Every year on March 25, we honor and celebrate the uprising of the enslaved Greeks against the Turkish tyrant for freedom and self-determination. In fact, it is the most important date in the history of modern Greece, as the starting point of national polygenesis.
What happened on March 25, 1821, and have we celebrated it until the day of our national holiday? Historians say absolutely nothing. Or almost nothing, to be exact, beyond some skirmishes. No great war that justifies this choice. Not even the raising of the banner of the Monastery of Agia Lavra and the swearing in of the young men by the German of Old Patras.
The incident of the Holy Lavra is a national myth. We owe it, as reported by sansimera.gr, to the French traveler and historian François Pouqueville (1770-1838), who wrote the four-volume History of the Renaissance of Greece (1824). The story was spread by word of mouth, but also through the painting The Oath of the Holy Lavra (1851) by the important Greek painter Theodoros Vryzakis (1814-1878).
Besides, the old German himself does not mention a word about the incident in his memoirs. It is historically established that on that day he was not in the Monastery of Agia Lavra, but in Patras, where he did swear by the revolutionaries of the area in Agios Georgios Square.
The anniversary of the national uprising on March 25 was established on March 15, 1838 by King Otto in order to connect with the ecclesiastical event of the Annunciation. It was also the wish of Alexandros Ypsilantis and the Friendly Society to connect the beginning of the revolution with a great ecclesiastical celebration to stimulate the minds of the enslaved Greeks.
In fact, the Revolution did not begin on March 25, 1821, but a few days earlier in the Peloponnese, an area with a compact Greek population and a small Turkish military presence. The military and political commander of the Peloponnese (Mora Valesi) Khurshid Pasha was in Ioannina to kill Ali Pasha, who had become autonomous from the High Gate. Prior to his departure, Khurshid had received assurances from Moria's predecessors that rumors circulating about the impending uprising of the Rayads were non-existent.
Achaeans and Maniates are arguing over who threw the first rifle of the national uprising. On March 21, the siege of Kalavrita by Sotiris Charalambis and the Petmezais begins. It is the first military action of the Revolution and will end victoriously after five days.
On March 23, the people of Mania, under the leadership of Petrobei Mavromichalis and with the help of Theodoros Kolokotronis, occupied Kalamata and with their proclamation made known to the international community the uprising of the Greeks. On the same day, Andreas Londo's men take control of Vostitsa (today's Aigio), while a revolutionary upheaval prevails in Patras. The merchant merchant and ardent patriot Emmanuel Pappas leaves Constantinople for Mount Athos, in order to start the Revolution in Macedonia.
March 23rd is the first important milestone of the national struggle and it could very well have taken the place of March 25th in the festive calendar of our country.