2008|pp=7–14}}.</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=International Association of Genocide Scholars |title=Resolution on Genocides Committed by the Ottoman Empire |url=http://genocidescholars.org/images/Resolution_on_genocides_committed_by_the_Ottoman_Empire.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080428051032/http://genocidescholars.org/images/Resolution_on_genocides_committed_by_the_Ottoman_Empire.pdf |archive-date=2008-04-28 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Genocide Resolution approved by Swedish Parliament — full text|publisher=Armenia News – News.am|date=15 March 2010|access-date=18 July 2014|url=http://news.am/eng/news/16644.html}}</ref>

===Interwar to World War II===
{{See also|Second Hellenic Republic|4th of August Regime|Greece in World War II|Greek Resistance}}
[[File:Demonstration for the declaration of the Greek Republic - 1924.jpg|thumb|200px|left|Proclamation of the Second Hellenic Republic in 1924. Crowds holding placards depicting [[Alexandros Papanastasiou]], [[Georgios Kondylis]] and [[Alexandros Hatzikyriakos]]]]
[[File:Metaxas-regime-greek-fascism.png|thumb|200px|Members of the [[National Organisation of Youth]] (EON) salute in presence of dictator [[Ioannis Metaxas|Metaxas]] (1938)]]
[[File:AnatoliaCollege-SurrenderofGreece.jpg|thumb|200px|[[Georgios Tsolakoglou]] with [[Wehrmacht]] officers arrives at Macedonia Hall of [[Anatolia College]] in Thessaloniki, to sign the surrender (April 1941)]]
[[File:Vojski vo Grcija 1.jpg|thumb|200px|[[Greek Resistance]] cavalry during the Axis occupation]]

The [[Second Hellenic Republic]] was proclaimed in 1924 only to be disestablished in 1935 with the return of [[King George II of Greece]]. In August 1936, Prime Minister [[Ioannis Metaxas|Metaxas]], with the agreement of the king, suspended the parliament and established the quasi-fascist [[Metaxas regime]].

Despite the country's numerically small and ill-equipped armed forces, Greece made a decisive contribution to the [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] efforts in [[World War II]]. At the start of the war, Greece sided with the Allies and refused to give in to Italian demands. Italy invaded Greece by way of Albania on 28 October 1940, but Greek troops repelled the invaders after a bitter struggle (see [[Greco-Italian War]]). This marked the first Allied victory in the war.

Primarily to secure his strategic southern flank, German dictator [[Adolf Hitler]] reluctantly stepped in and launched the [[Battle of Greece]] in April 1941. Axis units from Germany, Bulgaria, and Italy successfully invaded Greece, through Yugoslavia, forcing out the Greek defenders. The Greek government eventually decided to stop the fighting and thus stopped sending ammunition and supplies to the northern front and the defenders were easily overrun. The Greek government then proceeded, as the Nazi forces came towards the capital of Athens, to leave for Crete and then Cairo, Egypt.

On 20 May 1941, the Germans attempted to [[Battle of Crete|seize Crete]] with a large attack by [[paratroop]]ers, with the aim of reducing the threat of a counter-offensive by Allied forces in [[Egypt]], but faced heavy resistance. The Greek campaign might have delayed German military plans against the Soviet Union, and it is argued that had the German invasion of the [[Soviet Union]] started on 20 May 1941 instead of 22 June 1941, the Nazi assault against the Soviet Union might have succeeded. The heavy losses of German paratroopers led the Germans to launch no further large-scale air-invasions.

During the [[Axis occupation of Greece]], thousands of Greeks died in direct combat, in concentration camps, or of starvation. The occupiers murdered the greater part of the [[Jews in Greece|Jewish community]] despite efforts by Christian Greeks to shelter the Jews. The economy of Greece was devastated.

