Timeline of modern Greek history
Encyclopedia

Greek War of Independence (1821-1829)

  • 1821, March 25: Metropolitan Germanos of Patras
    Germanos of Patras
    Germanos was an Orthodox Metropolitan of Patras.Germanos was born in Dimitsana, northwestern Arcadia, Peloponnese...

     blesses a big Greek flag at the Monastery of Agia Lavra. Greece
    Greece
    Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

     declares its independence. Beginning of the Greek War of Independence
    Greek War of Independence
    The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution was a successful war of independence waged by the Greek revolutionaries between...

    .
  • 1821, 10 April, Easter
    Easter
    Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...

     Monday: Ecumenical Patriarch Gregory V of Constantinople is hanged in the central outside portal of the Patriarchate by the Ottomans. The door has remained shut and out of use ever since
  • 1821, 17 April: Former Ecumenical Patriarch Cyril VI is hanged in the gate of the Adrianople's cathedral
  • 1821, 4 April: Constantine Mourousis
    Mourousis family
    The Mourousis or Moruzi are a family which was first mentioned in the Empire of Trebizond. Its origins have been lost, but the two prevalent theories are that they were either a local family originating in a village which has a related name or else one that arrived with the Venetians during the...

    , Dimitrios Paparigopoulos and Antonios Tsouras are decapitated by the Ottomans in Constantinople
    Constantinople
    Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...

  • 1821, 5 April: The Phanariotes
    Phanariotes
    Phanariots, Phanariotes, or Phanariote Greeks were members of those prominent Greek families residing in Phanar , the chief Greek quarter of Constantinople, where the Ecumenical Patriarchate is situated.For all their cosmopolitanism and often Western education, the Phanariots were...

     Petros Tsigris, Dimitrios Skanavis and Manuel Hotzeris are decapitated, while Georgios Mavrocordatos
    Mavrocordatos
    Mavrocordatos was the name of a family of Phanariot Greeks, distinguished in the history of the Ottoman Empire, Wallachia, Moldavia, and modern Greece...

     is hanged by the Sultan forces in Constantinople
  • 1821, 23–24 April: Battle of Alamana
    Battle of Alamana
    The Battle of Alamana was fought between the Greeks and the Ottoman Empire during the Greek War of Independence on April 22nd, 1821.-Battle:...

    . After the Greek defeat, Athanasios Diakos
    Athanasios Diakos
    Athanasios Diakos , a Greek military commander during the Greek War of Independence and a national hero, was born Athanasios Nikolaos Massavetas in the village of Ano Mousounitsa, Phocis.-Early life:...

     is impaled on a spit.
  • 1821, 4 May: Metropolitans Gregorios of Derkon, Dorotheos of Adrianople, Ioannikios of Tyrnavos
    Tyrnavos
    Tyrnavos is a municipality in the Larissa regional unit, of the Thessaly region of Greece. Tyrnavos is the prefecture's third largest community within the Larissa prefecture. The town is near the mountains and the Thessalian Plain. The river Titarisios, a tributary of the Pineios, flows through...

    , Joseph of Thessaloniki
    Thessaloniki
    Thessaloniki , historically also known as Thessalonica, Salonika or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the region of Central Macedonia as well as the capital of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace...

    , and the Phanariote
    Phanariotes
    Phanariots, Phanariotes, or Phanariote Greeks were members of those prominent Greek families residing in Phanar , the chief Greek quarter of Constantinople, where the Ecumenical Patriarchate is situated.For all their cosmopolitanism and often Western education, the Phanariots were...

     Georgios Callimachi
    Callimachi family
    Callimachi, Calimachi, or Kallimachi was a Moldavian boyar and princely family, originating with a group of free peasants living in the Orhei area of Bessarabia. It still remains present today in modern Romania.-Members:*Vasile Călmaşul: b...

     and Nikolaos Mourousis
    Mourousis family
    The Mourousis or Moruzi are a family which was first mentioned in the Empire of Trebizond. Its origins have been lost, but the two prevalent theories are that they were either a local family originating in a village which has a related name or else one that arrived with the Venetians during the...

     are decapitated on Sultan orders in Constantinople
    Constantinople
    Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...

  • 1821, May: The governor Yusuf Bey orders his men to kill every Greek in Thessaloniki
    Thessaloniki
    Thessaloniki , historically also known as Thessalonica, Salonika or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the region of Central Macedonia as well as the capital of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace...

     that they find. The killings last for days, with the metropolitan and leading notables among the victims
  • 1821, 2 June: Destruction of Kydonies
    Ayvalik
    Ayvalık is a seaside town on the northwestern Aegean coast of Turkey. It is a district of the Balıkesir Province.It was alternatively called by the town's formerly indigenous Greek population, although the use of the name Ayvalık was widespread for centuries among both the Turks and the Greeks...

     in Asia Minor
    Asia Minor
    Asia Minor is a geographical location at the westernmost protrusion of Asia, also called Anatolia, and corresponds to the western two thirds of the Asian part of Turkey...

     by the Ottoman army. Tens of thousands of Greek inhabitants become refugees
  • 1821, 24 June: The massacre of Heraklion
    Heraklion
    Heraklion, or Heraclion is the largest city and the administrative capital of the island of Crete, Greece. It is the 4th largest city in Greece....

     or 'the great ravage' takes place against the Greek community in Crete
    Crete
    Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...

    . Among the victims are the metropolitan of Crete and bishops
  • 1821, 9 July: The head of the Cypriot Orthodox Church
    Cypriot Orthodox Church
    The Church of Cyprus is an autocephalous Greek church within the communion of Orthodox Christianity. It is one of the oldest Eastern Orthodox autocephalous churches, achieving independence from the Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East in 431...

     Archbishop Kyprianos
    Kyprianos
    Archbishop Kyprianos of Cyprus was the head of the Cypriot Orthodox Church in the early 19th century at the time that the Greek War of Independence broke out....

    , along with 486 prominent Greek Cypriots, amongst them the Metropolitans Chrysanthos of Paphos
    Paphos
    Paphos , sometimes referred to as Pafos, is a coastal city in the southwest of Cyprus and the capital of Paphos District. In antiquity, two locations were called Paphos: Old Paphos and New Paphos. The currently inhabited city is New Paphos. It lies on the Mediterranean coast, about west of the...

    , Meletios of Kition and Lavrentios of Kyrenia
    Kyrenia
    Kyrenia is a town on the northern coast of Cyprus, noted for its historic harbour and castle. Internationally recognised as part of the Republic of Cyprus, Kyrenia has been under Turkish control since the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974...

    , are executed by beheading or hanging by the Ottomans in Nicosia
    Nicosia
    Nicosia from , known locally as Lefkosia , is the capital and largest city in Cyprus, as well as its main business center. Nicosia is the only divided capital in the world, with the southern and the northern portions divided by a Green Line...

  • 1821, July: Küçük Mehmet carries out several days of massacres of Greek Cypriots in Cyprus since July 9 and continues on for forty days, despite the Vizier's command to end the plundering since 20 July 1821
  • 1821, 11 September: Tripoli
    Siege of Tripolitsa
    The Siege of Tripolitsa or the Fall of Tripolitsa to Greek rebels in the summer of 1821 marked an early victory in the Greek War of Independence against the Ottoman Empire, which had begun earlier in that year....

     falls to the Greeks, who proceed to eliminate the Ottoman garrison, officials and civilians. A total of about 30,000 people perish
  • 1821, 15 October: A Turkish Cypriot mob hangs most of the Greek Cypriots in Larnaca
    Larnaca
    Larnaca, is the third largest city on the southern coast of Cyprus after Nicosia and Limassol. It has a population of 72,000 and is the island's second largest commercial port and an important tourist resort...

     and other towns, among them an archbishop, five bishops, thirty six ecclesiastics
  • 1822, 9 April: After a month's resistance, the city of Naousa
    Naousa
    Naousa is the name of several places in Greece:*Naousa, Imathia, a town in Imathia*Naoussa, Paros, a village on the island Paros, Cyclades...

     is captured by Abdul Abud, laying the city to waste and massacring its Greek population. Ending of the Greek revolution in Macedonia
  • 1822: The Chios massacre
    Chios Massacre
    The Chios Massacre refers to the slaughter of tens of thousands of Greeks on the island of Chios by Ottoman troops during the Greek War of Independence in 1822. Greeks from neighbouring islands arrived on Chios and encouraged the Chians to join the struggle for independence. In response, Ottoman...

     takes place. A total of about 100,000 people perish
  • 1822, 26 July, Battle at Dervenakia. A decisive victory of the Greeks which saved the revolution
  • 1823, 18 January: Nafplio becomes the seat of the Revolutionary Government
  • 1823, March: The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
    United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
    The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....

    , under George Canning
    George Canning
    George Canning PC, FRS was a British statesman and politician who served as Foreign Secretary and briefly Prime Minister.-Early life: 1770–1793:...

    , recognizes the Greeks as a nation at war, thus recognizing de facto the Greek Independence
  • 1824, 7–8 June: The island of Kasos
    Kasos
    Kasos is a Greek island municipality in the Dodecanese. It is the southernmost island in the Aegean Sea, and is part of the Karpathos peripheral unit. As of 2001, its population was 990. The island has been called in , .-Geography:...

     is completely destroyed
    Kasos massacre
    The Kasos massacre was the massacre of Greek civilians during the Greek War of Independence.On 7 June 1824, Mehmet Ali's men landed on Kasos and killed around 7,000 inhabitants. Reprisals were committed after the Greek Christian population rebelled against the Ottoman Empire; the island was burnt...

     by the Turkish-Egyptian forces of Hussein Rushdi Pasha
    Hussein Rushdi Pasha
    Husayn, Pasha Rushdi was an Egyptian political figure of Turkish originwho served as Prime Minister of Egypt between 1914 and 1919. Under pressure from British authorities, Rushdi issued a “Decision of the Council of Ministers” which essentially declared war against the Central Powers in the...

    . About 7,000 people perish
  • 1824, 21 June: More than 15,000 Greeks of Psara
    Psara
    Psara is a Greek island in the Aegean Sea. Together with the small uninhabited island of Antipsara it forms the municipality of Psara. It is part of the Chios peripheral unit, which is part of the North Aegean Periphery. The only town of the island and seat of the municipality is also called...

     are slaughtered by the forces of Husrev Pasha
  • 1824: The First Siege of Missolonghi takes place
  • 1825, 22 May: Laskarina Bouboulina
    Laskarina Bouboulina
    Laskarina Bouboulina , 11 May 1771 - 22 May 1825) was a Greek naval commander, heroine of the Greek War of Independence in 1821, and posthumously, an Admiral of the Imperial Russian Navy.-Early life:...

     is assassinated in Spetses
    Spetses
    Spetses is an island and a municipality in the Islands regional unit, Attica, Greece. It is sometimes included as one of the Saronic Islands. Until 1948, it was part of the old prefecture of Argolidocorinthia, which is now split into Argolis and Corinthia...

  • 1825, 5 June: Odysseas Androutsos
    Odysseas Androutsos
    Odysseas Androutsos ; was a hero of the Greek War of Independence.-Early life:He was born in Ithaca in 1788, however his family was from the village of Livanates in Phthiotis prefecture...

     is assassinated in Athens
    Athens
    Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...

  • 1825, 22 June: Ibrahim Pasha retakes Tripoli
    Tripoli, Greece
    Tripoli is a city of about 25,000 inhabitants in the central part of the Peloponnese, in Greece. It is the capital of the prefecture of Arcadia and the centre of the municipality of Tripolis, pop...

    , kills the Greek population and destroys the city and its walls
  • 1825, 6 November: Beginning of the Third Siege of Missolonghi
  • 1826, 10–11 April: The Sortie of Missolonghi takes place. Approximately 8,000 Greek soldiers and civilians perish
  • 1826, 24 June: Battle of Vergas
    Battle of Vergas
    The Ottoman-Egyptian Invasion of Mani was a campaign during the Greek War of Independence that consisted of three battles. The Maniots fought against a combined Egyptian and Ottoman army under the command of Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt....

  • 1826, 11 November: Prime Minister Andreas Zaimis transfers the seat of the government to Aegina
    Aegina
    Aegina is one of the Saronic Islands of Greece in the Saronic Gulf, from Athens. Tradition derives the name from Aegina, the mother of Aeacus, who was born in and ruled the island. During ancient times, Aegina was a rival to Athens, the great sea power of the era.-Municipality:The municipality...

  • 1827, 22–24 April: Battle of Phaleron
    Battle of Phaleron
    The Battle of Phaleron took place on April 24, 1827. The revolting Greek forces were being besieged inside the Acropolis of Athens by Ottoman forces under the command of Mehmed Reshid Pasha. Greek forces outside the city were desperately trying to break the siege.-Battle:The Scottish Lord Cochrane...

    . Georgios Karaiskakis
    Georgios Karaiskakis
    Georgios Karaiskakis born Georgios Iskos was a famous Greek klepht, armatolos, military commander, and a hero of the Greek War of Independence.- Early life :...

     is killed in action
  • 1827, July 6: Signing of the Treaty of London
    Treaty of London, 1827
    The Treaty of London was signed by the United Kingdom, France, and Russia on 6 July 1827. The three main European powers had called upon Greece and the Ottoman Empire to cease hostilities. The Greeks had revolted against Ottoman rule on March 6, 1821. The revolt had continued since that time...

