Periodization of the waves of Greek migrants and their settlements in the region of the Russian Empire.

Presenting the history of the Greek diaspora in the region of the Crimea and Azov Sea is not an easy task. This is due to the various forms that the Greek diaspora took in the course of time. However, we can discern two basic periods with differences in the characteristics of the Greek diaspora in the region.

From the 15th until the middle of the 17th century we observe a movement of clergymen and ecclesiastic scholars of the three great Patriarchates of the East (Constantinople, Alexandria, Jerusalem) toward the rich and fellow orthodox Russian Empire with the ulterior purpose of raising money. In spite of the temporary character of these journeys, sometimes they were very often and other times they ended in permanent settlement. The zities had taken the form of a particular and official action of the Patriarchates.

But, at the same time, we find isolated cases of persons of Greek descent in the Russian army and the diplomatic body.

Thus, the first pure groups of Greeks appear in certain commercial centres of Ukraine: Nizhyn and Lvov.

The second period begins in the end of the 18th century, after the Russo-Turkish Wars of 1768-1774 and 1787-1792 with the mass migration of people from the larger Greek region and the islands toward the newly acquired region of south Russia and the simultaneous constitution of the Communities, such as those of Odessa, Cherson, Taganrog, etc. In addition, refugees from the Crimean khanate settle in Mariupol (today's Zdanov) and in the greater region.

Finally, in the first twenty-five years of the 19th century, a wave of Christian Pontic populations from the territory of the Pontus - which was under Ottoman possession - heads for the Russian regions of Transcaucasia.

The Greek migrants in the international condition between the Russian and the Ottoman Empire.

From the days of Peter the Great (1672-1725) the Russian foreign policy focused on attempts to win an outlet to the warm south seas. These plans were accomplished during the reign of Catherine II (1729-1796), when the Russian troops managed to invade the Danubian principalities and the territories of the Tatar khanate of Crimea, as well as the regions of Azov, Kertch, Yeni Kale and Kinbourn. After the signing of the treaties of Kuchuk Kainarji (1774) and that of Iasi (1792) the Russians occupied permanently the region that extends from the mouth of the Danube up to Kertch and Taganrog. In addition, the Russian ships were now free to travel on the Black Sea and Russia was acclaimed as protector of the orthodox people of the Ottoman Empire.

At the same time, the Russians followed a specific colonizing policy favouring the population strengthening of these regions with orthodox populations from the Ottoman Empire and the khanate, but also with other populations from Germany, Switzerland, etc. The foundation of new cities and ports ("Romanov cities") as well as the strengthening of the mercantile life of the region are integrated in the same policy.

General conditions that determined the migration

From the time of Ivan the Terrible and mainly in the days of Theodore I Ivanovich, the Patriarchate centres of the East, taking advantage of the interest of the Tsars in the Byzantine heritage and of the ideology of the "third Rome", but also of the relations with the Russians and trying at the same time to hinder the penetration of the Catholics and Protestants in the greater region, organized missions to Russia.

Very often in the period between the 15th and the 18th century the clergymen who toured in Ukraine - which was under Russian suzerainty with native leaders (hetman) - were surrounded by "nephews", that is merchants who payed for the protection of these clergymen. This is how the first settlements of Greek merchants begin in the mercantile centres of Ukraine. In fact, the Greek colony of Nizhyn exploited from very early the privileges conferred by the Ukraine hetman and founded officially in 1696 the Greek Brotherhood of Nizhyn.

The activity and the creation of more Greek colonies, particularly in Nizhyn, increased until the second half of the 18th century. Although the Greek merchants benefitted from the commercial cycle they had created, the region declined due to the changes in the trade routes which resulted from the Russian conquests in the south. These circumstantial phenomena effected the organization and place of foundation of the Greek colonies.

The plan of Peter the Great for access to the Black Sea was carried out during the reign of Catherine II. The empire expanded to the regions of Cherson, Crimea and Azov, the region in which the Novorossiiskaia gubernilia (Novorossiya district) was later organized. At the same time, the staff of the tsarina elaborated a plan for the quick development of the newly acquired territories. The "Greek plan" constituted a part of the suggestions for the expansion of the empire toward the warm seas with the assistance of the orthodox of the Ottoman Empire, mainly the Greeks.