When the Soviet Army began its drive across [[Romania]] in August 1944, the German Army in Greece began withdrawing north and northwestward from Greece into [[Yugoslavia]] and [[Albania]] to avoid being cut off in Greece. Hence, the German occupation of Greece ended in October 1944. The Resistance group [[Greek People's Liberation Army|ELAS]] seized control of Athens on 12 October 1944. British troops had already landed on 4 October in [[Patras]], and entered Athens on 14 October 1944.<ref>{{harvnb|Churchill|2010|p=285}}.</ref>

Christina Goulter summarizes the devastation done to Greece during the war:<ref>{{harvnb|Goulter|2014|pp=1023–1025}}.</ref>

:"Between 1941 and 1945, over 8% of the Greek population had died; some 2000 villages and small towns had been razed to the ground; starvation was widespread due to the destruction of crops and worsened in many parts of Greece after liberation when agricultural labourers migrated to urban centres to escape politically inspired violence in the countryside; trade either internally or externally had all but ceased; most of Greece's merchant marine lay at the bottom of the sea; and motorized transport had been confiscated by the axis occupiers."

===Greek Civil War (1944–1949)===
{{Further|Dekemvriana|Greek civil war}}
[[File:The British Army in Greece 1945 NA21427.jpg|thumb|200px|Clashes in Athens during the ''[[Dekemvriana]]'' events]]

The [[Greek Civil War]] ({{lang-el|Eμφύλιος πόλεμος |translit=Emfílios pólemos}}) was the first major confrontation of the [[Cold War]].<ref>{{harvnb|Shrader|1999|loc=p. 266: "As the first major confrontation of the Cold War, the Greek civil war was a testing ground for the tactics and techniques of insurgent-counterinsurgent warfare, which would mark military affairs for the ensuing four decades."}}</ref> It was fought between 1944 and 1949 in Greece between the nationalist/non-Marxist forces of Greece (financially supported by the [[United Kingdom]] at first, and later by the [[United States]]<ref>{{harvnb|Marantzidis|Antoniou|2004|pp=223–231}}.</ref>) and the [[Democratic Army of Greece]] (ELAS), which was the military branch of the [[Communist Party of Greece]] (KKE).

[[File:Gde.svg|thumb|Organization and military bases of the Communist led "[[Democratic Army of Greece|Democratic Army]]", as well as entry routes to Greece.]]

The conflict resulted in a victory for the British — and later U.S.-supported government forces, which led to Greece receiving American funds through the [[Truman Doctrine]] and the [[Marshall Plan]], as well as becoming a member of [[NATO]], which helped to define the ideological balance of power in the Aegean for the entire Cold War.

The first phase of the civil war occurred in 1943–1944. Marxist and non-Marxist resistance groups fought each other in a fratricidal conflict to establish the leadership of the Greek resistance movement. In the second phase (December 1944), the ascendant communists, in military control of most of Greece, confronted the returning Greek [[government in exile]], which had been formed under the auspices of the Western Allies in [[Cairo]] and originally included six KKE-affiliated ministers. In the third phase (called by some the "Third Round"), guerrilla forces controlled by the KKE fought against the internationally recognized Greek government which was formed after elections were boycotted by the KKE. Although the involvement of the KKE in the uprisings was universally known, the party remained legal until 1948, continuing to coordinate attacks from its Athens offices until [[proscription]].

The war, which lasted from 1946 to 1949, was characterised by guerilla warfare between the KKE forces and Greek governmental forces mainly in the mountain ranges of northern Greece. The war ended with the NATO bombing of Mount Grammos and the final defeat of the KKE forces. The civil war left Greece with a legacy of political polarization. As a result, Greece also entered into an alliance with the United States and joined NATO, while relationships with its communist northern neighbours, both pro-Soviet and neutral, became strained.

=== Postwar development and integration in Western Bloc (1949–1967) ===
In the 1950s and 1960s, Greece developed rapidly, initially with the help of the [[Marshall Plan]]'s grants and loans, also to decrease the communist influence. In 1952, by joining NATO, Greece clearly became part of the Western Bloc of the Cold War. But in Greek society, the deep divide between the leftist and rightist sections continued.

The Greek economy advanced further through growth in the tourism sector. New attention was given to [[women's rights]], and in 1952 [[women's suffrage|suffrage for women]] was guaranteed in the Constitution, full Constitutional equality following, and [[Lina Tsaldari]] becoming the first female minister that decade.