  • 1827, 20 October: Battle of Navarino
    Battle of Navarino
    The naval Battle of Navarino was fought on 20 October 1827, during the Greek War of Independence in Navarino Bay , on the west coast of the Peloponnese peninsula, in the Ionian Sea. A combined Ottoman and Egyptian armada was destroyed by a combined British, French and Russian naval force...

  • 1828, 24 January: John Capodistria is elected Governor of Greece
  • 1828, 31 January: Alexander Ypsilantis
    Alexander Ypsilantis (1792-1828)
    Alexander Ypsilantis, Ypsilanti, or Alexandros Ypsilantis was a member of a prominent Phanariot Greek family, a prince of the Danubian Principalities, a senior officer of the Imperial Russian cavalry during the Napoleonic Wars, and a leader of the Filiki Eteria, a secret organization that...

     dies in Vienna
    Vienna
    Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...


First Hellenic Republic (1829–1832)

The First Hellenic Republic (Greek: Αʹ Ελληνική Δημοκρατία) is a historiographic term used for a series of councils and "Provisional Governments" during the Greek War of Independence. In the first stages of the uprising, various areas elected their own regional governing councils. These were replaced by central administration at the First National Assembly of Epidaurus in early 1822, which also adopted the first Greek Constitution. A series of National Assemblies followed, while Greece was threatened with collapse due to civil war and the victories of Ibrahim Pasha. In 1827, the Third National Assembly at Troezen selected Count Ioannis Capodistrias as Governor of Greece for seven years. He arrived in 1828 and established the Hellenic State, ruling with quasi-dictatorial powers. He was assassinated by political rivals in 1831 and was succeeded by his brother, Augustinos Kapodistrias until the Great Powers declared Greece a Kingdom and selected the Bavarian Prince Otto to be its king!!!!!

Reign of King Otto (1833–1862)

  • 1843, 3 September: Military coup and revolution caused by the King's refusal to grant a constitution. King Otto agrees to convene a National Assembly to prepare a constitution
  • 1843, 15 September: Andreas Metaxas
    Andreas Metaxas
    Andreas Metaxas was a Greek politician born on the island of Cephalonia.During the latter part of the War of Independence he accompanied Kapodistrias to Greece, and was appointed by him Minister of War...

     becomes the first Constitutional Prime Minister of Greece
  • 1844, March 18: The Greek Constitution of 1844
    Greek Constitution of 1844
    The first constitution of the Kingdom of Greece was the Greek Constitution of 1844. On 3 September 1843, the military garrison of Athens, with the help of citizens, rebelled and demanded from King Otto the concession of a Constitution....

     is voted into effect
  • 1850, 4 January: Pacifico incident
    Pacifico incident
    The Don Pacifico Affair concerned a Portuguese Jew, named David Pacifico , who was a trader and the Portuguese consul in Athens during the reign of King Otto. Pacifico was born in Gibraltar, a British possession. He was therefore a British subject...

    . Blockade of the port of Piraeus by the British fleet
  • 1854, 14 May: Anglo-French occupation of Piraeus to ensure Greek neutrality during the Crimean War
    Crimean War
    The Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...

    , although a Greek volunteer battalion participates in the Siege of Sevastopol. Cholera
    Cholera
    Cholera is an infection of the small intestine that is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The main symptoms are profuse watery diarrhea and vomiting. Transmission occurs primarily by drinking or eating water or food that has been contaminated by the diarrhea of an infected person or the feces...

     epidemic begins in the capital, transmitted by the foreign troops
  • 1861: Assassination attempt against Queen Amalia
  • 1862, 10 October: Military coup. Otto leaves the throne and the country

Reign of King George I (1863–1913)

  • 1863: Prince William of Denmark
    George I of Greece
    George I was King of Greece from 1863 to 1913. Originally a Danish prince, George was only 17 years old when he was elected king by the Greek National Assembly, which had deposed the former king Otto. His nomination was both suggested and supported by the Great Powers...

     becomes the new King of the Hellenes
  • 1864, 2 May: Britain donates the Ionian Islands
    Ionian Islands
    The Ionian Islands are a group of islands in Greece. They are traditionally called the Heptanese, i.e...

     to Greece, as coronation gift to King George I
  • 1864: Assassination attempt against Alexandros Koumoundouros
    Alexandros Koumoundouros
    Alexandros Koumoundouros was a Greek politician. Born in Kampos Avias located in the Messenian side of the Mani Peninsula, he was the son of Spirìdonas-Galànis Koumoundoùros who was the Bey of the area during the last period of the administration of the region by the Ottoman Empire.He was a...

  • 1864, 7 August: Greece has a new constitution
    Greek Constitution of 1864
    The Second National Assembly of the Hellenes took place in Athens and dealt both with the election of a new sovereign as well as with the drafting of a new Constitution, thereby implementing the transition from constitutional monarchy to a Crowned Democracy.Following the refusal of Prince Alfred...

     which establishes a Constitutional Monarchy
    Constitutional monarchy
    Constitutional monarchy is a form of government in which a monarch acts as head of state within the parameters of a constitution, whether it be a written, uncodified or blended constitution...

  • 1864, 28 November: New constitution, unicameral assembly and constitutional monarchy created
  • 1866: Beginning of the Great Cretan Revolution (1866–1869)
    Cretan Revolt (1866–1869)
    The Cretan Revolt of 1866–1869 or Great Cretan Revolution was a three year uprising against Ottoman rule, the third and largest in a series of Cretan revolts between the end of the Greek War of Independence in 1830 and the establishment of the independent Cretan State in 1898.-Background:The...

    . The exiled King Otto donates most of his fortune for the cause
  • 1877, 2 September: The hero of the War of Independence and current Prime Minister Constantine Kanaris
    Constantine Kanaris
    Constantine Kanaris or Canaris was a Greek Prime Minister, admiral and politician who in his youth was also a freedom fighter, pirate, privateer and merchantman.-Early life:...

     dies
  • 1878, 13 June: Beginning of the Treaty of Berlin
    Treaty of Berlin, 1878
    The Treaty of Berlin was the final act of the Congress of Berlin , by which the United Kingdom, Austria-Hungary, France, Germany, Italy, Russia and the Ottoman Empire under Sultan Abdul Hamid II revised the Treaty of San Stefano signed on March 3 of the same year...

    . Eastern Rumelia
    Eastern Rumelia
    Eastern Rumelia or Eastern Roumelia was an administratively autonomous province in the Ottoman Empire and Principality of Bulgaria from 1878 to 1908. It was under full Bulgarian control from 1885 on, when it willingly united with the tributary Principality of Bulgaria after a bloodless revolution...

     becomes autonomous province of the Ottoman Empire
  • 1878, Summer: Cretan uprising, halted speedily through British intervention.
  • 1880-1920: Approximately 400,000 Greeks emigrate to America due to widespread unemployment and economic problems.
  • 1881, 3 April: Earthquake strikes Chios
    1881 Chios earthquake
    The 1881 Chios earthquake occurred at 11:30 UTC on 3 April. It caused severe damage on the island of Chios and also affected Çeşme and Alaçatı on the coast of Turkey. The earthquake had an estimated magnitude of 7.3 and there were an estimated 7,866 casualties...

    . 3,550 people are reported dead
  • 1881: Thessaly
    Thessaly
    Thessaly is a traditional geographical region and an administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thessaly was known as Aeolia, and appears thus in Homer's Odyssey....

     becomes part of Greece
  • 1882, 3 March: Prime Minister Alexandros Koumoundouros
    Alexandros Koumoundouros
    Alexandros Koumoundouros was a Greek politician. Born in Kampos Avias located in the Messenian side of the Mani Peninsula, he was the son of Spirìdonas-Galànis Koumoundoùros who was the Bey of the area during the last period of the administration of the region by the Ottoman Empire.He was a...

     resigns
  • 1885, May: Prime Minister Theodoros Deligiannis
    Theodoros Deligiannis
    Theodoros Deligiannis, also spelled Delijannis and Deliyannis, , was a Greek statesman.-Life:He was born at Lagkadia, Arcadia. He studied law in Athens, and in 1843 entered the Ministry of the Interior, of which department he became permanent secretary in 1859. In 1862, on the deposition of King...

     mobilizes the Greek Army in accordance with the Bulgarian revolt. Fearing modification of the Treaty of Berlin, the British Royal Navy blockades Greece
  • 1885, 6 September: Bloodless revolution in Eastern Rumelia and unification of the province with Bulgaria
  • 1893: Completion of the Corinth Canal
    Corinth Canal
    The Corinth Canal is a canal that connects the Gulf of Corinth with the Saronic Gulf in the Aegean Sea. It cuts through the narrow Isthmus of Corinth and separates the Peloponnesian peninsula from the Greek mainland, thus effectively making the former an island. The builders dug the canal through...

  • 1894, 27 April: Earthquake strikes Atalanti
    Atalanti
    Atalanti is a town and a former municipality in southeastern Phthiotis, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Lokroi, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit. Atalanti is a known market town, and it was the capital of the former Locris Province....

    . 255 people are dead
  • 1896, 6 April: Opening ceremonies of the first modern Olympic Games
    1896 Summer Olympics
    The 1896 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the I Olympiad, was a multi-sport event celebrated in Athens, Greece, from April 6 to April 15, 1896. It was the first international Olympic Games held in the Modern era...

     in Athens
  • 1897, January: Cretan Rebellion. Greece refuses an Ottoman offer of an autonomous administration in Crete and mobilizes for war
  • 1897, 25 February: Greece refuses to withdraw the Greek volunteers from Crete. The Great Powers announce a blockade on Greece
  • 1897, 17 April: The Ottoman Empire declares war against Greece. Greco-Turkish War (1897)
    Greco-Turkish War (1897)
    The Greco-Turkish War of 1897, also called the Thirty Days' War and known as the Black '97 in Greece, was a war fought between the Kingdom of Greece and Ottoman Empire. Its immediate cause was the question over the status of the Ottoman province of Crete, whose Greek majority long desired union...

  • 1897, 27 April: Greece loses the war, agrees to give up Crete to international administration, to minor territorial concessions in Thessaly in favor of the Turks and to pay a large indemnity
  • 1898: Creation of the Cretan State
    Cretan State
    The Cretan State was established in 1898, following the intervention by the Great Powers on the island of Crete. In 1897 an insurrection in Crete led the Ottoman Empire to declare war on Greece, which led the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Russia to intervene on the grounds that the Ottoman...

  • 1904: Beginning of the Greek Struggle for Macedonia
    Greek Struggle for Macedonia
    The Macedonian Struggle was a series of social, political, cultural and military conflicts between Greeks and Bulgarians in the region of Ottoman Macedonia between 1904 and 1908...

  • 1904, 13 October: Pavlos Melas
    Pavlos Melas
    Pavlos Melas was an officer of the Hellenic Army, and he was among the first who organized and participated in the Greek Struggle for Macedonia....

     is killed in Macedonia
    Macedonia (region)
    Macedonia is a geographical and historical region of the Balkan peninsula in southeastern Europe. Its boundaries have changed considerably over time, but nowadays the region is considered to include parts of five Balkan countries: Greece, the Republic of Macedonia, Bulgaria, Albania, Serbia, as...

  • 1905, 13 June: Assassination of Prime Minister Theodoros Deligiannis
  • 1908: Cretan deputies declare unilateral union with Greece
  • 1910, January: The Military League forces Parliament and King George I
    George I of Greece
    George I was King of Greece from 1863 to 1913. Originally a Danish prince, George was only 17 years old when he was elected king by the Greek National Assembly, which had deposed the former king Otto. His nomination was both suggested and supported by the Great Powers...

     to summon a National Assembly to revise the Constitution of Greece.
  • 1910, March 6: A protest in Kileler
    Kileler
    Kileler is a village and a municipality in the peripheral unit of Larissa in Greece. The seat of the municipality is in Nikaia...

     by the serfs of Thessaly
    Thessaly
    Thessaly is a traditional geographical region and an administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thessaly was known as Aeolia, and appears thus in Homer's Odyssey....

     for agricultural reform is violently suppressed by the Army
  • 1910, 2 October: Eleftherios Venizelos
    Eleftherios Venizelos
    Eleftherios Venizelos was an eminent Greek revolutionary, a prominent and illustrious statesman as well as a charismatic leader in the early 20th century. Elected several times as Prime Minister of Greece and served from 1910 to 1920 and from 1928 to 1932...

     becomes Prime Minister of Greece

First Balkan War

  • 1912, 8 October: The members states of the Balkan League
    Balkan League
    The Balkan League was an alliance formed by a series of bilateral treaties concluded in 1912 between the Balkan states of Bulgaria, Greece, Montenegro and Serbia, and directed against the Ottoman Empire, which at the time still controlled much of the Balkan peninsula...