The Russo-Turkish War of 1768-1774 played a decisive role in the later events, as after the end of the war (treaty of Kuchuk Kainarji, 1774) the conditions of the pokrovitel' stvo regime, that is the "protection" of the orthodox of the Ottoman Empire, were attained. At the same time, those who had fought in the Aegean sea on the side of the Russian fleet came to the new territories within the framework of a plan which ensured their settlement and conferred them a series of privileges. The same plan was carried out after the Russo-Turkish War of 1787-1792.

It was Catherine II that had invited the eminent scholars (Eugenius Bulgaris, Konstantinos Theotokis) to support the procedure in which intellectual exchanges of the two orthodox cultures were involved in the Russian imperial plans and the national aspirations of the Greeks.

In addition, after the Russo-Turkish War of 1806-1812, the Russians applied the plan of an emigration committee which provided for the settlement of Christians from the Ottoman Pontus in Caucasia. These movements were made at a slow pace - which is also attributed to the inadequacy of the plan - and were escalated after the Russo-Turkish Wars of 1826-1827 and 1828-1829.

Community

Organization of the community - privileges

The development of the colonies of Russia was supported by a series of privileges that aimed at the strengthening of the trade activities and the reinforcement of the population of the region. A concentrated typology of the privileges would come up against the multifarious cases we study. Therefore, we can study the series of privileges in the cases of Nizhyn, Mariupol and Odessa.

The pure mercantile colony of Nizhyn succeeded in obtaining a series of privileges, during the whole 17th century, from the local leaders (hetman). The new privileges actually ratified the previous ones. But the decrees of Peter the Great too (March 11, 1710) and those issued by Catherine II (September 1, 1785) acknowledged and ratified the previous. The Greeks of Nizhyn, managed to obtain permission for the erection of their own temple in 1679, on the initiative of the priest Christophorus Dmitriev from Macedonia. Thus, first the wooden temple of Michael and Gabriel was constructed and then the stone All Saints' temple, which was inaugurated in February 28th, 1731.

However, the milestone in the course of the Greeks of the city was the official constitution of the Greek commercial Brotherhood of Nizhyn in 1687. The Brotherhood was of ecclesiastic - charitable character and in the beginning Bulgarians, Serbs and Armenians participated in it. Immediately after the constitution of the Brotherhood and also under the pression of controversies between the merchants, the tribunal of the Brotherhood was founded. It was competent for judging cases of its members. All these were integrated into a form of local administration which was developed and later reinforced by the foundation of a Greek magistrate's court with authority on many cases, similar to those of central organs of the state administration.

A series of decrees were issued to favour settlement in the territories of Novorossiia (December 4, 1762 and August 22, 1763). In fact, the decree of the 22nd of March 1764 comprised a plan for land distribution in the region to the settlers and articles on the strengthening of trade, facilitations for craftsmen and favourable conditions for those who started commercial activities.

Although we do not know the exact reasons for which the metropolite Kaffa (of ancient Theodosia) Ignatius passed from the region of Crimea (an independent khanate at that time) on Russian territory and settled with his flock in the region of Mariupol (Zdanov) in 1778. The decree of the 21st of May 1779 conferred to them exceptional privileges: exemption from taxation for ten years, the right to self-administration and exemption from military duties. However, not all of these came into effect. The number of the settlers was not as large as expected. In 1816 a committee was constituted with the participation of two members of the community in order to give a solution to the problem of land distribution. Finally, the Greeks took the land they were promised but were not exempted from taxation.