The [[Greek economic miracle]] is the period of sustained [[economic growth]], generally from 1950 to 1973. During this period, the [[Greek economy]] grew by an average of 7.7%, second in the world only to [[Japanese economic miracle|Japan]].<ref name="Angus Maddison">[[Angus Maddison]], [http://www.ggdc.net/MADDISON/Monitoring.shtml "Monitoring the World Economy 1820-1992"], OECD (1995)</ref><ref name="AllisonNicolaïdis1997">{{cite book|author1=Graham T. Allison|author2=Kalypso Nicolaïdis|title=The Greek Paradox: Promise Vs. Performance|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l4cON14zCgQC&pg=PA43|date=January 1997|publisher=MIT Press|isbn=978-0-262-51092-9|page=43|quote=phase of 1960 to 1973 (the period hailed by many as the "Greek economic miracle"), gross domestic product grew at an average annual rate of 7.7 percent, but exports of goods and services grew at the much higher average rate of 12.6 }}</ref>

=== Military dictatorship (1967–1974) ===
{{main|Greek military junta of 1967–1974|1974 Cypriot coup d'état}}
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-F0503-0204-005, Stuttgart, Maikundgebung.jpg|thumb|Protest against the junta by Greek political exiles in Germany, 1967]]

In 1967, the Greek military seized power in a [[coup d'état]], overthrowing the centre right government of [[Panagiotis Kanellopoulos]].<ref>{{harvnb|Clogg|2002|p=159}}.</ref> It established the [[Greek junta|Greek military junta of 1967–1974]] which became known as the ''Régime of the Colonels''. The junta government's accession to power led to an isolation of Greece from European affairs and froze Greece's entry to the European Union. In 1973, the régime abolished the [[Kings of Greece|Greek monarchy]] and in 1974, dictator [[Georgios Papadopoulos|Papadopoulos]] denied help to the United States. After a second coup that year, Colonel [[Dimitrios Ioannides|Ioannides]] was appointed as the new head-of-state.

Ioannides was responsible for the 1974 coup against President [[Makarios III|Makarios]] of Cyprus.<ref>{{harvnb|Bahcheli|Bartmann|Srebrnik|2004|p=167}}.</ref> The coup became the pretext for the first wave of the [[Turkish invasion of Cyprus]] in 1974 (see [[Greco-Turkish relations]]). The Cyprus events and the outcry following a bloody suppression of [[Athens Polytechnic uprising]] in Athens led to the implosion of the military régime.

=== Third Hellenic Republic (1974 – present) ===
{{main|Metapolitefsi|Third Hellenic Republic}}

After the end of the military régime, democracy was restored.

The fall of the junta was followed by the [[metapolitefsi]]. Metapolitefsi was initiated when [[Konstantinos Karamanlis]] returned from self-exile in Paris at the invitation of the junta, to become interim prime minister on July 23, 1974.<ref name="NATO">{{cite web|title=NATO Update 1974|date=26 October 2001|publisher=North Atlantic Treaty Organization|url=http://www.nato.int/docu/update/70-79/1974e.htm}}</ref> and later gained re-election for two further terms at the head of the conservative [[Nea Dimokratia|New Democracy Party]]. In August 1974, Greek forces withdrew from the integrated military structure of NATO in protest at the Turkish occupation of northern Cyprus.<ref>{{harvnb|Moustakis|2003|p=33}}.</ref>

In 1974, a referendum voted 69%–31% to confirm the deposition of King [[Constantine II of Greece|Constantine II]]. A democratic republican constitution came into force.<ref>{{harvnb|Featherstone|1990|p=182}}.</ref> Another previously exiled politician, [[Andreas Papandreou]] also returned and founded the [[socialist]] PASOK Party ([[Panhellenic Socialist Movement]]), which won the 1981 election and dominated Greek politics for almost two decades.<ref>{{harvnb|Coccossis|Psycharis|2008|loc=pp. 44–45 (including "Table 1: Periods of the Post-dictatorial Greek Governments")}}.</ref>

