Greece celebrates its bicentennial amid pandemic lockdown

By George Gilson

The crowds that each year celebrate the 25 March anniversary of the start of the Greek War of Independence from the Ottoman Empire were absent at the military parade in Syntagma Square outside of Parliament, with public expressions of patriotism and national pride limited to coverage of the event on television and other media due to the raging COVID-19 epidemic that has claimed the lives of 7,600 citizens.

Yet the momentous occasion was marked in cities around the world, mainly those with a strong Greek diaspora element, by the lighting of major public building, bridges, and other sites with the blue and white colours of the Greek flag.

The Greek Revolution has been seen by historians - and honoured in a flood of congratulatory messages from foreign leaders over the last few days - as a classic David and Goliath struggle in which a small and poor but brave and courageous nation fought with unprecedented courage against a strong empire and against the tide in a reactionary period of European history exemplified by Metternich.

Aside from the annual parade - held in a period of pronounced Greek-Turkish tensions and marshaled despite the pandemic as a symbol of Greek resolve in defending national sovereignty at any cost - the sole official event at the level of state and government was a state dinner for foreign dignitaries and Greek political party and military leaders held by President Katerina Sakellaropoulou (a former president of the Council of State, the country's supreme administrative court, who looked to the late US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg as a role model) at the presidential mansion.

US President Joe Biden in a videotaped congratulatory message underlined the deep influence of ancient Athenian...