Greece Archives - Richard M. Langworth

“Antithesis of Democracy” (Or: Winston Churchill & Portland)

5 October 2020 Comments 0 Comments

Churchill’s stunning relevancy

It is remarkable how we still encounter in Churchill words of astounding currency. A friend in Portland, Oregon asked for verification of a Churchill quotation: “A love for tradition has never weakened a nation, indeed it has strengthened nations in their hour of peril….” (“The Tasks which Lie Before Us,” House of Commons, 29 November 1944.) A good, solid maxim, but not out of the ordinary.

AND THEN my eye fell across what Churchill said a week later. Its current application, to Portland among other places, is remarkable. December 1944 Only two months after Greece had been liberated from German occupation, leftist elements of the government resigned and began an armed rebellion.…

Greece and the European Union

31 August 2016 Comments 0 Comments

Greece’s Debacle

A friend sends James K. Galbraith‘s thoughtful article, “From the Destruction of Greece to Democracy in Europe” (Boston Globe, 22 August):

Last year’s third bailout of Greece, imposed by Europe and the International Monetary Fund, does to Greece what Versailles did to Germany. It strips assets to satisfy debts….a quagmire of graft to support an illusion that Greece could “compete” as part of the euro. Already in 2010 the IMF knew it was breaking its own rules by pretending that Greece could recover quickly, sustain a huge primary surplus, and repay its debts….…

El-Sisi: The Churchill Test; Another Damaskinos?

9 November 2014 Comments 0 Comments

Realpolitik: "At a conference in the Greek Foreign Office, lit only by hurricane lamps as bombs burst over the Piraeus, Churchill subjected the warring Greeks to a discourse the like of which they had never heard before. The two factions agreed to appoint Damaskinos as Regent; he called for reconciliation, ended the fighting, and left office in 1946 with Greece a constitutional monarchy."