[[File:Persconferentie van Andreas Papandreaou in Poort van Cleve te Amsterdam, Bestanddeelnr 921-2803.jpg|thumb|120px|left|The socialist prime minister [[Andreas Papandreou]]]]

After the restoration of democracy, Greece's stability and economic prosperity improved significantly. Greece rejoined NATO in 1980, joined the [[European Union]] (EU) in 1981 and adopted the [[euro]] as its currency in 2001. New infrastructure funds from the EU and growing revenues from tourism, shipping, services, light industry and the telecommunications industry have brought Greeks an unprecedented standard of living. Tensions continue to exist between Greece and Turkey over Cyprus and the [[Aegean dispute|delimitation of borders]] in the [[Aegean Sea]] but relations have considerably thawed following successive earthquakes, first in Turkey and then in Greece, and an outpouring of sympathy and generous assistance by ordinary Greeks and Turks (see [[Greek-Turkish earthquake diplomacy|Earthquake Diplomacy]]).

===Greece in the Eurozone===
{{main|Greek government-debt crisis}}

The 2008 global economic recession impacted Greece, as well as the [[European debt crisis|rest of the countries in the eurozone]]. From late 2009, fears developed in investment markets of a [[sovereign debt crisis]] concerning Greece's ability to pay its debts, in view of the large increase in the country's [[government debt]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Matlock|first=George|title=Peripheral euro zone government bond spreads widen|work=Reuters|date=16 February 2010|access-date=19 July 2014|url= https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLDE61F0W720100216}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Acropolis now|agency=The Economist|date=29 April 2010|access-date=19 July 2014|url=http://www.economist.com/node/16009099}}</ref> This crisis of confidence was indicated by a widening of [[bond (finance)|bond]] [[yield spread]]s and risk insurance on [[credit default swap]]s compared to other countries, most importantly Germany.<ref>{{cite web|last=Matlock|first=George|title=Greek/German bond yield spread more than 1,000 bps|work=Reuters|date=28 April 2010|access-date=19 July 2014|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/markets-bonds-greece-idUSLDE63R0WU20100428}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Oakley|first1=David|last2=Hope|first2=Kerin|title=Gilt yields rise amid UK debt concerns|agency=Financial Times|date=18 February 2010|access-date=19 July 2014|url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/7d25573c-1ccc-11df-8d8e-00144feab49a.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/7d25573c-1ccc-11df-8d8e-00144feab49a.html |archive-date=2022-12-10 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> Downgrading of Greek government debt to [[junk bond]] status created alarm in financial markets. On 2 May 2010, the Eurozone countries and the [[International Monetary Fund]] agreed on a {{Nowrap|€110 billion}} loan for Greece, conditional on the implementation of harsh austerity measures.

In October 2011, Eurozone leaders also agreed on a proposal to write off 50% of Greek debt owed to private creditors, increasing the [[European Financial Stability Facility]] amount to about €1 trillion, and requiring European banks to achieve 9% capitalization to reduce the risk of [[Financial contagion|contagion]] to other countries. These austerity measures were extremely unpopular with the Greek public, precipitating demonstrations and civil unrest. This period corresponds to [[Greek government-debt crisis]], that changed dramatically the political stage. Early in the period, PASOK were able to capitalise on a loss of support for ND. However, by the early 2010s, PASOK were also attracting blame for their handling of the crisis, and the radical party [[SYRIZA]] became the largest party on the left. The position of the far-right was also strengthened in this period.

