0:00:04 > 0:00:07I'm embarking on a railway adventure that will take me
0:00:07 > 0:00:10to the cradle of European civilisation.
0:00:11 > 0:00:12I'll be using this,
0:00:12 > 0:00:17my Bradshaw's Continental Railway Guide, dated 1913,
0:00:17 > 0:00:20which opened up an exotic world of foreign travel
0:00:20 > 0:00:22for the British tourist.
0:00:22 > 0:00:27It told travellers where to go, what to see, and how to navigate
0:00:27 > 0:00:31the thousands of miles of tracks crisscrossing the Continent.
0:00:31 > 0:00:32Now, a century later,
0:00:32 > 0:00:36I'm using my copy to reveal an era of great optimism and energy,
0:00:36 > 0:00:41where technology, industry, science and the arts were flourishing.
0:00:43 > 0:00:47I want to rediscover that lost Europe that in 1913 couldn't know
0:00:47 > 0:00:52that its way of life would shortly be swept aside by the advent of war.
0:01:11 > 0:01:14I'm continuing my Greek odyssey -
0:01:14 > 0:01:17I arrived at the port of Piraeus,
0:01:17 > 0:01:19from where it was a short ride
0:01:19 > 0:01:22to the Greek capital, Athens, and the Acropolis.
0:01:22 > 0:01:24I headed west, in order
0:01:24 > 0:01:26to pass through the Corinth canal,
0:01:26 > 0:01:29a challenge of engineering that confounded man
0:01:29 > 0:01:31for 2,500 years,
0:01:31 > 0:01:33before striking north to Levadia.
0:01:33 > 0:01:36Now I'll make an excursion to Delphi,
0:01:36 > 0:01:38home of the famous Oracle.
0:01:38 > 0:01:41I'll continue north to the port of Volos
0:01:41 > 0:01:44and on to the mountain village of Milies.
0:01:44 > 0:01:47I'll finish my journey in the city of Thessaloniki.
0:01:50 > 0:01:54Along the way, like the ancients before me, I'll explore
0:01:54 > 0:01:55the secret of the Oracle.
0:01:57 > 0:02:00The world, the Mediterranean, came and met here in Delphi.
0:02:01 > 0:02:04I'll ab-Zorba the Greek nightlife in Volos.
0:02:12 > 0:02:16And show strength that would rival Hercules.
0:02:16 > 0:02:18THEY SHOUT
0:02:22 > 0:02:23Done!
0:02:23 > 0:02:25HORN TOOTS
0:02:28 > 0:02:31Today, I've left the railway behind,
0:02:31 > 0:02:35to follow a Bradshaw's recommended excursion to Delphi,
0:02:35 > 0:02:40newly rediscovered at the time of my guidebook.
0:02:40 > 0:02:42I'm meeting Christina Stolis
0:02:42 > 0:02:45to find out more about the home of the Oracle.
0:02:48 > 0:02:53Christina, my first time in Delphi and what a stunning place!
0:02:53 > 0:02:55Very special indeed!
0:02:55 > 0:02:59Bradshaw's says, "On the site of Delphi stood the village of Kastri,
0:02:59 > 0:03:01"which was removed to another spot
0:03:01 > 0:03:04"in order that the necessary excavations could be made".
0:03:04 > 0:03:07- So a whole village was taken away? - Completely moved.
0:03:07 > 0:03:12A whole village as of 1892 was relocated to round the corner,
0:03:12 > 0:03:15a new modern village was built and the site is excavated.
0:03:15 > 0:03:17And how did the villagers feel about it at the time?
0:03:17 > 0:03:20- Not very happy to start with. - SHE LAUGHS
0:03:20 > 0:03:23Can you imagine, people who essentially were goatherds,
0:03:23 > 0:03:26who lived and died and were born in these houses,
0:03:26 > 0:03:28not quite having the necessary education as well
0:03:28 > 0:03:31to understand what it meant to live on top of Delphi.
0:03:31 > 0:03:36'Once the modern village of Kastri had been moved, works could begin.
