Patriotism Now!

By Nikolaos W. Kantanas

Greece is a country which has benefited throughout history from its people’s patriotism and nationalism. Modern Greece is no exception. Through its current political and social unrest, in a time in which the economic infrastructure is uncertain, a strengthened ethnic understanding and rebirth of Greek culture and expression are needed.

Why is this so? What can a strengthened pride in Greek ethnicity and Greece itself do for the state and the people? What can it do for you? It can do many things.

With a strengthened ethnic identity which encompasses not only Greek citizens but the Greek Diaspora, a stronger community will be developed which fosters higher-learning of Greek culture and history and respect for self-identity. It will allow the influence of the Greek people to reaffirm what they want from the Greek state, as well as any Diaspora state in which they are prominent. With a strengthened cultural and national identity, the Greek government, (which should act in service to its citizens) will act in accordance with the interests of its people not simply out of obligation, but out of desire for the benefit of the country it presides over and the citizens which allow it to function. This, in turn, will help to nurture the lives of Greeks around the world, who will reap the benefits of being able to have their opinions listened to and utilized by their community.

Moreover, Greeks who are intent on combating issues which plague Greece, such as Macedonism, historical revisionism, the Pontic, Ionian and Thracian Greek genocide, the illegal Turkish occupation of Cyprus, and anti-Hellenism, will have many more sisters and brothers to stand alongside them to face whatever stands before the Greek people.

Greeks around the world must not be ashamed of their ethnic identity; they must embrace it. Honoring and revering your Greek culture does not mean eliminating the respect you have for the country you reside in and the non-Greeks you encounter. It means that you stand dignified in the knowledge that the Greek ethnicity and state must be protected and enriched through your activism and involvement.

There are examples of unity and patriotism, as well as disunity and partisan sentiment, having left their mark in Greek history.

A prime example of the power of Greek unity began in 537 B.C.E. when Cyrus, the emperor of the Achaemenid Empire of Persia, conquered the Ionian Greek cities of what is now modern-day Turkey. At that time, Macedonia, Ionia and Thrace were under the rule of the Persians, until fifty years later when the Athenian fleet finally destroyed the last remnants of the Persian Navy in Greece and cast the remaining vessels toward the far-eastern Mediterranean Sea. Although the Greek political landscape was rocky at the time, major cities, including Athens, Sparta, Thebes and Corinth, exercised military and political unity that enabled the Greek cities to exercise individual freedom. Their unity did not eliminate each city’s individuality, but simply allowed Greeks to embrace what was common between and among them, and brought about social, scientific and intellectual growth.

Twenty years after the Persian War, disunity and individual greed led Athenians and Spartans to a bloody conflict which reduced Greece to shambles of what it once was. It was the Peloponnesian War. Distrust thrived between the two large city-states, and each enveloped its neighbors into battle and economic strife to the point at which the infrastructure of almost all the Greek cities was about to collapse.

A half a century later, Phillip of Macedon united the Greek cities once again, understanding that a divided Greece could not function as a world power. Through toil and effort, Alexander III, Phillip’s son, forged an empire which trumped that of the Persians, spreading Greek language, trade, military knowledge, philosophy and science throughout the known world, and planting the seeds for the Roman Empire. Alexander III’s success came not only from man-power, but his desire, contrary to the will of many isolated Greeks, to unify Greece and create bonds with each Greek city by a shared respect for their common heritage.

However, after Alexander died in June 323 B.C., his empire under the leadership of his generals soon fell into disarray. What was the cause? Infighting, jealously and greed, isolationism of different Greek states, and fear; the empire that one man created which was unrivaled in all of the ancient world by the speed it was created and its emanating influence, fell apart almost as quickly as it was put together. Although Alexander brought Greek culture to the world which has influenced peoples to this day, the Greek city-states fell without much resistance to the might of the growing Roman legions (something that could have been circumvented if all the Greek cities had united against the Roman capitol).

Greek culture continued to flourish throughout the Roman Empire, but Greeks themselves did not always have the same fate. They saw political influence through the reign of the Eastern Roman Empire or ‘Byzantine Empire’, but it was rocky and inconsistent. An eastern-Roman ethnos and a Christian sentiment replaced dreams of a single Greek nation with its own distinct religious background under one Greek flag.

That same empire was undermined along with most of the Roman world in 1453, which saw the rise of the Turkish stranglehold on Eastern-Europe and the Middle-East. Its cause: corruption throughout Europe, betrayal among crusader states, but most of all, Greek duchies fighting each other for regional supremacy, weakening themselves as the nomadic Turkic armies closed in for battle. It was something that could have been avoided had Greek patriotism and nationalism, or respect for one’s fellow Greek and the individual, been understood. Modern Greece could be shaped in a much better way.

Greeks under the fist of the Ottoman Empire tried many times to revolt, but the attempts were unsuccessful. Almost four-hundred years after the fall of the Byzantine Empire, Greek revolutionaries successfully threw off the yoke of Ottoman rule with a war of Independence that lasted from 1821-1832. It was the seed of the Modern Greek state.

Modern Greece, like any newly established country, has a lot of work to do, and although it has encountered many difficulties which come with being a budding state, the accomplishments of its people are something which should make every Greek proud and be an incentive toward a future of even greater accomplishment.

We keep Greece alive. We carry its traditions throughout the world. We can make Greece a better place, and we can makes the lives of Greeks throughout the world better; but we need unity, respect for ourselves and respect for one another. We need patriotism. These things will guarantee us and our children a better future.


Nikolaos Kantanas is currently a junior at Roanoke College where he is an English and Philosophy major. He is also currently an editor of Roanoke’s school newspaper ‘Brackety-Ack’.

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Hellenic League of America, HLA
www.hellenicleagueonline.org/
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The Hellenic League of America (HLA) is a cooperative and collective effort by
Hellenes, Phil-Hellenes and Hellenic enthusiasts who come together for the
Hellenic Cause. A register 501c nonprofit organization the Hellenic League of
America, works to spread awareness on Hellenic National Issues, as well as
our ethnic traditions and culture. Founded in 2008 the HLA has been involved in
organizing lectures, protests, rallies and commemoration across the tri-state
area।

Passing the Torch to a New Generation of HLA Activists

At a time when Greek America is infested with the disease known as indifference, we at the HLA continue to uphold our mission to introduce to the community new and passionate young Hellenes determined to fight for Hellenic Advocacy.

Nikolaos Kantanas, is just this type of Hellene, born in Hoboken New Jersey Nikolaos, who is part of a new wave of HLA activists eager to make a difference. A junior at Roanoke College in Salem, Virginia, he is also an editor of his school’s newspaper.

Nikolaos has demonstrated the passion and character, Greek America needs from its advocates. As a freshman at Roanoke, he placed third out of 1012 students in their Philosophy Department’s annual Zeno Contest. The competition, named after Zeno of Elea, an ancient Greek philosopher from Magna Graecia, entails students submitting an essay which solves an elaborate paradox. In his sophomore year, Nikolaos placed 2nd in the competition.

For being such a shining example for a new generation of patriots, the HLA is proud to release Nikolaos’ newest article ‘Patriotism Now!’ which touches on the current need inside Greece and its diaspora for a cultural rebirth centered on strengthening our ethnic identity. We at the Hellenic League of America urge other young patriots interested in the plight of our people not to shy away from our issues, but, instead, to take the initiative to get active.