Greece – education
Education in Greece is characterized by significant generational, social and geographical differences. The education system is centrally managed, and the private schools make up only approximately 5% (1992). The nine-year compulsory education when the child is 5 1/2 years.
The voluntary preschool, nipiagogio sought by 3/4 of a year in the year before starting school (1992), precede the six-year Dimotiko scholio, followed by the three-year gimnasio. In 1991, approximately 80% here the final exam. Then you can choose between the three-year, line- divided likio and vocational school of two years’ duration. From 1985, foreign languages are included in the teaching. The principle of lifelong learning is poorly developed, with less than 2% of the workforce between 25 and 64 receiving further training in 2001, the lowest in the EU.
Admission to the university and a number of other higher education institutions requires, in addition to the matriculation examination (likio), a special entrance examination; concentrated preparation courses for this are available at private schools. Long higher education, applied for by almost 2% of the population (1990), is offered at ten universities and a number of higher technical educational institutions. The distribution of students in higher education takes place centrally. Unlike the rest of the education system, universities have considerable autonomy.
OFFICIAL NAME: Elliniki Dimokratia (Hellenistic Republic)
CAPITAL CITY: Athens
POPULATION: 10,800,000 (Source: COUNTRYaah)
AREA: 131,957 km²
OFFICIAL LANGUAGE (S): Greek
RELIGION: Greek Orthodox 98%, Muslims 1%, others 1%
COIN: Euro
CURRENCY CODE: EUR
ENGLISH NAME: Greece
INDEPENDENCE: 1829
POPULATION COMPOSITION: Greeks 93%, Turks 1%, others (including Macedonians, Albanians, Bulgarians, Armenians and Gypsies) 6%
GDP PER residents: $ 12367 (2007)
LIFE EXPECTANCY: men 77 years, women 81 years (2007)
INDEX OF LIVING CONDITIONS, HDI: 0.921
INDEX OF LIVING CONDITIONS, POSITION: 24
INTERNET DOMAIN NAME: .gr
Greece is a republic of southeastern Europe with a long and complex cultural history. The development of Western culture, including art, science, and the political organization of democracies, can be traced back to ancient Greece. Modern Greece first gained its independence in 1829 and was until the mid-1900’s. a relatively backward agricultural country in Europe. Since then, Greece has built up extensive trade, industry and tourism and in 1981 became a member of the Community. Centuries of Turkish occupation, frequent great power interventions as well as periods of great emigration have created a strong ethnic self-awareness among the Greeks inside and outside the country.
- AbbreviationFinder.org: Find two-letter abbreviation for each independent country and territory, such as GR which stands for Greece.
Greece – Constitution and political parties
Greece – Constitution and political parties, Constitution
The Constitution of the Republic of Greece dates from 1975, with certain amendments from 1986 and 2001, which severely curtailed the power of the President. The form of government is parliamentary. Legislative power lies with the 300 deputies of parliament, who are elected for four years by direct proportional representation, however, so that the largest party gets 50 seats extra. The president is the head of state of Greece and is elected by parliament for five years with the possibility of re-election once. He formally appoints the Prime Minister and, on the Prime Minister’s recommendation, the other ministers. The president can not remove the prime minister, just as he can only dissolve parliament if, after two consecutive changes of government, it turns out that there is political instability. The government determines and controls the country’s policy under the leadership of the Prime Minister. Parliament can remove the government by a vote of no confidence. An increasing number of national policy areas have in recent years become subject to EU law and thus a certain relinquishment of national sovereignty.
Political parties
From the mid-1800’s. developed two main political currents in Greek politics, a liberal and a conservative. In 1918, a third direction emerged with the formation of the Greek Socialist Workers’ Party (SEC), which in 1923 was transformed into the Communist Party of Greece (KKE). After the fall of the Military Junta in 1974, a fourth political current was represented in parliament by PASOK, the Panhellenic Socialist Movement, which later developed into a Social Democratic party. For the last 40 years, these directions have been represented in parliament in various versions by the parties PASOK (Pan-Hellenic Socialist Movement), ND (Nea Demokratia), KKE (Greek Communist Party) and SYN (Synaspismos, Left Alliance).
PASOK has developed a social democratic center-left policy, which in recent years (2013) has become more center than left. The focus is on social reforms within a partially state-regulated market economy. PASOK is opposed to the monarchy, is in favor of EU military cooperation and, to a lesser extent, of NATO, and supports the EU, with its main focus on the Mediterranean countries.
The conservative and liberal party Nea Demokratia (ND) is partly in favor of the monarchy and social reforms within the framework of a neoliberal market economy. The party is a supporter of NATO and the EU and of close cooperation with the United States.
KKE has been banned for several periods, eg 1947-74. The party is against NATO and the EU and is in favor of nationalization of key production areas, state control of the economy and the development of the welfare state.
A number of new parties have been formed over the last 20 years, partly due to globalization and societal developments in general, and partly due to the emergence of particular national issues and new discourses, often with subsequent splitting of old parties. A number of these parties have had a short lifespan, while others have managed to consolidate in Greek political life.
The ultra-conservative Spring Political Party (POL.AN) was formed by a breakaway group of the ND in 1993 under the leadership of the then ND Foreign Minister Antonis Samaras. He was thrown out of the party when he opposed the recognition of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia as an independent state called Macedonia and thus helped overthrow the then ND head of government Mitsotakis. In the 1993 parliamentary elections, the party won 4.9% of the vote and 10 seats in parliament. In the 1994 EU parliamentary elections, the party received 8.7% of the vote and 2 seats. In the 1996 parliamentary elections, the party won only 2.9% and no seats in the Greek parliament. Thereafter, the party did not run for office and was disbanded when Samaras rejoined the ND in 2004.
The left-wing populist Democratic Social Movement (DIKKI) was formed by breakaways from PASOK up to the 1996 election due to PASOK’s center-right orientation. The party received 4% of the vote and 9 seats in the 1996 election, but did not exceed the 3% threshold in the subsequent elections in 2000 and 2004, after which the party was dissolved.
The left-wing socialist alliance Synaspismos (SYN), formed in 1989, has been represented in parliament since the 1996 elections with 3 to 5% of the vote. Up until the 2004 election, Synaspismos formed an electoral alliance with twelve other small left-wing organizations under the name SYRIZA and later became the second largest party with 27% of the vote in the June 2012 election. bourgeois party ND to become the largest party in the next election. The party is in favor of critical membership of the EU and the eurozone, but calls for a radical reorientation of EU policy and of the troika (consisting of the EU, the European Central Bank (ECB) andInternational Monetary Fund (IMF)) lending and austerity policies in Greece, as well as improvements in welfare state schemes and a socially just tax policy.
The two major governing parties PASOK and ND have previously been characterized by charismatic and populist leaders, but after 1996 they have evolved towards converging parties, where their differences have diminished. This has most recently been expressed in the government collaboration between ND and PASOK after the June 2012 election until today.
In step with the spread of climate policy and ecology, a number of small environmental movements formed the Green Ecological Party in 2002, but so far the party has not managed to get over the 3% threshold and be represented in parliament.
With the impact of the economic crisis in Greece in 2009, a new series of parties was formed. They mostly represented breakaways from the established parties, who were dissatisfied with the parties’ support for the troika’s borrowing and cutting policy in the country and, for the right-wing parties, also with the large immigration in the country.