Odessa was founded in 1774-1775 on the Turkish fortress Yeni Dunai. A series of privileges and promises for land distribution, which initially constituted propositions of the favoured of Catherine II, de Ribas, took the form of a decree (April 19, 1795). The decree was translated and sent to the Russian ambassador in Constantinople to be communicated to the Christians of the Ottoman Empire. It provided for allowances for the Greek and Albanian fighters of the previous Russo-Turkish War in the Aegean sea which intended to settle in the environs of the city, but also invited persons of Greek or other descent to settle in the city if they meant to do so. For these people the decree provided for an allowance, the provision of residence, exemption from taxation and exemption from military duties for ten years. Furthermore, it provided for support for the erection of a church - of the later church of the Holy Trinity - and granted loans to those who created companies. In addition, a special office for the protection of the settlers was founded with the Greek general A. Kesoglou in charge. Moreover, a military body of 300 men (Greek division), composed of the settlers - fighters (1795) was formed. Its mission was the protection of the region.

The policy of Catherine II was modified by her son, Alexander I, who continued to confer privileges to the city (decree of March 1st 1800): loan for the construction of a port and the necessary building and permission to the new comers to use the materials that were left over from the works of the port.

But all this aid to the settlers in Novcorossiia was cut down around 1817 because the Russian administration was short in financial resources. However, in May 1830 the authorities decided to concede financial support to the Turkish-speaking Christian foreigners from Argyroupolis (Gumushane) and Erzerum, who had settled in the region of Tiflis / Cincar a year earlier.

Demographic trends

The presence and life of the Greeks in south Russia must be studied on the basis of three parametres: that of the greater cultural frontiers of the Orthodox commonwealth, the Russo-Turkish Wars in the 18th and 19th centuries and that of the settlement plans of the Russian administration, whose political theory and tactic was based on the estimation that the wealth and power of a state were proportionate to the size of the population. The populations of Greek descent co-existed with other peoples, despite the fact that it was the period during which the national identities of some peoples of the region developed.

Unfortunately we do not have important statistic data on the real percentage of Greeks on the total percentage of the population. However, there is evidence on Nizhyn, a city with a Community that was organized in the past. The Greek mercantile Brotherhood accepted also Bulgarians, Serbs, Vlachs and Armenians, at least until the prohibition of entry to members of other nations.

In Mariupol, a city of exclusively Greek farmers and stock-farmers, cultural and linguistic differences appeared among the members of this population (Turkish-speaking and Greek-speaking people).

Odessa, a city which was actually founded by Greek fighters of the Russo-Turkish War of 1768-1774, offers itself best for a demographic analysis. Apart from the Odesskii Greckskii Division (Greek Division of Odessa), the Greeks, mainly merchants, were the most active members of the city and contributed considerably to its economic growth and development. It is worth mentioning that the city was planned to comprise two sectors: the military and the Greek one. But soon the city acquired a multicultural character. Russians, Ukraine Cossacks, Jews, Greeks, Armenians, Tatars, Polish, Germans (Mennonites and Catholics), Italians and British merchants, all with their own costume and language walked in the streets of Odessa. The Italian and Greek languages were the most common ones and necessary to anyone involved in trading transactions in the region. The people of Greek descent were mostly concentrated in Deribasovskaia street.

The census of de Ribas (1795) numbered 2349 male habitants, without including the nobles, the civil servants, army men and the Division of Odessa. In 1797, the male population reached 3455 persons; 269 Greeks, Albanians and Moldavians were comprised as persons of the same nation. In 1817, the total population of Odessa reached 33.000 people; 5% of the total population was of Greek descent.

Education

It was the community that provided for the elementary education of the Greek settlers. The Greek school of Nizhyn operated from 1687 in the temple of the Archanges Michael and Gabriel. Furthermore, the Greek language was taught in ten more schools of the region. It was in Nizhyn also that the Alexander school operated after 1804 under the supervision of the Greek municipal board, with a director from the Brotherhood. Moreover, there was a Chair of Greek language in the higher institute of duke Bezborontcko, the "College of Higher Sciences".

Mariupol also had a Greek school since 1824 whereas a similar school operated in the same period in the village Mischana of the formerly Tatar Alavedi. A higher military school operated since 1775 in Cherson on the order of Catherine II. It is the "Greek College", or "College of fellow orthodox foreigners". From 1792 it was composed in the "Body of fellow orthodox foreigners"; its seat was Saint Petersburg and its operation ceased in 1796.