    , after issuing ultimata, declare war on Turkey. Beginning of the First Balkan War
    First Balkan War
    The First Balkan War, which lasted from October 1912 to May 1913, pitted the Balkan League against the Ottoman Empire. The combined armies of the Balkan states overcame the numerically inferior and strategically disadvantaged Ottoman armies and achieved rapid success...

  • 1912, 22 October: Greek victory at the Battle of Sarantaporo
    Battle of Sarantaporo
    The Battle of Sarantaporo, variously also transliterated as Sarantaporon or Sarandaporon took place on October 9-10 , 1912...

  • 1912, 1 November: Greek victory at the Battle of Giannitsa
    Battle of Giannitsa
    The Battle of Yenidje or Yenice, also Battle of Giannitsa , was a battle between the Greek Army and the Ottoman Army on October 20 / November 2, 1912, during the First Balkan War...

  • 1912, 6–12 November: Greek victory at the Battle of Pente Pigadia
    Battle of Pente Pigadia
    The Battle of Pente Pigadia or Battle of Beshpinar was fought during the First Balkan War between the Ottomans and the Kingdom of Greece....

  • 1912, 9 November: The Greek army enters Thessaloniki
    Thessaloniki
    Thessaloniki , historically also known as Thessalonica, Salonika or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the region of Central Macedonia as well as the capital of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace...

    . Most of southern Macedonia
    Macedonia (region)
    Macedonia is a geographical and historical region of the Balkan peninsula in southeastern Europe. Its boundaries have changed considerably over time, but nowadays the region is considered to include parts of five Balkan countries: Greece, the Republic of Macedonia, Bulgaria, Albania, Serbia, as...

     is occupied by Greece
  • 1912, 15 November: A Greek division marching towards Monastir
    Monastir
    -Places:Italy* Monastir, Sardinia - a comune in the Province of CagliariOttoman Empire* Monastir Province, Ottoman Empire, a vilayet covering parts of modern Albania, Greece and the Republic of MacedoniaRepublic of Macedonia...

     is thrown back at the Battle of Vevi
  • 1912, 16 December: Greek victory at the Naval Battle of Elli
    Naval Battle of Elli
    The Battle of Elli , also known as the Battle of the Dardanelles, took place near the mouth of the Dardanelles on as part of the First Balkan War between the fleets of Greece and the Ottoman Empire...

  • 1913, 18 January: Greek victory at the Naval Battle of Lemnos
    Naval Battle of Lemnos
    The Battle of Lemnos , fought on , was a naval battle during the First Balkan War, which defeated the second and last attempt of the Ottoman Empire to break the Greek naval blockade of the Dardanelles and reclaim supremacy over the Aegean Sea from Greece....

  • 1913, 20–21 February: After overcoming Ottoman defenses in the Battle of Bizani
    Battle of Bizani
    The Battle of Bizani took place in Epirus on March 4–6, 1913. The battle was fought between the Greek and the Ottoman forces during the last stages of the First Balkan War, and revolved around the forts of Bizani, which covered the approaches to Ioannina, the largest city in the region.At the...

    , the Greek army enters Ioannina
    Ioannina
    Ioannina , often called Jannena within Greece, is the largest city of Epirus, north-western Greece, with a population of 70,203 . It lies at an elevation of approximately 500 meters above sea level, on the western shore of lake Pamvotis . It is located within the Ioannina municipality, and is the...

    . Epirus
    Epirus (region)
    Epirus is a geographical and historical region in southeastern Europe, shared between Greece and Albania. It lies between the Pindus Mountains and the Ionian Sea, stretching from the Bay of Vlorë in the north to the Ambracian Gulf in the south...

     is liberated.
  • 1913, 18 March: King George I is assassinated in Thessaloniki
  • 1913, 30 May: Signing of the Treaty of London
    Treaty of London, 1913
    The Treaty of London was signed on 30 May during the London Conference of 1913. It dealt with the territorial adjustments arising out of the conclusion of the First Balkan War.-History:...

    . End of the First Balkan War

Second Balkan War

  • 1913, 16 June: Bulgarian forces attack Greece and Serbia. Beginning of the Second Balkan War
    Second Balkan War
    The Second Balkan War was a conflict which broke out when Bulgaria, dissatisfied with its share of the spoils of the First Balkan War, attacked its former allies, Serbia and Greece, on 29 June 1913. Bulgaria had a prewar agreement about the division of region of Macedonia...

  • 1913, 19–21 June: Greek victory at the Battle of Kilkis-Lahanas
    Battle of Kilkis-Lahanas
    The Battle of Kilkis–Lahanas took place during the Second Balkan War between Greece and Bulgaria for the town of Kilkis in Macedonia. The battle lasted three days from 19 to 21 June 1913 and ended with a Greek victory.-Background:...

  • 1913, 22–23 June: Greek victory at the Battle of Doiran
  • 1913, 8–18 July: Greeks and Bulgarians fight to a bloody stalemate at the Battle of Kresna Gorge
    Battle of Kresna Gorge
    The Battle of Kresna Gorge was fought in 1913 between the Greeks and the Bulgarians during the Second Balkan War.After the Serbian front became static, and seeing that the Bulgarian Army in his front had already suffered defeat, King Constantine ordered the Greek Army to march further into...

  • 1913, 10 August: Singing of the Treaty of Bucharest
    Treaty of Bucharest, 1913
    The Treaty of Bucharest was concluded on 10 August 1913, by the delegates of Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, Montenegro and Greece.As Bulgaria had been completely isolated in the Second Balkan War , and as it was closely invested on its northern boundary by Romania and on its western frontier by the...

    . End of the Second Balkan War. Much of Macedonia is transferred from Bulgaria to Greece

National Schism

  • 1914: According to the Corfu Protocol
    Protocol of Corfu
    The Protocol of Corfu , signed on May 17, 1914, was an agreement between representatives of the Albanian Government and the Provisional Government of Northern Epirus, which officially recognized the area of Northern Epirus as an autonomous region within the Albanian state...

     Northern Epirus
    Northern Epirus
    Northern Epirus is a term used to refer to those parts of the historical region of Epirus, in the western Balkans, that are part of the modern Albania. The term is used mostly by Greeks and is associated with the existence of a substantial ethnic Greek population in the region...

     is granted autonomy
    Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus
    The Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus was a short-lived, self-governing entity founded on February 28, 1914, in the aftermath of the Balkan Wars, by the Greeks living in southern Albania ....

     within Albania. Beginning of the Greek genocide
  • 1915, January: King Constantine I
    Constantine I of Greece
    Constantine I was King of Greece from 1913 to 1917 and from 1920 to 1922. He was commander-in-chief of the Hellenic Army during the unsuccessful Greco-Turkish War of 1897 and led the Greek forces during the successful Balkan Wars of 1912–1913, in which Greece won Thessaloniki and doubled in...

     forces Venizelos to resign. The National Schism begins
  • 1915, October: French and British forces land in Thessaloniki, establishing the Salonika Front
  • 1915, December: Constantine I forces Venizelos to resign for a second time and dissolves the Liberal-dominated parliament. Venizelos leaves Athens
  • 1916, April: The autonomy of Northern Epirus is revoked by the Albanian government, in violation to the Corfu Protocol
  • 1916, August:
  • 1916, 30 August: Successful anti-royalist coup by the Movement of National Defence
    Movement of National Defence
    The Movement of National Defence was an uprising by Venizelist officers of the Hellenic Army in Thessaloniki in August 1916 against the royal government in Athens. It led to the establishment of a separate, Venizelist Greek government in the north of the country, which entered the First World...

    . Venizelos returns to the Greek mainland. Henceforth, Greece has two governments: the royalist government in Athens led by the King and the "Temporary Government of National Defence" led by Venizelos in Thessaloniki
  • 1916, 18 November: The "November events
    Noemvriana
    The Noemvriana of November–December 1916 was a political dispute, which led to an armed confrontation in Athens between the royalist government of Greece and the Allies forces over the issue of Greece's neutrality during World War I....

    ". Royalist paramilitary units, named the "League of Reservists", target the Venizelists. Armed clashes between Reservists and French marines in Athens. The Allies institute a naval blockade on Greece. French and British forces land in Thessaly
    Thessaly
    Thessaly is a traditional geographical region and an administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thessaly was known as Aeolia, and appears thus in Homer's Odyssey....

     and enter the regional capital of Larissa
    Larissa
    Larissa is the capital and biggest city of the Thessaly region of Greece and capital of the Larissa regional unit. It is a principal agricultural centre and a national transportation hub, linked by road and rail with the port of Volos, the city of Thessaloniki and Athens...

  • 1916, 21 November: Britannic
    HMHS Britannic
    HMHS Britannic was the third and largest of the White Star Line. She was the sister ship of and , and was intended to enter service as a transatlantic passenger liner. She was launched just before the start of the First World War and was laid up at her builders in Belfast for many months before...

    , sister ship of Titanic, sinks by a mine near Kea
    Kea (island)
    Kea , also known as Gia or Tzia , Zea, and, in Antiquity, Keos , is an island of the Cyclades archipelago, in the Aegean Sea, in Greece. Kea is part of the Kea-Kythnos peripheral unit. Its capital, Ioulis, is inland at a high altitude and is considered quite picturesque...

    . 30 people die
  • 1917, June: French and British forces occupy Piraeus, bombard Athens and force the Greek fleet to surrender. Constantine I resigns and leaves the country. His second son Alexander I becomes King and Venizelos is restored as Prime Minister in Athens
  • 1917, 19 August: The Great Fire of Thessaloniki
    Great Thessaloniki Fire of 1917
    250px|thumb|The fire as seen from the quay in 1917.250px|thumb|The fire as seen from the [[Thermaic Gulf]].The Great Thessaloniki Fire of 1917 was an accidental fire that got out of control and destroyed two thirds of the city of Thessaloniki, second-largest city in Greece, leaving more than...

     destroys most of the city

World War I

  • 1917, July: Greece officially declares war on the Central Powers
    Central Powers
    The Central Powers were one of the two warring factions in World War I , composed of the German Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Bulgaria...

  • 1918, 29–31 May: Battle of Skra-di-Legen ends in Greek victory
  • 1918, 30 October: Signing of the Armistice of Mudros
    Armistice of Mudros
    The Armistice of Moudros , concluded on 30 October 1918, ended the hostilities in the Middle Eastern theatre between the Ottoman Empire and the Allies of World War I...

    , which ended World War I in the Near East

Greco-Turkish War

  • 1918-1923 Allied Occupation of Constantinople.
  • 1919, 15 May: The Greek army lands in Smyrna (today called İzmir
    Izmir
    Izmir is a large metropolis in the western extremity of Anatolia. The metropolitan area in the entire Izmir Province had a population of 3.35 million as of 2010, making the city third most populous in Turkey...

    ). Beginning of the Greco-Turkish War
    Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922)
    The Greco–Turkish War of 1919–1922, known as the Western Front of the Turkish War of Independence in Turkey and the Asia Minor Campaign or the Asia Minor Catastrophe in Greece, was a series of military events occurring during the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire after World War I between May...

  • 1919, 27 June-4 July: Battle of Aydın
    Battle of Aydin
    The Battle of Aydın , was a series of wide-scale armed conflicts during the initial stage of the Greco-Turkish War in and around the city of Aydın in western Turkey...

  • 1919, 27 November: Signing of the Treaty of Neuilly
    Treaty of Neuilly
    The Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine, dealing with Bulgaria for its role as one of the Central Powers in World War I, was signed on 27 November 1919 at Neuilly-sur-Seine, France....

    . Greece acquires Western Thrace
    Western Thrace
    Western Thrace or simply Thrace is a geographic and historical region of Greece, located between the Nestos and Evros rivers in the northeast of the country. Together with the regions of Macedonia and Epirus, it is often referred to informally as northern Greece...

  • 1920, 10 August: Signing of the Treaty of Sèvres
    Treaty of Sèvres
    The Treaty of Sèvres was the peace treaty between the Ottoman Empire and Allies at the end of World War I. The Treaty of Versailles was signed with Germany before this treaty to annul the German concessions including the economic rights and enterprises. Also, France, Great Britain and Italy...

    . Greece acquires Eastern Thrace and the area of Smyrna
  • 1920, 12 August: First assassination attempt against Venizelos in the Gare de Lyon
    Gare de Lyon
    Paris Lyon is one of the six large railway termini in Paris, France. It is the northern terminus of the Paris–Marseille railway. It is named after the city of Lyon, a stop for many long-distance trains departing here, most en route to the south of France. In general the station's SNCF services run...

     railway station in Paris
  • 1920, 13 August: Assassination of prominent royalist Ion Dragoumis
    Ion Dragoumis
    Ion Dragoumis was a Greek diplomat, writer and revolutionary.Born in Athens, Dragoumis was the son of Stephanos Dragoumis who was foreign minister under Charilaos Trikoupis. The family originated in Vogatsiko in Kastoria...

     in Athens
  • 1920, November: Despite his achievements, Venizelos is defeated in the 1920 General Elections
  • 1920, 25 October: King Alexander I dies suddenly of infection caused by the bite of a monkey of the Royal Gardens
  • 1920, 17 November: Following the death of her grandson, Queen Olga
    Olga Konstantinovna of Russia
    Grand Duchess Olga Constantinovna of Russia , later Queen Olga of the Hellenes , was the queen consort of King George I of Greece and briefly in 1920, Queen Regent of Greece...

     becomes regent of Greece, until the return of her son
  • 1920, 19 December: Constantine I returns as King, following a plebiscite
    Greek plebiscite, 1920
    The Greek plebiscite of 22 November 1920 was held on the issue of the return of exiled King Constantine I following the death of his son, King Alexander. The plebiscite ensured and affirmed the dominance of the anti-Venizelist camp in the country...

