The riots that erupted in Athens between 1875 and 1903 had underlying social and political causes. Those of 1875 and 1902 had to do with government malpractices while the riots of 1901 and 1902 were related to the Greek language question.
- Riots of 1875
Riots erupted following the practices of the Voulgaris administration in 1874. After the 1874 general election Dimitrios Voulgaris carved a majority by unconstitutional means, i.e. by a peculiar interpretation of article 56 of the Constitution, and proceeded in voting for the 1875 budget. This caused an uproar. The MPs that took an oath in parliament based on that interpretation were labelled Stelites.
In Ancient Athens, Stelites were those who betrayed their country and were publicly disgraced by having their names inscribed on a marble column (stele). The Athenian dailies that so labelled the MPs declared that the Voulgaris (1802-1877) government and parliament were functioning illegally. The whole affair which was accompanied by riots and went down in history as “Stelitika” ended with another round of elections which was won by Trikoupis.
- Riots of 1901 – Gospel Riots
Second and most violent riots that broke out in Athens were the notorious Gospel Riots (Evaggeliaka) of November 1901. Street violence was sparked by the translation of the Scriptures to modern (demotic) Greek undertaken by Queen Olga and the demoticist poet, Alexandros Pallis. The translation was condemned as anti-national and anti-religious and Pallis was denounced as traitor, agent of Pan-Slavism, worthy of excommunication.
The situation escalated with thousands of students burning copies of the newspapers that supported the translations, throwing stones and other materials to the police and troops and calling for the excommunication of the culprits. The cavalry intervened firing ten shots and wounding three demonstrators. The following day, Athens’ Bloody Thursday, street violence continued when a demonstration of ten thousand students and civilians developed in a riot which ended in bloodshed: eight people were killed.
- Riots of 1902 – Sanidika Riots
Following a general election which failed to produce a majority, supporters of Deliyiannis who pined for the premiership, caused widespread rioting in Athens. Deliyiannis, who was behind the street violence, was trying to blackmail King George into assigning the premiership to him. For five days supporters of Deliyiannis roamed the streets of Athens creating a climate of terror.
Some tore planks (in Greek: sanides) from nearby construction building and were brandishing them terrorizing their political opponents – thus the appellation of the riots: Sanidika. King George gave in and Deliyiannis was sworn Prime Minister on 24 November.
- Riots of 1903 – Orestiaka Riots
The riots of November 1903 were caused by the translation of the ancient Greek play of Aeschylus, Orestia, into modern Greek and its performance in the Royal Theatre. The famous actress Marika Kotopouli performed as Goddess Athina and music was by Stanford. For some the translation of an ancient Greek masterpiece into modern Greek was anathema.
Students congregated in central Athens and marched towards the Theatre. They were confronted by army units and violence erupted causing at least one person to lose their lives and seven wounded.
Sources:
Eleni Chourmouzi, “Greece after the 1897 War”, Istoria tou Ellenikou Ethnous, vol. 14, pp. 160-179. [in Greek]
Philip Carabott, “Politics, Orthodoxy and the Language Question in Greece. The Gospel Riots of November 1901”, Journal of Mediterranean Studies, vol. 3, no. 1 (1993), pp. 117-138.
Ta Oresteiaka, in Istoria.extnet.gr
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