A school of elementary education in which the courses were done in Greek, operated in Odessa since 1814. The creation of the Greek Commercial School, the second most important institution of the city after the Lyceum Richelieu was also significant. The School operated on the financial support of the Greek merchants.

In Odessa, at the same time of the consolidation of the national identity of the Greeks and the development of the sense of national awareness theatrical plays were put on in Odessa after 1815 in Greek and had a patriotic character. Thus, the "Philoctetes" of Sophocles, translated by N. S. Pikkolou was staged in February 20th, 1818, whereas the performance of "Thanatos tou Demosthenous" translated by N. S. Pikkolou caused a great excitement. Odessa also had a Greek printing house since 1818, while the Greek Commercial School had its own printing office from 1827.

Before the separation of the Orthodox commonwealth (as named by P. M. Kitromilidis), the birth of nationalism in the 19th century leads a series of intellectuals and Greek ecclesiastic scholars to take action in Russia, mostly in its big centres. Most of them were attached to the Russian princes. From the 16th century, clergymen who participated in missions for zitia began settling in Russia and contributing to the intellectual activity of the country. We can present the individual cases of the painter, Theophanis the Greek, the scholar Maxim the Greek (Michail Trivolis), Meletios Syrigos and Paisios Logaridis (during the 17th century). It is worth mentioning the case of Arsenios, the archbishop of Dimoniko and Elassona (1550-1626), which visited Russia as a representative of the Patriarchate of Constantinople and later as an attendant of Patriarch Jeremias II and ended in living in Moscow; he also left remarkable writings. Furthermore, the Sophroniou and Ioannikiou Leichoudis brothers who enriched the Russian bibliography with works of apologetic character and organized the Akademia Slavo-Greco-Latina in Moscow (1687).

Starting from the Enlightenment Age and its effects, we can also follow the course of Nicephorus Theotokis and Eugenius Bulgaris (member of the Academy of Saint Petersburg), who were related to the Russian intellectual cycles and supported them, upto the action of the architect Gerasimos Pitsamanis, Andreas Moustoxydis and Konstantinos Ikonomou in the 19th century.

Charity

The small number of Greeks and their orientation toward profit-making activities formed a singular charitable action first in their places of origin, for the revolted people of Greece, and secondly in some institutions of the Russian state, always placing particular emphasis on the diffusion of knowledge and the Greek language. Thus, in 1812 Greek merchants of Odessa offered 100.000 silver rubles for the antinapoleonic struggle of the Russians. Furthermore, well-known wholesale merchants such as the Zosimades brothers, financed educational institutions which had a Chair of Greek language, like the Commercial and Medical-Surgical Academy of Moscow or the College and the Orphanage of Moscow. Finally, when the Philiki Etaireia broke up the short-lived Charitable Company was constituted. It took over the maintenance of Greek families which had suffered damages in the course of the War of Greek Independence.

The majority of the charitable activities were supported by specific wealthy wholesale merchants. The Zosimades undertook the maintenance of the school of Balano (later Zosimiaia) in their country, Ioannina, and contributed to the printing of a great bulk of books, which reached a peak with the printing of the writings that Korais edited by Korais. Zois Kaplanis, a wholesale dealer of Moscow, offered all his capital for the maintenance of schools and hospitals in Greece. Ioannis Dobolis, a wholesale merchant of Saint Petersburg, left his property for the foundation of a university in Greece which would be named after his friend, Kapodistrias. Ioannis Varvakis, a business man in Astrakhan and later in Taganrog bequeathed his property to the Greek revolutionary government.

However, there were also benefactions in the Community. The temple of John the Baptist was erected by Zois Zosimas in the graveyard of Nizhyn. The Greek Commercial School of Odessa was financed with the 20% of the profit made by the New Greek Assurance Company. The Greek Community of Odessa also provided for the burial of the corpse of Gregory V.

