3 - Nation building, the ‘Great Idea’ and National Schism 1831–1922

Summary

It was symptomatic of the dependent nature of the new state that the Greeks were not a party to the treaty of May 1832 between Britain, France, Russia and Bavaria which settled the terms under which King Otto was to accept the throne and which placed Greece under the ‘guarantee’ of the ‘Protecting’ Powers. If the welcome which awaited the young king on his arrival in the provisional capital of Nafplion in February 1833 was genuine enough, the problems that confronted him and his extensive Bavarian entourage were legion. In addition to the inevitable problems attaching to the creation of the basic infrastructure of a state where none had previously existed, there was also the pressing need to create a shared sense of Greek identity. The intermittent prosecution of the war over a period of almost ten years had certainly helped to establish a sense of nationhood extending beyond the intelligentsia and those primarily responsible for fighting the war. But the new rulers of Greece were essentially faced with the problem of constructing a nation as well as a state. Creating a sense of loyalty to the state that would transcend traditional loyalties to family, to native village and to region was no easy task.