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       |             THE MONTREAL GREEK TIMES GOPHER NEWS SERVICE             |
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                                      March 2026                               
       
       What we celebrate on the 25th of March
       
 (GIF) article photo
       
       By Dimitri Papadopoulos
       
       
       On the 25th of March each year, Greeks around the world observe the
       anniversary of the 1821 Revolution, the armed uprising that launched
       the Greek War of Independence against nearly four centuries of Ottoman
       rule. For millions of Hellenes and philhellenes, the date carries
       profound national and cultural significance. For Greek-Canadians, and
       especially for the younger generation who look forward each year to the
       grand parade on Jean-Talon Street, it is worth understanding the
       history behind the celebration.
       
       By the early 19th century, the Greek people had lived under Ottoman
       occupation since the fall of Constantinople in 1453. For roughly 400
       years, Greeks were denied political self-determination, subjected to
       heavy taxation and forced conscription, and relegated to the status of
       second-class subjects within the Ottoman Empire. Throughout those
       centuries, the Greek Orthodox Church played a central role in preserving
       the Greek language, faith and national identity. Secret schools, known
       in Greek tradition as “kryfò scholiò,” are remembered as places where
       children learned to read and write Greek in defiance of restrictions
       imposed by Ottoman authorities.
       
       By the late 1700s and early 1800s, a growing movement for independence
       had taken root among Greek intellectuals, merchants and military leaders
       both within Ottoman-held territories and in the Greek diaspora across
       Europe. A secret revolutionary organization called the Filikì Eterìa,
       founded in 1814 in Odessa, worked to coordinate an organized revolt. Its
       members recruited supporters across the Greek world and laid the
       groundwork for a national uprising.
       
       On the 25th of March 1821, the revolution began. Tradition holds that
       Bishop Germanos of Patras raised the flag of revolt at the Monastery of
       Agia Lavra in the Peloponnese, blessing the struggle and calling Greeks
       to arms. Fighting erupted across the Peloponnese, on the islands of the
       Aegean and in mainland Greece. Greek revolutionaries won early victories
       against Ottoman garrisons, and on the first day of January 1822, the
       First National Assembly at Epidaurus adopted a constitution and formally
       declared Greek independence.
       
       The war that followed was long and brutal, lasting nearly a decade.
       Greek fighters endured sieges, massacres and internal divisions. The
       struggle captured the imagination of people across Europe and North
       America, giving rise to the philhellenic movement. Volunteers,
       intellectuals and political figures from Britain, France, the United
       States and other nations lent their support to the Greek cause.
       Among them was the English poet Lord Byron, who traveled to Greece
       and died at Missolonghi in 1824.
       
       International intervention proved decisive. In 1827, the combined naval
       forces of Britain, France and Russia destroyed the Ottoman-Egyptian
       fleet at the Battle of Navarino, a turning point that effectively
       secured Greek independence on the battlefield. Diplomatic negotiations
       followed, and in 1830 the London Protocol, signed by the three allied
       powers, formally recognized Greece as a sovereign and independent state.
       
       The Treaty of Constantinople, signed on the 21st of July 1832
       between the Great Powers and the Ottoman Empire, established
       the final boundaries of the new Kingdom of Greece and
       confirmed its full sovereignty.
       
       Here in Montreal, the Greek community marks this anniversary each year
       on the last weekend of March with a parade along Jean-Talon Street that
       draws thousands of participants and spectators from across the city. It
       is one of the largest public expressions of Hellenic identity in Canada.
       
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