Greek ethnicity and Greek citizenship are two distinct legal statuses, both being derived from Greek citizenship law. Thus, Greek ethnicity establishes the requirement for the right to apply for Greek citizenship due to descent.
Significance
editFor the Greeks, even today, ethnicity has greater significance than for many other peoples.[1][2][3] After all, during the three century long Islamic-Ottoman occupation, the Greeks managed to preserve their culture, Greek Orthodox faith, language and identity unharmed; and from 1821 onwards, they were able to re-establish their own sovereign state with an intact ethnicity.[4][5][6][7] Therefore, the concept of ethnicity has a positive connotation even in modern Greece, while the idea of ethnicity is considered rather problematic in other peoples, for example in Germany due to the murderous-ethnic Hitler dictatorship[8][9] or in the neighboring territory of former Yugoslavia, where ethnically based wars cost hundreds of thousands of lives in the 1990s.[10][11] Greek ethnic patriotism, on the other hand, is considered inclusive, cosmopolitan, progressive and non-racist, similar to Scottish nationalism with its independence aspirations.
Diaspora
editAbout five million ethnic Greeks live outside Greece.[12] This means that around one-third of all ethnic Greeks do not live in Greece, many with foreign citizenships. Nevertheless, the Greek diaspora, like the Armenian diaspora[13] or the Jewish one, counts as culturally preserved. According to ethnologists, this phenomenon is practically exclusive to "ancient" peoples with their own religion, script and distinct mythology. Therefore, the Greek diaspora does not shrink, as is the case with other emigrant groups, but is culturally passed on to the next generations regardless of place of residence or citizenship.[14][15]
Legal situation
editGreek citizenship law includes aspects that take into account the expansion of the Greek people abroad as well. For example, Greece is one of the very few countries, along with Italy, that derives the ethnicity of its people and the right to acquire citizenship from a single grandparent.[16] This means that anyone who has a grandmother or grandfather who was born as a Greek in Greece is an ethnic Greek and can apply for citizenship, even if their own parents never exercised this right.[17] The concept of Greek ethnicity documents is rooted is this broader context. The next generations of Greeks not losing a sense for their Greek ethnicity is one central goal of documenting officially the status as an ethnic Greek, a concept that Greece shares with other countries with a large diaspora like Israel, Armenia, Poland and many eastern European and Balkan states.[18] Being of Greek descent is considered a serious matter with many Greek missions abroad offer consular protection not only to citizens but also to ethnic Greeks ("people of Greek descent").[19]
Other peoples
editComparable concepts exist in Poland, where, as a result of multiple shifts of national territory, numerous Poles now live involuntarily in neighboring foreign countries.[20] Israel is another such example, which, with its very particular history, places considerable emphasis on the preservation of Jewish religion and ethnicity.
References
edit- ^ Irad Malkin, Ancient perceptions of Greek ethnicity. Center for Hellenic Studies colloquia ; 5. Cambridge, MA: Center for Hellenic Studies, Trustees for Harvard University, 2001
- ^ Vlassopoulos, Kostas (2015). "Ethnicity and Greek History: Re‐Examining Our Assumptions". Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies. 58 (2): 1–13. doi:10.1111/j.2041-5370.2015.12008.x.
- ^ Edward M. Anson: Greek Ethnicity and the Greek Language. Glotta. Vol. 85. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2009
- ^ Woodhouse, C. M. (1998). Modern Greece: A Short History. London: Faber & Faber Pub. ISBN 978-0571197941
- ^ Douglas Dakin: The Greek Struggle for Independence, 1821-1833. University of California Press
- ^ Paroulakis, Peter H. The Greek War of Independence. Hellenic International Press, 1984.
- ^ Vacalopoulos, Apostolis. The Greek Nation, 1453–1669. Rutgers University Press, 1976
- ^ Grabowski, Jan (2013). Hunt for the Jews: Betrayal and Murder in German-Occupied Poland. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-02-53010-74-2.
- ^ Hayes, Peter: Why? Explaining the Holocaust. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2017
- ^ Glenny, Misha (1996). The fall of Yugoslavia: the third Balkan war. London: Penguin. ISBN 978-0-14-026101-1.
- ^ Hall, Richard C. ed. War in the Balkans: An Encyclopedic History from the Fall of the Ottoman Empire to the Breakup of Yugoslavia (2014)
- ^ Greek City Times: The Greek diaspora approaches the 5 million mark. November 18, 2018. Retrieved on June 12, 2021
- ^ de Waal, Thomas (2003). Black Garden: Armenia and Azerbaijan Through Peace and War. New York: New York University Press. ISBN 978-0-8147-1945-9
- ^ Doreen A. Rosenthal, Christine Hrynevich: Ethnicity and Ethnic Identity: A Comparative Study of Greek-, Italian-, and Anglo-Australian Adolescents. In: International Journal of Psychology Volume 20, 1985 - Issue 3-4
- ^ Konstan, David. "Defining Ancient Greek Ethnicity." Diaspora: A Journal of Transnational Studies, vol. 6 no. 1, 1997, p. 97-110. Project MUSE, doi:10.1353/dsp.1997.0020
- ^ Official website of the Embassy of the Hellenic Republic in Washington, D.C. with detailed information. Webarchive of status June 12, 2021
- ^ Greek Nationality and Citizenship Code (Law No. 1438/1984), along with the related legislation (mainly Law No. 3284/2004)
- ^ George Mavrommatis: Greek citizenship tradition in flux? Investigating contemporary tensions between ethnic and civic elements of nationality, Nationalities Papers, 2017, doi: 10.1080/00905992.2017.1354180
- ^ Website of the Hellenic Ministry of Foreign Affairs, offering consular help to “Greek citizens and persons of Greek descent”, retrieved June 12, 2021
- ^ Official website of the European Union dealing with the topic of Polish Ethnicity Card, retrieved June 12, 2021