Economic activities

General trading conditions

We can set 1774 (date of the signing of the treaty of Kuchuk Kainarji) as a conventional starting point of the prosperity of the most Greek mercantile colonies. However, we must also place emphasis on the fact that their evolution was closely related to the course of the Greek navigation activities. Greek navigation managed to benefit from the general European crisis (French Revolution, Napoleonic Wars, destruction of the agricultural production followed by the poor wheat crops) to increase its participation in the Mediterranean trade. In a few words, the Greeks exploited the gap the European navigations left because of the wars or the foundation of their companies in other places, and took over exclusively the high profit-making activities by trading cereals in a period of great demand in the European markets.

Trade in the region of south Russia was mainly concentrated on the trade of cereals. During that period, the Greek merchants had the lion's share in the exportation of cereals. Before proceeding to a more detailed examination, it is worth indicating the parametres that composed the motives of the penetration of Greek merchants in the region and contributed to the establishment of their activities.

The measures taken by Catherine II for the commercial development and reinforcement of the region's population as well as the facilitations in navigation brought by the treaty of Kuchuk Kainarji which actually opened the course to the Black Sea, were strong direct motives.

The nature of the newly acquired territories, along with the inexistent urban structure of its population, constituted an unexploited field for the Greek bourgeois class. These regions were far from the influence of western trade and economy, and far from invincible competitors of all the regional commercial powers.

The previous network of the older colonies and the network of the Greeks' commercial action in the eastern Mediterranean - a common commercial strategic network - constituted a closed credit system which was supplied by a circular flow of bills of exchange.

The greater cultural frontiers of the Orthodox commonwealth and the familiarization of the Greeks with the Russians, created a friendly environment for the network of the Greek colonies which were expanded from the mouth of the Danube to the Azov Sea.

The expected quick enrichment because of the favourable conditions was in accordance with the expectations of the Greek bourgeois class and shipowners' class, the activity of which was completely devoted to commercial activities.

More specifically the Greek merchants knew the local particularities and developed friendly methods toward the local population. They took advantage of the key-positions many of their copatriots had and of the agricultural populations of Greek descent such as that of Mariupol. Finally, the family bonds they maintained in countries of western and central Europe helped these regions join the network of the Greek merchants, offering them at the same time, access to significant economic information.

Routes - Transportation - Means of Transportation

It would be quite difficult to divide the internal trade from the external trade, especially in the first phases of the evolution of the Greek commercial activity in Russia. However, the Greek merchants of Nizhyn, with one of the first colonies of the region, exploited the network of trade fairs and markets of Ukraine. Later, the Greeks of Nizhyn spread their activities up to Smyrna and the Aegean, Venice, the Polish Danzig, Leipzig, Breslau, Moscow, Astrakhan, Tauride, and some regions of Siberia. The decline of the city, around the middle of the 18th century, made the Greek merchants move in the direction of Moscow, Saint Petersburg and the regions of south Russia. In fact, those who came from Nizhyn maintained the Brotherhood in their new place of settlement as well as their privileges.

Mariupol had mainly Greek agricultural population. Those who were occupied with stock-raising carried their cattle to Moscow and the cities of Ukraine to be slaughtered there.

The difficult conditions of access and mooring which which constituted a problem for the other ports of the Black Sea (Taganrog, Mariupol, Azov) made Odessa gain distinction as the most secure port that took up the main bulk of the exportation of cereals, the principle product of the steppe of the inland. The products were exported mainly by sea after having been transported by cart from the inland. The governor of the city, duke of Richelieu (1803-1814) encouraged trading transactions with the western states and contributed to the settlement of foreign consuls in the city. The Greek merchants carried out this kind of trade according to priority.

Odessa was traversed by two roads of equal importance. The products from Odessa reached Austria and Prussia and then France by road, via Brody (on the frontiers with Austria). By sea, which was the most important way of transportation, Odessa was connected to Persia, Constantinople and the Middle East, Egypt but mainly with the European ports of Greece, the Ionian islands, the Italian peninsula, Spain, France and Britain. When the Dniester river started to be used for transportation (1812), trade with the internal land of the Empire was strengthened.

Merchants

The Greek merchants benefited from the network of family branches in the European ports, but also from the relations with their copatriot shipowners of the Aegean. This system provided them with credit cover and facilitated their access to the European markets.

