Synthesis: Review of Modern Greek Studies

Volume 1, Number 2 (1996)

Synthesis: Review of Modern Greek Studies
Contents of Volume 1, Number 2 (1996)

Editorial Note

Articles

Book Reviews Recent Research Conference Reports

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Editorial Note

Volume 1, Number 2 (1996)

by Athanasios Lykogiannis and Yannos Mitsos

Following a long and arduous process which took a little longer than expected, we are delighted to present the second issue of Synthesis: Review of Modern Greek Studies. We are thus pleased to be publishing four papers on various strands of modern Greek studies. More specifically, there is a paper by Thanasis Sfikas entitled The Balkans and the Origins of the Cold War where an effort is made to present the interplay between Great Power Diplomacy and regional and local factors in the Balkans before and during the Cold War. Mark Mazower’s article, British Historians of Greece since the Second World War, surveys the evolution of the field of modern Greek history in the United Kingdom since the end of the Second World War. The third article is written by Michael Tsinisizelis and Dimitris Chrysochoou. Images of Greece and European Integration: A Case of Uneasy Interdependence? aims to assess Greece’s European policy within a theoretical framework of ‘Confederal Consociationalism’. Finally, we have a special contribution by Constantine Tsoukalas. ‘Education in Greece: An Ideological Critique’, was presented as a public lecture at the conference Greece: Prospects for Modernisation, which took place at the LSE in November 1994. The author tries to pin down the inherent limitations of mainstream educational attitudes and to point out the most important long-term cultural effects of educational ideas. In addition to these articles, there is the usual array of book reviews, conference reports as well as news on recent research on issues pertaining to modern Greece.

We are at a period of flourishing of modern Greek studies in Britain and the foundations are being laid for an even more constructive approach to the subject. Synthesis aims to be at the forefront of this effort. In this effort we are happy to be supported by the Hellenic Observatory at the LSE’s European Institute which was inaugurated in October 1996. The Hellenic Observatory aims to organise a wide range of activities including public lectures, seminars, short courses, conferences and a PhD programme in Contemporary Greek Studies. Synthesis has established an open line of communication with the Hellenic Observatory and is looking forward to the further promotion of modern Greek studies and issues in Britain. We at Synthesis are also interested in establishing links with similar initiatives all over the world so that a more concerted approach to the subject can be achieved.

We would like to thank the European Institute at the LSE as well as the Hellenic Observatory. The indispensable financial support they provided made this publication possible. The final word however, must be a word of thanks to all of you who contribute, subscribe, or otherwise help us in our effort: keep up the good work!

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Editorial Board

Editorial Team

Synthesis: Review of Modern Greek Studies Volume 1, Issue 2

Editors
Athanasios Lykogiannis and Yannos Mitsos
Associate Editor Assistant Editor
Spyros Economides Athanasia Pouloudi
Book Review Editor Finance Officer
Apostolia Rizothanassi Simeon Tsalicoglou

Editorial Board

Vasiliki Agathidou Olga Christodoulaki Julia Chrissostalis
Apostolis Dimitropoulos Vassilis Fouskas Emmanuel Galatoulas
Lambis Kondonis Irini Moustaki Katerina Nicolopoulou
Christos Papatheodorou Anna Paraskeuopoulou Vasiliki Riga
Paul Strong Anna Triandafyllidou Panagiota Tzamourani
Paris Yeros

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Advisory Board

Members and affiliations

Philip Carabott King's College London
Richard Clogg Oxford University
Kevin Featherstone Bradford University
Howard Machin London School of Economics
Mark Mazower Sussex University
Elias Mossialos London School of Economics
Nicos Mouzelis London School of Economics
George Petrochilos Coventry University
Angeliki Poulymenakou London School of Economics
Geoffrey Pridham Bristol University
Thanasis Sfikas Central Lancashire University
Stelios Stavridis Reading University
Dimitris Tziovas Birmingham University

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Abstracts of the refereed papers published in this issue

The Balkans and the Origins of the Cold War, 1945-1949

Thanasis D. Sfikas

Abstract
Recent historiography on the origins of the Cold War has moved away from bipolar interpretations to take into account factors beyond US-Soviet antagonism. Yet in the framework of such studies the Balkan peninsula is not well-served, although the interplay between Great Power diplomacy and regional and local factors in the Balkans, which is the subject of this article, offers valuable insights into the origins and onset of the Cold War.

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British Historians of Greece since the Second World War

Mark Mazower

Abstract
This essay surveys the evolution of the field of modern Greek history in the United Kingdom since the Second World War. Although its origins lie in the 1930s, it was the War itself which provided the basis for future growth. During the 1950s, Douglas Dakin initiated the professional study of modern Greek history; in the 1960s, spurred by the official expansion of higher education, other positions opened up at Oxford and London. The field became professionalised and marked off from literary and Byzantine studies. Although only a few individuals were only involved at any one time, they had an enormous impact internationally since research was not easy in Greece before the late 1970s, while opportunities for graduate study lagged behind in Germany, Austria and the United States. Only France rivalled the UK as a training ground for future historians. Today the subject seems in a relatively healthy condition, with historians of modern Greek history occupying more posts than ever before.

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Images of Greece and European Integration: A Case of Uneasy Interdependence?

Michael Tsinisizelis and Dimitris N. Chryssochoou

Abstract
This article is a portrait of the relationship between Greece and European integration. It assesses Greece’s European policy, its shortfalls and achievements, priorities and dilemmas, within a larger theoretical framework according to which the European Union (EU) takes the form of a Confederal Consociation. The central thesis advanced in this article is that the relationship between Greece and the EU is one of uneasy interdependence, sustained by an evolving system of consensus elite government at the larger level based on the common management of merged sovereignties.

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Last modified: 14th July 1997