  • 1921, 9–12 January: First Battle of İnönü
    First Battle of Inönü
    The First Battle of İnönü took place between 9 and 11 January 1921 near İnönü in present-day Eskişehir Province, Turkey during the Greco-Turkish War , part of Turkish War of Independence...

  • 1921, 26–31 March: Second Battle of İnönü
    Second Battle of Inönü
    The Second Battle of İnönü was fought between 26 and 31 March 1921 near İnönü in present-day Eskişehir Province, Turkey during the Greco-Turkish War , part of Turkish War of Independence...

  • 1921: Assassination attempt against George Papandreou
    George Papandreou (senior)
    Georgios Papandreou was a Greek politician, the founder of the Papandreou political dynasty. He served three terms as Prime Minister of Greece...

  • 1921, 26 August-13 September: Battle of Sakarya
    Battle of Sakarya
    The Battle of Sakarya , also known as the Battle of the Sangarios , was an important engagement in the Greco-Turkish War and Turkish War of Independence....

  • 1922, 26–30 August: Battle of Dumlupınar
    Battle of Dumlupinar
    The Battle of Dumlupınar Muharebesi or Başkumandanlık Meydan Muharebesi; literally "All-out battle of Supreme military commands") was the last battle in the Greco-Turkish War...

  • 1922, 9 September: The Turkish army enters Smyrna. Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Smyrna
    Chrysostomos of Smyrna
    Chrysostomos Kalafatis , known as Saint Chrysostomos of Smyrna, Chrysostomos of Smyrna and Metropolitan Chrysostom, was the Greek Orthodox bishop of Smyrna between 1910 and 1914, and again from 1919 to his death in 1922...

     is lynched and murdered by a Turkish mob incited by Nureddin Pasha
    Nureddin Pasha
    Nureddin Pasha , often called Bearded Nureddin , was a Turkish military officer, who served in the Ottoman Empire during World War I and in the Turkish army during the Greco-Turkish War...

  • 1922, 13 September: Smyrna is set on fire
    Great Fire of Smyrna
    The Great Fire of Smyrna or the Catastrophe of Smyrna was a fire that destroyed much of the port city of Izmir in September 1922. Eye-witness reports state that the fire began on 13 September 1922 and lasted until it was largely extinguished on September 22...

    . Approximately 100,000 Greeks perish
  • 1922, September: The Greek Army, Navy and people revolt. The government is deposed and the King forced to resign. Venizelos returns in Greece
  • 1922, 27 September: George II
    George II of Greece
    George II reigned as King of Greece from 1922 to 1924 and from 1935 to 1947.-Early life, first period of kingship and exile:George was born at the royal villa at Tatoi, near Athens, the eldest son of King Constantine I of Greece and his wife, Princess Sophia of Prussia...

     becomes King of Greece
  • 1922, 28 November: According to the verdict of the Trial of the Six, the former Prime Minister Dimitrios Gounaris
    Dimitrios Gounaris
    Dimitrios Gounaris was the Prime Minister of Greece from March 10, 1915 to August 23, 1915 and April 8, 1921 to May 16, 1922...

    , the Commander in Chief of the Greek Armies Georgios Hatzianestis
    Georgios Hatzianestis
    Georgios Hatzianestis was a Greek general. He was born in Athens. From May 1922 to the end of the war that September, he was Commander-in-Chief of the Greek armies during the last months of the Greco-Turkish War .Following the Trial of the Six, Hatzianestis was executed for...

     and four other high ranked politicians are executed as responsible for the Asia Minor Catastrophe
  • 1923, 24 July: Signing of the Treaty of Lausanne
    Treaty of Lausanne
    The Treaty of Lausanne was a peace treaty signed in Lausanne, Switzerland on 24 July 1923, that settled the Anatolian and East Thracian parts of the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire. The treaty of Lausanne was ratified by the Greek government on 11 February 1924, by the Turkish government on 31...

    . The Greeks of Istanbul, Imbros and Tenedos (about 279,788 in Istanbul alone the next year) are excluded from the population exchange
    Population exchange between Greece and Turkey
    The 1923 population exchange between Greece and Turkey was based upon religious identity, and involved the Greek Orthodox citizens of Turkey and the Muslim citizens of Greece...

    . The islands of Imbros
    Imbros
    Imbros or Imroz, officially referred to as Gökçeada since July 29, 1970 , is an island in the Aegean Sea and the largest island of Turkey, part of Çanakkale Province. It is located at the entrance of Saros Bay and is also the westernmost point of Turkey...

     and Tenedos
    Tenedos
    Tenedos or Bozcaada or Bozdja-Ada is a small island in the Aegean Sea, part of the Bozcaada district of Çanakkale province in Turkey. , Tenedos has a population of about 2,354. The main industries are tourism, wine production and fishing...

     are granted autonomy, by article 14, which was never implemented

Restoration of stability

  • 1923: Greece faces an enormous refugee problem with the arrival of approximately 1.5 million Greeks from Asia Minor (according to the population exchange agreement
    Population exchange between Greece and Turkey
    The 1923 population exchange between Greece and Turkey was based upon religious identity, and involved the Greek Orthodox citizens of Turkey and the Muslim citizens of Greece...

     of the Treaty of Lausanne. The population of the bankrupt Greece rose by 1/3 in a period of a few months. The fate of the rest 1 million Greeks of Asia Minor (according to the Ottoman census) remains unknown
  • 1923, 31 August: The Corfu incident
    Corfu incident
    The Corfu Incident was a 1923 diplomatic crisis between the Kingdom of Greece and the Kingdom of Italy.-Background:There was a boundary dispute between Greece and Albania. The two nations took their dispute to the Conference of Ambassadors. The Conference of Ambassadors created a commission to...

    . Mussolini
    Benito Mussolini
    Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....

    's forces bombard and briefly occupy the Greek island of Corfu
    Corfu
    Corfu is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the second largest of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the edge of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The island is part of the Corfu regional unit, and is administered as a single municipality. The...

  • 1923, October: Failed anti-Venizelist military coup, sparked out of fear for the upcoming elections' result
  • 1923, 16 December: Venizelos's Liberal Party
    Liberal Party (Greece)
    The Liberal Party was one of the major Greek political parties of the early 20th century.- History :Founded as the Xipoliton party in Crete , its early leaders were Kostis Mitsotakis and Eleftherios Venizelos...

     wins the elections
  • 1923, 19 December: King George II is "asked" to leave the country. Admiral Pavlos Kountouriotis
    Pavlos Kountouriotis
    Pavlos Kountouriotis was a Greek admiral and naval hero during the Balkan Wars and the first and third President of the Second Hellenic Republic.-Family Background:The Kountouriotes was a prominent Arvanite family from the island of Hydra...

     is named Regent

Second Hellenic Republic (1924–1935)

  • 1924, 25 March: Greece is proclaimed a republic
    Second Hellenic Republic
    The Second Hellenic Republic is the term used to describe the political regime of Greece from 1924 to 1935. It followed from the period of the constitutional monarchy under the monarchs of the House of Glücksburg, and lasted until its overthrow in a military coup d'état which restored the monarchy...

    . Pavlos Kountouriotis
    Pavlos Kountouriotis
    Pavlos Kountouriotis was a Greek admiral and naval hero during the Balkan Wars and the first and third President of the Second Hellenic Republic.-Family Background:The Kountouriotes was a prominent Arvanite family from the island of Hydra...

     becomes the first President of Greece
  • 1924, 13 April: A plebiscite condones the change of constitution
  • 1924, 7 October: Failed military coup
  • 1925, 15 March: Successful coup led by General Theodoros Pangalos
    Theodoros Pangalos (general)
    Major General Theodoros Pangalos was a Greek soldier and politician. A distinguished staff officer and an ardent Venizelist and anti-royalist, Pangalos played a leading role in the September 1922 revolt that deposed King Constantine I and in the establishment of the Second Hellenic Republic...

    . President Pavlos Kountouriotis resigns
  • 1925, 22 October: The brief War of the Stray Dog with Bulgaria. Greece is imposed a fine, but is able to stop the attacks by the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO) komitadjis into Greek Macedonia
  • 1926, 23 August: General Pangalos is overthrown after a coup. Caretaker government
    Caretaker government
    Caretaker government is a type of government that rules temporarily. A caretaker government is often set up following a war until stable democratic rule can be restored, or installed, in which case it is often referred to as a provisional government...

     under Georgios Kondylis
    Georgios Kondylis
    Georgios Kondylis was a general of the Greek army and Prime Minister of Greece. He was nicknamed Keravnos, Greek for "Thunder" or "Thunderbolt".-Military career:...

  • 1928: Venizelos returns from exile and leads the Liberals back to power
  • 1932, 26 September: The village of Ierissos in Chalcidice
    Chalcidice
    Chalkidiki, also Halkidiki, Chalcidice or Chalkidike , is a peninsula in northern Greece, and one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Central Macedonia. The autonomous Mount Athos region is part of the peninsula, but not of the regional unit...

     is wiped out by a powerful earthquake
    1932 Ierissos earthquake
    The 1932 Ierissos earthquake occurred at 19:20 on 26 September. It caused severe damage in Ierissos and the surrounding part of the Chalkidiki peninsula, with 491 casualties reported.-Tectonic setting:...

    . 161 people are reported dead
  • 1933, March: Failed pro-Venezelist coup
  • 1933, 23 April: Kos
    Kos
    Kos or Cos is a Greek island in the south Sporades group of the Dodecanese, next to the Gulf of Gökova/Cos. It measures by , and is from the coast of Bodrum, Turkey and the ancient region of Caria. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within the Kos peripheral unit, which is...

     is struck by an earthquake. 200 people die
  • 1933, 6 June: Second assassination attempt against Venizelos in Athens
  • 1935, March: Failed coup led by Venizelos and Nikolaos Plastiras
    Nikolaos Plastiras
    Nikolaos Plastiras was a Greek general and politician, who served thrice as Prime Minister of Greece. A distinguished soldier and known for his personal bravery, he was known as "O Mavros Kavalaris" during the Greco-Turkish War of 1919-1922...

    . Venizelos flees in France and dies in Paris the following year, the armed forces are purged of Venizelist and Republican officers
  • 1935, 10 October: Coup led by Georgios Kondylis
    Georgios Kondylis
    Georgios Kondylis was a general of the Greek army and Prime Minister of Greece. He was nicknamed Keravnos, Greek for "Thunder" or "Thunderbolt".-Military career:...

     abolishes the Republic, confirmed by a rigged plebiscite
    Greek plebiscite, 1935
    The Greek plebiscite of 1935 was held to decide whether the monarchy should be restored.In 1935, prime minister Georgios Kondylis, a former pro-Venizelos military officer, became the most powerful political figure in Greece. He compelled Panagis Tsaldaris to resign as prime minister and took over...

     later the same year

4th of August Regime (1936-1940)

  • 1936, 4 August: Coup by General Ioannis Metaxas
    Ioannis Metaxas
    Ioannis Metaxas was a Greek general, politician, and dictator, serving as Prime Minister of Greece from 1936 until his death in 1941...

    , who declares a state of emergency
    State of emergency
    A state of emergency is a governmental declaration that may suspend some normal functions of the executive, legislative and judicial powers, alert citizens to change their normal behaviours, or order government agencies to implement emergency preparedness plans. It can also be used as a rationale...

    , decrees martial law
    Martial law
    Martial law is the imposition of military rule by military authorities over designated regions on an emergency basis— only temporary—when the civilian government or civilian authorities fail to function effectively , when there are extensive riots and protests, or when the disobedience of the law...

    , annuls various articles of the Constitution and establishes a crisis cabinet to put to an end the growing riots and to restore social order.
  • 1939: Hatay
    Hatay Province
    Hatay Province is a province in southern Turkey, on the Mediterranean coast. It is bordered by Syria to the south and east and the Turkish provinces of Adana and Osmaniye to the north. The province is part of Çukurova, a geographical, economical and cultural region that covers the provinces of...

     is annexed by Turkey. The immigration of the Antiochian Greeks
    Antiochian Greeks
    Antiochian Greeks are members of the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch who have resided in the territory of contemporary Turkish province of Hatay, which includes the old city of Antioch or modern-day Antakya. The community has a long heritage that dates back to the establishment of Antioch in 323...

     reaches its peak
  • 1940, 15 August: Torpedo
    Torpedo
    The modern torpedo is a self-propelled missile weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact with it or in proximity to it.The term torpedo was originally employed for...

    ing and sinking of the Greek light cruiser Elli in Tinos
    Tinos
    Tinos is a Greek island situated in the Aegean Sea. It is located in the Cyclades archipelago. In antiquity, Tinos was also known as Ophiussa and Hydroessa . The closest islands are Andros, Delos, and Mykonos...

     harbor on August 15, 1940 (a national religious holiday
    Dormition of the Theotokos
    The Dormition of the Theotokos is a Great Feast of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches which commemorates the "falling asleep" or death of the Theotokos , and her bodily resurrection before being taken up into heaven. It is celebrated on August 15 The Dormition...