The Popular Orthodox Rally Party, LAOS) was formed in September 2000 by Georgios Karatzaferis (b. 1947), after he was expelled from the conservative party Nea Demokratia due to political disagreement. The party is ideologically right-wing radical, nationalist, religious and populist. It managed to gain the support of a number of small nationalist organizations by linking the Greek Orthodox religion with the Greek national identity. The party claims to represent all political currents that are against globalization and immigration. The party is conservatively socially responsible, a supporter of the EU, but opposed to the troika’s borrowing and austerity policies. The party was first represented in parliament in the 2004 election, where it received 3.8% of the vote and 10 seats. In the subsequent 2009 election, it won 5.6% and 15 seats in parliament. In the simultaneous election to the European Parliament, LAOS received 7.4% and two seats. In the elections in May and June 2012, the party did not succeed in exceeding the 3% threshold, partly because it, together with PASOK and ND, briefly supported the technocraticThe Papademos government’s troika-dictated austerity policy, partly because voters migrated to a new right-wing radical party, the Independent Greeks, and to the existing neo-fascist party Golden Dawn.
The Golden Dawn/Chryssi Avgi party was formed in November 1993. From the early 1980’s, it was a small right-wing radical group that published the magazine Chryssis Avgi under the leadership of Nikolaos Michaloliakos (b. 1957) and other former supporters of the Military Junta 1967. -74. In the 2009 parliamentary elections it received only 0.3% of the vote but in the 2010 local elections it received 5.3% in Athens and for the first time a seat in the city council. The party is strongly right-wing radical and nationalist with Nazi-like symbols and neo-fascist politics and behavior inspired by Metaxas dictatorship in Greece 1936-41. In line with the economic and political crisis in Greece, it has developed an anti-literary and a national-religiously oriented populism facing immigrants and the established parties, the EU and the troika’s borrowing and austerity policies. In parallel with the party’s development and the country’s rising youth unemployment (65% in 2013), it has created a right-wing extremist movement with approximately 3000 young paramilitary forces/guards who have persecuted, oppressed and murdered immigrants. In the parliamentary elections in May 2012, the party received 7% of the vote and 21 seats in parliament. In the subsequent election in June 2012, the party declined slightly, gaining 6.9% and 18 seats in parliament. Subsequently, support for the party has increased, among other things. due to public feeding of poor Greeks, and in the summer of 2013 the party stood at 12-15% of the vote. With the assassination of Greek anti-fascist rapper Pavlos Fyssas in Piraeus on September 18, 2013, carried out by a member of Golden Dawn, support for the party was halved and the party’s leadership including Michaloliakos and two other MPs jailed for leading a criminal organization. Presumably in revenge for this murder, two of Golden Dawn’s guards were shot and one wounded on 1.11.2013 in front of the party’s office in Neo Iraklio, a northern suburb of Athens.
The Democratic Left Party (DIM.AR) was formed in June 2010 by breakaways from the left-wing radical coalition SYRIZA under the leadership of Fotis Kouvelis (b. 1948). He was a former co-founder and leading member of the KKE-interior (Greek Euro-Communist Party) 1975-86, of the Greek Left (EAR) 1987-92 and of Synaspismos 1992-2010, respectively. DIM.AR is a small SF-like party that advocates the EU and the eurozone with reserved support for the troika’s lending and austerity policy but against liberalization of the Greek labor market and total privatization of public enterprises. In the parliamentary elections in May 2012, the party received 6.1% of the vote and in the subsequent elections in June 2012, it received 6.3% and 17 seats and was part of an ND-led coalition government same with PASOK. Internal disagreements led to that three MPs left the party and brought its representation down to 14 seats in parliament. Due to increasing internal pressure from members, DIM.AR left the governing coalition when Prime Minister Samaras in June 2013 decided to shut down the state radio and television company ERT and fire approximately 2800 employees to be able to live up to the troika’s demands for the dismissal of public employees. With declining support among the electorate (between 3-4% in the autumn of 2013), the party, together with other center-left parties, is trying to form a new third pole in Greek politics between, on the one hand, the ND and, on the other, SYRIZA. The party’s strategy is to include PASOK in this third bloc and in this connection, 58 well-known intellectuals have issued a “Declaration for the new center-left”.
The Independent Greeks (ANEL) was formed in February 2012 by Panos Kammenos (b. 1965), who was ousted by the ND for voting against the inauguration of a coalition government led by technocrat and former bank director Lucas Papademos., whose task was to implement the troika’s borrowing and austerity policy in the country. The party was followed by 10 former MPs from the ND and one from PASOK and won 10.6% and 33 seats in parliament in the May elections. In the subsequent election in June 2013, the party went back and got 7.5% and 20 seats in parliament. ANEL is a new populist, nationalist and national conservative party that is critical of the EU and opposed to the troika’s borrowing and austerity policies and calls for a thorough and impartial investigation into the causes of the Greek state’s debt crisis, including prosecuting the responsible politicians from PASOK and ND via waiver of the immunity of Members of Parliament. Like other right-wing radical parties, ANEL is agitating for a new national revival of the “Greek spirit”, for increased national sovereignty vis-à-vis the EU and demands billions of euros in war damages from Germany. The party has successfully used social media for agitation for its policies, including for a tactical alliance with other EU-skeptical parties incl. the left-wing coalition SYRIZA with a view to dismantling the troika’s austerity policy.
In addition to the above-mentioned parties, which have been represented in parliament for shorter or longer periods, there are well over 20 very small parties and organizations that for the last many years have not managed to get enough votes to be represented in the Greek parliament. They range ideologically from very left-wing revolutionary parties incl. old Leninist-Stalinist parties to the most neoliberal and anti-state parties to the pro internet freedom party, the Pirate Party of Greece.
Greece – economy
Greece’s economy has historically been characterized by large imbalances, deficits and dependence on Western Europe and the United States. Since the formation of the state in 1829, there have been a number of state bankruptcies. The first in 1827 and 1843 were about so-called liberation loans for the purchase of weapons from Western Europe for use in the war of liberation against the Ottomans. In 1893, these were loans to modernize the state apparatus, infrastructure and to cover deficits in connection with the collapse of grape exports. In 1932 loans to cover the state deficit due to the international financial crisis and the collapse of tobacco exports. In 1953 due to the German occupation and the ruin of the country by the civil war with subsequent major devaluation and Marshall aidFrom usa. Since then, the Greek economy grew up through the 1960’s-70’s, but in the mid-1970’s was again hit by crisis due to the international oil crisis.
In the period from the 1950’s onwards, there has been a chronic deficit on the trade balance, and public expenditure has been greater than revenue. After the socialist/social democratic party PASOK came to power in 1981, as the first non-bourgeois party, extensive nationalisations were carried out and the public sector’s share of GDP increased from approximately 55% to 70% in the late 1980’s. A large increase in public spending during the 1980’s led to a dramatic deterioration in public finances and to rising inflation.
In April 1990, Nea Demokratia took over the government and immediately launched initiatives to improve public finances in the form of a privatization program and a stabilization program, which were financially supported and monitored by the European Commission. However, internal divisions within the ruling party over the scope of the reform policy led to new budgetary problems and a consequent crisis in relations with the EU, which in 1991 froze support for the stabilization program.
However, the main priority of fiscal policy, reducing the budget deficit, was maintained, and in 1992 the government presented a convergence program which, through substantial public sector savings and rising tax revenues, would enable Greece to meet the requirements for EU economic and monetary union.. As part of the program, the Greek National Bank was not allowed to finance the government budget deficit, which resulted in a significant monetary tightening.
The October 1993 election once again led PASOK to government power. The party expanded the stabilization policy by e.g. to introduce tripartite negotiations in the labor market in order to achieve a lower rate of wage and price increases and reduce unemployment. In 1995, the inflation rate had fallen to just over 9% from approximately 15% in 1993, but unemployment and the budget deficit had remained high, both around 10%, and general government gross debt exceeded annual GDP.
