Filiki Etaireia - The Filiki Etaireia (“Friendly Brotherhood”) had goals that belied their innocuous name. They started the Greek revolutionary war of 1821, which lasted 11 years and led to the formation of the modern-day Greek nation.In 1814, Nikalaos Skoufas and Athanasios Tsakalov, a couple of merchants, put together a plan for a secret organization to overthrow Ottoman rule in Greece.
Their group would have four levels of membership, and there would be a supreme authority. Everyone would have secret identities. The merchants based their plans closely on the structure of the Freemasons, as they were themselves members. They made the organization as elaborate as possible and chose a name. Then they realized that they’d get more done with actual members.
In two years, they only managed to recruit around 30 people. Their most enthusiastic member was Nikolaos Galatis, who claimed to be a relative of Ioannis Kapodistrias, Greece’s ambassador to the Russian Empire, perhaps the Ottomans’ biggest rivals. The rebels, seeing an opportunity for a powerful ally, sent Galatis to recruit his alleged relative.Kapodistrias’s response was unenthusiastic.
He told Galatis, “The only advice I can give you is not to speak to anyone else about this and to return immediately to the place you came from; and tell those who sent you that if they wish to avoid destroying themselves—and dragging down with them the whole of their innocent and unfortunate race—they must renounce their revolutionary activities.”Galatis did the opposite and began talking about the Etaireia to anyone who would listen. He told the Russian police. He even told the Czar.
Kapodistrias had a nervous breakdown. Galatis eventually left Moscow under Russian surveillance and kept trying to recruit people. In the end, the Friendly Brotherhood themselves had him murdered because he simply refused to grasp the “secret” part of their society.By 1819, the society had managed to set up a more competent recruitment drive and expanded to six membership levels. People who joined by taking the oath were given more information based the contributions they made. Illiterate, unskilled workers (“brothers”) were on the bottom of the ladder.
Moving higher up required ever more elaborate rituals and donations, as well as learning a bunch of secret signs, but came with new titles: “Referenced One,” “Priest,” and (at the top) “Shepherd.” The organization leaders knew they couldn’t maintain their conspiracy forever and sought a leader to start a rebellion. They turned to Kapodistrias again, but he refused, once again saying their plan was foolhardy and would never work.
They ended up asking a Russian officer named Alexander Ypsilantis, who agreed. They announced the Greek Revolution in the Spring of 1821, and though the society itself broke down as war broke out, Greece won its independence.The very first head of state of independent Greece, often considered to be the founding father of the modern country, was Ioannis Kapodistrias. Because who says a man can’t change his mind?
Their group would have four levels of membership, and there would be a supreme authority. Everyone would have secret identities. The merchants based their plans closely on the structure of the Freemasons, as they were themselves members. They made the organization as elaborate as possible and chose a name. Then they realized that they’d get more done with actual members.
In two years, they only managed to recruit around 30 people. Their most enthusiastic member was Nikolaos Galatis, who claimed to be a relative of Ioannis Kapodistrias, Greece’s ambassador to the Russian Empire, perhaps the Ottomans’ biggest rivals. The rebels, seeing an opportunity for a powerful ally, sent Galatis to recruit his alleged relative.Kapodistrias’s response was unenthusiastic.
He told Galatis, “The only advice I can give you is not to speak to anyone else about this and to return immediately to the place you came from; and tell those who sent you that if they wish to avoid destroying themselves—and dragging down with them the whole of their innocent and unfortunate race—they must renounce their revolutionary activities.”Galatis did the opposite and began talking about the Etaireia to anyone who would listen. He told the Russian police. He even told the Czar.
Kapodistrias had a nervous breakdown. Galatis eventually left Moscow under Russian surveillance and kept trying to recruit people. In the end, the Friendly Brotherhood themselves had him murdered because he simply refused to grasp the “secret” part of their society.By 1819, the society had managed to set up a more competent recruitment drive and expanded to six membership levels. People who joined by taking the oath were given more information based the contributions they made. Illiterate, unskilled workers (“brothers”) were on the bottom of the ladder.
Moving higher up required ever more elaborate rituals and donations, as well as learning a bunch of secret signs, but came with new titles: “Referenced One,” “Priest,” and (at the top) “Shepherd.” The organization leaders knew they couldn’t maintain their conspiracy forever and sought a leader to start a rebellion. They turned to Kapodistrias again, but he refused, once again saying their plan was foolhardy and would never work.
They ended up asking a Russian officer named Alexander Ypsilantis, who agreed. They announced the Greek Revolution in the Spring of 1821, and though the society itself broke down as war broke out, Greece won its independence.The very first head of state of independent Greece, often considered to be the founding father of the modern country, was Ioannis Kapodistrias. Because who says a man can’t change his mind?
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A very important knowledge for All ,.,.,.,..
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