0:03:36 > 0:03:39'Train tracks were laid crisscrossing the site
0:03:39 > 0:03:43'to take away thousands of wagonloads of earth.'
0:03:43 > 0:03:47I'm trying to think, what would it have been like
0:03:47 > 0:03:51for the 1913 traveller coming to Delphi, do you think?
0:03:51 > 0:03:54Just imagine, Delphi's only been open to the public for ten years,
0:03:54 > 0:03:56it's a brand-new site,
0:03:56 > 0:03:58and all the scholars would be
0:03:58 > 0:04:01willing to travel in the wilderness on mules
0:04:01 > 0:04:03to get up here to see what they've
0:04:03 > 0:04:06spent a lifetime, essentially, learning about.
0:04:06 > 0:04:09'One intrepid British lady did exactly that.'
0:04:09 > 0:04:12Agnes Conway visited Delphi in 1913,
0:04:12 > 0:04:15which would be the same year that your book was written of course.
0:04:15 > 0:04:19- It was indeed.- She's a British archaeologist.
0:04:20 > 0:04:23'Agnes Conway came to study Greece's ancient sites
0:04:23 > 0:04:27'and travelled widely throughout the Balkans,
0:04:27 > 0:04:29'keeping an account of her experiences.'
0:04:31 > 0:04:32She describes Delphi.
0:04:32 > 0:04:36"At Delphi Greek history becomes intensely alive."
0:04:36 > 0:04:41And her own description of the days in Delphi is - "pure bliss".
0:04:41 > 0:04:46It is true that it makes the history come intensely alive.
0:04:46 > 0:04:51Of course, travellers like Agnes here to experience that history.
0:04:53 > 0:04:56The Oracle of Delphi is essentially the whole site.
0:04:56 > 0:04:59And at the centre of this site, the sanctuary, the Temple of Apollo.
0:04:59 > 0:05:03And inside the temple once a month, a local woman, the Pythia,
0:05:03 > 0:05:06would go into the basement to inhale the spirit of the god,
0:05:06 > 0:05:08which came out the ground in the form of vapours,
0:05:08 > 0:05:11and in doing so she would become enthusiastic.
0:05:11 > 0:05:14Divinely inspired, basically.
0:05:14 > 0:05:17The Pythia possessed by a god,
0:05:17 > 0:05:20or enthous in Greek,
0:05:20 > 0:05:23would then answer people's questions.
0:05:25 > 0:05:29Was there any scientific basis for this?
0:05:29 > 0:05:32Well, nowadays geologists and geochemists will talk about
0:05:32 > 0:05:35how fault lines intersect under the Temple of Apollo.
0:05:35 > 0:05:37And gases seeped out the ground. Methane, ethane,
0:05:37 > 0:05:40ethylene is what they've identified.
0:05:40 > 0:05:43And that for the ancient Greeks would be divine manifestations
0:05:43 > 0:05:46and so the Oracle was built.
0:05:46 > 0:05:49- And so a really very, very special place.- Very special.
0:05:49 > 0:05:52The world, the Mediterranean came and met here in Delphi.
0:06:05 > 0:06:09I'm making my way back to Livadia station
0:06:09 > 0:06:13to catch my next train along the Athens-Thessaloniki line,
0:06:13 > 0:06:15bound for the port of Volos.
0:06:35 > 0:06:39- Ah! A lovely, cool train.- Yes. - Thank goodness!
0:06:39 > 0:06:43Joining me for the journey is Panagiotis Kakavas
0:06:43 > 0:06:47from the Friends of the Greek Railway Association.
0:06:47 > 0:06:51Panagiotis, the railways came quite late to Greece.
0:06:51 > 0:06:53Tell me about the early developments in Greece.
0:06:53 > 0:06:57We discover railway in...after 1885.
0:06:57 > 0:07:02And from that year until 1916
0:07:02 > 0:07:07there was a...railway explosion,
0:07:07 > 0:07:08a railway revolution.
0:07:08 > 0:07:12In every single part of Greece there was a line.