The family Zosima was occupied with trade for three generations and had expanded to Nizhyn and Bucharest. The sons of Panagiotis Zosimas had migrated from Ioannina to Livorno (Theodosios, Nikolaos, Michail migrated from the 1780's) and to Nizhyn (Ioannis, Anastasios, Zois migrated in the 1760's). After leaving Nizhyn the remaining members of the family went to Moscow. The Russians imported products from China and the Eastern countries and promoted them to the European branch, from which Russia imported European products, mainly silk.

The shipowner from Psara, Ioannis Varvakis, fought on the side of the Russians in the Aegean sea during the period 1770-1774. On the return of the Russian fleet he came to the Black Sea and moved on to Saint Petersburg, where he gained access to the imperial court. Catherine II granted him a loan of 10.000 rubles and the exemption from taxes in trading fish in the Caspian Sea. Ioannis Varvakis began trading fish and caviar in Astrakhan. He made a great fortune and obtained noble titles. In 1812, he came to Taganrog where he obtained the Russian citizenship and noble titles for his family which lived in Greece.

Ioannis Rallis, the well-known merchant and later consul of the United states in Odessa belonged to a family whose members were in London, Manchester, Marseille, Trieste and Constantinople.

It is remarkable that in the beginning of the 19th century, the ten richest Greek merchants of Odessa (Th. Seraphinos, Al. Mavros, D. Igglesis, Al. Koubaris, B. Giannopoulos, Gr. Maraslis, K. Papachantzis, H. Mantsis, I. Ambrosiou, D. Palaiologos) had a total capital of 10.000.000 rubles under a form of credit cover and not in cash.

Although many producers brought their products to the port, the Greek commercial factories, taking advantage of their good relations with the farmers, bought the crop in advance before harvest-time, that is when the farmers needed cash. Thus, they achieved better prices.

Apart from trade, the Greeks contributed to the development of south Russia with cultivations of new products such as tobacco. That is the reason for which the first cigarette factories in the region were founded by Greeks.

Products

The Greek merchants of the oldest Greek colonies were occupied with all forms of trade until the great demand of wheat in Europe which led the merchants of south Russia to benefit the maximum from this condition.

The merchants brought to Nizhyn silk and other fabrics, belts, small articles, wine and honey. The trade of furs was also developing considerably.

In Mariupol, where a great percentage of the Greeks were producers themselves, apart from cereals, the trade of animal fat was also a principle exportation product of the region until approximately the middle of the 19th century. Odessa was almost exclusively a cereal trading city although there are cases of fruit and vegetable trade for the internal market. As for the importations, Odessa imported mainly wine and other drinks, textiles and silk.

The Greek merchants in the commercial cycle of Odessa and Russia

The French consul in Odessa, Francois Sauron, wrote in 1832 that there were 40 foreign commercial businesses in the city. The most were Greek ones and they were the richest. Indeed, from the 1820's the Greek merchants dominated over their main competitors, the Italians, and presented relative stability in their businesses throughout the whole 19th century.

The Greeks abandoned the Camera Imperiale dell'Assicurazioni which covered the trips in the region and founded the Greek-Russian Insurance Company (1806), because of the frictions with the Italian, the French and British merchants. The banking organization of commercial loans (1817) had an assistant role in the commercial network. The network was later reinforced by the foundation of the United Greek Insurers Company.

According to information given by Ioannis Kapodistrias, in 1811 there were 800 Greek commercial businesses in the whole Empire.

Political activity

The Eastern Question in the 18th and 19th centuries. The Greek migrants in the service of the Russians.

In a period of troubles in the frontiers of the Ottoman Empire but also a time during which some of its peoples develop a sense of national identity, the Russian propaganda managed to penetrate in the Greek populations and take advantage of the popular beliefs on "the fellow orthodox liberators from Moscow". Thus, during the two Russo-Turkish Wars of 1769-1774 and 1787-1792 the Greeks accomplished military movements in their region - which proved to distract the Ottomans - and took action on the side of the Russians as assistant armed forces.

