Independence Day in the ’30s

Accounts of delayed Independence Day centenary commemorations in 1930 shows our Greek psyche still remains unchanged

“At no time could Athens be called a sleepy city. On the morning of March 25, 1930, the whole city was astir very early.

Bells rang out from scores of churches, and bands of trumpeters marched out of their barracks and through the principal streets, arousing the citizens by their joyful reveille.

For this was the first day of a series of celebrations to last over seven or eight months, marking the centenary of Hellenic Independence.
The year 1921 is generally regarded as the real centenary year, but the troubles through which the kingdom of Greece was passing then prevented the organisation of suitable celebrations.

Hence the present year was chosen for a long series of solemn and joyous functions…

There is one body of men whose appearance never fails to elicit a round of hearty applause here are the ‘Euzoni’ the ‘Guards’ of the Greek army. They are men of fine physique and good training, and the uniform which they wear on ceremonial occasions is said to be the old national dress of the people.
The heart of [a] student rejoices, as he mentally notes the contrast between this happy state of things and the fatal quarrelsomeness which prevented the glorious Greece of old times from achieving her true destiny.”

That appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald in May 17, 1930 under the title ‘Great day in Athens, Centenary of Independence’.

The first hand report in Athens by writer A. H Oarnsey tells of an outsider’s perspective of the Greek Independence Day Celebrations 84 years ago.

Without knowing it, Oarnsey paints a picture of Greece that we’ve come to recognise in times of national pride and times of hardship.

It’s a Greece in the throws of excitement, thousands lining the streets, young and old waving flags and chatting amongst themselves as the hustle and bustle of a parade passes through.

It’s a Greece that’s always reflective but hopeful, a Greece that believes in change for the good.

During the original centenary in 1921, Greece was reeling from the effects of WWI, unable to give its war-torn country the celebration it deserved.
Fast-forward to 2014, and Greece is picking up the pieces of an economic crisis never seen before by Europe.

National Day will be a chance for many Greeks in Greece to forget their troubles momentarily and remember all the things that made and make Greece great.

For the thousands of Greeks of the diaspora, National Day is a joint celebration with their adoptive country.

Greek Australians are the only community members that are allowed to march at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne apart from Australian soldiers, an honour showing the respect the two countries hold for each other.

Crowds that will line the Shrine for celebrations this Sunday will be joined by new migrants and their families who will hope to keep the tradition alive in their new adoptive state.

The new group shows hope that the march will continue into the future, something many of the older Greeks believed would die out with them.