SYRIZA has since overtaken PASOK as the main party of the centre-left.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EYQgDQAAQBAJ&q=syriza%2520pasok%2520centre-left&pg=PA94|title=Radical Left Parties in Government: The Cases of SYRIZA and AKEL|isbn=9781137588418|last1=Katsourides|first1=Yiannos|date=22 September 2016|publisher=Springer }}</ref>[[Alexis Tsipras]] led SYRIZA to victory in the general election held on 25 January 2015, falling short of an outright majority in Parliament by just two seats.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-30975437|title = Greece election: Anti-austerity Syriza wins election|work = BBC News|date = 26 January 2015}}</ref> The following morning, Tsipras reached an agreement with Independent Greeks party to form a coalition, and he was sworn in as Prime Minister of Greece.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2015/jan/26/greece-election-syriza-victory-alexis-tsipras-coalition-talks-live-updates|title = Alexis Tsipras sworn in as new Greek prime minister – as it happened|newspaper = The Guardian|date = 26 January 2015|last1 = Tran (Now)|first1 = Mark}}</ref> Tsipras called snap elections in August 2015, resigning from his post, which led to a month-long caretaker administration headed by judge [[Vassiliki Thanou-Christophilou]], Greece's first female prime minister.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.economywatch.gr/vassiliki-thanou-christophilou-became-greeces-first-female-prime-minister/|title=Vassiliki Thanou-Christophilou became Greece's first female Prime Minister &#124; Economy Watch|access-date=2022-05-23|archive-date=2022-02-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220219034341/https://www.economywatch.gr/vassiliki-thanou-christophilou-became-greeces-first-female-prime-minister/|url-status=dead}}</ref> In the September 2015 general election, Alexis Tsipras led SYRIZA to another victory, winning 145 out of 300 seats<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34307795|title = Greece election: Alexis Tsipras hails 'victory of the people'|work = BBC News|date = 21 September 2015}}</ref> and re-forming the coalition with the Independent Greeks.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dw.com/en/greek-finance-minister-tsakalotos-takes-key-role-in-tsipras-new-cabinet/a-18731437|title = Greek Finance Minister Tsakalotos takes key role in Tsipras' new cabinet &#124; DW &#124; 23.09.2015|website = [[Deutsche Welle]]}}</ref> However, he was defeated in the July 2019 general [[2019 Greek legislative election|election]] by [[Kyriakos Mitsotakis]] who leads New Democracy.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jul/07/greeks-choose-between-beach-and-ballot-in-first-post-debt-bailout-poll|title = Greek elections: Landslide victory for centre-right New Democracy party|website = [[TheGuardian.com]]|date = 7 July 2019}}</ref> On 7 July 2019, Kyriakos Mitsotakis was sworn in as the new Prime Minister of Greece. He formed a centre-right government after the landslide victory of his New Democracy party.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/7/8/kyriakos-mitsotakis-sworn-in-as-greeces-new-prime-minister|title = New era as Mitsotakis is sworn in as Greece's new PM}}</ref>

In March 2020, Greece's parliament elected a non-partisan candidate, [[Katerina Sakellaropoulou]], as the first female [[President of Greece]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/3/13/greeces-first-female-president-sworn-in|title = Greece swears in first female president}}</ref>  In June 2023, conservative New Democracy party won the legislative [[June 2023 Greek legislative election|election]], meaning another four-year term as prime minister for Kyriakos Mitsotakis.<ref>{{cite news |title=New Democracy party wins landslide victory in Greek elections |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/6/25/greece-votes-in-parliamentary-polls-for-second-time-in-five-weeks |work=www.aljazeera.com |language=en}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[History of Crete]]
* [[History of Cyprus]]
* [[History of the Cyclades]]
* [[History of Thessaly]]
* [[History of Athens]]
* [[History of Macedonia]]
* [[History of Thrace]]
* [[History of the Greek language]]
* [[Timeline of Ancient Greece]]
* [[Timeline of modern Greek history]]
* [[Neolithic Greece]]
* [[Aegean civilization]]
* [[Cycladic culture]]
* [[Minoan civilization]]
* [[Mycenaean Greece]]
* [[Greek Dark Ages]]

'''Lists:'''
* [[List of ancient Greeks]]
* [[List of ancient Greek cities]]
* [[List of kings of Greece]]
* [[List of presidents of Greece]]
* [[List of prime ministers of Greece]]

'''General''':
* [[History of the Balkans]]
* [[History of Anatolia|History of Asia Minor]]
* [[Intermediate Region]]
* [[History of Europe]]

