For decades, the dominant narrative in European schools has treated modern Greeks as the unbroken biological and cultural descendants of Pericles, Socrates, and the classical world. This myth—packaged as romantic philhellenism—deeply influenced European identity and even the political architecture of the continent. But according to a remarkable analysis by Berthold Seewald, cultural history editor at Germany’s Die Welt, this narrative reveals more about Europe’s ideological needs than about actual history.
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| Berthold Seewald and a medieval painting showing Albanian warriors of the Middle Ages |
The Forgotten Debate: Who Are the Modern Greeks?
The central claim, revived from the work of historian Jakob Philipp Fallmerayer, is that the ancient Hellenic population did not survive intact into modern times. Fallmerayer’s original assertion was shocking for 19th-century Europe:
“The Hellenic race has vanished from Europe; not a single drop of pure Greek blood flows in the veins of the Christian population of modern Greece.”
His conclusion was based not on ideology, but on evidence:
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Medieval Greek populations showed strong Slavic and Albanian naming patterns.
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Byzantine migrations reshaped the demographic map.
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Centuries of Ottoman rule and population movements altered ethnic lines irreversibly.
Seewald notes that Europe chose to ignore this because it needed Greece—at least a romantic, mythical version of it—for its own self-image. In other words, Europe wanted the symbolism of “the birthplace of civilization,” even if genetic and historical reality pointed elsewhere.
Greece Disrupts Europe—Twice
Seewald’s article also highlights a lesser-known historical fact: Greece has twice played a destabilizing role in European order.
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At the Congress of Vienna (1815), Europe constructed a new balance of power after the Napoleonic wars.
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Just 12 years later, that balance collapsed—largely due to the Greek uprising against the Ottoman Empire.
While the uprising was framed as a noble fight for freedom, it violated the basic rule of the post-Napoleonic peace system: no revolutions allowed. Yet three European powers—Britain, France, and Russia—intervened militarily in favor of the Greek rebels, destroying the Turkish-Egyptian fleet at the famous Battle of Navarino (1827).
Why did Europe break its own rules? Seewald offers two reasons:
1. Cold geopolitical interests
Russia wanted influence over Orthodox Christians and access to the Mediterranean.
Britain wanted to limit Russian expansion.
France sought relevance in the Eastern Mediterranean.
2. The rise of “public opinion” driven by philhellenism
Europe’s educated elite projected the glory of ancient Greece onto the peasants of 19th-century Morea, imagining them as direct descendants of Plato. In reality, many of those “Greeks” were Arvanites (Christian Albanians) whose language dominated large parts of the Peloponnese and Attica well into the modern era.
The Albanian Role: Central, Not Peripheral
What Seewald’s German audience rarely hears—but Albanians know well—is that mass Albanian presence in Greece was not a fringe phenomenon.
Historical facts:
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Arvanites formed up to half the population in many Greek regions during the 18th–19th century.
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Key leaders of the Greek independence movement—including Markos Botsaris, Laskarina Bouboulina, and many others—were Albanian-speaking.
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The Greek national dress, fustanella, is of Albanian origin.
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Entire villages around Athens spoke Albanian until the 20th century.
These realities do not diminish Greek history; they enrich it. But they also correct a long-standing European narrative that artificially separated “Greek” from “Albanian,” even when history shows they were deeply intertwined.
Europe’s Myth and Its Consequences
Seewald points out that even the founders of the European Union clung to this romantic idea of Greece as a symbolic anchor of Europeanness. This sentiment contributed to bringing Greece into the European Community in 1980—despite its economic weakness—because the political class of Europe still believed in a “civilizational debt” to the imaginary heirs of Plato.
The consequences, as the journalist notes, are “visible every day”—a reference to the long-term political and financial crises that shook Europe in the 21st century.
But for Albania and Albanians, the underlying issue is deeper:
A major European nation’s identity was constructed, in part, by erasing the Albanian chapter of its own history.
Why Albanians Should Care
This narrative matters for Albanians because:
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It corrects centuries of historical misrepresentation.
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It highlights Albania’s central role in Balkan culture and state formation.
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It challenges discriminatory stereotypes often perpetuated in the region.
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It encourages recognition of shared heritage rather than fabricated divisions.
Albanians were not just neighbors—they were founders, leaders, and pillars of the region’s identity, including Greece’s.
Recognizing this truth is not about diminishing Greece; it is about giving Albania the historical place it deserves in European consciousness.