Greece history

The Parthenon on the Acropolis of Athens.

Greece was the first area in Europe where advanced early civilizations emerged, beginning with the Minoan civilization in Crete and then the Mycenean civilization on the mainland. Later, city-states emerged across the Greek peninsula and spread to the shores of the Black Sea, South Italy and Asia Minor reaching great levels of prosperity that resulted in an unprecedented cultural boom, expressed in architecture, drama, science and philosophy, and nurtured in Athens under a democratic environment.

Alexander the Great on his horse Bucephalus.

Athens and Sparta led the way in repelling the Persian Empire in a series of battles. Both were later overshadowed by Thebes and eventually Macedon, with the latter under the guidance of Alexander the Great uniting and leading the Greek world to victory over the Persians.

The Hellenistic era was brought only partially to a close two centuries later with the establishment of Roman rule over Greek lands in 146 BC.^[1] Many Greeks migrated to Alexandria, Antioch, Seleucia and the many other new Hellenistic cities in Asia and Africa founded in Alexander's wake.^[2]

The Greek peninsula as a part of the Byzantine Empire in purple, c.1180, at the end of the Komnenian period.

The subsequent mixture of Roman and Hellenic cultures took form in the establishment of the Byzantine Empire in 330 AD around Constantinople. Byzantium remained a major cultural and military power for the next 1,123 years, until the Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. On the eve of the Ottoman conquest, much of the Greek intelligentsia migrated to Italy and other parts of Europe not under Ottoman rule, playing a significant role in the Renaissance through the transmission of ancient Greek works to Western Europe.^[3] Nevertheless, the Ottoman millet system contributed to the cohesion of the Orthodox Greeks by segregating the various peoples within the empire based on religion, as the latter played an integral role in the formation of modern Greek identity.

After the Greek War of Independence, successfully waged against the Ottoman Empire from 1821 to 1829, the nascent Greek state was finally recognized under the London Protocol. In 1827, Ioannis Kapodistrias, from Ionian Islands, was chosen as the first governor of the new Republic. However, following his assassination, the Great Powers installed a monarchy under Otto, of the Bavarian House of Wittelsbach. In 1843, an uprising forced the King to grant a constitution and a representative assembly.

The destruction of the turkish flagship at Chios by Constantine Kanaris,during the Greek Revolution(1821-1830). Painted by Nikiphoros Lytras.

Due to his unimpaired authoritarian rule, he was eventually dethroned in 1863 and replaced by Prince Vilhelm (William) of Denmark, who took the name George I and brought with him the Ionian Islands as a coronation gift from Britain. In 1877, Charilaos Trikoupis, who is attributed with the significant improvement of the country's infrastructure, curbed the power of the monarchy to interfere in the assembly by issuing the rule of vote of confidence to any potential prime minister.

Notes

1. ^ Alexander's Gulf outpost uncovered. BBC News. August 7, 2007.
2. ^ "Growth of the Greek Colonies in the First Millenium BC (application/pdf Object)".
3. ^ "Millennium issue: Trouble with Turkey The fall of Constantinople Economist.com". Economist.com. 1997-03-20.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.

Halay

Azerbaijani dancers performing Halay during Mugham Festival in Shaki, Azerbaijan.

Halay (Turkish: Halay, Assyrian: Khigga ܚܓܐ, Greek: Χαλάϊ, Kurdish: Gowend / Dîlan, Azerbaijan:Yalli) is a popular dance in the Middle East.

Halay is traditionally played on the zurna, supported by a davul, but in the recent years, electronic instruments have started to replace them. Typically, Halay dancers form a circle or a line, while holding each other with the little finger or shoulder to shoulder or even hand to hand with the last and first player holding a piece of cloth — usually called "mendil" (from Turkish). It is a national dance in Turkey and Armenia.

The initial form of which dates back to so many centuries long when it was held around a ceremony bonfire, having the meaning of hot, light and meal. The word “yal” means row, line of chain. The yalli dancers stand in one line or two rows and sometimes in some rows.

The yalli becoming traditional form existed in two forms; dancing and play yalli, but from time to time it was promoted and was enriched with new shades and as a result of which accepted new motions and reached our time.

The homeland of some kinds of yalli out of 100 is the ancient land Nakhchivan which is the inseperable part of Azerbaijan. The yalli forms considered our national heritage are follows: “Tanzara”, “Folk yalli”, “Gopu”, “Gazi-gazi”, “Hoynara”, “Sharur yalli”, “Four feet”, “Urfani”, “Arazi”, “Siyagutu”, “Khalafi”, “Ganimo”, “Nareyi”, “Galadan galaya”, “Three feet”, “Three steps”, “Kochdu balaban”, “Gulumeyi”, “Haghishda”, “Zari-zari” and others.

