Celebration of the Greek Revolution
The celebration of the Greek Revolution of 1821, less commonly known as Independence Day, takes place in Greece, Cyprus and Greek diaspora centers on 25 March every year, coinciding with the Feast of the Annunciation. The day is a public holiday in Greece and Cyprus. Usually celebrations include parades
and other celebratory events on the same day or its eve.
The largest event is the military parade in Athens on 25 March, while on the previous day, celebrations take place throughout the schools of the country. In other municipalities parades of military divisions, students, clubs, etc. are held, as well as church services.
History
25 March, the feast day of the Annunciation, had been chosen as the day of the start of the Greek Revolution against the Ottoman Empire, by the leader of the Filiki Eteria Alexander Ypsilantis "as evangelising the political liberation of the hellenic nation". This date was considered a reference point since the early days of the Revolution, and even as the starting day of a new calendar, even in areas which had revolted earlier. Since 1823 at the latest it was considered in the Peloponnese as the starting day of the revolution.
In 1822, the provisional government headed in Corinth decided to celebrate the anniversary of the Revolution the same day as Easter (2 April, Julian Calendar). The celebrations took place in Corinth with a military procession, festive church services and cannon fire, as described by the German volunteer Striebeck, who was present.
According to the writer D. Photiadis and others, before 1838, 1 January was considered the national holiday, a date which was voted on by the First National Assembly at Epidaurus the first Greek "Constitution", or the "Provisional Regime". It is therefore believed that by changing the date "the national holiday was losing its political and revolutionary character and taking on a religious nature" with whatever that entailed concerning the assertions of democracy and a constitution. The historian Chr. Koulouri, who researched national holiday-type celebrations from 1834 and after, does not include in them 1 January, but instead six dates related to the royal family. The main celebration before the establishment of 25 March was 25 January, the anniversary of King Otto's landing in Nafplio (1833).
The leader of the Filiki Eteria who organized the revolution, Alexander Ypsilantis, kickstarted the operations in Iasi on 24 February 1821. However, the events there were characterized in the collective conscious and history as something isolated, something like a prologue to the Revolution. The complete failure of the movement in a non-Greek area, maybe also the disappointment of the Greeks about the delusion of Russian support propagated by the Filiki Eteria, were the main contributors to the distinction between the events in the Danubian Principalities and those in Greece. The State validated the prevailing attitude and chose 25 March as the national holiday.