    ), by an Italian submarine. The Greek government announced that the attack had been carried out by a submarine of "unknown nationality", in an attempt to keep Greece neutral

Greco-Italian War and Battle of Greece (1940-1941)

  • 1940, 28 October: After Greek premier Ioannis Metaxas rejects an Italian ultimatum
    Ultimatum
    An ultimatum is a demand whose fulfillment is requested in a specified period of time and which is backed up by a threat to be followed through in case of noncompliance. An ultimatum is generally the final demand in a series of requests...

     demanding the occupation of Greek territory, Italian forces invade Greece. Beginning of the Greco-Italian War
    Greco-Italian War
    The Greco-Italian War was a conflict between Italy and Greece which lasted from 28 October 1940 to 23 April 1941. It marked the beginning of the Balkans Campaign of World War II...

  • 1940, 13 November: The Battle of Pindus
    Battle of Pindus
    The Battle of Pindus took place in the Pindus Mountains in Epirus and West Macedonia, Greece, in the autumn of 1940, between October 28 – November 13. The battle was fought between the Greek and the Italian armies during the first stages of the Greco-Italian War...

     ends in a complete Greek victory
  • 1940, 14 November: The Greek forces enter Albanian territory
  • 1940, 24 December: The Greek army controls practically all of Northern Epirus
    Northern Epirus
    Northern Epirus is a term used to refer to those parts of the historical region of Epirus, in the western Balkans, that are part of the modern Albania. The term is used mostly by Greeks and is associated with the existence of a substantial ethnic Greek population in the region...

  • 1941: Turkey mobilizes all Greeks between 18 and 45 years of age and deports them to labour battalion
    Labour battalion (Turkey)
    Ottoman labour battalions was a form of unfree labour in the late Ottoman Empire. The term is associated with disarmament and murder of Ottoman Armenian soldiers during World War I, of Pontic and Anatolian Greeks during the Turkish War of Independence - Armenians in labour battalions :Armenians...

    s in central Anatolia
    Anatolia
    Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...

  • 1941, 29 January: Ioannis Metaxas dies in Athens
  • 1941, 1 March: Earthquake occurs in Larissa
    Larissa
    Larissa is the capital and biggest city of the Thessaly region of Greece and capital of the Larissa regional unit. It is a principal agricultural centre and a national transportation hub, linked by road and rail with the port of Volos, the city of Thessaloniki and Athens...

     leaving 40 people dead and thousands homeless
  • 1941, 9–20 March: The Italian Spring Offensive fails to dislocate the Greek forces
  • 1941, 6 April: The German Army invades Greece
    Battle of Greece
    The Battle of Greece is the common name for the invasion and conquest of Greece by Nazi Germany in April 1941. Greece was supported by British Commonwealth forces, while the Germans' Axis allies Italy and Bulgaria played secondary roles...

  • 1941, 11–12 April: Battle of Vevi
  • 1941, 18 April: The German Army advances towards Athens. Prime Minister Alexandros Koryzis commits suicide
  • 1941, 20 April: The Greek First Army surrenders to the Germans
  • 1941, 21 April: The German forces manage to go through the Metaxas Line
    Metaxas Line
    The Metaxas Line was a chain of fortifications constructed along the line of the Greco-Bulgarian border, designed to protect Greece in case of a Bulgarian invasion after the rearmament of Bulgaria. It was named after Ioannis Metaxas, the then Prime Minister of Greece, and chiefly consists of...

  • 1941, 22 April: The King, the Royal family and the Government flee Athens and go to Crete
    Crete
    Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...

  • 1941, 27 April: The German Army enters Athens. Greek writer Penelope Delta
    Penelope Delta
    Penelope Delta was a Greek author of books for children. Practically the first Greek children's books writer, her historical novels have been widely read and influenced Greek popular perceptions on national identity and history...

     commits suicide. The Nazi flag is raised on Acropolis
    Acropolis
    Acropolis means "high city" in Greek, literally city on the extremity and is usually translated into English as Citadel . For purposes of defense, early people naturally chose elevated ground to build a new settlement, frequently a hill with precipitous sides...

    ; Evzone
    Evzones
    The Evzones, or Evzoni, is the name of several historical elite light infantry and mountain units of the Greek Army. Today, it refers to the members of the Proedriki Froura , an elite ceremonial unit that guards the Greek Tomb of the Unknown Soldier , the Hellenic Parliament and the Presidential...

     soldier on guard duty jumps off the Acropolis wrapped in the Greek flag
  • 1941, 4 May: Out of respect for the Greek nation, Hitler
    Adolf Hitler
    Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...

     orders the Wehrmacht
    Wehrmacht
    The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...

     not to take Greek war prisoners and allows them to carry weapons
  • 1941, 20 May: Beginning of the Battle of Crete
    Battle of Crete
    The Battle of Crete was a battle during World War II on the Greek island of Crete. It began on the morning of 20 May 1941, when Nazi Germany launched an airborne invasion of Crete under the code-name Unternehmen Merkur...

  • 1941, 22 May: The King, the Royal family and the Government are evacuated to Alexandria
    Alexandria
    Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...

  • 1941, 1 June: The remaining defenders at Sphakia surrender to the German Army

Axis occupation and Resistance (1941–1944)

  • 1941, 30 May: The first resistance act takes place in Athens. Two law students tear down the Swastika banner from the Acropolis
  • 1941, 27 September: The National Liberation Front (EAM), the largest resistance group, is founded
  • 1941, 28–29 September: A spontaneous rebellion in Drama
    Drama
    Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...

     is repressed by the Bulgarian occupation forces with a death toll of 3,000
  • 1941, 17 October: Executions of the male population and burning of the villages Kerdyllia by the Nazis, with a death toll of 235
  • 1941, 23–28 October: Massive executions of the inhabitants of the villages Mesovouno, Cleisto, Kidonia and Ambelofito by the Nazis
  • 1941-1942, Winter: The Great Famine
    Great Famine (Greece)
    The Great Famine was a period of mass starvation in Axis-occupied Greece, during World War II . The local population suffered greatly during this period, while the Axis Powers initiated a policy of large scale plunder...

    . An estimated 300,000 Greeks perish during the period of occupation, with mortality reaching a peak in that winter
  • 1942: The Fortune Tax (Varlık Vergisi
    Varlik Vergisi
    Varlık Vergisi was a Turkish tax levied on the wealthy citizens of Turkey in 1942, with the stated aim of raising funds for the country's defense in case of an eventual entry into World War II....

    ) is imposed on the Greeks in Turkey
    Greeks in Turkey
    The Greeks in Turkey constitute a population of Greek and Greek-speaking Eastern Orthodox Christians who mostly live in Istanbul, including its district Princes' Islands, as well as on the two islands of the western entrance to the Dardanelles: Imbros and Tenedos .They are the remnants of the...

     (as well as on others, mostly non-Muslims), resulting in their financial ruination
  • 1942, June: The Greek People's Liberation Army begins operating in the mountains
  • 1942, Summer: The great suffering and the pressure of the exiled Greek government eventually forces the British to partially lift the blockade. The International Red Cross is able to distribute food supplies in sufficient quantities
  • 1942, 25 November: The Gorgopotamos
    Gorgopotamos
    Gorgopotamos is a village and a former municipality in Phthiotis, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Lamia, of which it is a municipal unit. It is located 10 km southwest of Lamia. Its 2001 population was 443 for the village and 4,510 for the...

     bridge is blown up in a common operation between the Greek militants and British saboteurs (Operation Harling
    Operation Harling
    Operation Harling was a World War II mission by the British Special Operations Executive , in cooperation with the Greek Resistance groups ELAS and EDES, which destroyed the heavily guarded Gorgopotamos viaduct in Central Greece on 25 November 1942...

    ). This successful operation disrupted the German transportation of ammunition via Greece to the Nazi Africa Corps under Rommel
    Rommel
    Erwin Rommel was a German World War II field marshal.Rommel may also refer to:*Rommel *Rommel Adducul , Filipino basketball player*Rommel Fernández , first Panamanian footballer to play in Europe...

  • 1943, 27 February: Poet Kostis Palamas
    Kostis Palamas
    Kostis Palamas was a Greek poet who wrote the words to the Olympic Hymn. He was a central figure of the Greek literary generation of the 1880s and one of the cofounders of the so-called New Athenian School along with Georgios Drosinis, Nikos Kampas, Ioanis Polemis.-Biography:Born in Patras, he...

     dies. His funeral becomes a public show of defiance to the occupation authorities.
  • 1943, March: The Germans began mass deportations of the Jews of Thessaloniki to Auschwitz. By the end of the war, an estimated 60,000 Greek Jews were murdered.
  • 1943, 16 August: 317 inhabitants of Kommeno
    Kommeno
    Kommeno is a village and a former community in the Arta peripheral unit, Epirus, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Nikolaos Skoufas, of which it is a municipal unit. Population 835 . During the Axis Occupation of Greece in World War II, the village was...

     are murdered and the village is torched by the Nazis
  • 1943, September: The Nazi attempt to exterminate the Jews of Athens fails, thanks to the combined efforts of Archbishop Damaskinos
    Archbishop Damaskinos
    Archbishop Damaskinos Papandreou was the archbishop of Athens and All Greece from 1941 until his death. He was also the regent of Greece between the pull-out of the German occupation force in 1944 and the return of King Georgios II to Greece in 1946...

    , the Greek resistance groups and the Greek people
  • 1943, 13 September: Over 5,000 Italian soldiers are executed
    Massacre of the Acqui Division
    The Massacre of the Acqui Division , also known as the Cephalonia Massacre , was the mass execution of the men of the Italian 33rd Acqui Infantry Division by the Germans on the island of Kefalonia, Greece, in September 1943, following the Italian armistice during the Second World War. About 5000...

     by the Nazis in Cephallonia or perish in the sea, during the German takeover of the Italian occupation areas
  • 1943, 26 September-16 November: Battle of Leros
    Battle of Leros
    The Battle of Leros was the central event of the Dodecanese Campaign of the Second World War, and is widely used as an alternate name for the whole campaign. Leros was occupied by British forces on 15 September 1943...

    , the culmination of the Dodecanese Campaign
    Dodecanese Campaign
    The Dodecanese Campaign of World War II was an attempt by Allied forces, mostly British, to capture the Italian-held Dodecanese islands in the Aegean Sea following the surrender of Italy in September 1943, and use them as bases against the German-controlled Balkans...

  • 1943, 13 December: The Massacre of Kalavryta
    Massacre of Kalavryta
    The Holocaust of Kalavryta , or the Massacre of Kalavryta , refers to the extermination of the male population and the subsequent total destruction of the town of Kalavryta, in Greece, by German occupying forces during World War II on 13 December 1943...

     takes place
  • 1944, 10 March: the EAM-controlled Political Committee of National Liberation
    Political Committee of National Liberation
    The Political Committee of National Liberation , commonly known as the "Mountain Government" was a communist-dominated government established in Greece in 1944 in opposition to both the collaborationist German-controlled government at Athens and to the royal government-in-exile in Cairo...

     is established
  • 1944, 10 June: The Distomo massacre
    Distomo massacre
    The Distomo massacre was a Nazi war crime perpetrated by members of the Waffen-SS in the village of Distomo, Greece, during the Axis occupation of Greece during World War II.-History:...

    . 218 civilians are murdered and the village is looted and burnt

Restoration of the Greek Government

  • 1944, 14 October: Athens is liberated and the Greek government-in-exile returns, with George Papandreou at its head
  • 1944, 18 October: Prime Minister George Papandreou
    George Papandreou (senior)
    Georgios Papandreou was a Greek politician, the founder of the Papandreou political dynasty. He served three terms as Prime Minister of Greece...

     and his national unity government repatriate
  • 1944, 3 December: "The December events". 28 people are killed by British troops and policemen in Athens
  • 1944, 4 December: George Papandreou attempts to resign
  • 1944, 12 December: ELAS
    ELAS
    ELAS may refer to:*The Greek People's Liberation Army, World War II Greek Resistance group*The Equitable Life Assurance Society, a life insurance company in the United Kingdom...

     controls most of Athens and its environs
  • 1945 12 February: EAM and the Greek Government sign a peace agreement to end fighting
  • 1945, 16 June: Former ELAS leader Aris Velouchiotis
    Aris Velouchiotis
    Aris Velouchiotis , the nom de guerre of Athanasios Klaras , was the most prominent leader and chief instigator of the Greek People's Liberation Army , the military branch of the National Liberation Front , which was the major resistance organization in occupied Greece from 1942 to 1945...

     is killed or commits suicide
  • 1945, 17 October: Archbishop Damaskinos
    Archbishop Damaskinos
    Archbishop Damaskinos Papandreou was the archbishop of Athens and All Greece from 1941 until his death. He was also the regent of Greece between the pull-out of the German occupation force in 1944 and the return of King Georgios II to Greece in 1946...

     assumes as regent in an attempt to stabilize the country
  • 1945, 24 October: Greece is one of the founding members of the United Nations
    United Nations
    The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...


