Greece: Difference between revisions

{{tropeUseful Notes}}

[[Incredibly Lame PunGrease|Greece is not the word.]] At least in Greek, where the country is called ''Ellada''. The formal title is the [[Awesome McCoolname|Hellenic Republic]].

Greece is a democratic state, member of the [[European Union]] and [[NATO]] and famous for its history. As [[Ancient Greece]], it was the birthplace of democracy, [[The Spartan Way]] (or the [[Trope Namers|name source]]), Zeus etc., most of the [[Older Than Feudalism]] tropes still popular in Western fiction (okay, except for all the [[The Bible|biblical]] [[Ancient Rome|and Roman]] ones) and the [[Olympic Games]]. In the last case, they were competed naked. NoAlas, [[Estrogen Brigade|women weren't allowed to participatespectate these events]] (or watchcompete in them, for that matter).

Greece was at the heart of the [[Byzantine Empire]], who despite its distinct Hellenicity continued the traditions of Rome long after the western Empire had fallen, and was the birthplace of [[Orthodox Christianity]]. The Empire was defeated gradually by the Ottoman Turks, and the Byzantine capital is now known as Istanbul, from the Turkish (in turn from the Greek) meaning "the city" or "of the city".

Okay, fine, I'll say it. [[Istanbul (Not Constantinople)|Istanbul, not Constantinople]].

In the 1820s, the Greeks rebelled and created a kingdom of their own which gradually grew in size until, at the end of [[WWWorld 1War I]], it was to include a restored Constantinople and some Greek populated cities on the Turkish coast. This led to a bitter war, at the end of which, in the "Population Exchange", thousands of European Turks and Asiatic Greeks were booted out and the principle of Istanbul, not Constantinople was re-affirmed forever more. Like any of Europe's bucket of ethnic conflicts and past expulsions, the best rule is to not mention this.

During [[WWWorld 2War II]], the Italians attempted to invade Greece, and found themselves bested and humiliated, necessitating Germany turning up to bail them out. After the war, Greece plunged into a [[Civil War]], narrowly evaded the attentions of the [[Reds with Rockets]]... and got a military dictatorship between 1967-1974 instead. But they've done away with that and are now a modern, democratic country.

* ''[[Mamma Mia!]]''

[[File:125px-Flag_of_Greece_svgFlag_of_Greece.pngsvg|framethumb|Sometimes you see just the cross bit without the stripes]]