Belington progressive. [volume] (Belington, W. Va.) 1912-1927, 1921-01-06
GREECE; NEW NATION OF
AN ANCIENT PEOPLE.

AN ANCIENT PEOPLE.
The question Of succession to the
throne of King Alexander of Greece
turned world interest once more to
southeastern Europe. The changes
Greece has undergone territorially and
the part it has played In the wars ana
crises of its corner of the world, are
discussed in the following bulletin Is
sued oy the National Geographic So
Getty:
"What is Greece?
'In the light of the past the answer
might well be tentative, for a defini-
ton of Greece's area at any time dur
ing the thousands of years of its his
tory would have held good hardly for
a quarter century; and in latter years,
so swift have been the changes In the
new Greece, each decade has seen the
fixing of new boundaries.
mot until modern times-except
during the momentary empire of Alex
ander-has Greece meant a nation.
In the Grecian Golden Age, as well
as before and since, Greece was
house divided against itself. It's de-
tailed history would mean the history
of more than $50 separate states.
And yet there was at all times some
feeling of Hellenic nationality even
though the rivalries among the va
rious groups stood in the way OF fu-
sion into single nation.
"While Great Britain may be de-
scribed as a land surrounded by seas,
Greece may be said to be "a sea sur
rounded by land The Hellenes have
always been a sea-faring folk, ana
the Mediterranean sea, and more par
ticularly the Aegean have been their
own particular herring ponds The
islands Of the eastern Mediterranean
became Greek territory in their en-
tirety, and this was true also Of the
island-like Peloponnesus and some
other portions of the Greek peninsula.
But an equally important part of
Greece-or better, of the land of the
Hellenes-were the settlements made
by its mariners on the shores of the
mainland that hem in the Mediter-
ranean. These settlements consti-
tuted an unbroken fringe Of Hellas
along the shores of Asia Minor, and
scattered communities on the shores
of Italy, in Sicily, even in northern
Africa and what is now southern
France This was the loose Greece
or Hellas at its greatest-a domain
of one people but of many states.
Greece gave the world it's first
League of Nations, the Delian league,
organized in HI B. G. by way Of mu-
aggression of Persia, which had
sort of archaeological ambition of
its own in those days. Athens was
the only principal power in this
league, and was the recognized leader
Of the organization.
'Later came the hegemony Of Ath-
ems by force, the paradoxical empire
Of a democracy, bereft even of the
trappings of monarchy. At this pc
Rod and under what may be termed
the empires of Sparta and Thebes,
close approach to a Greek nation may
be said to have existed; but in none
of these eras were most of the terri
tories peopled by Greeks included, and
even large parts of the Greek PENN
sulas itself were governed by other
Hellenic states. For a brief period
under Alexander the Great, Greece
reached the status Of a nation, but it
was a fusion forced by a virtual out
slider and contained much territory in
habited by others than Greeks; and
on the death OF the great military
genius the Hellenes separated again
into numerous governmental units.
"Greece, expanding from the city
state, had comprised for a moment
almost the whole civilized world: but
the great dilation was followed by an
equally great contraction. Greece fell
under the rising power of Rome, and
became a mere province In the west
ern empire.
"The military ability and power of
yoke; but when the Eastern empire
was formed with Constantinople as it's
seat, Greek culture conquered where
Greek arms could not, and Byzantium
became in reality great Greek state.
Once more the territory that. by con-
struction at least can be regarded as
Greece, spread outward until it held
within its boundaries much of south
eastern Europe. 1t is on reviving the
glory of this period In Grecian history
that Greek ambition, when it could
live at all, has dwelt"
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