==References==

===Citations===
{{reflist|20em}}

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* {{cite book|last=Hooker|first=J.T.|title=Mycenaean Greece|year=1976|location=London|publisher=Routledge & Kegan Paul|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s0YbAAAAYAAJ|isbn=9780710083791}}
* {{cite book|last=Jones|first=Adam|title=Genocide: A Comprehensive Introduction|year=2010|location=London and New York|publisher=Routledge (Taylor & Francis)|isbn=978-0-20-384696-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BqdVudSuTRIC}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Marantzidis|first1=Nikos|last2=Antoniou|first2=Giorgios|title=The Axis Occupation and Civil War: Changing Trends in Greek Historiography, 1941–2002|journal=Journal of Peace Research|volume=41|number=2|year=2004|pages=223–241|url=http://jpr.sagepub.com/content/41/2/223.abstract|doi=10.1177/0022343304041779|s2cid=144037807}}
* {{cite book|last=Moustakis|first=Fotos|title=The Greek-Turkish Relationship and NATO|year= 2003|location=London and Portland|publisher=Frank Cass|isbn=978-0-20-300966-6|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=io6RAgAAQBAJ}}
* {{cite book|last1=Myrsiades|first1=Linda S.|last2=Myrsiades|first2=Kostas|title=Karagiozis: Culture & Comedy in Greek Puppet Theater|year=1992|location=Lexington, KY|publisher=University Press of Kentucky|isbn=0813133106|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m26U5xFFiTQC}}
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* {{cite book|last=Pullen|first=Daniel|chapter=The Early Bronze Age in Greece|editor-last=Shelmerdine|editor-first=Cynthia W.|editor-link=Cynthia W. Shelmerdine|title=The Cambridge Companion to the Aegean Bronze Age|year=2008|pages=19–46|location=Cambridge and New York|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-81444-7|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dF40qLIJlAkC}}
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{{refend}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin|20em}}
* {{cite book|last1=Boardman|first1=John|last2=Griffin|first2=Jasper|last3=Murray|first3=Oswyn|title=The Oxford History of Greece & the Hellenistic World|year=1991|orig-year=1986|location=Oxford and New York|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-285247-2|url=https://archive.org/details/oxfordhistoryofg00boar|url-access=registration}}
* {{cite book|last=Brewer|first=David|title=Greece, The Hidden Centuries: Turkish Rule from the Fall of Constantinople to Greek Independence|year=2010|location=London and New York|publisher=I.B. Tauris|isbn=978-0-85-773004-6|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k5v3AgAAQBAJ}}
* {{cite book|last=Burn|first=Andrew Robert|title=The Penguin History of Greece|year=1990|location=Harmondsworth|publisher=Penguin Books|isbn=978-0-14-013751-4|url=https://archive.org/details/penguinhistoryof00burn|url-access=registration}}
* {{cite book|last=Cartledge|first=Paul|title=The Cambridge Illustrated History of Ancient Greece|year=2002|location=Cambridge|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-52-152100-0|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G91mQgAACAAJ}}
* {{cite book|last=Chadwick|first=John|author-link=John Chadwick|title=The Mycenaean World|location=Cambridge, UK|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1976|isbn=978-0-521-29037-1|url=https://archive.org/details/mycenaeanworld00chad|url-access=registration}}
* {{cite book|last=Demand|first=Nancy H.|title =A History of Ancient Greece in Its Mediterranean Context|year=2006|location=Cornwall-on-Hudson, NY|publisher=Sloan Publishing|isbn=978-1-59-738003-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XpKgAAAAMAAJ}}
* {{cite book|last=Grant|first= Michael|title=A Social History of Greece and Rome|year=1992|location=New York|publisher=Scribner (Maxwell Macmillan International)|isbn=978-0-68-419309-0|url=https://archive.org/details/socialhistoryofg00gran|url-access=registration}}
* {{cite book|last1=Koliopoulos|first1=John S.|last2=Veremis|first2=Thanos M.|title=Modern Greece: A History since 1821|year=2010|location=Chichester and Malden|publisher=John Wile & Sons|isbn=978-1-44-431483-0|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qumwwKbI0TQC}}
* {{cite book|last=Latacz|first=Joachim|author-link=Joachim Latacz|chapter=Between Troy and Homer. The So-Called Dark Ages in Greece|title=Storia, Poesia e Pensiero nel Mondo Antico. Studi in Onore di Marcello Gigante|year=1994|location=Naples|publisher=Bibliopolis|isbn=978-8-87-088285-8|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jGEXAQAAIAAJ}}
* {{cite book|last=Maran|first=Joseph|title=Kulturwandel auf dem griechischen Festland und den Kykladen im späten 3. Jahrtausend v. Chr.|year=1998|location=Bonn|publisher=Habelt|language=de|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jvERAQAAMAAJ|isbn=978-3-77-492870-1}}
* {{cite book|last=Mylonas|first=George Emmanuel|title=Mycenae and the Mycenaean Age|year=1966|location=Princeton, NJ|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=9780691035239|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wozpAAAAMAAJ}}
* {{cite book|last=Podzuweit|first=Christian|chapter=Die mykenische Welt und Troja|editor-last=Hänsel|editor-first=B.|title=Südosteuropa zwischen 1600 und 1000 v. Chr.|location=Berlin|year=1982|publisher=Prahistorische Archäologie in Sudosteuropa|language=de|pages=65–88}}
* {{cite book|last1=Runnels|first1=Curtis Neil|last2=Murray|first2=Priscilla|title=Greece before History: An Archaeological Companion and Guide|location=Stanford, CA|publisher=Stanford University Press|year=2001|isbn=978-0-8047-4050-0|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rg4rTjo0OCQC}}
* {{cite book|last1=Pomeroy|first1=Sarah B.|last2=Burstein|first2=Stanley M.|last3=Donlan|first3=Walter|last4=Roberts|first4=Jennifer Tolbert|title=A Brief History of Ancient Greece: Politics, Society and Culture|year=2009|location=New York and Oxford|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-537235-9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6NMrAQAAIAAJ}}
* {{cite book|last=Taylour|first=Lord William|title=The Mycenaeans|year=1990|orig-year=1964|location=London|publisher=Thames & Hudson, Limited|isbn=978-0-50-027586-3|url=https://archive.org/details/mycenaeans00tayl|url-access=registration}}
* {{cite book|last=Woodhouse|first=Christopher Montague|title=Modern Greece: A Short History|year=1991|location=London and Boston|publisher=Faber and Faber|isbn=978-0-57-116122-5|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oF6dQgAACAAJ}}
{{refend}}