Economic growth, which averaged just 1% per year in the first half of the 1990’s, was sought to be promoted through large investments in infrastructure, partly financed by EU funds. The most visible projects were aimed at the Olympic Games in Athens in 2004 and included the construction of a new airport in Athens and significant expansions of the city’s metro network and of the motorway network, as well as major sports facilities.
In the late 1990’s, efforts continued to align the economy with the EU countries’ overarching objective of economic stability, such as order in public finances and low inflation; Among other things, public cuts and privatizations of state-owned enterprises were initiated. In 2001, Greece was able to join EMU, and in 2002, drachmas were replaced by euros. The access documentation was revealed in 2004 as “creative bookkeeping”, as the PASOK government had underestimated the costs of e.g. the costly military apparatus. In fact, the budget deficit had long been larger than the agreed 3% of GDP; in 2005 it was 4.4%.
However, EMU membership resulted in a marked fall in interest rates, which in turn supported high growth of approximately 4% in the period 2001-05; the figure is on a par with the annual subsidies from the EU, which have given great dynamism to Greek society. Since the mid-1990’s, growth has been significantly higher than the average for EU countries. However, high growth and relatively high inflation have resulted in a large balance of payments deficit. Another problem posed was unemployment, which remained at around 10% or roughly the same as in 1996, despite a decade of high growth and an employment rate that, among other things, due to early retirement and low female business activity was below 60% in 2004 (Denmark 76%). The government tried to reduce bureaucracy and corruption and at the same time, under popular opposition,
Greece has long had a huge trade deficit, which, however, is offset by revenues from shipping, tourism and from Greeks abroad; these sectors, like agriculture, were larger than in other EU countries. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Greece set out to expand its strategic position as a link between Europe on the one hand and Asia, the Middle East and North Africa on the other. However, the country’s main trading partners were Germany and Italy, which together accounted for about a quarter of total Greek foreign trade in 2005. Denmark’s exports to Greece in 2005 amounted to DKK 3,815 million. DKK, while imports from there amounted to 1,041 mill. kr.
In the period 2004 to 2009, when the conservative party Nea Demokratia held power, the Greek economy began to falter. Unemployment formally fell from 10.5% to 9.5% during the period, but was actually higher, as many, especially women and immigrants, do not register as jobseekers, as they prefer undeclared work. Productivity stagnated and exports fell continuously during the period from 17.3% of GDP in 2004 to 7.1% in 2007 and to -19.4% of GDP in 2009.
The general government deficit increased from approximately 20% in 1975 to approximately 130% of GDP in 2009. Instead of reducing the government deficit, after re-election in 2007 until 2009, the government continued to raise ever-increasing loans at home and abroad to cover rising government spending and deficits while introducing new liberal support schemes and tax breaks for business. The annual government deficit increased from 7.5% in 2004 to 15.6% of GDP in 2009. Total government debt increased from 183 billion. € in 2004 (99% of GDP) to 301 billion. € in 2009 (127% of GDP). Rising public and private consumption caused imports to rise from DKK 45 billion. € in 2004 to 65 billion. € in 2008.
The trade deficit increased from DKK 21 billion. € in 2004 (- 5.4% of GDP) to 40 billion. € in 2008 (-11.5% of GDP). The overall balance of payments deficit increased from 5.8% in 2004 to 11.2% of GDP in 2009, while the annual increase in GDP fell from 5.0% in 2004 to -4.4% in 2009. Total employment increased from 4.3 million in 2004 to DKK 4.5 million. in 2009. Unemployment fell from 10.3% in 2004 to 9.0% in 2009.
With the impact of the international financial crisis in Greece from the autumn of 2009, the Greek economic crisis exploded until 2014. Total GDP fell year by year until 2014 from 237 billion. € in 2009 to 179 billion. € in 2014. The trade balance was in deficit until 2014, when there was a surplus of 1% of GDP. The balance of payments improved continuously from -11.2% of GDP in 2009 to 1.2%% in 2014. Employment fell by approximately 1 mio. people between 2009 and 2014, and unemployment rose to 26.5% in 2014.
Despite the crisis, the Greek economy showed little sign of improvement during 2014. While GDP had fallen annually by an average of approximately 5% between 2008 and 2013, then for the first time since 2008 there was a small increase in GDP of 0.8% from 2013 to 2014. But overall, Greek GDP fell from 242 billion. € in 2008 to 179 billion. € in 2014, corresponding to a total decrease of 63 billion. € or just over 25%. The chronic deficit on the trade balance has averaged -7% in the period 2004 to 2013, but showed for the first time in 2014 a small increase of 1% compared to 2013. The Greek deficit on the balance of payments has in the period 2004 to 2012 been annually average approximately 10% with a slight increase of 0.6% in 2013 and one of 1.2% in 2014, the first in the next 50 years. The improved balance of payments is not least due to a sharp increase in the number of tourists, which increased from DKK 19 million. in 2009 to 22 million. in 2014. The majority of tourists came from other EU countries, while 1.2 million. came from Russia and ½ million. From usa.
The total government debt developed from DKK 183 billion. € in 2004 to € 265 billion in 2008 and further to € 356 billion in 2011. After a debt reduction (haircut) of approximately 53% for a number of private investors, corresponding to approximately 100 billion Of the central government debt, in connection with the second loan agreement in 2012, the total central government debt nevertheless ended up rising to DKK 315 billion. € in 2014. The debt write-down meant large losses for Greek pension funds, universities and other private investors. In% of GDP, total government debt increased from 99% in 2004 to 177% in 2014 partly due to continued borrowing and partly due to the actual decline in GDP after 2008.
Despite the recovery of the Greek economy, unemployment remained the highest in the EU. It had increased from 7.6% in 2008 to 27.5% in 2013 and then decreased to 26.5% in 2014. For young people between the ages of 15 and 24, it decreased from approximately 65% to 51%. The fall in unemployment is only partly due to the creation of new jobs, but to a greater extent to a reduction in the registered labor force, where especially young people (approximately 180,000) with a high level of education emigrated. The largest decline in employment was in the secondary sector (industry and construction), which in 2008 represented 22.3% of employment decreasing to 14.9% in 2014, while employment in the tertiary sector (service, tourism) increased from 66.4 % in 2008 to 71.6% in 2014. Since 2010, there has been an average decrease in labor costs of -3.3% per. years, while inflation has averaged -1,
The result of the extensive cuts in public spending after 2010 has been a continuing economic and social crisis, but for the first time in many years there is also a primary budget surplus (minus repayment on loans) of approximately 1.5% of GDP in 2013 and 2014. However, these surpluses in the central government budget are not enough to cover the central government’s current expenditure on loan and interest repayments and, according to the IMF, will not be until 2020. Therefore, new loan packages with lower borrowing rates are expected and possibly debt restructuring/debt reduction (haircut) to bring the Greek government debt down to a so-called sustainable level of around 120% of GDP by 2020.
Greece – social conditions
Greece – social conditions, formation of the Greek welfare state 1910-74
The first social policy welfare reforms saw the light of day in Greece 1910-14, but covered only approximately 10,000 people in the central administration, the army and the police, as well as vulnerable workers such as sailors and miners. After the Asia Minor disaster of 1922 and the arrival of 1.5 million. Greek refugees from Asia Minor (Ottoman Empire) were established until 1932 a number of social support schemes by the Greek government, the League of Nations and the ILO. In the 1930’s, the social insurance fund IKA was established after political and social unrest among poor peasants and workers. Old-age and disability pensions as well as health insurance were financed by employers and employees, but the schemes were reduced under the Metaxas dictatorship 1936-41.
