The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-05-10
CREEK HEROES OF 1923
HOW PRESENT HELLENIC CONTEST
COMPARES WITH FORMER.
Lord Byron, Marco Bozzaris and 9th
ers Died for Greecc's Freedom
The NavarinO


Boston Transcript.
The present struggle of the little Hellenic
kingdom against the sick man of Europe
naturally recalls Greece's former baptism
of fire and suffering three-quarters of a
century ago. History repeats itself in this
case, as in many others. In 1924 Lord Byron
thundered at Missolonghi as does Gladstone
at Hawarden to-day. Englishmen stood
aghast at England's policy then as now,
and turned instinctively to Christian Amer
lea against un-Christian Europe. Here is
the famous sentiment Lord Byron uttered
when epilepsy had almost ended his career:
L will buy a vessel; the Greeks shall invest
me with the character of their ambassador
or agent; l will go TO the United States and
procure that free and enlightened govern
ment to set the example of recognizing the
federation of Greece as an independent
state. This done. England must follow the
example, and Greece will then enter into all
her rights as a member of the great COM
monwealth of Christian Europe"
The spirit that imbued Lord Byron and
led him to offer his life to the cause of
Greek independence created a corps of he
roes and martyrs as noble as any ever ded-
icated in blood to liberty. The fiery war
SOIlSS OL 1lSdS 1neIdeOS, the 1neSSdlldn,
in 1897, aroused in the heart of Greece its
ancient love of freedom. AT that time Tur-
keys power was still paramount on her soil.
Austria turned the singer over to the Sui
tan, and he was beheaded at Belgrade. His
last words were: Greece will avenge my
death" His songs are as popular with his
countrymen to-day as is The Hymn of the
Republic to Americans. Following is Il
sample of his inspiring verse, as adapted by
Lord Byron:
Sons of the Greeks, arise,
Tie glorious hours gone -oyth,
And, worthy CT such ties,
Display who gave rs birth
Sparta, Sparta, why n siui 'hers
kethasgic dost thor he
With Athens, ola ally,
LeonidaS recalling,
That chief of ancient song,
Who saved ye once from falling.
The terrible, the strong
Who made that old diversion
In Old Thermopylae,
And warning with the Persian
To keep his country free;
With his three hundred waging
The battle, long he stood,
And, like a lion raging,
Expired in seas OF blood
Easter Sunday of this year, made memo
rable in that Turkey practically declared
itself at war with Greece, was not much
unlike the Easter Sunday of 1921, when the
first hero of the former war, Georgakas,
penned in with thirty followers in the mon
astery of Sekkon, blew up the building,
killing himself and his own force, and a
lnOuSdn attacking TURKS as wen. On lulS
same Easter Sunday Constantinople was in
a panic. An alleged Greek conspiracy was
unearthed, and a frightful massacre en-
sued. The Patriarch Gregarias was hanged
at the gate of his palace, the Easter lily
still in his hand. All the churchmen, Greek
business men and their wives and children
were murdered, the fury of the Turks eX-
tending to all the towns of Moldavla and
Wallachia, and making this Easter sunday
a st. Bartholomew day in Grecian history:
Then the great war for liberty began, and
a hundred heroes rose for every murdered
Grecian.
One of the notable victims of the early
part of the war was the young warrior
priest, Diakos. who. as he was being taken
or n May :, 1871 to the the place = ns of efeeutldG a1
Charon has chosen to fetch me, when the
lower are blooming and the earth has put
It was in 1923 that Marco Bozzaris gave
his life to Greece. his heroic death forming
one of the most touching incidents OF the
famous siege of Missolonghi. The latter
town was the key to the Peloponessus,
and the Sultan had sent a formldable army
to capture it. Marco Bozzaris had gathered
a force of 200 men in Cephalonia, ana,
leaving the bulk of these at Missolonghi,
he sailed forth with a body of 800 men
and during the night attacked the turks,
driving them from their position, IN the
moment of triumph a bullet struck hlm IN
the head and, like the c3nduest s or 9 montbss
later Lord Byron, another hero TO Whom
Greece had looked for aid: died in the be
sieged town, within a few feet of where the
body of Bozzaris had lain in state.
Then came the heroic sacrifice in the
monastery of St. Nikaloas; on the niue
island of Psara. A thousand starving men
and women, besieged for weeks by o'OV9
Turks, suddenly opened the gates, ana
when 1900 Moslems had SWarmed INTO
every nook and corner of the place; blew II
up. Hardly a soul escaped. But the siege
of Missolonghi Kept on. In 1876 lorahl9
Pasha. the son of Egypt's ruler, attacked
it with 10000 men. The smaller outposts
were captured with the greatest danger,
one of the Egyptian generals TemarkIng
70 THO him n ftpr a rpO1JlSp. ''TneX are not
men: they are devils. Go and see for your
self" For twenty DAYS the chief articles
of food in MissolOnghI were sea weeds and
the leather Of shoes, which. Sottened by OH,
was regarded as a delicacy. The END came
at last. and in the midst OF the aSsa d u I'LL d
through the ranks of the Turks and Esyp,,
tians. Many of these were women oreSSeu
as men, with children strapped 10 thelr
In the ruins of Missolonghi there were
found 1000 dead.
able Incidents of a war which abounded in
the most remarkable displays of herolsm;
Numbers gained the victory at last ana
after the fall of Athens Greece lay ex-
hausted at the feet of Turkey. The siege
of AcropoIis was the finishing touch and
Drakas, on being taken before Respld
Pasha. after the fall of the Greek capital,
plunged>a dagger into his own heart. cry
inS Sffer 1929 the heroism and martyrdom of
the Greeks. and especially the horrors of
Missolonghi. called forth the indignation
of Europe. In England many OF the leadlng
men stigmatized the policy of the govern
ment as unworthy of their country. In
1S25 George Canning characterized it as a
rGonstrositv and a disgrace. Russia and
France were made to sign at London on
July 6. 1927, a protocol in which it was
agreed that if the Turkish government
Within a month did not consent to a truce
the three great powers would officially rec
ognize the independence Of Greece: turkey
was obstinate and when the Egyptian fleet
actnalIv fred on the ships of the powers at
NaVarino the war was quickly ended by the
cornnlete destruction of the Sultan's war
vessels and the slaughter of 5000 of his
men. That battle saved the honor of the
civilized nations of Europe and Greece pc
came an Independent kingdom. Tn ques-
lion now is, will another Navarino be nee
essarv 10 end the trouble officially begun
on Easter Sunday 1897?