After the signing of the Kuchuk Kainarji treaty a great number of fighters with their families were transferred by the Russian army to the regions of Cherson, Kertch and Yeni Kale composing the "Greckeskii Pekhotnyi Polk" bodies. On the signing of the Iasi treaty (1792) another wave of Russian cooperators arrived in the newly acquired regions between Bug and Dniester (some of them continued their military carrier in the Odesskii Greckeskii Division).

Finally, many Greek persons, mainly from the Ionian islands, worked in the Russian diplomatic body and others in the Russian army.

French Revolution and Northeastern Europe Ideological extensions and visions

Apart from the common spiritual feeling and the greater cultural borders which surrounded the Greek and Russian peoples, the messages of the Enlightenment, each in their own way, had a decisive effect on their course. Catherine II initially supported the new trends and ideas in an effort to organize with their assistance a program of "enlightened despotism". Thus, the empress supported some Greek scholars which were influenced by the new ideas (Eugenius Bulgaris, Konstantinos Theotokis).

Western civilization was judged indispensible for the accomplishment of the political demands of the Russian leadership, (the expansion of the Empire to the southern seas), but also for the satisfaction of the demands of the Greek intellectuals and bourgeois, (awakening of national consciousness and freedom). Bulgaris and Theotokis saw in the Enlightenment the way that would lead to the liberation of their copatriots and considered it their duty to win the assistance of Russia. That is why they supported all anti-Turkish actions of the Russian government. At the same time, the wealthy Greek merchants assisted these trends by financing the publication of relevant books.

However, despite the fact that these intellectuals accepted easily the messages of the Enlightenment, their thought was determined by the orthodox tradition and doctrine and was not able to follow the thought of nationalist intellectuals such as Korais.

The War of Greek Independence

Until the outbreak of the war, the Greeks lived in traditional local communities in the Ottoman Empire. The nationalism generated by Enlightenment and the French Revolution was linked to the change - evolution for others - of the social and cultural forms which was named by the sociologists modernization, meaning the passage from tradition to the modern world.

The Greek nationalism was born in the Greek colonies. The colonies provided permanent and constant contact with the messages of the Enlightenment and the French Revolution. The intellectuals and the merchants accepted the new messages positively for the same reasons their European peers did: as bourgeois-merchants they had modern social and financial needs. In addition, in the colonies far from the Greek region the localistic bonds and spirit had weakened.

In Odessa on the 14th of September 1814 the merchants Nikolaos Skouphas, Emmanuil Xanthos and Athanasios Tsakaloph founded the Philiki Etaireia, an association based on the model of similar Freemasons, aiming at the uprising of the unredeemed Greeks.

The founders of the Philiki Etaireia had experiences from western Europe and belonged to the last big wave of migrants before the outbreak of the war of independence. They lived in regions that made profit out of the Napoleonic Wars and the Continental System (blockade), but were influenced by the economic crisis after the peace of 1814. They were not rich. In fact their wealthy copatriots, merchants of Moscow derided the bankrupt Skouphas when he tried to initiate them into the Philiki Etaireia and ask for support. In this bad economic situation they did not succeed in integrating themselves in the new modern communities of the Greek diaspora. In fact, they were completely isolated from the traditional communities of the Greek region also. Their situation improved when they were later acknowledged as the most worthy children of Greece, in the framework of the new national state which emerged after the liberation of the Greeks from the Ottoman yoke.

Not having proceeded into a serious valuation of the Ottoman structures, they failed in determining the basic positions and a specific program for the Philiki Etaireia. However, this failure was the reason for which persons from all the social classes joined the Philiki Etaireia, particularly after 1818. The suspicions that Ioannis Kapodistrias and Russia might be behind this association played a significant role.

The Philiki Etaireia was dissolved on the declaration of the war having created the appropriate atmosphere for its outbreak. Its later leader, Alexander Ypsilantis, officer of the Russian army and tsar adjutant, had started the struggle from the Danubian principalities with no success.

The Greek were present in the Russian Empire throughout of the whole 19th and 20th centuries. There were organized Greek communities in more than twenty cities whereas the Greek merchants took action in other regions too (Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Kiev, Nikolayev, Ismail) without composing a community.