In early March 2010 a new publication of Ministry of Foreign Affairs came out by the Service of Diplomatic and Historical Archives. Its title is “The American People’s Support to the Greek War of Independence 1821”. The first copy of the book was presented by the then Prime Minister George Papandreou to then US President Obama during his visit to Washington and the ceremony in the White House on the occasion of Greece’s National Day.
The publication draws on early documents from Greek and American archives to shed light on the first days of Greek-American relations in 1821-1830. As the Greeks struggled for their freedom after four hundred years under the Ottoman yoke, the people of America offered their generous support.
As it is pointed out by the author of the book, Photini Tomai, a Minister A’ officer and Director of the Service of Diplomatic Records, assistance by the American Philhellenes who rushed to help redeem Greece from slavery was primarily a matter of idealism. Still, it clearly served the long term strategic interests of the United States as well. Only 45 years before, the American colonies declared their independence from Great Britain with an appeal to freedom and democracy, ideals they traced back to Greece of the Classical Age. Those ideals were nowhere safe. Statesmen such as Daniel Webster would point to the reactionary policies of the “Holy Alliance” in Europe as hostile to America’s democratic Revolution, not only to Greece’s.
The author hopes this extensive but scarcely exhaustive survey will encourage a fresh appreciation of Greek-American relations and the strength of two people’s historical bonds. The enthusiasm of the American people for Greece’s struggle was impressive – as they demonstrated with gifts of money, food, and weapons shipped to the Greek side. This book also aims to pay tribute to ten known and less-known heroes who came to Greece and sacrificed their health and fortune (and in some cases their lives) to the cause of Greek freedom.
And, as the then Prime Minister underlines in his short foreword “As this book reminds us, the close friendship between Greece and the United States was the product not only of shared ideals but also of mutual interests. European powers did not want the American experiment extended or repeated. The breakdown of the Ottoman Empire heralded by the Greek Revolution gave America its first experience in the role of global maritime power. One hundred and eighty years later, the arguments America’s orators made for Greek-American solidarity remain no less strong”.
The book is illustrated with 18 masterpieces from the big paintings collection of the War of Independence that belongs to the National Gallery in Athens.
February 17, 2011