Greece

Greece invented democracy in the 5th century BCE, forgot it for two millennia under Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman rule, then became the first people to successfully revolt against the Ottoman Empire in the 1820s. The pattern of bold innovation followed by prolonged difficulty has continued: modern Greece has experienced two world wars, civil war, military dictatorship, and the worst sovereign debt crisis in developed-nation history.

Classical Athens established democracy around 508 BCE—not our democracy (women, slaves, and foreigners were excluded), but the revolutionary principle that citizens could govern themselves. Athens also produced Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, the Parthenon, and the cultural foundations of Western civilization. Alexander the Great's conquests spread Greek language and culture from Egypt to India. But Greek independence ended with Roman conquest in 146 BCE; the eastern Roman Empire, speaking Greek, survived as Byzantium until 1453, when Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Turks.

Nearly four centuries of Ottoman rule ("Tourkokratia") followed. Greeks retained their Orthodox Christian identity and, in some regions, commercial prominence. The Greek War of Independence (1821-1829) combined nationalist uprising with great-power intervention—Britain, France, and Russia supported Greek rebels against the Ottomans. Independence came in 1832, but immediately entangled Greece in debt: loans from Britain financed the war; default followed within two years. An international financial commission supervised Greek finances in 1898 after another bankruptcy.

The 20th century brought territorial expansion, catastrophe, and division. The Balkan Wars (1912-13) nearly doubled Greek territory; World War I split the nation between pro-Allied and pro-German factions. The 1922 war with Turkey ended in disaster: 1.5 million Greek refugees were expelled from Anatolia. Axis occupation during World War II killed 7-11% of the population; civil war (1946-49) between communists and nationalists killed another 150,000. Military dictatorship (1967-74) ended only after the junta's attempted coup in Cyprus triggered Turkish invasion.

Democracy stabilized after 1974, and EU membership (1981) brought prosperity and modernization. But the 2009 debt crisis exposed structural weaknesses: government spending had been financed by borrowing; statistics had been falsified; the economy was uncompetitive within the eurozone. Greece experienced the longest and deepest depression of any modern developed economy—GDP fell 25% between 2008 and 2013. Unemployment reached 27%; youth unemployment exceeded 60%. Three bailout programs imposed brutal austerity; the 2012 debt restructuring was the largest sovereign default in history.

Recovery finally came after 2018. Growth returned; unemployment fell to 8.6% by late 2025. Moody's restored investment-grade status in March 2025; FTSE Russell began reclassifying Greece as a developed market in October 2025 after a twelve-year exile. GDP per capita reached $27,170 nominal, $44,985 PPP.

Through 2026, Greece navigates between recovery and residual fragility. Debt remains high; demographics are dire; the bureaucracy resists reform. But the country that invented democracy, lost it, reinvented it, nearly destroyed it, and rebuilt it again demonstrates resilience as consistent as its dysfunction. The cycle continues.