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The Greek War of Independence in the British press: News reports, philhellenism, politics

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Title

The Greek War of Independence in the British press: News reports, philhellenism, politics

Date

6 February 2021

Abstract

"This paper attempts to introduce some of the characteristics of the manner in which the British press presented the Greek War of Independence, along with the positions it adopted regarding it. It examines only representative examples of the attitudes of the daily and weekly press, along with a small portion of the local press. Journals and pamphlets that dealt with the Greek War of Independence will be discussed. Reference is made to the sources of information of the British press, which, to a certain degree, in themselves determined the accuracy and the character of their news reports. British newspapers often reproduced reports from other European newspapers, but also received information from sources within the Ottoman empire, revolutionary Greece, and the Ionian state, as well as from various signed, pseudonymous or anonymous letters. It should be noted that occasional misinformation and disinformation were not unknown. Reference is made only to representative samples of the news, with emphasis mainly on those subjects which were presented in the press in greater detail, and those elements that allow us to better comprehend the way in which philhellenism spread in Britain. News reporting and article-writing were directly related to British interests and British government policies in regard to the warring sides, and the role of Russia in their conflict. The publications usually reflected the position of the political parties to which they each belonged, or which they represented, even though politicians themselves did not usually wish to be seen openly associated with the newspapers, which were at the time forbidden to publish parliamentary discussions. Political conflicts within Britain served to inflame the debate between the newspapers themselves on the subjects of the Greek War of Independence but also the policy of neutrality followed by the commissioners of the Ionian state. These debates usually took the form of the exchange of accusations and comments. They became ever more intense, as the philhellenic movement spread through broader sections of society. The philhellenic movement was represented seriously in the press, but also faced criticism. Philhellenic positions were promoted mainly by the daily “Morning Chronicle”, the weekly “Examiner”, and various pamphlets, but also a large number of books on the Greek Revolution and their respective reviews published in respected journals."

(Slightly modified abstract from the Initiative 1821-2021 website)

Type specialization

Format

Data sets

Language

Bibliographic Citation

https://www.protovoulia21.gr/draseis/ethnika-kinimata-kai-filellinismos/
https://www.blod.gr/lectures/synedria-vi-i-syzitisi-gia-tin-elliniki-epanastasi-sti-dimosia-sfaira/

Number Of Pages - Duration

00:20:00

Rights

BY-NC-SA Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike

Position: 1450 (40 views)