Civil War
Greek Civil War
The Greek Civil War was fought from 1946 to 1949 between the Greek governmental army, backed by the United Kingdom and United States, and the Democratic Army of Greece , the military branch of the Greek Communist Party , backed by Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and Albania...

 (1946-1949)

  • 1946, March: Fighting resumes between the Government and the Communists
  • 1946, 28 September: A national referendum
    Greek plebiscite, 1946
    In 1946, a new plebiscite took place regarding the form of Greece's regime and whether the Greek people would once again decide upon a king or not. For the third time the royal position of George II was at stake. Nonetheless, the final result constituted an expected triumph that cannot be analyzed...

     favours constitutional monarchy
  • 1946: King George II returns to Greece
  • 1947, 20 January: The deadliest shipwreck of the modern Greek history occurs when Himara sinks in the South Evian Gulf
    South Evian Gulf
    The South Euboean Gulf is a gulf in Central Greece, between the island of Euboea and the Greek mainland. With a total length of approximately 50 km and a width of 10 to 20 km, it stretches nearly diagonally from northwest to southeast, from the Euripus strait, which connects it to the...

    , resulting in 391 deaths. It remains unknown if the cause was the bad weather, a mine or sabotage
  • 1947, 1 April: King George II dies of a sudden heart attack in the Palace in Athens. The Greeks do not believe the announcement, considering it a joke
    April Fools' Day
    April Fools' Day is celebrated in different countries around the world on April 1 every year. Sometimes referred to as All Fools' Day, April 1 is not a national holiday, but is widely recognized and celebrated as a day when many people play all kinds of jokes and foolishness...

    . He is succeeded by his younger brother Paul
    Paul of Greece
    Paul reigned as King of Greece from 1947 to 1964.-Family and early life:Paul was born in Athens, the third son of King Constantine I of Greece and his wife, Princess Sophia of Prussia. He was trained as a naval officer....

  • 1947, December: Approximately 1,200 Communist militants are killed in a battle near Konitsa
    Konitsa
    Konitsa is a town in Epirus, Greece, near the Albanian border. It lies amphi-theatre shaped on a mountain slope of the Pindos mountain range, overlooking the valley where the river Aoos meets the river Voidomatis. The valley is used for farming. Konitsa is a regional centre for many small Pindos...

  • 1948: The Communists reach the peak of their power
  • 1949, August: General Alexander Papagos
    Alexander Papagos
    Field Marshal Alexander Papagos , was a Greek General who led the Greek Army in the Greco-Italian War and the later stages of the Greek Civil War and became the country's Prime Minister...

     launches a major counter-offensive against Communist forces in northern Greece, pushing them into Albania
  • 1949, 16 October: Nikolaos Zachariadis
    Nikolaos Zachariadis
    Nikolaos Zachariadis was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Greece from 1931 to 1956.-Early life:Born in Adrianopole in 1903, the son of an employee of the Ottoman tobacco monopoly. He worked as a seaman on the Black Sea, where he came under the influence of the Bolshevik Revolution...

    , leader of the Communist guerillas, announces a ceasefire that marks the end of the Greek Civil War

Postwar Greece (1950-1967)

  • 1950, 10 January: The eruption of the Thera
    Santorini
    Santorini , officially Thira , is an island located in the southern Aegean Sea, about southeast from Greece's mainland. It is the largest island of a small, circular archipelago which bears the same name and is the remnant of a volcanic caldera...

     volcano for the fourth time in the century, leads to the evacuation of the island
  • 1950, 9 December: Greece takes part
    Greek Expeditionary Force (Korea)
    The Greek Expeditionary Force in Korea was formed in response to the United Nations appeal for assistance in the Korean War. It comprised a reinforced Hellenic Army infantry battalion and a Royal Hellenic Air Force flight of 7 transport planes....

     in the Korean War
    Korean War
    The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...

     in the side of South Korea
    South Korea
    The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...

    . By the end of the war in 1953, 194 Greek soldiers will be killed
  • 1952, 18 February: Greece and Turkey become members of NATO
  • 1953, August: A series of earthquakes devastates the islands of Zakynthos
    Zakynthos
    Zakynthos , also Zante, the other form often used in English and in Italian , is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the third largest of the Ionian Islands. It is also a separate regional unit of the Ionian Islands region, and the only municipality of the regional unit. It covers an area of ...

     and Cephallonia resulting in 476 deaths. The first relief efforts came from the recently established state of Israel
    Israel
    The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

  • 1954, 30 April: Sofades
    Sofades
    Sofades is a town and municipality in Thessaly, central Greece belonging to the peripheral unit of Karditsa. Its 2001 census population was 6,106 people and 23,043 for the municipality, including a large Roma minority. Its elevation is around 120 m above sea level, and the economy is mainly...

     is struck by an earthquake. 25 people die
  • 1955, 6–7 September: The Istanbul Pogrom
    Istanbul Pogrom
    The Istanbul riots , were mob attacks directed primarily at Istanbul's Greek minority on 6–7 September 1955. The riots were orchestrated by the Turkish government under Adnan Menderes. The events were triggered by the false news that the Turkish consulate in Thessaloniki, north Greece—the...

    , directed primarily against the city's 100,000-strong Greek minority, takes place. A total of 16 Greeks are killed, while many others are severely wounded, raped and forcibly circumcised by the mob. Thousands or Greek-owned buildings are badly damaged or destroyed, accelerating emigration of ethnic Greeks from the city
  • 1956: Failed coup against King Paul I by a group of colonels
  • 1956, 9 July: Many casualties and extensive damages are caused by an earthquake and subsequent tsunami in Santorini
    Santorini
    Santorini , officially Thira , is an island located in the southern Aegean Sea, about southeast from Greece's mainland. It is the largest island of a small, circular archipelago which bears the same name and is the remnant of a volcanic caldera...

     and the nearby islands
  • 1959: The Merten affair challenges the Greek political world
  • 1963, 27 May: Assassination of politician Gregoris Lambrakis
    Gregoris Lambrakis
    Grigoris Lambrakis was a Greek politician, physician, track and field athlete, and member of the faculty of the School of Medicine at the University of Athens.-Early life:...

  • 1963, 17 June: Constantine Karamanlis
    Constantine Karamanlis
    Konstantínos G. Karamanlís , commonly anglicised to Constantine Karamanlis or Caramanlis, was a four-time Prime Minister, the 3rd and 5th President of the Third Hellenic Republic and a towering figure of Greek politics whose political career spanned much of the latter half of the 20th century.-...

     resigns the premiership after a disagreement with King Paul
  • 1963, November: The Center Union
    Center Union
    The Centre Union was a Greek political party, created in 1961 by George Papandreou, senior.The party was elected to power in 1963, with Papandreou as Prime Minister...

     under George Papandreou wins the elections. Karamanlis is self-exiled in Paris
  • 1964, 6 March: The Palace
    Tatoi
    Tatoi, located 5 km north of Athens's suburbs, and 27 km from the Athenian Acropolis was the summer palace and 10,000 acre estate of the former Greek Royal Family, and the site of George II of the Hellenes's birth...

     announces the death of King Paul
    Paul of Greece
    Paul reigned as King of Greece from 1947 to 1964.-Family and early life:Paul was born in Athens, the third son of King Constantine I of Greece and his wife, Princess Sophia of Prussia. He was trained as a naval officer....

    . Rumors circulate in Athens that in fact he had died several days earlier. He is succeed by his son Constantine
    Constantine II of Greece
    |align=right|Constantine II was King of Greece from 1964 until the abolition of the monarchy in 1973, the sixth and last monarch of the Greek Royal Family....

  • 1964: The Ankara government reneges on the 1930 Greco-Turkish Ankara Convention. Deported with two day’s notice, the Greek community of Istanbul shrunk from 100,000 persons in 1955 to only 48,000 in 1965
  • 1965, 1 October: Royal Coup, involving King Constantine II and a group of politicians, known as Apostasia of 1965
    Apostasia of 1965
    The terms Apostasia or Iouliana or the Royal Coup are used to describe the political crisis in Greece that centred around the resignation, on 15 July 1965, of Prime Minister Georgios Papandreou and the appointment, by King Constantine II, of successive Prime Ministers from Papandreou's own...

    . Prime Minister George Papandreou
    George Papandreou (senior)
    Georgios Papandreou was a Greek politician, the founder of the Papandreou political dynasty. He served three terms as Prime Minister of Greece...

     is forced to resign
  • 1966, 7 December: Ferry SS Heraklion
    SS Heraklion
    The SS Heraklion was a car ferry operating the lines Piraeus - Chania and Piraeus - Irakleio between 1965 and 1966. The ship capsized and sank on 8 December 1966 in the Aegean Sea, resulting in the death of over 200 people.-Background:...

     sinks in the Mirtoon Sea. 247 people lose their lives in the worst shipwreck of postwar Greece
  • 1966-1980: About 160,000 Greeks emigrated to the USA.

Military dictatorship (1967–1974)

  • 1967, 21 April: Successful coup d'état led by a group of colonels
  • 1968: Counter-coup organized by King Constantine II
    Constantine II of Greece
    |align=right|Constantine II was King of Greece from 1964 until the abolition of the monarchy in 1973, the sixth and last monarch of the Greek Royal Family....

     fails. Constantine II leaves the country
  • 1968, 13 August: Assassination attempt against Dictator Papadopoulos by Alexandros Panagoulis
    Alexandros Panagoulis
    Alexandros Panagoulis was a Greek politician and poet. He took an active role in the fight against the Regime of the Colonels in Greece. He became famous for his attempt to assassinate dictator Georgios Papadopoulos on 13 August 1968, but also for the torture that he was subjected to during his...

  • 1968, 1 November: George Papandreou dies. His funeral becomes the occasion for a large anti-dictatorship demonstration
  • 1971: Halki seminary
    Halki seminary
    The Halki seminary, formally the Theological School of Halki , was founded on 1 October 1844 on the island of Halki , the second-largest of the Princes' Islands in the Sea of Marmara. It was the main school of theology of the Eastern Orthodox Church's Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople until...

    , Orthodoxy's most prominent theological school, is closed by the Turkish government. Despite international pressure for its reopening, it remains closed ever since
  • 1972, 2 March: Ecclesiastical coup
    Ecclesiastical coup
    The Ecclesiastical coup is the name given to the events staged by three bishops of the Orthodox Church of Cyprus against the President of the Republic of Cyprus, Archbishop Makarios III in the period from March 1972 to July 1973.-Background:...

     in Cyprus fails to remove Makarios from the Presidency
  • 1973, 1 June: Dictator George Papadopoulos
    George Papadopoulos
    Colonel Georgios Papadopoulos was the head of the military coup d'état that took place in Greece on 21 April 1967 and leader of the military government that ruled the country from 1967 to 1974. Papadopoulos was a Colonel of Artillery...

     declares Greece a republic and himself President
  • 1973, 17 November: End of the Athens Polytechnic uprising
    Athens Polytechnic uprising
    The Athens Polytechnic uprising in 1973 was a massive demonstration of popular rejection of the Greek military junta of 1967-1974. The uprising began on November 14, 1973, escalated to an open anti-junta, anti-US and anti-imperialist revolt and ended in bloodshed in the early morning of November...

    . A total of 24 civilians and students are killed
  • 1973, 25 November: Military coup by General Dimitrios Ioannides
    Dimitrios Ioannides
    Dimitrios Ioannidis , also known as Dimitris Ioannidis, was a Greek military officer and one of the leading figures in the Greek military junta of 1967–1974.He was born in Athens to a wealthy, upper middle-class business family with roots in Epirus....

     ousts Papadopoulos. Military law is reinstated
  • 1974, 15 July: The Greek regime sponsors a coup d'état in Nicosia
    Nicosia
    Nicosia from , known locally as Lefkosia , is the capital and largest city in Cyprus, as well as its main business center. Nicosia is the only divided capital in the world, with the southern and the northern portions divided by a Green Line...

    , replacing President Makarios III
    Makarios III
    Makarios III , born Andreas Christodolou Mouskos , was the archbishop and primate of the autocephalous Cypriot Orthodox Church and the first President of the Republic of Cyprus ....

     with Nikos Sampson
    Nikos Sampson
    Nikos Sampson was the de facto president of Cyprus who succeeded Archbishop Makarios, President of Cyprus, in 1974. Sampson was a journalist and a member of EOKA, which rose against the British colonial administration, seeking Enosis of the island of Cyprus with Greece...

  • 1974, 20 July: Turkey invades
    Turkish invasion of Cyprus
    The Turkish invasion of Cyprus, launched on 20 July 1974, was a Turkish military invasion in response to a Greek military junta backed coup in Cyprus...

     Cyprus
  • 1974, 23 July: Nikos Sampson is removed from office and replaced with Glafkos Klerides
    Glafkos Klerides
    Glafcos Ioannou Clerides is a Greek-Cypriot politician and the fourth President of the Republic of Cyprus.Clerides was the eldest son of the lawyer and statesman Ioannis Clerides....

