Chapter 119 Crete Uprising

In October 1895, the people of Greece learned an exciting news - the rebels on Crete once again launched an uprising and demanded to merge with Greece.

This incident caught the Greek government off guard.

The business community in Greece suffered serious losses due to the trade barriers of the Ottoman Empire, and a lot of dissatisfaction was accumulating.

The uprising of the people of Crete was like pouring oil on the fire, and the whole of Greece was filled with anger.

For a while, Greek nationalism was burning fiercely, and the whole country kept clamoring to teach the Ottomans a lesson.

There is no doubt that the Greek people sincerely sympathize with the Cretans who have experienced ups and downs and suffered for hundreds of years.

The history of the suffering of the Cretans is really a long story.

During the Fourth Crusade, the Crusaders sacked Constantinople. Since then, the Eastern Roman Empire has never recovered, and the territory of the former Eastern Roman Empire has been torn apart.

Crete first became the fief of Bonifacios, and in 1204, he sold it to the Venetians.

Since then, the Venetians have established their rule on Crete and built many castles on the island.

Under the rule of the Venetians, the knights of Venice took the land from the Cretans, and the Cretans became serfs.

The heavy taxes and labor made people feel the hardship of life, and the resistance of the Cretans led to brutal repression and torture.

In 1669, Crete was captured by the Turks again - after 22 years of fighting, Venice finally failed.

The Turkish government once again brought severe disasters to the Cretans: murder, looting, heavy taxes, arson and slavery.

The brutality of the Turkish rule was even worse than that of the Venetians.

In Crete under the rule of the Turks, the people's resistance has become a form of life.

The most recent and most extensive Cretan uprising took place in the spring of 1866, when the Turkish army and the Cretans fought a decisive battle at the Arkadi Monastery, where the weaker Cretans were defeated again.

In this battle, volunteer officers from Greece played an important role.

There was also an episode - Coptic Christian soldiers from Egypt refused to fight Greek Christians and were eventually executed.

Looking back at the history of Crete over the past 500 years, it is really a mixture of misery and suffering, which is beyond words.

It is precisely because of the origin of Greece and Crete that the statement of the Cretan uprising - announcing a merger with Greece, has aroused the anger of the Greek people.

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In front of Constitution Square, citizens of Athens gathered together, shouting towards the National Assembly Building: "Agree to the merger of Greece and Crete"

The young students and children in the crowd were particularly enthusiastic: "Eliminate the Ottoman villains and help Greek compatriots gain freedom"

Every time a slogan was shouted, the people around them either flew their hats or waved their coats, shouting excitedly.

Constantine, who was riding in a carriage, sat in the carriage, pulled the curtains in front of the window, and looked at the enthusiastic people.

After Constantine got off the carriage, the guards surrounded Constantine in the middle, gathered together, and walked through the crowded crowd on the steps in front of the building and entered the Parliament Building.

The Parliament Hall is a spacious hall with a high dome. Two rows of Roman columns stand in the hall, and rows of chairs are bent into an arc, surrounding the rostrum.

The members of parliament who were sitting in groups of three or four and discussing in low voices stood up to pay respect to Constantine when they saw him coming in, and their faces were distorted: This crown prince is here to listen to the parliament for the first time in his life.

After nodding, Constantine came to the front row and sat down, waiting for the protagonist of today to appear.

After a while, the meeting hall suddenly became quiet, and Prime Minister Trikoupis slowly walked onto the podium.

Before he could make any move, a member of parliament with gray hair, a serious face, and about 50 years old stood up and asked the prime minister on the stage: "Regarding the issue of the Crete uprising, Mr. Prime Minister, how should we respond?"

"Yesterday, the leader of the Crete uprising, Mr. Vizenilos, has issued a statement to Greece, demanding that Greece merge with Crete"

After this statement was issued, the Greek government felt like it was put on the grill and was tormented.

Crete is now a territory of the Ottoman Empire, and changes in territory generally involve war.

For a country, nothing is more shameful than losing territory.

For a government, nothing can make democracy more disappointed than losing territory.

Therefore, the Greek government's announcement of its agreement to the annexation of Crete is tantamount to declaring war on the Ottoman Empire.

As for refusal, it is unlikely.

Anyone who dares to say that he refuses his Greek compatriots will be scolded by the Greek people with high nationalist enthusiasm and his reputation will be ruined.

At this time, the Greek government was almost forced into a dead end and did not have many choices.

Trikoupis on the stage did not answer his question directly. Instead, he changed the subject and made a government work report: "Regarding the government's large-scale infrastructure construction plan, after the unremitting efforts of the Greek people, it has recently achieved quite fruitful results."

“This includes railway networks, road construction plans, etc.”

“When I first took office, Greece only had a 12-kilometer railway connecting Athens and Piraeus.”

“So far, Greece’s railway mileage has reached 1,000 kilometers, connecting Athens and the Peloponnese, central Greece and Thessaly.”

“Our total road mileage has reached 5,000 kilometers.”

“The telegraph line is 9,000 kilometers long, with a total of 186 telegraph stations.”

“The number of students at all stages has also increased massively, from 1860 to 18 In 1995, the number of students in school reached 450,000, an increase of nearly 10 times."

"Obviously, our education has also made great progress."

A member of parliament sitting next to Constantine whispered to Constantine: "But at the same time, we also owed a huge foreign debt. In the final analysis, it is nothing more than borrowing a lot of money."

"Now the Greek government has to pay tens of millions of drachmas to British and French creditors every year just for interest."

"As for the principal, I don't know when it can be repaid."

Obviously, this member of parliament has an opinion on Trikoupis's large-scale borrowing for the construction of expanded infrastructure.

Trikoupis on the stage continued: "So far, Greece's total economic output has reached 1.2 billion drachmas."

"After the reorganization of the army, its combat effectiveness has improved rapidly."

"We have the confidence to face any challenge."

The crowd in the audience "boomed" and was in a mess. The members of parliament helped to whisper the prime minister's last words.

Combined with the current situation in Greece, the prime minister's words seemed to be a response to the current situation.