During the Civil War of 1946-49 and up through the 1950’s, the social insurance system was fragmented, and strong client-list groups (officials, officers, lawyers, doctors, pharmacists, engineers, unions) formed their own insurance schemes. A unified and uniform social insurance system was then made more difficult. In the 1960’s, the labor market-oriented welfare system was slowly supplemented by weak state support schemes relating to unemployment, illness, pensions, education, housing and poverty. Unemployment Insurance was introduced in 1954 with the formation of the “Organization for Employment and Unemployment Insurance”, which in 1969 was transformed into OAED (Organization for Labor and Employment). A number of other social security schemes were established during the period, eg the scheme for the blind in 1951. Check youremailverifier for Greece social condition facts.
During the military junta 1967-74, something unusual was enacted, a series of new social laws that were only partially implemented. For example, partial settlement of the farmers’ debt to the Agricultural Bank, financial support for families with three or more children, support for the disabled, deaf, dumb and victims of natural disasters. With the re-establishment of democracy in 1974 and the extension of political and social rights to all citizens, a new welfare development began in Greece.
The modern Greek welfare state 1974-2009
The Greek welfare state model from the early 1980’s can generally be described as a mixture of the conservative/corporate, the liberal/residual and the social democratic/universal model, where both the state, the employers and the employees, the church, NGOsand not least the families contribute. Government benefits are generally very low and severely limited in time and only partially protect against unemployment, illness, old age and poverty. A unified Greek welfare system must therefore more accurately be described as a familial welfare system, in which the family has a dual role as provider and representative of socio-economic reproduction, respectively. This means that the family must step in when state and private insurance schemes do not cover the individual’s expenses for social reproduction. It is often, on the one hand, homemakers who care for and care for their own and other family members’ children, the sick and the elderly, and on the other hand, it is the small family-owned business or business that provides unemployed family members with work; a part-time or full-time job that is often black, thereby saving money on insurance schemes. The traditional familial welfare system has operated in parallel with the labor market-funded and state-funded welfare system.
With PASOKThe Socialist takeover of the government in 1981 began an expansion of the welfare state schemes. The minimum wage was raised by 40%, and corresponding increases took place for the lowest pension schemes and other benefits associated with it. The pensions of the peasants were raised by 100% and extended to include women in agriculture. The universal welfare principle was extended in 1982 to cover uninsured elderly people over the age of 68 with insufficient income, and in 1983 a tax-funded national health system was set up with local social and health centers as well as a network of open care centers for single elderly people. The conservative party Nea Demokratia implemented a limited pension reform in 1992-93, where the future retirement age was raised to 65 years without corresponding funding of the pension funds, which ended up with large deficits. In addition, subsidies for families with children with more than three children were raised. The unemployment benefit period was extended from 6 to 12 months to compensate for rising unemployment in connection with the privatization of public enterprises. With the return of PASOK to government power in 1993, the government, under strong opposition from the opposition and the trade union movement, sought to modernize the health and pension system over the next ten years with minor adjustments to members’ contributions, the introduction of an average pension of 70%. many different sickness and pension schemes. In 2001, 17 regional councils (PESYs) were established for decentralized administration of hospitals and health centers in an attempt to both save money and improve service. The pension law implemented by the PASOK government from 2002 did not solve the financial problems of the pension system with insufficient and direct non-contributions from the members, both from employees and employers. The deficit of the pension funds was largely covered by the state. The many lucrative and partially tax-financed pension schemes continued, and the principle of equality remained weak.
Despite ongoing efforts at simplifications from the late 1990’s until the financial crisisbreakthrough in greece 2009 the social security system in greece was very complex and marked by corruption. The core of the system was approximately 170 different sickness and pension schemes. The largest insurance institutions were IKA (employees in the cities) covering approximately 50% of the population, OGA (farmers) covering approximately 20% of the population, TEVE-TAE (traders) covering approximately 14% of the population as well as the strong industry insurance organizations such as OTE (telecommunications), DEI (electricity) and OTOE (banks). The social insurance systems were financed by employers (31%) and by employees (33%) and by the state. The individual employee or self-employed person was to be a member of one of these schemes, which was determined by his or her position, occupation and, in certain cases, place of residence. It varied greatly what needs were met, and the level of benefits ranged very widely: from a very low level to coverage rates comparable to the level in the northern European countries. Overall, in the early 2000’s, Greece remained one of the EU countries spending the least money on social welfare schemes, corresponding to approximately half of the expenses in Denmark. The largest part of the social insurance system’s total expenditure went to cover old-age pensions (69%), while expenditure on sickness and unemployment accounted for 21% and 5% respectively. Expenditure on old-age pensions was proportionally the largest in the EU, while expenditure on unemployment benefits and social welfare incl. the fight against poverty was one of the lowest in the EU. As many as 21% of the Greek population lived below the poverty line in 2001 (60% of the median income in Greece),
The most important social insurance scheme was IKA, the state social insurance institution that covered all employees who were not members of an industry-specific social insurance scheme. IKA provided old-age pension, disability pension, unemployment insurance, maternity benefits and medical care during illness. In addition to the professional schemes, there was a tax-financed health insurance until 2010, which covered all citizens.
The retirement age varied within the different schemes and also varied with the number of previous working years; the retirement age ranged from 58 years to 65 years. Wage earners were divided into many different classes according to income, and the pension level varied between 35% of the previous income in the highest income classes to 70% in the lowest. The old-age pension also included a pension for the survivors in the event of death.
The health service was based on the fact that the social insurance covered all or part of the costs of treatment at private, semi-public or public hospitals, clinics or institutions. There were no benefits, such as development assistance or cash benefits. The financing of social insurance also varied from scheme to scheme, but generally included contributions from the insured and from the employer, while OGA pensions were exclusively tax-financed. In addition, there could be property income from the insurance’s accumulated capital and government subsidies, financed by special indirect taxes or by the general state tax.
The weakening and social crisis of the Greek welfare state 2010-2015
When the financial crisis hit Greece in 2009, it led to an extensive private and public debt crisis and the following year a looming state bankruptcy for the Greek state. Total government debt grew from 113% of GDP in 2008 to 170% in 2011 and further to 177% (approximately € 320 billion) in 2014. With this development, it became impossible for the Greek government to borrow money on the international loan market. Greece was forced by the EU, the ECB and the IMF (Troika) to conclude two binding loan and austerity agreements (Memorandums 1 and 2) totaling € 240 billion. € until the end of 2014 and later extended, in return for implementing extensive savings on public spending. The European Financial Stability Mechanism (ESM) and the eurozone countries guaranteed 85% of the loans, of which Germany accounted for 64 billion. € and France for 48 billion. €. From 2010 to today (January 2015), the austerity agreements have meant internal devaluations, public cuts and layoffs, privatization of many public companies, tax reforms with increasing taxes and increased tax base, deregulation and flexibility of the labor market, repeal of protection and contract laws for employees, pension reform and not least ongoing cuts within the state welfare system and the many sickness and pension schemes. In the period 2009-12, the total expenditure on welfare state schemes was almost halved from DKK 8.3 billion. to 4.5 billion. € and in future, according to the agreement with the troika, must not exceed 6% of GDP. deregulation and flexibility of the labor market, repeal of protection and contract laws for employees, pension reform and not least ongoing cuts in the state welfare system and the many sickness and pension schemes. In the period 2009-12, the total expenditure on welfare state schemes was almost halved from DKK 8.3 billion. to 4.5 billion. € and in future, according to the agreement with the troika, must not exceed 6% of GDP. deregulation and flexibility of the labor market, repeal of protection and contract laws for employees, pension reform and not least ongoing cuts in the state welfare system and the many sickness and pension schemes. In the period 2009-12, the total expenditure on welfare state schemes was almost halved from DKK 8.3 billion. to 4.5 billion. € and in future, according to the agreement with the troika, must not exceed 6% of GDP.