    . The coup regime ends. A general ceasefire is declared
  • 1974, 23 July: Junta-appointed President Phaedon Gizikis
    Phaedon Gizikis
    Phaedon Gizikis was a Greek Army officer and President of Greece from 1973 to 1974.Born on 16 June 1917, in Volos, Greece, Phaedon Gizikis was a career Greek army officer...

     calls a meeting of old guard politicians with the participation of the heads of the armed forces. Konstantinos Karamanlis is chosen to assume the premiership

Third Hellenic Republic (1974–present)

  • 1974, 24 July: Constantine Karamanlis returns with the French Presidential jet. Democracy in Athens is restored
  • 1974, 14 August: Second phase of the Attila Operation in Cyprus. The Turkish forces advance capturing the 37% of the island. A total of about 3,000 are killed or missing. Another 200,000 become refugees
  • 1974, 14 August: Greece withdraws its forces from NATO's military command structure, as a result of the Turkish invasion on Cyprus
  • 1974, 8 September: TWA Flight 841
    TWA Flight 841 (1974)
    On September 8, 1974, a Boeing 707-331B operating as TWA Flight 841 took off from Ben Gurion International Airport, Tel Aviv en route to JFK International Airport, New York City. It was scheduled to land in Athens, followed by Rome, and then proceed to New York. After stopping for 68 minutes in...

     crashes into the Ionian Sea
    Ionian Sea
    The Ionian Sea , is an arm of the Mediterranean Sea, south of the Adriatic Sea. It is bounded by southern Italy including Calabria, Sicily and the Salento peninsula to the west, southern Albania to the north, and a large number of Greek islands, including Corfu, Zante, Kephalonia, Ithaka, and...

    . All 79 passengers and 9 crew members are killed
  • 1974, 1 October: Death of Spyridon Marinatos
    Spyridon Marinatos
    Spyridon Nikolaou Marinatos was one of the premier Greek archaeologists of the 20th century.- Career :...

    , one of the premier Greek archaeologists of the 20th century.
  • 1974: Makarios returns as President in Cyprus
  • 1974, 13 December: With a national referendum, monarchy is abolished and parliamentary republic established
  • 1974, 18 December: President pro tempore
    Pro tempore
    Pro tempore , abbreviated pro tem or p.t., is a Latin phrase which best translates to "for the time being" in English. This phrase is often used to describe a person who acts as a locum tenens in the absence of a superior, such as the President pro tempore of the United States Senate.Legislative...

     Phaedon Gizikis is replaced by Michail Stasinopoulos
    Michail Stasinopoulos
    Michael Stasinopoulos was a Greek politician. He served as the interim President of the Third Hellenic Republic between 18 December 1974 and 19 June 1975.-Biography:...

    , the first duly elected President of the Third Hellenic Republic
  • 1975, August: Greek Junta Trials
    Greek Junta Trials
    The Greek Junta Trials were the trials involving members of the military junta that ruled Greece from 21 April 1967 to 23 July 1974. These trials involved the instigators of the coup as well as other junta members of various ranks who took part in the events of the Athens Polytechnic uprising and...

  • 1977, 3 August: Cypriot President Makarios dies unexpectedly of heart attack
  • 1978, 20 June: Destructive earthquake hits the second largest Greek city of Thessaloniki
    Thessaloniki
    Thessaloniki , historically also known as Thessalonica, Salonika or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the region of Central Macedonia as well as the capital of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace...

     killing 45 people
  • 1980: Greek forces are readmitted in NATO
  • 1981, 1 January: Greece joins the European Community
    European Union
    The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

  • 1981, 24 February: A strong earthquake strikes Athens and Corinth
    Corinth
    Corinth is a city and former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Corinth, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit...

    , resulting in 20 deaths
  • 1981, 21 October: Andreas Papandreou
    Andreas Papandreou
    Andreas G. Papandreou ; 5 February 1919 – 23 June 1996) was a Greek economist, a socialist politician and a dominant figure in Greek politics. The son of Georgios Papandreou, Andreas was a Harvard-trained academic...

     becomes Greece's first socialist Prime Minister
  • 1986, 2 April: TWA Flight 840
    TWA Flight 840 (1986)
    Trans World Airlines Flight 840, registration N54340, was a Boeing 727-231 flying en route from Rome's Fiumicino Airport to Athens. A bomb was detonated on the aircraft while it was over Argos, Greece, ejecting four American passengers to their deaths below. Five others on the aircraft were...

     is bombed on the way to Athens, sucking out 4 on board; the plane lands safely
  • 1986, 13 September: The Kalamata
    Kalamata
    Kalamata is the second-largest city of the Peloponnese in southern Greece. The capital and chief port of the Messenia prefecture, it lies along the Nedon River at the head of the Messenian Gulf...

     earthquake causes heavy damage and kills 20 people
  • 1987: The Sismik incident
    Sismik incident
    In late March 1987, the Turkish survey ship Sismik was about to enter Greek waters and conduct survey. Possibly the Greek intelligence reported the intention to Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou. Papandreou gave the orders to sink the ship, if found within Greek waters. This incident nearly started...

    . Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou orders the ship to be sunk if found within Greek waters
  • 1989: Political crisis after a series of elections in which no party secured a substantial percentage of popular vote, nor was willing to take part in a coalition
  • 1989, 3 August: Short 330 of the Olympic Airways from Thessaloniki
    Thessaloniki
    Thessaloniki , historically also known as Thessalonica, Salonika or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the region of Central Macedonia as well as the capital of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace...

     to Samos
    Samos Island
    Samos is a Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea, south of Chios, north of Patmos and the Dodecanese, and off the coast of Asia Minor, from which it is separated by the -wide Mycale Strait. It is also a separate regional unit of the North Aegean region, and the only municipality of the regional...

     crashes in the Kerketeus
    Kerkis
    Kerkis or Kerketeus is an extinct volcano, forming the bulk of the center of the Greek island of Samos. Its highest peak, named Vigla , its maximum elevation is 1,433 m , making it the second-highest peak in the East Aegean...

     range
    Mountain range
    A mountain range is a single, large mass consisting of a succession of mountains or narrowly spaced mountain ridges, with or without peaks, closely related in position, direction, formation, and age; a component part of a mountain system or of a mountain chain...

     of mountain
    Mountain
    Image:Himalaya_annotated.jpg|thumb|right|The Himalayan mountain range with Mount Everestrect 58 14 160 49 Chomo Lonzorect 200 28 335 52 Makalurect 378 24 566 45 Mount Everestrect 188 581 920 656 Tibetan Plateaurect 250 406 340 427 Rong River...

    s. All 34 people on board are killed
  • 1989, 26 September: Greek liberal politician Pavlos Bakoyannis
    Pavlos Bakoyannis
    Pavlos Bakoyannis was a liberal Greek politician who was well known for his broadcasts against the Greek military dictatorship of 1967-1974 on Deutsche Welle radio...

     is assassinated by the terrorist group N17
    Revolutionary Organization 17 November
    Revolutionary Organization 17 November , was a Marxist urban guerrilla organization formed in 1975 and believed to have been disbanded in 2002 after the arrest and trial of a...

  • 1989, 23 November: Xenophon Zolotas
    Xenophon Zolotas
    Xenophon Zolotas , was a Greek economist and served as an interim non-party Prime Minister of Greece.-Early life and career:Born in Athens in 1904, Zolotas studied economics at the University of Athens, and later studied in Leipzig and Paris. He came from a wealthy family of goldsmiths with roots...

     agrees to serve as interim non-party Prime Minister, until fresh elections can be held
  • 1990, 11 April: Constantine Mitsotakis
    Constantine Mitsotakis
    Constantine Mitsotakis , a Greek politician, was born in Chania, Crete. He came from a political family: his father and grandfathers were members of parliament, and the great liberal leader Eleftherios Venizelos was his uncle...

     becomes Prime Minister, after his New Democracy
    New Democracy (Greece)
    New Democracy is the main centre-right political party and one of the two major parties in Greece. It was founded in 1974 by Konstantinos Karamanlis and formed the first cabinet of the Third Hellenic Republic...

     wins the elections
  • 1991, 5 February: The worst accident in the history of the Hellenic Air Force
    Hellenic Air Force
    The Hellenic Air Force, abbreviated to HAF is the air force of Greece. The mission of the Hellenic Air Force is to guard and protect Greek airspace, provide air assistance and support to the Hellenic Army and the Hellenic Navy, as well as the provision of humanitarian aid in Greece and around the...

    . Lockheed C-130H Hercules 748 crashes into Mount Othrys
    Mount Othrys
    Mount Othrys is a mountain in Central Greece in the northeastern part of Fthiotis and southern part of Magnesia. The mountaintop is at the prefectural and the regional border at 1,728 m. Much of the area is unpopulated in the northern part and the southwestern part...

    . 63 are reported killed
  • 1991, 8 September: The Macedonia naming dispute
    Macedonia naming dispute
    A diplomatic dispute over the use of the name Macedonia has been an ongoing issue in the bilateral relations between Greece and the Republic of Macedonia since the latter became independent from former Yugoslavia in 1991...

     arises, after the declaration of independence of the Republic of Macedonia
    Republic of Macedonia
    Macedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...

  • 1992, January: After a "special court" trial, Andreas Papandreou is cleared of the charges that had arisen from the Bank of Crete
    Bank of Crete
    Following the departure of the Ottoman forces in December 1898, the Cretan government under Eleftherios Venizelos established the Bank of Crete with the assistance of the National Bank of Greece. The bank received the exclusive privilege, for thirty years, of issuing banknotes in the island of...

     scandal
  • 1992, 3 July: The adoption of a flag
    Flag of the Republic of Macedonia
    The national flag of the Republic of Macedonia depicts a stylised yellow sun on a red field, with eight broadening rays extending from the centre to the edge of the field. It was created by Pr...

     incorporating the Vergina Sun
    Vergina Sun
    The Vergina Sun — also known as the Star of Vergina, Macedonian star, or Argead Star — is the name given to a symbol of a stylised star or sun with sixteen rays. It was unearthed in 1977 during excavations in Vergina, in the northern Greek region of Macedonia, by archaeologist Manolis Andronikos...

     by the Republic of Macedonia, increases tensions between the two countries
  • 1993, 13 October: Andreas Papandreou's PASOK
    Panhellenic Socialist Movement
    The Panhellenic Socialist Movement , known mostly by its acronym PASOK , is one of the two major political parties in Greece. Founded on 3 September 1974 by Andreas Papandreou, in 1981 PASOK became Greece's first social democratic party to win a majority in parliament.The party is a socialist party...

     wins the general elections
  • 1994, 16 February: Greece imposes an embargo
    Embargo
    An embargo is the partial or complete prohibition of commerce and trade with a particular country, in order to isolate it. Embargoes are considered strong diplomatic measures imposed in an effort, by the imposing country, to elicit a given national-interest result from the country on which it is...

     on the Republic of Macedonia
  • 1994, 6 March: Greek actress, singer, political activist of the anti-dictatoric struggle and Minister of Culture Melina Mercouri
    Melina Mercouri
    Melina Mercouri , born as Maria Amalia Mercouri was a Greek actress, singer and politician.As an actress she made her film debut in Stella and met international success with her performances in Never on Sunday, Phaedra, Topkapi and Promise at Dawn...

     dies of cancer. She receives a state funeral equivalent to that of a Prime Minister, which is attended by hundreds of thousands of people
  • 1995, 13 May: Grevena
    Grevena Prefecture
    Grevena is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of West Macedonia. Its capital is the town of Grevena.-Geography:Grevena borders the regional units of Ioannina to the west, Kastoria to the northwest, Kozani to the north and east, Larissa to the southeast and Trikala to...

     and Kozani
    Kozani Prefecture
    Kozani is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of West Macedonia. Its capital is the city of Kozani.-Geography:Kozani borders the regional units of Kastoria to the west and northwest, Florina to the north, Pella to the northeast, Imathia and Pieria to the east, Larissa ...

     are struck by an earthquake. Several villages are destroyed and hundreds of people are left homeless
  • 1995, 15 June: An earthquake shatters Aigio
    Aigio
    Aigio is a town and a former municipality in Achaea, West Greece, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Aigialeia, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit. Its population is around 30,000. Aigio is surrounded by trees in the north and cliffs in the...

    . 26 people are reported dead
  • 1995, November: Greece lifts the embargo that had imposed on the Republic of Macedonia, after the later's decision to change its flag and controversial articles of its constitution
  • 1996, 16 January: Andreas Papandreou, hospitalized with advanced heart disease and kidney failure since November 1995, retires from office
  • 1996, 18 January: Costas Simitis
    Costas Simitis
    Konstantinos Simitis , usually referred to as Costas Simitis or Kostas Simitis, was Prime Minister of Greece and leader of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement from 1996 to 2004.- Biography :...

     is elected Prime Minister
  • 1996, 31 January: The Imia/Kardak crisis
    Imia/Kardak
    Imia is a pair of two small uninhabited islets in the Aegean Sea, situated between the Greek island chain of the Dodecanese and the southwestern mainland coast of Turkey. They lie west of the coast of Muğla Province, east of the Greek island Kalymnos, and southeast of the nearest small Greek...