0:07:12 > 0:07:15What was driving that railway revolution?
0:07:15 > 0:07:19Greece was...wanted to be a modern country like the West,
0:07:19 > 0:07:22so only with railways this can be done.
0:07:22 > 0:07:26Kharilaos Trikoupis, the Prime Minister at that time,
0:07:26 > 0:07:29said, "We need railways."
0:07:31 > 0:07:34Trikoupis began a far-reaching modernisation programme
0:07:34 > 0:07:37to prepare the way for the absorption of the Greeks who
0:07:37 > 0:07:39remained under Ottoman rule.
0:07:42 > 0:07:45During this time, the Greek railway network
0:07:45 > 0:07:49expanded from seven to around 700 miles of track.
0:07:55 > 0:07:57Tell me about this railway,
0:07:57 > 0:08:00the main railway from Athens to the north of Greece,
0:08:00 > 0:08:02a spectacular railway, when was this built?
0:08:02 > 0:08:07This line we're on now, 1890-1916.
0:08:07 > 0:08:11Now that's a very important period politically speaking,
0:08:11 > 0:08:13because, of course, the cities to the north
0:08:13 > 0:08:14that this train is travelling to
0:08:14 > 0:08:18- were not part of Greece until 1912, 1913.- Yes, yes.
0:08:18 > 0:08:21Greece was getting bigger and bigger.
0:08:21 > 0:08:24- And so the railways followed those borders.- Yes, exactly.
0:08:24 > 0:08:27The Ottomans had always refused to
0:08:27 > 0:08:31allow a rail connection between Athens and their empire.
0:08:31 > 0:08:33So at the time of my Bradshaw's,
0:08:33 > 0:08:37travelling all the way to the newly reconquered Thessaloniki by train
0:08:37 > 0:08:39would not have been possible.
0:08:40 > 0:08:44So when did a train first run between Thessaloniki and Athens?
0:08:44 > 0:08:48The first train was the famous Simplon-Orient Express in 1920.
0:08:48 > 0:08:51One and a half years after the connection.
0:08:51 > 0:08:58The connection was completed in...1919.
0:08:58 > 0:09:02And one year later, we had the first train.
0:09:02 > 0:09:06In 1922, a new route for the Orient Express
0:09:06 > 0:09:09was opened via the Simplon Tunnel
0:09:09 > 0:09:12through the Alps between Switzerland and Italy.
0:09:12 > 0:09:15Now Greece was connected physically,
0:09:15 > 0:09:19as well as culturally and politically, to Western Europe.
0:09:19 > 0:09:22How did Greece afford all these railways?
0:09:22 > 0:09:24Actually, we didn't afford it,
0:09:24 > 0:09:30we had our first bankruptcy...caused by the railway.
0:09:30 > 0:09:32- The country actually went bust? - Yes.
0:09:32 > 0:09:36All the companies building the railway ran out of money.
0:09:36 > 0:09:38The Greek government had no money, so bankrupt.
0:09:38 > 0:09:42- It sounds a bit like a modern story of Greece.- Yes.
0:09:42 > 0:09:46The history...repeats itself.
0:09:54 > 0:10:00'It soon becomes clear why building this railway proved so costly.'
0:10:00 > 0:10:02Ah!
0:10:02 > 0:10:05That is extraordinary! That is extraordinary!
0:10:07 > 0:10:10This is the Gorgopotamos Viaduct.
0:10:10 > 0:10:15At over 100m, it's one of the highest railway bridges in Greece.
0:10:33 > 0:10:35After a change at Larissa,
0:10:35 > 0:10:38I continue on the branch line east to Volos.
0:11:02 > 0:11:04I've arrived in Volos,
0:11:04 > 0:11:08which Bradshaw's tells me is the chief seaport of Thessaly,
0:11:08 > 0:11:10with a thriving population.
0:11:10 > 0:11:14This is one of the loveliest railway stations I've come across in Greece.
0:11:14 > 0:11:18After this province became part of Greece in 1881,
0:11:18 > 0:11:21it was a playground for foreign railway builders.