Despite constant and unmanageable legislative changes and additions until today, the consequences of the cuts have been a prolonged economic recession with an average fall in GDP per capita. year of 5% from 2009 to 2013. There have been general deteriorations in wages, working, health and pensions. The minimum wage has been lowered by 22% to € 586 per month. month, youth pay has been reduced by 32% to € 511 and pensions by 20-40%, while up to 150,000 public employees are and will be fired by the end of 2015. Healthcare, hospitals, schools, universities and other public institutions have been and are continue to be subject to extensive cuts.
Employment, unemployment and contract system
During the period, unemployment rose from 8% in 2008 to 27% in 2013 with a slight decrease to 26% in 2014 (for women 29.5% and for men 23.1%) and a youth unemployment rate of approximately 50%. The number of unemployed has increased by 1 million in five years. In August 2014, 3.6 mill. in employment, 3.3 million. were registered as economically inactive and 1.4 mill. were unemployed. The more people who lose the right to benefits and no longer register as jobseekers, the more there will be in the group of financially inactive. However, despite the modest decline in total unemployment relative to the labor force of 0.2%, the number of registered unemployed according to the OAED increased by 6,674 to 854,517 from October to November 2014, of which only 120,353 received benefits. An increase of 20% compared to the previous month.
The decrease in total unemployment of 1 to 2 percentage points in 2014 was the result of emigration and the establishment of approximately 190,000 new jobs, half of which are flexible, part-time and time-limited jobs, which often do not provide enough working hours to be paid social benefits again and receive free health insurance. The labor market-related pension and health insurance will disappear without work, which gives the right to the new social health card AMKA, and therefore stood at DKK 1 million. in 2015 without these schemes.
A total of 1.3 million. At the end of 2014, people were out of work and only just over 10% of them continued to receive the time-limited benefit of a maximum of 12 months. The average benefit had decreased from 70% to 50% of the basic salary and in 2014 varied between 180 € and 468 € per month. month. The latter corresponded to 31% of the average salary in 2012. In order to receive support, as a general rule, contributions of approximately 30% of salary for at least 80 working days per. years within a two-year period and for at least 125 working days in the last 14 months or at least 200 working days in the last 2 years. After a maximum of 12 months of support, there are no public and social welfare benefits such as cash benefits, and people end up in poverty unless their families can support them.
In general, the wage level was reduced by 20-30% in the period 2010 to 2014. According to the country organizations GSEE and ADEDY, the wage level fell so drastically that it reached a level as in the 1970’s. In the public sector, according to the Ministry of Finance, wages were reduced by an average of 13.6%. The former so-called 13th and 14th extra salaries for Christmas and Easter were abolished and replaced by a bonus for Christmas of € 500, a bonus for Easter of € 250 and a bonus of € 250 for holidays. At the same time, the working week was legislatively extended from 37.5 to 40 hours, payment for overtime was reduced, while all forms of allowances and bonuses were cut by 8%. All previously agreed wage increases have been frozen until unemployment falls below 10%. At the same time, it became possible to make collective redundancies of up to 30 employees in companies with more than 150 employees, while companies with less than 150 employees could fire up to six employees without having to pay compensation or compensation for this. In addition, a number of deteriorations were introduced in the trade union legal system for employees, such as the removal of wage and employment security and limited access to arbitration. In addition, companies were given the right to deviate from the collective agreements if economic and other factors warranted it. Finally, the Organization for Workers’ Housing, which previously provided poor wage earners with either affordable housing or affordable holiday homes, was closed down. In addition, a number of deteriorations were introduced in the trade union legal system for employees, such as the removal of wage and employment security and limited access to arbitration. In addition, companies were given the right to deviate from the collective agreements if economic and other factors warranted it. Finally, the Organization for Workers’ Housing, which previously provided poor wage earners with either affordable housing or affordable holiday homes, was closed down. In addition, a number of deteriorations were introduced in the trade union legal system for employees, such as the removal of wage and employment security and limited access to arbitration. In addition, companies were given the right to deviate from the collective agreements if economic and other factors warranted it. Finally, the Organization for Workers’ Housing, which previously provided poor employees with either affordable housing or affordable holiday homes, was closed down.
The pension system and poor pensioners
The total expenditure in Greece on pensions is proportionally the largest in the EU and, according to troika requirements, must be harmonized with other EU countries. With Memorandum 1, the first major change to the pension system was introduced in 2010 and by the end of 2015, a completely new, centralized and so-called uniform pension scheme will be adopted, with the current insurance institution IKA becoming the central player. The biggest problem with the existing pension systems remains the ongoing financing. Where the state previously co-financed many pension schemes and their deficits, this will not be the case in the future. Employees ‘contributions, on the other hand, will increase, while employers’ contributions have already been reduced by 5%.
Det nye pensionssystem vil bryde med tidligere korporative elementer af velfærdssystemet. Det vil bestå af en delvis universel og skattefinansieret basispension for alle og en arbejdsrelateret og bidragsbestemt pension. Den bidragsbestemte pensions størrelse vil blive beregnet som en procentdel af den enkeltes livslange indkomst fordelt på udbetalingsår. Dertil lægges incitamenter til at blive længst mulig på arbejdsmarkedet med 0,8 % ekstra for dem med beskæftigelse over 15 år og 1,5% ekstra for dem med over 40 års beskæftigelse. Bidragsfinansieret pension kan i modsætning til basispension hæves før de 65 år, men i så fald med et fratræk på 6 % pr. år.
The Pensions Act from 2010 with subsequent legislative additions until today has meant a freezing of low pensions and a reduction of lucrative schemes of 20-40% with a stop of the 13th and 14th payment per. year as well as a progressive taxation of pensions between 1,400 and 3,500 € per. per month and above by a maximum of 10%. However, new calculation methods and income tests have created a long-standing and administrative chaos among pension companies, which for longer periods either had to reduce or stop payments.
The current and temporary pension system does not make up for existing inequalities: that people with a loose connection to the labor market (part-time and seasonal employees, the unemployed, etc.) are not encouraged to pay contributions to pension schemes. The tax-financed basic pension is regulated at 360 € per. per month in 2010 prices for everyone over the age of 65 with low income, ie. less than € 5,400 per year for individuals and for families under € 10,800 per year. year. If you have lived in Greece for less than 35 years from the age of 15 to 65, the basic pension will be reduced.
Previous inequalities in pensions between, for example, public and private employees have been maintained in the law by the political elite in Greece, not least due to the political culture – clientelism. With reference to previous legislation, journalists, bank employees and professionals such as lawyers, doctors, engineers have maintained the possibility of particularly favorable pensions. In addition, before 1983, employees in the public sector, in banks and in the media industry maintained their old lucrative pensions. The same has people employed in the police and military regardless of the time of employment. Against the background of developments in the pension area, a large group of poor pensioners has been created who cannot pay their monthly obligations for property tax, rent, water, electricity and heating oil. The daily consumption of food, beverages,
Social and health conditions
The economic crisis and austerity policies have created increased poverty, marginalization and disease in Greece, but also rising income taxes to an average of 35% of gross income and increased taxes on eg property, land, electricity and VAT of 27% have contributed to this. Tax on corporate profits, on the other hand, has fallen from 25% in 2009 to 10% in 2013. Half of the population is unable to pay their taxes because they have lost their wages, pensions or become unemployed. The prices of everyday goods and other goods have not fallen correspondingly, with the result that demand has fallen significantly. Prices increased until 2011 and only then did they fall by an average of 1-2% per. year. At the end of 2014, average inflation was -1.7%.
