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History of Greece
Chronology of Important Events
http://workmall.com/wfb2001/greece/greece_history_timeline.html
Source: The Library of Congress Country Studies
Period Description
2600 B.C. Early Minoan civilization produces
cultural artifacts, beginning 1400 years
of Minoan culture on Crete, including
introduction of alphabet.
1400s-1300s B.C. Mycenaean civilization reaches peak on
Greek mainland.
1050-800 B.C. Dark Age of Greece; earlier cultural
gains lost in period of stagnation and
decline.
Ninth Century B.C. Homer writes Odyssey and
Iliad, greatest epic poems of
Greek Classical literature.
Eighth Century B.C. Athens, Sparta, and other city-states
emerge and develop trade relations.
750-500 B.C. Era of colonial expansion and cultural
diffusion into Italy, eastern
Mediterranean Sea, and Black Sea.
490 B.C. Greeks defeat Persians at Marathon,
ending First Persian War.
481-479 B.C. After Persian occupation, Greek victories
at Salamis (naval) and Plataia (land) end
Persian threat permanently and cut
cultural ties with Near East.
450s B.C. Rule of Pericles begins golden age of
Athens, including masterpieces of
sculpture, architecture, dramaturgy, and
philosophy.
421 B.C. First phase of Peloponnesian War (Athens
against Sparta) ends inconclusively after
ten years of fighting.
404 B.C. Second phase of Peloponnesian War
concludes with Sparta's defeat of
Athenian navy, ending Athenian golden
age.
Fourth Century B.C. City-states decline; Macedonian Empire
rises.
336 B.C. Alexander the Great takes throne of
Macedonian Empire after assassination of
Philip II.
323 B.C. Alexander dies after establishing largest
empire in history, reaching North Africa
and Afghanistan.
ca. 300 B.C. Fragmented Hellenistic kingdoms begin
struggle for power.
280 B.C. Pyrrhus of Epirus begins long series of
battles between Greeks and Romans,
including Greek participation in Punic
Wars on side of Carthage.
86 B.C. Athens conquered by Rome.
31 B.C. Mark Antony's defeat at Battle of Actium
brings final integration of Greece into
Roman Empire.
31 B.C.-A.D. 180 Pax Romana, peaceful period of
cultural flowering and rise of Greeks
into empire's ruling elite.
313 In Edict of Milan, Emperor Constantine
establishes Roman Empire's toleration of
Christianity
364 Roman Empire officially split into Latin
Roman (western) and Greek Byzantine
(eastern) empires.
Fifth century Greek Orthodox Christianity rises as
official religion of Byzantine Empire,
which dominates former Roman Empire after
fall of Rome; schism with Roman Catholic
Church deepens until final break in 1054.
567-867 Byzantine Empire declines and shrinks as
Slavic and Islamic groups expand from
West and East.
867 Macedonian Dynasty begins expansion,
cultural and economic growth, and
consolidation of Byzantine control in
Balkans.
1071 Period of decline peaks with Seljuk Turk
capture of Emperor Romanus IV.
1204 Fourth Crusade sacks Constantinople;
Greece divided into small units by
Western occupiers.
1261-1453 Palaeologus Dynasty solidifies Byzantine
Empire, withstands increasing pressure
from Ottoman Turks.
1453 Ottoman Turks capture Constantinople,
ending Byzantine Empire; most of Greece
in Ottoman hands.
1453-1821 Greece, except for Ionian Islands,
remains part of Ottoman Empire.
1821-32 Under intellectual influence of the
Enlightenment and with intervention by
France and Britain, Greek War of
Independence liberates part of modern
Greece.
1828 Ioannis Kapodistrias becomes first
president of fledgling Greece state.
1829 Treaty of Adrianople places Greek under
British, French, and Russian protection.
1832 Treaty of Constantinople places Greece
under British, French, and Russian
protection, defines its boundaries, and
names Otto of Wittgenstein ruler.
1844 First constitution establishes democratic
parliamentary government system, reducing
Otto's power.
1854 Britain and France prevent Greece from
taking Ottoman territory in Thrace and
Epirus, humiliating Otto.
1862 After series of coups, Otto forced to
abdicate.
1864 New constitution establishes powerful
parliament; Prince William of Denmark
named king as George I.
1866 First revolt on Crete against Ottoman
rule.
1875 George accepts principle of parliamentary
majority party forming government, ending
fractious minority administrations.
1875 Kharilaos Trikoupis becomes prime
minister, beginning quarter-century of
government domination by him and
ideological opposite Theodoros
Deliyannis.
