The Greeks were under the rule of the Eastern Roman Empire until the Crusaders captured Constantinople in 1204. Between the division of the Roman Empire into East and West in AD 395 and the Ottomans’ invasion in the 15th Century, Greece was part of the Byzantine Empire. In AD 378, the Visigoths were victorious over Emperor Valens at Adrianople, which provoked frequent and powerful attacks against Greece by Huns, Avars, Slavs and Bulgars.

Greek power was regained by the Macedonian dynasty of Byzantine emperors, between AD 867 and 1025. Constantinople had become the centre of Greek culture, even if it was not part of the Greek territory. The 11th Century brought serious difficulties for the Byzantine Empire. The Seljuk Turks organised attacks against the Empire, the Normans invaded Epirus and the Crusades reached the lands of Greece. The Fourth Crusade in 1204 led to almost complete destruction of the Byzantine Empire. A new feudal state was formed, the Latin Empire, under the control of the French, Flemish and Italian nobles, as well as those of Venice. In 1261, the Byzantine Empire was restored. However, it included only parts of Greece, which still remained under French and Italian control. The end of the Empire came with the invasion of the Ottoman Turks, who captured the whole territory in 1456.

During Ottoman rule, Greek lands were intensively exploited. Prior to the Ottoman era, Greek intelligentsia succeeded to migrate to Western Europe, where they influenced the Western European Renaissance with works of the Ancient Greeks. The Ottoman millet system was introduced into the territory and influenced the ethnic cohesion of Orthodox Greeks. The Ottomans attempted religious tolerance, but their regime was increasingly tyrannical and repressive. Some Greek families became a significant part of the administration of the Empire and these, living in Constantinople and in the ports of Asia Minor, had very prosperous lives. Most Greeks, however, lived a life of poverty and hunger.

The Greeks did not give up the idea for an independent country. In 1821, the Greek War of Independence began, and in 1830 Greece overcame the Ottoman Empire. England, Russia and France supported Greece and a monarchy was introduced. In 1833, the Bavarian Prince Otto became Greece’s first king. In 1863, Otto was deposed and the Great Powers chose for his successor the prince of the Danish House of Clucksberg, George I, king of the Hellenes. Under George’s rule, Greece gained most of its present-day territory. His reign continued 57 years, during which parliamentary democracy was introduced and many islands were united into Greece’s territory, including Thessaly, Epirus, Macedonia, Crete and most of the Aegean islands. Unfortunately, the period was marked by economic instability, and around one-sixth of the Greek population immigrated to the U.S. and other countries in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. Independent Greece spread on an area of 47,515 square kilometers and its northern boundary was laid from the Gulf of Volos to the Gulf of Arta.