    . Greece and Turkey are brought to the brink of war. A Greek military helicopter crashes in the area, killing the three pilots on board
  • 1996, 23 June: Andreas Papandreou dies. His funeral procession produces a great outpouring of public emotion
  • 1996, 23 July: Greece's national actress Aliki Vougiouklaki
    Aliki Vougiouklaki
    Aliki Vougiouklaki was a Greek actress. She is considered as one of the most popular and successful actresses of Greek cinema.-Biography:...

     dies after short illness. Her funeral is attended by hundreds of thousands of people
  • 1996, 11, 14 August: During demonstrations in Cyprus, activists Tassos Isaac and Solomos Solomou
    Solomos Solomou
    Solomos Solomou , was a Greek Cypriot refugee who was killed after being shot five times by Turkish forces while trying to climb a flagpole in order to remove a Turkish flag from its mast in the United Nations Buffer Zone near Deryneia, Cyprus...

     are murdered by members of the Grey Wolves
    Grey Wolves
    The Idealist Youth , commonly known as Grey Wolves , is an ultra-nationalist neo-fascist youth organization. It is accused of terrorism. According to Turkish authorities, the organization carried out 694 murders between 1974–1980.-Name:...

  • 1997, 17 December: Yakovlev Yak-42 of the Aerosvit Airlines
    Aerosvit Airlines
    AeroSvit Airlines closed joint stock company , operating as AeroSvit - Ukrainian Airlines / АероСвіт, is one of the Ukrainian flag carriers. Its head office is on the grounds of Boryspil International Airport in Boryspil, Kiev Oblast, Ukraine...

     crashes into the Pierian mountains in Central Macedonia
    Central Macedonia
    Central Macedonia is one of the thirteen regions of Greece, consisting of the central part of the region of Macedonia. With a population of over 1.8 million, it is the second most populous in Greece after Attica.- Administration :...

    . The exact spot of the crash was discovered 3 days later, cause of the bad weather conditions and the mountainous landscape. 70 people are killed
  • 1997, 20 December: Lockheed Hercules C-130 of the Hellenic Air Force crashes into Pastra Mountain near Tanagra, cause of bad weather conditions, killing 5 people. The military aircraft was due to transfer soldiers from Tanagra
    Tanagra
    Tanagra is a town and a municipality north of Athens in Boeotia, Greece. The seat of the municipality is the town Schimatari. It is not far from Thebes, and it was noted in antiquity for the figurines named after it...

     to Pieria, in order to take part in the operations for the discovery of the Ukrainian plane which had crashed 3 days earlier
  • 1999, 17 August: Powerful earthquakes strike the Turkish city of İzmit
    1999 Izmit earthquake
    The 1999 İzmit earthquake was a 7.6 magnitude earthquake that struck northwestern Turkey on August 17, 1999, at about 3:02am local time. The event lasted for 37 seconds, killing around 17,000 people and leaving approximately half a million people homeless...

    . Greece is the first foreign country to pledge aid and support to Turkey
  • 1999, 7 September: Athens is struck by the most devastating earthquake in Greece of the past 20 years. A total of 145 people die. The Turkish aid is the first to arrive. The two earthquakes initiate the Greek–Turkish earthquake diplomacy
  • 2000, 26 September: Passenger ferry Express Samina
    Express Samina
    MS Express Samina was a RORO passenger ferry built as MS Corse In 1966 at Chantiers de l'Atlantique, St Nazaire, France for Compagnie Generale Transatlantique along with her sister ship MS Comte De Nice. In 1969 she was transferred to Compagnie Generale Transmediterraneenne...

     sinks near the island of Paros
    Paros
    Paros is an island of Greece in the central Aegean Sea. One of the Cyclades island group, it lies to the west of Naxos, from which it is separated by a channel about wide. It lies approximately south-east of Piraeus. The Municipality of Paros includes numerous uninhabited offshore islets...

    . 80 of the over 500 passengers are lost at sea
  • 2001, 4 May: Pope
    Pope
    The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...

     John Paul II visits Athens and makes apologies for the sins of the Crusader
    Crusades
    The Crusades were a series of religious wars, blessed by the Pope and the Catholic Church with the main goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem...

     attack on Constantinople in 1204
  • 2001, 11 September: 33 Greek American
    Greek American
    Greek Americans are Americans of Greek descent also described as Hellenic descent. According to the 2007 U.S. Census Bureau estimation, there were 1,380,088 people of Greek ancestry in the United States, while the State Department mentions that around 3,000,000 Americans claim to be of Greek descent...

    s lose their lives during the September 11, 2001 attacks
    September 11, 2001 attacks
    The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...

    . The St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church
    St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church
    St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church stood across Liberty Street from the South Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City, USA. It was completely destroyed in the September 11, 2001, attacks when the South Tower collapsed...

     is completely buried by the collapse of the South Tower
  • 2002, December: Assassination attempt against Dora Bakoyannis
    Dora Bakoyannis
    Dora Bakoyannis , born Theodora Mitsotaki , is a Greek politician. From 2006 to 2009 she was Minister of Foreign Affairs of Greece, the highest position ever held by a woman in the Cabinet of Greece; she was also Chairperson-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe in...

  • 2004, 24 April: In a referendum, Greek Cypriots reject the Annan Plan
    Annan Plan for Cyprus
    The Annan Plan was a United Nations proposal to resolve the Cyprus dispute, reuniting the breakaway Northern Cyprus with the Republic of Cyprus. The proposal was to restructure Cyprus as the "United Cyprus Republic", which would be a federation of two states. It was revised a number of times before...

     whereas Turkish Cypriots accept it
  • 2004, 1 May: Cyprus
    Cyprus
    Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...

     becomes a member of the European Union
    European Union
    The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

  • 2004, 13–29 August: Athens hosts the 2004 Summer Olympics
    2004 Summer Olympics
    The 2004 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad, was a premier international multi-sport event held in Athens, Greece from August 13 to August 29, 2004 with the motto Welcome Home. 10,625 athletes competed, some 600 more than expected, accompanied by 5,501 team...

    .
  • 2004, 11 September: The helicopter carrying Patriarch Peter VII of Alexandria
    Patriarch Peter VII of Alexandria
    Petros VII was the Greek Orthodox Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and all Africa from 1997 to 2004.-Biography:...

     along with 16 others (including journalists and three other bishops of the Church of Alexandria
    Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria
    The Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria, also known as the Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa is an autocephalous Greek Orthodox Church within the wider communion of Orthodox Christianity.Officially, it is called the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria to distinguish it from the...

    ) crashes into the Aegean Sea
    Aegean Sea
    The Aegean Sea[p] is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea located between the southern Balkan and Anatolian peninsulas, i.e., between the mainlands of Greece and Turkey. In the north, it is connected to the Marmara Sea and Black Sea by the Dardanelles and Bosporus...

     while en route to the monastic community of Mount Athos
    Mount Athos
    Mount Athos is a mountain and peninsula in Macedonia, Greece. A World Heritage Site, it is home to 20 Eastern Orthodox monasteries and forms a self-governed monastic state within the sovereignty of the Hellenic Republic. Spiritually, Mount Athos comes under the direct jurisdiction of the...

    , arguably after an explosion. None survived. The cause of the crash remains unknown
  • 2005, 14 August: After fears that it could crash in Athens' center, Helios Airways Flight 522
    Helios Airways Flight 522
    Helios Airways Flight 522 was a Helios Airways Boeing 737-300 flight that crashed into a mountain on 14 August 2005 at 12:04 EEST, north of Marathon and Varnavas, Greece. Rescue teams located wreckage near the community of Grammatiko from Athens...

     crashes in Grammatiko
    Grammatiko
    Grammatiko is a Greek village in east Attica. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Marathon, of which it is a municipal unit.It lies approximately northeast of Athens, and north of Marathon and Nea Makri...

    , killing all 121 people on board. This was the deadliest aviation accident in the history of Greece
  • 2006, 18–20 May: Athens hosts the Eurovision Song Contest 2006
    Eurovision Song Contest 2006
    The Eurovision Song Contest 2006 was the 51st Eurovision Song Contest, held at the Olympic Indoor Hall in Athens, Greece on 18 May and 20 May 2006 . The hosting national broadcaster of the contest was Ellinikí Radiofonía Tileórasi . The Finnish band Lordi won the contest with the song "Hard Rock...

  • 2006, 7 July: Death of Roger Milliex, great philhellene
    Philhellenism
    Philhellenism was an intellectual fashion prominent at the turn of the 19th century, that led Europeans like Lord Byron or Charles Nicolas Fabvier to advocate for Greek independence from the Ottoman Empire...

    , academic, author, former Director of the French Institute of Athens and avid supporter of Greek-French relations
    Franco-Greek relations
    Franco-Greek relations are foreign relations between France and Greece. France and Greece have had a friendly and strategic alliance for decades. The two countries share membership of the European Union and NATO and maintain embassy-level relations, which begain in 1833...

    .
  • 2007, June through September: Western Peloponese and southern Euobea are ravaged by lethal infernos
    2007 Greek forest fires
    The 2007 Greek forest fires were a series of massive forest fires that broke out in several areas across Greece throughout the summer of 2007. The most destructive and lethal infernos broke out on August 23, expanded rapidly and raged out of control until August 27, until they were put out in early...

    .
  • 2008, December riots and protest begin.
  • 2009, 29 April: Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis
    Dora Bakoyannis
    Dora Bakoyannis , born Theodora Mitsotaki , is a Greek politician. From 2006 to 2009 she was Minister of Foreign Affairs of Greece, the highest position ever held by a woman in the Cabinet of Greece; she was also Chairperson-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe in...

     presented a timely book entitled "The Macedonian Issue and Bulgaria - Classified Documents 1950-1967", jointly published by the Thessaloniki-based Macedonian Studies Society and the State Archives of Bulgaria
    Bulgarian Historical Archive
    The Bulgarian Historical Archive functions as part of the SS. Cyril and Methodius National Library and keeps more than 1.5 million documents and a separate collection "Portraits and Photos" consisting of 80,000 photos all of historical importance for Bulgaria and the Balkans.- History :The archive...

    , during an event at the War Museum in Athens.
  • 2009, August: Attica
    Attica
    Attica is a historical region of Greece, containing Athens, the current capital of Greece. The historical region is centered on the Attic peninsula, which projects into the Aegean Sea...

     is ravaged by wildfires
    2009 Greek forest fires
    The 2009 Greek forest fires were a series of massive wildfires that broke out across several areas in Greece during the summer of 2009. The fires began in Grammatiko, about twenty-five miles north-east of the Greek capital, Athens on 21 August 2009 and spread quickly towards the suburbs, engulfing...

    .
  • 2010: 2010 European sovereign debt crisis
    2010 European sovereign debt crisis
    From late 2009, fears of a sovereign debt crisis developed among investors concerning some European states, intensifying in early 2010 and thereafter.....

    ; the country's stability has been interrupted; many demonstrations took place in Athens
    Athens
    Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...

     (May 2010 Greek protests) while many workers went on strike; the country is on the verge of a new wave of emigration
    Emigration
    Emigration is the act of leaving one's country or region to settle in another. It is the same as immigration but from the perspective of the country of origin. Human movement before the establishment of political boundaries or within one state is termed migration. There are many reasons why people...

    , with young college graduates at the forefront.
  • 2010, 14–15 May: The Prime Minister of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
    Recep Tayyip Erdogan
    Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been Prime Minister of Turkey since 2003 and is chairman of the ruling Justice and Development Party , which holds a majority of the seats in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. Erdoğan served as Mayor of Istanbul from 1994 to 1998. He graduated in 1981 from Marmara...

    , visits Greece along with 10 ministers
    Erdoğan II Cabinet
    The Cabinet Erdoğan II was the cabinet of the government of Turkey from 29 August 2007 to 14 June 2011. It followed the first cabinet of Erdoğan. It laid down its function after the formation of the Cabinet Erdoğan III, which was formed following the 2011 elections....

    ; 21 agreements - memoranda of cooperation between the two countries' ministries were signed.

See also

  • History of modern Greece
    History of modern Greece
    The history of modern Greece covers the history of Greece from the recognition of independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1832 after the Greek War of Independence to the present day.- Background :In 1821, the Greeks rose up against the Ottoman Empire...

  • Timeline of Orthodoxy in Greece
    Timeline of Orthodoxy in Greece
    This is a timeline of the presence of Orthodoxy in Greece. The history of Greece traditionally encompasses the study of the Greek people, the areas they ruled historically, as well as the territory now composing the modern state of Greece....

  • Timeline of ancient Greece
    Timeline of Ancient Greece
    This is a timeline of Ancient Greece from 800 BC to 146 BC.For earlier times, see Greek Dark Ages, Aegean civilizations and Mycenaean Greece. For later times see Roman Greece, Byzantine Empire and Ottoman Greece....

  • Timeline of Indo-Greek Kingdoms
    Timeline of Indo-Greek Kingdoms
    -Main Indo-Greek kings, timeline and territories:There were over 30 Indo-Greek kings, often in competition on different territories. Many of them are only known through their coins...

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