In 1983, PASOK introduced an incipient universal and national health system, but its expansion has been slow and insufficient, creating the basis for further development of privately funded health systems based on job-specific and private insurance. Until 2010, the national health system was structurally and administratively inefficient and expensive and often linked to corruption. With demands from the troika, the Conservative and Social Democratic coalition government itself was to reform the system and bring spending down. A new central structure was established EOPYY, the National Health Organization, where hospitals, clinics, wards were reduced or merged to save money. The formerly many and varied health and insurance schemes have today been reduced to thirteen large national schemes, where IKA (employees), OAEE (self-employed), TAXI (hotel employees) and OGA (farmers) are the largest. Today, membership of one of the thirteen schemes, paid contributions and a social health card (AMKA) are required to be able to use the public hospitals and clinics. For example, an IKA health and health insurance card requires that you have worked for at least 50 days within the last year to gain free access to the public health service. The card must be renewed every year. If you cannot obtain an IKA card, for example, you cannot use the public health system and are referred to private hospitals and clinics. approximately According to the Greek Confederation of Trade Unions, a third of the population in 2014, unlike before 2010, was without public health insurance due to unemployment, seasonal and part-time employment or because they (employees and employers) owed money to the health insurance. A debt, which in October 2014 amounted to DKK 11.5 billion. €. Also seeGreece – health conditions.
The disposable income of Greek households has fallen by 10.3% in 2013 compared to 2012. Since the crisis of 2009, income has fallen from 170 billion. to 122 billion. € corresponding to 28.2%. The average household expenditure fell from € 2,203 per per month in 2009 to € 1,509 in 2013, a decrease of 31.5%. These are, for example, alcohol -8.5%, housing costs -10.8%, health -22.2%, education -23.9% and clothing/shoes -46.3%. The number of households using central heating also fell by 31% between 2012 and 2013 due to increased prices and tax on heating oil. According to UNICEF, the number of children living in poverty rose from 23% in 2008 to 40.5% in 2012. According to Greek aid organizations, the number is higher today.
In summary, the drastic cuts in the social and health sector since 2010 have meant a partial collapse of the Greek welfare system, leading to persistent social unrest, demonstrations and strikes against social misery and poverty. Politically, this meant that those responsible for the cuts, the coalition government consisting of New Democracy and PASOK, lost the election in 2015, and that SYRIZA and the Independent Greeks came to take over the enormous problems that characterize Greek society today.
Greece – health conditions
Greek men have a life expectancy of 78 years (2012). Greek women live an average of 83 years. The birth rate is 1.5 children per. woman, and the mortality rate in the first year of life is 4 per. 1000 live births. Greek men are the most smokers in the EU and mortality from lung cancer is rising. In general, cancer mortality is lower than the EU average.
Since 2010, there has been an ongoing reduction in public health staff, doctors and nurses, etc., and medicine subsidies have been sharply reduced. In outlying areas and on a number of islands, there is a direct shortage of health personnel and medicines. Private doctors are concentrated in the larger cities and are allowed to work at most one day a week in public hospitals and clinics. Public hospital beds have been reduced from 35,000 to 33,000, while 500 beds have been reserved for private insurance. Pga. these cuts have strengthened the private health sector for those who have jobs and good incomes.
The social and health support schemes are generally – in contrast to pension schemes – undeveloped with small and time-limited schemes, very low benefits, limited cover and treatment. For example, financial support for families with children is only for families/singles with three or more children and largely only covers employees in the public sector and banks. Even poor families/ single people with one or two children find it difficult to get help from the public sector when it comes to help with purchasing medicines, doctor and hospital visits and finding a home.
Cuts in the hospital and healthcare sector in the first years of the 2009-11 crisis were 40%. Until 2014, the sector was continuously cut, and hospital and health units have either been closed down or merged with others. In 2013, a user fee of € 5 was introduced for visits to public health clinics and € 25 for hospital visits. The cuts and lack of staff have meant that general basic hygiene cannot be deported, which is exacerbated by the growing number of homeless people who in Athens alone rose by 25% in the first years of the crisis. Infections in public hospitals have been rising sharply, resulting in 2,800 deaths in just one year. HIV infections, malaria and tuberculosis primarily among immigrants has also risen sharply due to lack of medicine, hygiene and housing.
Child mortality has risen from 2.7 per capita for the first time since the 1950’s. 1,000 children in 2009 to 3.8 in 2013. Lack of pregnancy examinations and medication has also increased the number of stillbirths, which has increased by 21% in the period 2008 to 2011. The average life expectancy has decreased by 2 percentage points, and elderly mortality has increased either due to lack of doctors, medicine, treatment in general or due to the elderly’s inability to pay.
In the country’s 325 municipalities, in 2014 there are only 50 municipal clinics plus 24 mobile clinics, and they can not cover the need for medical care and medicine, especially not in outlying areas and on the islands, either due to lack of money or skilled labor – it has emigrated. Since the beginning of the crisis, the state’s total expenditure on medicine has fallen from DKK 4 billion to DKK 2 billion. €, and the state owes the pharmaceutical industry several billion euros. Even those citizens who can afford it cannot buy the necessary medicine because it is no longer available in the country. As medicine and medical treatment are no longer available free of charge from the doctor and at the hospital, patients are referred to the voluntary aid organizations and social clinics, where treatment and medicine are free. Every year, thousands of people are treated at these clinics.
The psychiatric field has been hit hard by the crisis, as the number of patients has increased due to crisis and poverty, just as ordinary surgical procedures for many people have become too expensive. In 2014, for example, it cost € 1,000 plus the cost of pre- and post-treatment to get a new hip. Many pensioners with 600 € per. month can not afford treatment and medication.
Greece – legal system
Until 1946, Greece had a Greco-Roman legal system. In 1946, a Greek Civil Code came into force, which is strongly inspired by the German Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch, BGB, but otherwise in several respects more modern and social. It is not so burdened by difficult-to-understand concepts as the BGB, nor does it have the strict systematics of this Code. The provision that the exercise of a right is prohibited if this is manifestly contrary to fair conduct or to the economic and social objectives pursued by the law has, like the corresponding one in the BGB, gained great importance and widespread use in practice and has therefore raised the moral standard of justice.
In 1982, marriage and family law were radically reformed and are now based on gender equality – largely similar to the conditions in Scandinavia.
Greece – military
The Armed Forces (2006) at 163,850, of which approximately 90,000 conscripts with 12 to 15 months of service. The army is at 110,000, the navy 19,250, the air force 23,000. The reserve is 325,000, of which 200,000 for the army. The defenses are mainly equipped with slightly older western equipment, which is supplemented with new western and for the army also Soviet-produced equipment. The defenses are very versatile, reflecting the varying terrain of mainland Greece and the need for defense in the archipelago. The Coast Guard is at 4000 and advises over 100 small patrol vessels.
The ceremonial presidential guard Evzones is easily recognizable with their trunk shoes with tassels on.
Greece – mass media
The first Greek newspapers were printed abroad under Turkish rule in the late 18th century. The first Greek newspaper printed in the country was founded in 1821.
Greece has a large media supply, but despite a large number of newspapers spread across the political spectrum, it is one of the countries in Europe with the fewest newspapers sold. On the other hand, the individual newspaper is read by gnsntl. three to four people outside the household. Many of the dailies are published only in a circulation of a few thousand.