Halay in weddings

In many Turkish, Azerbaijani, Armenian, Assyrian, Kurdish, Syriac, Turkmen, Arabic, Persian, Albanian and Greek weddings, people dance Halay for hours. Every region has its own style and forms.

Links

• Derik Saçın Örmezler
• Hele yâr zalim yâr
• Huseyin Turan - Agri Dagindan Uctum and Karanfil Deste Gider
• Akdağmadeni halay
• Feza Neverd Original Turkish instrumental music recordings..

This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.

Union of Croatia with Hungary

Architecture of Medieval Croatia, Zadar

Following the extinction of the Croatian ruling dynasty in 1091, Ladislaus I of Hungary, the brother of Jelena Lijepa, the last Croatian queen, became the king of Croatia. Croatian nobility of the Littoral opposed this crowning, which led to 10 years of war and the recognition of the Hungarian ruler Coloman as the king of Croatia and Hungary in the treaty of 1102 (often referred to as the Pacta conventa). In return, Coloman promised to maintain Croatia as a separate kingdom, not to settle Croatia with Hungarians, to guarantee Croatia's self-governance under a Ban, and to respect all the rights, laws and privileges of the Croatian Kingdom. During this union, the Kingdom of Croatia never lost the right to elect its own king, had the ruling dynasty become extinct. In 1293 and 1403^[1] Croatia chose its own king, but in both cases the Kingdom of Hungary declared war and the union was reestablished.

For the next four centuries, the Kingdom of Croatia was ruled by the Sabor and Bans appointed by the Hungarian king. The Kingdom of Croatia and Slavonia remained a legally distinct constitutional entity,^[2] but the advent of a Hungarian king brought about other consequences such as: the introduction of feudalism and the rise of native noble families such as the Frankopans and the Šubićs. The 1273 Congregatio Regni tocius Sclavonie Generalis, the oldest surviving document written by the Croatian parliament, dates from this period.^[3] Subsequent kings sought to restore some of their previously lost influence by granting certain privileges to towns.

In the late 15th century the Ottomans conquered Makarska

The first period of personal union between Croatia and Hungary ended in 1526 with the Battle of Mohács and the defeat of Hungarian forces by the Ottomans. After the death of King Louis II, Croatian nobles at the Cetingrad assembly chose the Habsburgs as new rulers of the Kingdom of Croatia, under the condition that they provide the troops and finances required to protect Croatia against the Ottoman Empire.^[3][4]

References

1. ^ Kako je Ladislav prodao Dalmaciju
2. ^ Michigan state university libraries-Steven W. Sowards:25 lectures on modern Balkan history
3. ^ History of Croatian parliament on Croatian
4. ^ Milan Kruhek: Cetin, grad izbornog sabora Kraljevine Hrvatske 1527, Karlovačka Županija, 1997, Karlovac

This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.

Turkey and Serbia for the Balkan stability

Turkish President Abdullah Gul will pay an official visit to Serbia on Sunday to seek cooperation with the country in maintaining stability in the Balkan region, Turkey's Presidential Press Center announced Saturday.

Turkey considers Serbia a key country in the Balkans with a leading role in regional stability and the two presidents will discuss opportunities to work together for tranquillity, stability and welfare in the Balkans, said the center in a statement.

The visit will boost political, economic and commercial ties between Turkey and Serbia, with a business delegation to accompany Gul and various economic deals to be inked, said the statement.

Gul and his Serbian counterpart Boris Tadic are expected to review Turkish-Serbian relations and exchange views on regional and daily problems, according to the statement.

Gul's visit, which is upon the invitation by Tadic, will be the first official visit of a Turkish president to Belgrade since 1986. (China View)

The First Bulgarian Empire

In 632 the Bulgars, originally from Central Asia, formed under the leadership of Khan Kubrat an independent state that became known as Great Bulgaria. Its territory extended from the lower course of the Danube to the west, the Black Sea and the Azov Sea to the south, the Kuban River to the east, and the Donets River to the north.[1] Pressure from the Khazars led to the subjugation of Great Bulgaria in the second half of the 7th century. Kubrat’s successor, Khan Asparuh, migrated with some of the Bulgar tribes to the lower courses of the rivers Danube, Dniester and Dniepr (known as Ongal), and conquered Moesia and Scythia Minor (Dobrudzha) from the Byzantine Empire, expanding his new khanate further into the Balkan Peninsula.[2] A peace treaty with Byzantium in 681 and the establishment of the Bulgar capital of Pliska south of the Danube mark the beginning of the First Bulgarian Empire. At the same time one of Asparuh's brothers, Kuber, settled with another Bulgar group in present-day[update] Macedonia.[3]