===Historiography===
* Boletsi, M. "The futurity of things past: Thinking Greece beyond crisis." ''Inaugural Speech as Marilena Laskaridis Chair of Modern Greek Studies, Amsterdam, Netherlands'' 21 (2018) [https://web.archive.org/web/20200328085132/https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/9475/f627487c489fd8450d2fee6216e46ef6f3c4.pdf online].
* Tziovas, Dimitris. "The study of modern Greece in a changing world: fading allure or potential for reinvention?." ''Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies'' 40.1 (2016): 114–125. [https://www.academia.edu/attachments/55056689/download_file?st=MTU4NTM4NTgyNiw5OC4xMjcuMzUuMTI4LDQ1Njg5ODk%3D&s=profile online]

==External links==
{{Commons category|History of Greece}}
* [http://www.hellenism.net/greek_history.html A Visual Illustrated Timeline of the History of Greece] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150312195604/http://www.hellenism.net/greek_history.html |date=2015-03-12 }}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090101104332/http://projectsx.dartmouth.edu/classics/history/bronze_age/index.html The Prehistoric Archaeology of the Aegean]
* [http://eudocs.lib.byu.edu/index.php/History_of_Greece:_Primary_Documents History of Greece: Primary Documents]
* [http://www.ahistoryofgreece.com/ A Short History of Greece]

{{History of Europe}}
{{European history by country}}
{{Greece topics}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:History Of Greece}}
[[Category:History of Greece| ]]