0:11:21 > 0:11:23And here the Germans laid the tracks
0:11:23 > 0:11:27and so they constructed a Bavarian-style railway station.
0:11:27 > 0:11:29And what I find a bit of a joke
0:11:29 > 0:11:32is that here we have a kind of alpine chalet
0:11:32 > 0:11:34with palm trees outside it.
0:11:42 > 0:11:46Modern Volos is built on the site of three ancient cities,
0:11:46 > 0:11:50including the homeland of the mythological hero Jason
0:11:50 > 0:11:52and his band of Argonauts.
0:11:54 > 0:11:57And luckily for me, I've arrived at dinner time.
0:11:59 > 0:12:01The little harbour here is full of fishing boats,
0:12:01 > 0:12:04so I'm very willing to believe
0:12:04 > 0:12:08that this lovely seafood is entirely fresh.
0:12:08 > 0:12:11So...let's try a little squid.
0:12:11 > 0:12:14Ooh! Look at that, all those little tentacles.
0:12:17 > 0:12:19Delicious.
0:12:19 > 0:12:22TRADITIONAL GREEK MUSIC
0:12:22 > 0:12:25And Volos has another traditional treat in store for me.
0:13:08 > 0:13:11- Bravo!- Thank you, guys. APPLAUSE
0:13:13 > 0:13:17As you may have noticed, I don't find it easy to ab-Zorba the Greek.
0:13:33 > 0:13:38Today, my journey continues 16 miles south-east of Volos
0:13:38 > 0:13:40at the station of Lehonia.
0:13:43 > 0:13:46I want to visit the mountaintop village of Milies.
0:13:46 > 0:13:49And according to Bradshaw's, there's a train from Volos.
0:13:49 > 0:13:52But no, the line has been discontinued,
0:13:52 > 0:13:54so I've come to the station of the Lehonia.
0:13:54 > 0:13:59And in 1913 the journey time was one hour and 15 minutes.
0:13:59 > 0:14:03But judging by the age of this wonderful vintage rolling stock,
0:14:03 > 0:14:06I think I'll be lucky to do it in that time today.
0:14:13 > 0:14:17This line is only one foot, 11 and 5/8 of an inch wide,
0:14:17 > 0:14:21making it one of the narrowest gauges in the world.
0:14:21 > 0:14:25It was extended to my destination, Milies, in 1903.
0:14:28 > 0:14:32I don't want to say that this train is slow, but a lame dog is faster.
0:14:36 > 0:14:41Although it looks old, this locomotive is a disguised diesel,
0:14:41 > 0:14:43installed after the coal-fired locomotives
0:14:43 > 0:14:46caused numerous fires along the track.
0:14:47 > 0:14:51It's called Moudzouris, which means "smudger" in Greek,
0:14:51 > 0:14:54a reference to the smoky engines of the past.
0:15:04 > 0:15:09Our little narrow-gauge train has been winding through olive groves
0:15:09 > 0:15:12and the passengers have been leaning out and seizing the fruit.
0:15:12 > 0:15:16We've been passing streams and valleys, over bridges and viaducts.
0:15:16 > 0:15:20This is the wonderful Kalorema viaduct.
0:15:20 > 0:15:22We have fantastic views of the sea
0:15:22 > 0:15:26and now we're winding up into the mountains.
0:15:31 > 0:15:35Our little train has climbed a long way towards Mount Pelion.
0:15:35 > 0:15:38This was the summer residence
0:15:38 > 0:15:41of the 12 gods of Olympus in Greek mythology.
0:15:41 > 0:15:44This was also the playground of the centaurs,
0:15:44 > 0:15:48those mythological beasts that were half man and half horse.
0:15:56 > 0:15:59We've arrived at Milies station,
0:15:59 > 0:16:01but my ride isn't quite over yet.
0:16:02 > 0:16:05MEN SHOUT IN GREEK
0:16:05 > 0:16:07A single track means that everyone
0:16:07 > 0:16:11must help to turn the engine around for its descent.