Ruins of Pliska, capital of the First Bulgarian Empire from 680 to ca. 890

During the siege of Constantinople in 717–718 the Bulgarian ruler Khan Tervel honoured his treaty with the Byzantines by sending troops to help the populace of the imperial city. According to the Byzantine chronicler Theophanes, in the decisive battle the Bulgarians killed 22,000 Arabs, thereby eliminating the threat of a full-scale Arab invasion into Eastern and Central Europe.[4]

The influence and territorial expansion of Bulgaria increased further during the rule of Khan Krum,[5] who in 811 won a decisive victory against the Byzantine army led by Nicephorus I in the Battle of Pliska.[6]

In 864, Bulgaria under Boris I The Baptist accepted Eastern Orthodox Christianity.[7]

Bulgaria became a major European power in the ninth and the tenth centuries, while fighting with the Byzantine Empire for the control of the Balkans. This happened under the rule (852–889) of Boris I. During his reign, the Cyrillic alphabet developed in Preslav and Ohrid,[8] adapted from the Glagolitic alphabet invented by the monks Saints Cyril and Methodius.[9]

Baba Vida fortress in Vidin, built in the 10th century

The Cyrillic alphabet became the basis for further cultural development. Centuries later, this alphabet, along with the Old Bulgarian language, fostered the intellectual written language (lingua franca) for Eastern Europe, known as Church Slavonic. The greatest territorial extension of the Bulgarian Empire—covering most of the Balkans—occurred under Emperor Simeon I the Great, the first Bulgarian Tsar (Emperor), who ruled from 893 to 927.[10] The Battle of Anchialos (917), one of the bloodiest battles in the Middle ages.[11] marked one of Bulgaria's most decisive victories against the Byzantines.

However, Simeon's greatest achievement consisted of Bulgaria developing a rich, unique Christian Slavonic culture, which became an example for the other Slavonic peoples in Eastern Europe and also ensured the continued existence of the Bulgarian nation despite forces that threatened to tear it into pieces throughout its long and war-ridden history.

Bulgaria declined in the mid-tenth century, worn out by wars with Croatia, by frequent Serbian rebellions sponsored by Byzantine gold, and by disastrous Magyar and Pecheneg invasions.[12] Because of this, Bulgaria collapsed in the face of an assault of the Rus' in 969–971.[13]

The Bulgarian Empire ca. 893 in dark green, with territorial gains up to 927 in light green

The Byzantines then began campaigns to conquer Bulgaria. In 971, they seized the capital Preslav and captured Emperor Boris II.[14] Resistance continued under Tsar Samuil in the western Bulgarian lands for nearly half a century. The country managed to recover and defeated the Byzantines in several major battles, taking the control of the most of the Balkans and in 991 invaded the Serbian state.[15] But the Byzantines led by Basil II ("the Bulgar-Slayer") destroyed the Bulgarian state in 1018 after their victory at Kleidion.[16]

Notes

1. Zlatarski, pp. 146–153
2. Runciman, p. 26
3. Иван Микулчиќ, "Средновековни градови и тврдини во Македониjа", Скопjе, "Македонска цивилизациjа", 1996, стр. 29–33.
4. C. de Boor (ed), Theophanis chronographia, vol. 1. Leipzig: Teubner, 1883 (repr. Hildesheim: Olms, 1963), 397, 25–30 (AM 6209)"φασί δε τινές ότι και ανθρώπους τεθνεώτας και την εαυτών κόπρον εις τα κλίβανα βάλλοντες και ζυμούντες ήσθιον. ενέσκηψε δε εις αυτούς και λοιμική νόσος και αναρίθμητα πλήθη εξ αυτών ώλεσεν. συνήψε δε προς αυτούς πόλεμον και τον των Βουλγάρων έθνος, και, ως φασίν οι ακριβώς επιστάμενοι, [ότι] κβ χιλάδας Αράβων κατέσφαξαν."
5. Runciman, p. 52
6. s:Chronographia/Chapter 61
7. Georgius Monachus Continuatus, loc. cit. [work not previously referenced], Logomete
8. Vita S. démentis
9. Barford, P. M. (2001). The Early Slavs. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press
10. Fine, The Early Medieval Balkans, pp. 144–148.
11. Bojidar Dimitrov: Bulgaria Illustrated History. BORIANA Publishing House 2002, ISBN 9545000449
12. Theophanes Continuatus, pp. 462—3, 480
13. Cedrenus: II, p. 383
14. Leo Diaconus, pp. 158–9
15. Шишић [Šišić], p. 331
16. Skylitzes, p. 457

This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.