One of the country’s most respected and significant dailies is the conservative Kathimerini (Dagbladet), founded in 1919, circulation approximately 47,000 (2005). Other major dailies are Ta Nea (The News), founded in 1931, and Eleftherotypia (Freedom of the Press), founded in 1975, both have a circulation of about 70,000. Almost all newspapers are sold in bulk, and the majority are evening newspapers.
There are 900 different magazines, the most popular of which are TV Guide magazines. The State News Agency Athens News Agency was founded in 1895.
The state radio and television company ERT (Elliniki Radiofonia Tileorasi) began broadcasting in 1938 and television in 1965. The radio (ERA) has several national and a number of regional stations. On the television side, ERT’s two national channels, ET-1 and NET, as well as the northern Greek ET-3 have fierce competition from private channels, primarily Mega and Antenna (ANT1), both of which have far more viewers.
The state television monopoly was officially broken in 1989, when Mega began broadcasting. Before the breach of the monopoly, both radio and television had close ties to the government, which maintained the connection to ERT until it closed the company in 2013 as part of a comprehensive austerity program. There are many hundreds of private television and radio stations, many of them without broadcasting licenses. Almost every home has a TV.
Greece – visual art
One of the most significant relics from the transition between ancient Christian and early Byzantine times is the large, partially preserved mosaic decoration of the dome of the Saint George Rotunda in Thessaloniki (400-t.), And the most important mosaic work from 600-t. is the decoration of St. Demetrios Church in the same town.
During the iconoclasm 726-843, most of the ornate churches in Greece were demolished, as elsewhere in the Byzantine Empire, and only in the subsequent period up to 1204 did a new artistic growth be experienced.
The mosaic art reached a climax with the large image programs in Hosios Lukas near Delphi (approximately 1000), Nea Moni on Chios (1000-t.) And Dafni near Athens (approximately 1100).
From the period during the Komnenos and Angelos dynasties (1081-1204), significant high-quality frescoes have been preserved throughout Greece, for example in Kastoria and Cyprus.
The Paleological Renaissance in the 1200-1400-t. meant a final flourishing of the Byzantine tradition. In the despotate Mistra in the Peloponnese, this was expressed in churches such as Peribleptos, Pantanassa and Metropolis, all adorned with frescoes, whose strong colors and figures with lively gestures and dramatic movements reflect the sublime of contemporary court art in Constantinople. See also Byzantine Empire (pictorial art).
Under Turkish rule from 1503, Byzantine art gained a foothold, especially with the painters of the Cretan School, as Crete, though a Venetian colonial island until 1669, had a fertile artistic environment.
Cretan frescoes became known for their work on Athos and in Meteora. In Crete itself, icon painting stood very high, and its supreme representatives in the 1500’s. were Georgios Klotzas and Michael Damaskinos; in their art is often seen an influence from the Italian Renaissance. It was also here that El Greco grew up and was trained as an icon painter before traveling to Western Europe. In the 1600’s and 1700’s. it was mainly in the Ionian Islands that icon painting lived on, often with strong influence from Baroque art. In general, religious art was characterized by an increasingly popular style.
Modern, secular visual art began with the Greek freedom struggle in the 1820’s and the stronger orientation towards Western Europe. Under King Otto I, the Academy of Arts was founded, from where talented students were sent to the Academy in Munich.
The influence of German realism took hold from the middle of the 1800’s, for example with Nikolaus Gysis (1842-1901), Nikiforos Lytras (1832-1904) and Theodoros Vryzakis (1814-78). With Kostas Parthenis, French Impressionism was introduced in Greece. In the 1900’s. is the naive art represented by Chatzimichalis Theofilos (1870-1934), the abstract by Alexandros Kontopoulos (1905-75) and Giannis Spyropoulos (1912-90).
Against the background of the interwar period’s search for a Greek national identity and as a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Athens from 1947, Ioannis Moralis (1916-2009) has been of great importance for the development of modern Greek visual art. Takis (Paniotis Vassilakis, b. 1925) has worked with kinetic art and installations.
Among the youngest generation of artists covering several facets of international currents are Giannis Adamakos (b. 1952), Barbara Mavrakaki (b. 1942), Kyriakos Mortarakis (b. 1948) and Vana Xenous (b. 1949).
Greece – architecture
The period from 300- to 500-t. was marked by the transition from late antiquity to ancient Christian architecture. The temples were closed and by decree of Emperor Theodosius II in 435 arranged for Christian cult use; thus the Temple of Parthenon on the Acropolis of Athens in the 5th century was consecrated as a church.
At the same time, a church building was started, which from the 4th century had a considerable scope, especially of multi-nave basilicas with vestibule and transept; of magnificent magnitude was the Basilica of St. Demetrios in Thessaloniki (rebuilt after a fire in 1917).
The find of a synagogue near a basilica on the island of Aegina suggests that the Jewish diaspora also had an architecture. Under Emperor Justinian I (527-65) an energetic church building was initiated again, characterized by the use of central plans and domes. The new type of plan also reached the Greek provinces, such as the partially preserved Basilica of St. Titus (500’s) in Gortys, Crete.
While the early Byzantine period. and 400-500-t. was a heyday, the following two centuries were a time of decline. Unstable political conditions, the Arab conquest of Crete in 823, major earthquakes and the iconoclasm 726-843 resulted in the destruction of a considerable number of buildings and little new construction.
The Middle Byzantine period in the 800-1100’s was characterized by a new dynamic, monastery buildings on Athos, eg Store Lavra from the 1000’s The period’s use of pattern masonry, eg saw and tooth cut friezes, is preserved in Athens’ small urban churches, but also in the provinces, eg the churches in Kastoria. Of the civil architecture, only archaeological traces are preserved, and they are difficult to distinguish from the remains of older period buildings. Citizens’ houses with four lengths around an atrium have been proven in Athens. From the Paleological Renaissance in the 1200-1400-t. the monastery buildings in Meteora and Mistra originate. See also architecture in the Byzantine Empire.
From the Ottoman Empire, in addition to a large number of mosques, a rich village architecture has been preserved, such as the mountain towns in the Zagoria area in the Pindos Mountains, many of which are 500 years old.
After the War of Independence in the 1820’s, Athens played a major role in modern Greek architecture, which was influenced by many foreign architects. Buildings were erected in the Late Empire and in the Neo-Byzantine style, and the Danish architects Christian and Theophilus Hansen contributed to this with e.g. the university, the academy and the national library. Also in the 1900’s. For example, foreign architects such as Walter Gropius and Eero Saarinen have influenced Athens in interaction with Greek architects such as Petrus Vassiliadis, Konstantinos Doxiadis, Thymios Papagiannis and Ioannis Travlos.
Dimitris Antonakakis (b. 1933) and his wife, Suzanna (b. 1935), represent a neo-regionalism that is expressed in the Archaeological Museum of Chios, the Pinakoteket in Athens and several buildings in Crete.
Greece – literature
In the millennial history of Greek literature, the first surviving works that can be considered written in modern Greek are the so-called acritical heroic poems from around the year 1000. The early period is treated under the Byzantine Empire (literature).
Greece – theater
After the fall of the Byzantine Empire, theater flourished in the Venetian-ruled Greek territories, first in Crete (from the late 1500’s to mid-1600’s) and later in the Ionian Islands (in the 1700’s).. In the independent Greek state, production was quite modest until the late 1800’s, when theater life resurfaced with comic and dramatic romances. Grigorios Xenopoulos introduced in the early 1900-t. the bourgeois drama, and in 1942 Karolos Koun (1908-86) created his landmark Theatro Technis (Art Theater), which brought the audience into contact with a modern repertoire and avant-garde playwrights such as Iakovos Kambanellis and Loula Anagnostaki (b. approximately 1938). Within the light repertoire, the satirical-political revue has been popular throughout the 1900’s.
