Political Discourse in Greece during the Reign of George I (1863-1913): The consolidation of Concepts

In domestic politics the reign of George I (1863-1813) involves changes in the political system after the introduction of the new constitution of 1864. This fact made possible the establishment of a two party system, which falled apart only after 1909 under the pressure of the military. In foreign policy it was the time of the strengthening of partly opposing nationalisms in South Eastern Europe til the Balkan Wars, a fact which meant the retreat of the Ottoman Empire from Europe; the successor states became bitter enemies or cooperating neighbours. Some years later the disastrous war in Asia Minor meant for Greece the end of the ideology of the Great Idea. The strong socioeconomic change, which meant among other things the slow industrialization, the change of structure of land ownership and also the strengthening of the middle class, confronted the state with complex tasks. The crisis of the Nineties (1893 state bankruptcy, 1897 disastrous defeat at the war with the Ottoman Empire) led an the one hand to the demand of modemization of the military and of the stronger militarization of the state; an the other hand it provoked an identity crisis. This identity crisis found its expression not only in the political rhetoric and in the literaly movements of the time, but also in the debate about the written language. Language and linguistic competence were assigned the additional task of securing the cohesion of Greeks inside and outside the frontiers of the Greek state. The primary goal of this project is to register the political discourse by observing the development of the concepts beeing used in the press during certain significant moments (particularly the ferst years after the constitution of 1864, the time around the Congress of Berlin, the years between the bankruptcy of 1893 and the defeat of 1897 as well as between the Coup of 1909 and the Balkan Wars 1912-1913). The debates in parlament, particularly those regarding the interventions of the king in day-to-day politics, the regulation of the parliamentary change as well as the conflict between the liberal and the state controlled orientation of the economic modernization, were continued in daily newspapers. The parliamentary routine as a reservoir of the political language can thus be accessed through the press. Lexicography and lingustic history were shaped from the linguistic ideological debates. Therefore lexika and other works of reference can be considered more as a part of the research subjects than as a valid comparative material. The development of linguistic and cultural ideologies in Greece of the 19th century was part of social and political programs and played an important role in the construction of national identity. In this respect research returns are to be expected not only in regard to the continuous interaction between political rhetoric and linguistic polemic, but also to the political ideology in general. Through the experiences of the project "The vocabulary of civilization in Greece 1843-1864: Rule and State" the methodological choice of a combined approached both from the point of view of the history of concepts and ideas and historical linguistics has been confirmed as both flexible and result oriented. By following the conceptual development of the greek society until 1913 we aim also to contibute to a synthesis an the greek "long" 19th century.