Eleftherios Venizelos
The Trials of Statesmanship
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 9803235 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Othon Anastasakis (corresponding author) |
| Year | 2008 |
| Volume | 123 |
| Issue | 501 |
| Pages | 506-508 |
| Publication date | 2008-04-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The English Historical Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0013-8266 • E-ISSN: 1477-4534 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1093/ehr/cen052 |
| OpenAlex | W2046029308 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
Eleftherios Venizelos is a major Greek political figure, who during his times and after his death ignited many strong feelings and divided opinions among Greeks. Venizelos dominated the period of Greek politics from 1910 to 1935 to such a degree that it is difficult to remember any of his contemporary politicians. His domestic influence was powerful, his diplomatic skills remarkable and his modernising vision long lasting. His name is inextricably linked with some of the most dramatic and controversial moments in a period of modern Greek history which included successive wars and peace efforts, military victories and defeats, territorial expansions and withdrawals, massive exchanges of populations and refugee movements, government reforms and counter-reforms, economic growth and crises, democratic governments and military interventions and a deep national schism, one pole of which was Venizelos and his Liberal Party. In this edited volume, Paschalis Kitromilides takes us through this turbulent period of Greek history by focusing on the personality, leadership and charisma of Eleftherios Venizelos, and his impact on national developments. The initial aim of the book was to respond to the complete absence of any biographical work on Venizelos in English, despite the fact that there are plenty of secondary books and articles dealing with the period in which Venizelos dominated the political scene. As such, the book is a welcome addition for those who would like to know more about the person, the leader, the politician, and the diplomat. In his introduction, Kitromilides expresses his admiration and respect for this very influential figure and claims that ‘he was a man of passion but also a man with a feeling of responsibility’, adding that ‘his philosophy of modernisation...proved to be his lasting legacy’. Kitromilides has done an excellent work in assembling a number of biographical, historical and thematic chapters, in order to analyse the leader's charisma, responsibility and his notion of modernisation. The book is divided into three parts. The first part deals with Venizelos’ formative years during the period 1864–1910. Kallivretakis presents the Ottoman context in Crete and its influence on the early political philosophy and praxis of Venizelos, while Makraki discusses his early life and career as a lawyer, journalist and politician-in-the-making, as well as the controversies that surrounded his personality and early years, and his impact on the politics of enosis of Crete with Greece
Aesthetics · Art · Autocracy · Charisma · Democracy · Economic history · Greeks · Period (music · Political science · Politics · Reactionary · Balkans: History, Politics, Society · Classics · Contemporary and Historical Greek Studies · History · Irish and British Studies · Law
| Citations per year | 0.2 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2011 - 2024 (14) |
| Highly cited | No |