0:16:12 > 0:16:15MEN SHOUT IN GREEK
0:16:16 > 0:16:19MAN SHOUTS IN GREEK
0:16:19 > 0:16:21Done!
0:16:21 > 0:16:23HORN TOOTS
0:16:36 > 0:16:37Hello.
0:16:55 > 0:16:57TRADITIONAL GREEK MUSIC PLAYS
0:17:14 > 0:17:16THEY TOAST IN GREEK
0:17:19 > 0:17:21Have you lived here all your life?
0:17:21 > 0:17:23I live all my life here.
0:17:29 > 0:17:31HE LAUGHS
0:17:31 > 0:17:34The church is a big part of your life?
0:18:01 > 0:18:03And Michalis is not alone.
0:18:03 > 0:18:06Modern Greece's national identity
0:18:06 > 0:18:08was defined by the Orthodox Church.
0:18:11 > 0:18:15Today, about 97% of Greece's population
0:18:15 > 0:18:19are still practising Orthodox Christians.
0:18:19 > 0:18:21Your church is extraordinarily beautiful. It's wonderful.
0:18:21 > 0:18:23Beautiful and very interesting.
0:18:23 > 0:18:28In the time of the building of the church 400 years ago,
0:18:28 > 0:18:31the Greek state live under the Turkish state.
0:18:31 > 0:18:36So they made the church very, very secret from outside.
0:18:36 > 0:18:38Not look like church from outside.
0:18:38 > 0:18:42First without windows down, no windows down,
0:18:42 > 0:18:46only small and high, nobody can see easy inside.
0:18:46 > 0:18:50- Second without bang-bang.- Bell?
0:18:50 > 0:18:54Bell and cross on the roof of the church. Nothing.
0:18:54 > 0:18:57When constructing this clandestine church,
0:18:57 > 0:19:01its builders were able to create another special thing,
0:19:01 > 0:19:04a unique acoustic.
0:19:04 > 0:19:06SOFT THUDDING
0:19:06 > 0:19:07That's extraordinary!
0:19:07 > 0:19:10Because there is not echo inside of the church.
0:19:10 > 0:19:15If sing five person, hearing five different voices.
0:19:15 > 0:19:16Oh, beautiful!
0:19:16 > 0:19:20MICHALIS SINGS IN GREEK
0:19:49 > 0:19:52- I am not singer. - MICHALIS LAUGHS
0:19:52 > 0:19:54Bravo!
0:19:54 > 0:19:58I do...I do only for the church.
0:19:58 > 0:20:00MICHALIS LAUGHS
0:20:00 > 0:20:01Thank you. Bye-bye.
0:20:05 > 0:20:07I join the railway line back at Volos,
0:20:07 > 0:20:12to continue my journey north to the city of Thessaloniki.
0:20:22 > 0:20:25I can't help noticing that I'm the only person on this train
0:20:25 > 0:20:28over the age of 25 and not carrying a rucksack.
0:20:28 > 0:20:31And I'm just wondering what is going on.
0:20:31 > 0:20:35Excuse me. May I ask you, there are a lot of young people on this train,
0:20:35 > 0:20:37a lot of young people with rucksacks. Why?
0:20:37 > 0:20:39Where are you coming from or where are you going to?
0:20:39 > 0:20:41We are coming from a festival
0:20:41 > 0:20:43and we're returning back to our home city, Thessaloniki.
0:20:43 > 0:20:47- So did you all have a good time? - Yes!- Amazing time, yes.
0:20:47 > 0:20:49Is that a Bible?
0:20:49 > 0:20:51No, this is not a Bible,
0:20:51 > 0:20:55this is a 1913 guidebook.
0:20:55 > 0:20:58- Original?- Absolutely original. Look.
0:20:58 > 0:21:02We have all the timetables of the trains of 100 years ago.
0:21:02 > 0:21:05And here we have all the hotels of 100 years ago.
