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Greece

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Greece



 
 


Timeline

1100 BC   The Dorians invade Greece.

664 BC   First naval battle in Greek recorded history, between Corinth and Corcyra.

479 BC   The Battle of Plataea in Boeotia ends the Persian invasions of Greece as the Persian general Mardonius is routed by the Greeks under Pausanias, nephew of the former Spartan King, Leonidas. The Athenian contingent is led by the repatriated Aristides. Mardonius is killed in the battle and the Greeks capture enormous amounts of booty. Thebes is captured shortly thereafter and the Theban collaborators executed by Pausanias.

168 BC   Third Macedonian War ends with the Battle of Pydna. Romans under Lucius Aemilius Paullus (awarded the surname "Macedonicus" for this victory) defeat and capture Perseus of Macedon when he surrendered. This ends the Antigonid dynasty, one of the three successor empires created upon the death of Alexander the Great, and starts Roman domination of Greece.

31 BC   Roman Civil War: Battle of Actium - Off the western coast of Greece, forces of Octavian defeat troops under Mark Antony and Cleopatra.

10   The Greek dynasty in Bactria is extinguished.

67   Nero travels to Greece where he participates in the Olympic Games and other festivals.

124   During a voyage to Greece, Hadrian is initiated in the ancient rites known as the Eleusinian Mysteries

128   Hadrian begins his inspection of the provinces of Greece, Asia Minor and Egypt.

396   End of the Visigoth invasion in Greece.

396   The Eleusinian Mysteries come to an end, as Alaric destroys the ancient sites in Greece.

579   The Slavs begin to migrate into the Balkans and Greece.

1249   The city of Mystras, Greece is fortified and a palace is constructed there by William II Villehardouin.

1315   Kos fortress is erected in Greece

1363   Byzantine Empire wins naval battle over the Ottoman Empire near Megara, Greece.

1492   Sultan Bayazid II of the Ottoman Empire, learning about the expulsion of Jews from Spain, dispatched the Ottoman Navy to bring the Jews safely to Ottoman lands, mainly to the cities of Selanik (currently in Greece) and Izmir (currently in Turkey).

1821   Greece declares its independence from the Ottoman Empire, beginning the Greek War of Independence.

1822   Greek War of Independence: Greeks defeat Ottoman forces at Thermopylae.

1822   Greek War of Independence: Nafplion falls to the Greek rebels.

1827   Greek War of Independence: Treaty of London between France, Britain, and Russia, to demand that the Turks agree to an armistice in Greece.

1829   Greece receives autonomy from the Ottoman Empire. This effectively ends the Greek War of Independence. Greece continues to seek full independence through diplomatic negotiations with the Empire as well as with Russia, France and Britain.

1830   Greece gains full independence from the Ottoman Empire as the final result of the Greek War of Independence. Negotiations for the borders between the two states continue until 1832, under the supervision of Russia, France and Britain.

1830   Greece grants citizenship to Jews.

1832   The Treaty of London creates an independent Kingdom of Greece. Otto of Wittelsbach, Prince of Bavaria is chosen King. Thus begins the History of modern Greece.

1832   Greece is recognized as a sovereign nation - Treaty of Constantinople ends the Greek War of Independence next July.

1870   Irish peer Lord Muncaster and his entourage kidnapped in Greece.

1878   Greece declares war on Turkey.

1888   National library in Athens, Greece

1910   In Greece, the Military League forces parliament and George I of Greece to summon National Assembly to revise Constitution.

1910   Eleutherios Venizelos becomes prime minister of Greece.

1912   Greek island of Icana declares independence (Greece annexes it in November)

1912   First Balkan War ends temporarily - Bulgaria, Greece, Montenegro, and Serbia (the Balkan League) sign an armistice with Turkey, ending the two-month long war.

1913   Greece annexes Crete

1920   Greece attacks Turkish troops.

1920   Referendum in Greece is favorable to reinstatement of monarchy.

1923   The Treaty of Lausanne, settling the boundaries of modern Turkey, is signed in Switzerland by Greece, Bulgaria and other countries that fought in the First World War

1924   Greece proclaims it is a republic.

1924   Referendum in Greece favors the formation of Hellenic Republic.

1926   In Greece, Georgios Kondylis ousts Theodoros Pangalos

1940   Prime minister of Greece, Aleksandros Korizis, shoots himself - initial official explanation is "heart attack"

1940   World War II: Italy invades Greece.

1940   World War II: German leader Adolf Hitler and Italian Foreign Minister Galeazzo Ciano meet to discuss Benito Mussolini's disastrous invasion of Greece.

1941   World War II: Germany invades Yugoslavia and Greece.

1944   The Creation of the politic Committee of national liberation in Greece.

1944   Civil war breaks out in a newly-liberated Greece, between Communists and royalists.

1946   Greece referendum supports return of monarchy

1947   Cold War: In an effort to fight the spread of Communism, President Harry S. Truman signs an act implementing the Truman Doctrine. The act granted $400 million in military and economic aid to Turkey and Greece.

1947   In Greece, General Markos Vafiadis takes over

1948   213 communists executed in Greece.

1949   Civil war ends in Greece - communist troops surrender

1950   Greece and Yugoslavia reform diplomatic relations

1951   Female suffrage begins in Greece

1951   NATO accepts Greece and Turkey as members

1964   Constantine II becomes King of Greece.

1964   Greece rejects direct talks with Turkey over Cyprus.

1965   King Constantine II of Greece forms a new government in Greece with Prime Minister Stephanos Stephanopoulos, in an attempt to end a two-year old political crisis.

1966   Turkey and Greece intend to start negotiations about the situation in Cyprus.

1967   Greek military junta exiles Melina Mercouri.

1967   In the Aspida case in Greece, 15 officers are sentenced to 2-18 years in prison, accused of treason and intentions of staging a coup.

1967   Greece is taken over by a military dictatorship led by George Papadopoulos, forcing King Constantine II to flee.

1968   A referendum in Greece gives more power to the military junta.

1971   Greece releases 261 political prisoners, 50 of which are sent to internal exile.

1971   A civilian government takes power in Greece.

1971   A Brussels court sentences pretender Alexis Brimeyer to 18 months in jail for falsely using a noble title; Brimeyer has already fled to Greece.

1973   The Greek military junta abolishes the monarchy and proclaims a republic.

1973   A student uprising occurs against the military regime in Athens, Greece.

1973   Greek Dictator George Papadopoulos is ousted in a military coup led by Lieutenant General Phaidon Gizikis.

1974   Constantine Karamanlis is sworn in as interim Prime Minister of Greece.

1974   Greek voters reject a proposal to restore the Greek monarchy.

1975   Officers responsible for the military coup in Greece in 1967 are sentenced to death in Athens. The sentences are later commuted to life imprisonment.

1978   A powerful magnitude 6.5 earthquake hits Thessaloniki, Greece's second largest city, resulting in the total collapse of an apartment building at the central Ippodromio district and the subsequent death of more than 40 people.

1981   Greece enters the ''European Community'', which later becomes the European Union.

1981   Hamas attacks a travel agency in Greece - two dead.

1996   Costas Simitis is elected President of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement of Greece.

2003   Olympic Airlines, Greece's new flag carrier, is launched.

2004   The 2004 Summer Paralympics commences in Athens, Greece.

2004   Albanian terrorists take a bus and its passengers hostage in Athens, Greece and demand 1 million euros in ransom money.

2005   May 21 Greece wins the Eurovision Song Contest in Kiev, Ukraine.

2005   Helios Airways Flight 522 crashes into a mountain in Greece, killing 121.