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The Viennese Greek communities and the uprising of 1821

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Title

The Viennese Greek communities and the uprising of 1821

Alternative Title

Die Auswirkungen des Jahres 1821 auf die Organisationsstrukturen der Wiener Griechen

Date

17 May 2021

Abstract

In Greek national historiography, the contribution of the Viennese Greeks in the 1821 Uprising is traditionally emphasised by pointing to the ideological preparation, in the sense of spreading the idea of the nation’s rebirth through the books of the Greek Enlightenment printed in Vienna- particularly manifested in the writings of Rigas Velestinlis. However, the indifferent or even negative attitude of the Viennese Greeks towards the 1821 Uprising, as it is correctly described by Seirinidou, is rather ignored and the interest in the history of the Viennese Greeks due to a teleological view usually ends with the year 1821. This conference contribution deals with the question why the aforementioned indifferent or negative attitude is not at all surprising, if one takes a closer look at the organisation of Vienna’s two Greek communities as associations of merchants, whose privileges were derived from the Ottoman-Austrian peace treaties of 1699 and 1718. In the case of the community of St. George, the emphasis on the status of its members as Ottoman subjects, which accompanied this community from its foundation until the late 19th century, played an essential role. This can be well illustrated also by a comparison with the similarly structured Turkish-Israelite community in Vienna. Furthermore, it should be considered that the Greek scholars in Vienna that were more receptive to revolutionary ideas had an inferior standing inside the communities due to the communities’ mode of organisation.

(Modified abstract from conference documentation)

Type specialization

Format

Text

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Bibliographic Citation

https://www.byzneo.univie.ac.at/archiv/conference-200-years-after-reassessing-the-greek-revolution-of-1821/
https://www.byzneo.univie.ac.at/fileadmin/user_upload/i_byzneo/vortraege_oegns/200_Jahre_Unabhaengigkeitskrieg__Abstracts.pdf

Number Of Pages - Duration

00:20:00

Rights

BY-NC-ND Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives CC0 No Rights Reserved

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