0:21:05 > 0:21:07And in the middle we have all the text
0:21:07 > 0:21:10about the different countries of Europe, including Greece,
0:21:10 > 0:21:13but there's no mention of any festivals.
0:21:13 > 0:21:15Oh.
0:21:15 > 0:21:17- There's also a lot of dust in there. - There is.
0:21:17 > 0:21:19MICHAEL LAUGHS
0:21:35 > 0:21:40I don't envy the editor of Bradshaw's Guide 1913.
0:21:40 > 0:21:41There was war in the Balkans
0:21:41 > 0:21:45and international frontiers were changing fast.
0:21:45 > 0:21:50Of the city of Thessaloniki, listed here under Turkey,
0:21:50 > 0:21:52Bradshaw's says that it's been
0:21:52 > 0:21:56captured by the Greeks since November 9th, 1912.
0:21:56 > 0:21:59But in the year of publication, the Turks were mounting
0:21:59 > 0:22:04an effective counterattack and seizing back territory in Europe.
0:22:04 > 0:22:07Where would the border between Christendom
0:22:07 > 0:22:09and the Islamic world end up?
0:22:11 > 0:22:15'I shall find out tomorrow, after a night's rest in Thessaloniki.'
0:22:34 > 0:22:37Thessaloniki, or Salonika in Bradshaw's,
0:22:37 > 0:22:39is now Greece's second city.
0:22:40 > 0:22:45But in 1913, fewer than a third of its inhabitants were Greek.
0:22:45 > 0:22:50In fact, my guidebook notes - "About half the population are Jews,
0:22:50 > 0:22:52"descendants of those driven out of Spain."
0:22:54 > 0:22:58Bulgarians, Serbs, Albanians and Turks also lived here,
0:22:58 > 0:23:02making turn-of-the-century Thessaloniki
0:23:02 > 0:23:04a most extraordinarily diverse society.
0:23:07 > 0:23:12But back in 1913, things weren't so agreeable.
0:23:12 > 0:23:15I'm meeting local historian Anastasia Gaitanou,
0:23:15 > 0:23:19better to understand the city's history.
0:23:19 > 0:23:22Anastasia, at the time of my guidebook there are wars going on.
0:23:22 > 0:23:24What are they about?
0:23:24 > 0:23:28Well, this war, er, wars, are the so-called Balkan Wars.
0:23:28 > 0:23:30They took place on the Balkan Peninsula.
0:23:30 > 0:23:31This is where we are.
0:23:31 > 0:23:33We are the south tip of the Balkan Peninsula.
0:23:33 > 0:23:37And they were wars led mainly by the new countries that were being
0:23:37 > 0:23:40established and formed on the Balkan Peninsula,
0:23:40 > 0:23:44trying to get as much as they could from the decaying Ottoman Empire...
0:23:44 > 0:23:47that was referred to as the "sick man of Europe".
0:23:47 > 0:23:51Of course, they were trying to get access to the Aegean Sea,
0:23:51 > 0:23:54trying to get as many of the ports as they could,
0:23:54 > 0:23:59as much territory as they could, but also establish national states.
0:23:59 > 0:24:03And was Thessaloniki an important strategic objective?
0:24:03 > 0:24:05Absolutely.
0:24:05 > 0:24:07It was considered, already in the Ottoman Empire,
0:24:07 > 0:24:08the third most
0:24:08 > 0:24:12important port after Constantinople, Istanbul today, and Izmir.
0:24:12 > 0:24:16It is in the south tip of the Balkan Peninsula,
0:24:16 > 0:24:20connecting, practically, Europe to Asia, to Africa.
0:24:21 > 0:24:25At the outbreak of the First Balkan War, Greece pushed north.
0:24:27 > 0:24:32In an unexpectedly rapid campaign, on the 26th October, 1912,
0:24:32 > 0:24:36under the heir to the throne, Prince Constantine, the Greek army
0:24:36 > 0:24:40rode into Thessaloniki claiming this all-important city for Greece.
0:24:42 > 0:24:45Did the king manage to visit the city after it was liberated?
