THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE: SERBIA AND GREECE AS MIRRORED IN THE PRESS DURING THE LAST DECADES OF THE 19TH CENTURY
THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE: SERBIA AND GREECE AS MIRRORED IN THE PRESS DURING THE LAST DECADES OF THE 19TH CENTURY

Summary/Abstract: With the wars of national liberation and achievement of autonomy, Serbia and Greece gained a better image in the West and were pointed out as important political factors in the Balkans. As the fall of the Ottoman Empire was becoming obvious, these two factors considered that it was the right moment for the liberation of a larger number of territories and the achievement of wider autonomy. Thus, their relations were shaped around an idea of a Balkan alliance, which would be a counterweight to the weakened Ottoman Empire. Although the Treaty of the Alliance (1867) envisaged Serbian-Greek military cooperation, the alliance was primarily reflected in diplomatic support. This did not prevent either Serbia or Greece from closely following events in the allied country. The press, which shaped public opinion, followed all important events and war efforts of the ally in its attempt to expand to the detriment of Turkey. Therefore, the public in Greece could have been informed about the “heroic struggles of fraternal Serbia” conducted in the First and Second Serbian-Turkish War, while the public in Serbia about the uprisings in Crete and the annexation of Thessaly and Epirus to Greece. In addition to providing information, journalists were also often expressing their views on the course and purpose of this struggle. The aim of this paper is, with the use of comparative analysis of the Serbian and Greek press, to present a public opinion of another party about the efforts for expansion and liberation from Ottoman rule.

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