Greece – dance
Greece has a rich and diverse dance tradition, primarily in traditional dances.
Traditional dance
On the mainland, there is a tradition of dancing chain dance at the festivals of the year and of life. A repertoire of couple dances was also widespread during the Venetian rule in the Ionian Islands (1386-1797), the Cyclades and several of the Aegean Islands, as well as Crete (1204-1669). In most dances, improvisation is an important element. In the big cities, in addition to regional dances, various dances of European and American origin occur; in addition, the Greek refugees from Asia Minor (1922-23) have influenced the repertoire with the popular, free couple dance tsifte teli; also the solo dance zeibekikos is widespread. The dances kalamatianos and tsamikos have during the 1900-t. achieved status as a national dance. See also Balkan (dance) andchain dance.
Stage dance
While classical ballet has never been successful in Greece, modern dance has developed on the model of ancient drama. Based on Eva Sikelianou (1874-1952) and Angelos Sikeliano’s Delphi festivals in the 1920’s, the choreographer Koula Pratsika (1899-1984) continued to work with “barefoot dancing” and “athletic pose”, thus forming a school in rhythm and free improvisation.. Her successors include choreographers Rallou Manou (1915-88) and Zouzou Nikoloudi (1917-2004). Since the early 1990’s, several professional groups of an experimental nature have been appearing.
Greece – music
Greek music is characterized by the traditional musical forms.
Folk music
Greek folk music consists of several different regional styles that have developed in the countryside and in the cities in interaction with neighboring countries and national minorities. Overall, three style areas are distinguished: the mainland, the islands and Asia Minor. In recent times, some genres have become widely known via the media, such as the Asian- inspired rebetika and dances such as kalamatianos and tsamikos.
Despite major differences, however, there are significant commonalities. The folk songs are based on syllable-counting verses with especially six, seven, eight and twelve syllables in addition to the iambic 15-syllable line divided into two half-verses (8 + 7). During the performance, the texts are provided with exclamations, filling words and syllable repetitions.
The scales are predominantly seven-tone scales, partly diatonic and partly chromatic with one or two magnified second steps. The rhythm can be free or fixed, and asymmetrical beats are frequent: 7/8 bars are Greek, while 9/8 and 9/4 bars (2 + 2 + 2 + 3), known from the dances karsilamas and zeibekikos, is of Turkish origin.
The local styles are characterized by their individual scales and rhythms, ornamentation and improvisation. Epirus, where Greeks, Albanians, and Aromanians live side by side, is special in its pentatonic and three- and four-part vocal polyphony with drone sound (ison, bassos).
Typically, the lamentations are mirologia and the robber ballads kleftika, performed in free rhythm both vocally and instrumentally. A ballad tradition from the 13th century is preserved in Thrace, among other places, where the hero Digenis Akritas is sung to accompany the stringed instrument lira. On some of the islands, music influenced by Italian and triad harmonies is influenced by Italian.
Greek village musicians are found almost everywhere, professional musicians, on the other hand, mostly on the mainland, often Roma with oboskalmejer and drums, zurnades (see zurna), or ensembles with melodic clarinet or violin. In interplay, the accompanying instruments perform simpler forms of the melody or support with drone sound.
Art music
A national Greek art music was founded in 1908 by Manolis Kalomiris (1883-1962) and is represented by Nikos Skalkottas. After 1945, a renewal in the composition style followed with inspiration from the great European composers of the time and from the Greek urban folk music rebetika. This generation includes Mikis Theodorakis, Argyris Kounadis (1924-2011), Manos Chatzidakis (1925-1994) and Iannis Xenakis.
Greece – film
A real Greek film production only gained momentum from the mid-1920’s, and after 1950 the neorealist Athenian school emerged after the Italian model with the director Michaël Cacoyannis at the helm. Cacoyannis’ Stella – The Girl from the Bar (1955) is a masterpiece from the period when his Zorba – the Greek (1964) with music by Mikis Theodorakis and the American Jules Dassin’s Pote tin Kyriaki (1960, Never on Sunday) led to an international breakthrough for Greek movie. IN
In the 1960’s and 1970’s, a wealth of folk comedies and comedies were produced, but the dictatorship’s dictatorship of 1967-74 gave the quality film poor conditions. With the re-establishment of democracy, it became possible for the uncompromising director Theo Angelopoulos to create the modernist civil war epic O Thiassos (1975, The Actors’ Journey), and he has since marked himself strongly as a stylistic innovator of Greek film narrative and as an inspirer of European films.. with To Vlemma tou Odyssea (1995, Odysseus’ gaze) and the Palme d’Or winner Mia aioniotita kai mia mera (1998, Eternity and a Day).
Up through the 1970’s, state support for film production increased significantly, and with former film actress Melina Mercouri as Minister of Culture, Greek film in the 1980’s had its best terms to date; new director names stood out such as Kostas Ferris (b. 1935) with the award-winning music film Rebetiko (1983) and Tassos Boulmetis (b. 1957) with Politiki kouzina (2003, A Taste of Life).
Greece has also distinguished itself with its many open-air cinemas, the number of which, however, decreased in the 1990’s due to the spread of television and video.
Greece – Kitchen
Greek cuisine is Europe’s oldest. It is characterized by simple food, made from few, fresh ingredients. Eggplant, lemon, feta, fish, olive oil, peppers, tomatoes, wild herbs and yogurt are typical ingredients in Greek cuisine. Characteristic is the soup avgolemono with lemon and eggs. Fish and meat are frequently cooked grilled, simply accompanied by lemon. Vegetable dishes often consist of salads, gratins (eg musaka) and pier in the thin phyllo dough.
A selection of many small dishes, mezedes, initiates or makes up the meal: vine leaves with rice or meat filling (dolmades), taramosalata of salted fish roe, anchovies, tzatziki, keftedes (meatballs), etc. Ragout of octopus, chtapodi, or stuffed squid, calamari, served as a main course. For dessert, eat the fatty and sweet baklava, phyllo dough cakes with almonds and honey. These and many starters are found almost identically in Turkish cuisine, a testament to the centuries-old, forced communion between the two countries.
Greece – wine
Since the classical period, wine has been grown throughout Greece, which has also created the basis for viticulture throughout the Mediterranean. The country has 150,000 ha of vines (1995), but half of the harvest turns into table grapes and raisins. 60% of the annual production of 5 million. hl is white wine, 30% is red and 10% rosé.
Greek wine law closely follows EU guidelines for quality wines, country wines and table wines. There are 27 districts with appellation, but most have only local interest. Many wines are blended and sold under brand names by the five major companies that account for half of all Greek wine: Kourtakis, Cambas, Boutari, Tsantali and Achaia-Clauss with the best-selling wine, Demestica. Original bottled sweet wines feature a blue banner on the bottleneck, while red indicates a dry wine. The term kava is used about the best wines with long barrel aging. In Macedonia, the red wines from Naoussa, Goumenissa and especially the Côtes de Meliton are made in French style on the grape xynomavro, which has also recreated the red wine Rapsani at the foot of Mount Olympos. Peloponnesehas the largest number of wines with the red Nemea, the white wine from Patras and the dark, port wine-like Mavrodaphne as the most famous. The sweet muscat wine from Samos is sold all over the world, while the Greek’s own annual consumption of wine of 32 liters is mostly covered by the famous white resin wine, retsina. It is made especially around Athens and is also found as a rosé, Kokkineli.