1881 After Great Power pressure at 1878
Congress of Berlin, Ottoman Empire cedes
Thessaly and part of Epirus to Greece.
1886 Britain and France blockade Greece after
Deliyannis mobilizes troops to profit
from Serbian-Bulgarian conflict.
1897 Financial collapse ends with national
bankruptcy.
1908 Young Turks overthrow government in
Constantinople, beginning reform of
Turkish politics and society.
1909 Military coup at Goudi overthrows Greek
government; Eleutherios Venizelos chosen
to head new government.
1912-13 Balkan Wars add southern Epirus,
Macedonia, some Aegean Islands, and Crete
to Greek territory.
1915 Venizelos resigns over King Constantine's
failure to support Allies in World War I,
beginning constitutional crisis, the
National Schism.
1917 Constantine passes crown to his son
Alexander; Greek forces join Allies for
remainder of war.
1920 Treaty of Sèvres establishes Greek
enclave around Smyrna in Asia Minor.
1922 After disastrous military defeat in Asia
Minor, Smyrna is sacked and Greek forces
withdraw.
1923 Treat of Lausanne cedes all territory in
Asia Minor to Turkey; huge influx of
Greek refugees in exchange of ethnic
minorities between Greece and Turkey.
1924-28 Chaotic period of government coups ends;
second Venizelos golden age begins.
1930 World financial crisis initiates new
political and economic unrest in Greece.
1932 Venizelos resigns; National Schism
reemerges.
1936-41 Dictatorial regime of General Ioannis
Metaxas.
1941 Nazi forces invade Greece; start of four
years of destructive occupation; National
Liberation Front founded as resistance
movement.
1943 Resistance splits; communist-dominated
EAM faction dominates further resistance
activity and forms government.
1944 Athens liberated; Greece assigned to
British sphere by agreement with Soviet
Union; communist insurgency leads to fall
of Papandreou government.
1945 Varkiza Agreement ends insurgency; White
Terror persecution of leftist resistance
forces.
1946-49 Civil War between communist Democratic
Army of Greece and government.
1947 Massive United States aid starts with
Truman Doctrine.
1949 Marshall Plan aids reconstruction period
of Greek economy and society following
World War II and Civil War.
1950 Martial law lifted; first civilian
elections held; two decades of economic
growth begin.
1955 Konstantinos Karamanlis named prime
minister, beginning eight-year regime;
violent terrorist campaign of National
Organization of Cypriot Fighters (EOKA)
begins against British occupation of
Cyprus and for union with Greece.
1963 Karamanlis's resignation begins period of
instability.
1967 US-friendly military junta takes power, begins seven-
year regime and period of international
isolation; King Constantine goes into
exile.
1973 University student uprisings and
radicalization of junta increase social
resistance to regime.
1974 Turkey invades Cyprus after a coup
attempt against Cypriot President
Makarios; military regime replaced by new
Karamanlis civilian government; voters
abolish monarchy; democratic institutions
restored.
1975 New constitution establishes republican
government; Communist Party of Greece
legalized; Turkish Federated State of
Cyprus declared.
1981 Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK)
ends postwar conservative control of
government, begins eight-year rule with
broad reform program under Andreas
Papandreou; Greece gains full membership
in European Community (EC).
1986 Constitutional amendments curtail
presidential power.
1987 Incident in Aegean Sea brings Greece and
Turkey to brink of armed conflict.
1989 Two elections yield stalemated coalition
governments after scandals undermine
PASOK support.
1990 April Konstantinos Mitsotakis's New Democracy
(ND) Party wins half of Assembly seats
and forms new government.
1991 September Declaration of sovereignty by the former
Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia arouses
nationalist outcry in Greece against
possibility of EC recognition of country
under name Macedonia (a region of Greece);
Greek campaign against recognition begins.
December Soviet Union dissolves, beginning
revision of Greece's national security
position and military doctrine.
1992 August Privatization of mass transit
brings general strike against Mitsotakis
government economic policies.
1993 March: EC adopts five-year economic reform
program for Greece.
October After austerity program and scandals
weaken ND, Papandreou again is elected
prime minister.
November Maastrict Treaty goes into effect,
creating new levels of cooperation in the
European Community and redisignating that
organization as the European Union (EU).
NOTE: The information regarding Greece on this page is re-published from The Library of Congress Country Studies. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Greece Historical Setting information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Greece Historical Setting should be addressed to the Library of Congress.
