The national regeneration of the Greeks as seen by the Russian intelligentsia
Part of : Balkan studies : biannual publication of the Institute for Balkan Studies ; Vol.30, No.2, 1989, pages 291-310
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291-310
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Articles
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When the Greek people rose up in 1821 and threw off the Turkish yoke,the Russian intelligentsia’s attitude was rather different from the official one.The intellectuals began by accepting a certain historical determinism and,taking a rather more emotional approach to the event, they applauded theidea of restoring the Greek Byzantine Empire, or at least of creating a statewhich would be a continuation of it. Paisii Velichkovskii, A. S. Pushkin, andPrince S. Shirinskii-Shaxmatov fervently espoused these views. The first tooppose them were the Slavophiles, who, as the exponents of a historicalSlavonic Messianism, could no longer accept the supremacy of the Hellenicworld. Though utopian, their views were justified to a considerable extent bythe developments within the evolving tiny Greek state, which no longer reflectedthe magnificence of the Byzantine Empire. K. P. Leont'ev radicallydisagreed with the Slavophiles’ views, for he had a thorough knowledge anddeep love for the Greek world; but he too was disappointed in the modern Greek state and deprecated the notion of re-establishing a Greek empire. The article paves the way for further research and discussion.
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Εθνική αναγέννηση των Ελλήνων
