ABSTRACT
The Greek Revolution that broke out in 1821 was no bloodless or civilised affair. Lofty ideas, hope and vision along with inevitable violence were its twin driving forces;1 but success (however partial) culminated in a viable nation state. Many different people of different identities and allegiances risked much by involving themselves in the war. The ‘speechless masses’ of bandit groups – known as klephts and armatoloi – included illiterate peasants, artisans and local clergy, together with the local notables, the landowners of the Peloponnesus and the shipping magnates of the islands. These formed a motley revolutionary army that succeeded in transforming local resistance into national feeling. The ‘Struggle for Independence’ – the term the fighters used for their revolution against the Ottoman state – was indeed a story of heroic deeds, self-sacrifice (both individual and collective) and strong feelings of solidarity, but it was also a story of political upheaval and social discontent, civil strife and strong factionalism.2