0:24:45 > 0:24:49He came to Thessaloniki three days after it was liberated,
0:24:49 > 0:24:53to show royal presence and to make it clear to everybody that this is
0:24:53 > 0:24:58a Greek city now, because everybody wanted to have it and it was a huge
0:24:58 > 0:25:02competition with the Bulgarians, who arrived only a few hours later.
0:25:02 > 0:25:03He loved the city.
0:25:03 > 0:25:07He loved the promenade of Thessaloniki and the seafront,
0:25:07 > 0:25:10and he would walk many times along this promenade.
0:25:10 > 0:25:13And usually he would walk without really that many escorts,
0:25:13 > 0:25:16or bodyguards, just one or two which, of course,
0:25:16 > 0:25:19at the end proved to be quite fatal.
0:25:20 > 0:25:24Less than six months after the annexation of this city,
0:25:24 > 0:25:28a horrific event would unexpectedly throw Greece into turmoil.
0:25:30 > 0:25:32On these streets,
0:25:32 > 0:25:36the reign of the beloved King George I of the Hellas
0:25:36 > 0:25:38came to a tragic end.
0:25:44 > 0:25:48Well, this is the very spot where he was assassinated in March of 1913.
0:25:48 > 0:25:52He was shot through the heart by a teacher who was
0:25:52 > 0:25:55jobless at the time, who was called a socialist and an anarchist,
0:25:55 > 0:25:59and it was not a good thing to be called that in 1913.
0:25:59 > 0:26:01And it was said that he had asked for financial support
0:26:01 > 0:26:05by the king. It was not given to him, so he wanted revenge.
0:26:05 > 0:26:08What were the political consequences of the assassination?
0:26:08 > 0:26:10Well, the worst thing that happened afterwards
0:26:10 > 0:26:13was the so-called National Schism.
0:26:13 > 0:26:17Greece divided. Half of the population were supporting the ideas
0:26:17 > 0:26:22of George I, who was a supporter of Russia, England and France.
0:26:22 > 0:26:25He had ties to the British royal house,
0:26:25 > 0:26:29his sister, Alexandra, was the wife of King Edward VII.
0:26:29 > 0:26:33While his son and successor, King Constantine I,
0:26:33 > 0:26:36was a supporter of Austria-Hungary and Germany.
0:26:36 > 0:26:39His wife was the sister of Kaiser Wilhelm at the time.
0:26:39 > 0:26:42So, two completely different approaches
0:26:42 > 0:26:47and two completely different ideas that really tore Greece in two.
0:26:59 > 0:27:02After nearly of century of nation-building under
0:27:02 > 0:27:06the influence of the European powers, it was the breakdown
0:27:06 > 0:27:11in their relationships that would ultimately divide Greek society.
0:27:11 > 0:27:14A division that would have repercussions for Greek politics
0:27:14 > 0:27:17up to the Second World War and beyond.
0:27:21 > 0:27:23Greek history is steeped in blood.
0:27:23 > 0:27:26Assassinations and numerous battles to gain
0:27:26 > 0:27:29independence from the Ottoman Empire.
0:27:29 > 0:27:34And after my Bradshaw's Guide, two world wars and civil war.
0:27:34 > 0:27:37Modern Greece has suffered from inflated expectations.
0:27:37 > 0:27:42For example, some British Romantics hoped for a reincarnation
0:27:42 > 0:27:45of Classical Greek virtues and perfection.
0:27:45 > 0:27:49No nation could live up to such an inflated ideal.
0:27:52 > 0:27:56On my next journey, I'll hear how Black Forest fairytales
0:27:56 > 0:27:58unified the Germans.
0:27:58 > 0:28:01The forests came to stand for German-ness,
0:28:01 > 0:28:04so they were really, really important in building up
0:28:04 > 0:28:07this common heritage.
0:28:08 > 0:28:09CLOCK CUCKOOS
0:28:09 > 0:28:13'And I'll try for a place amongst Germany's master carvers.'
0:28:13 > 0:28:15Oops, not quite as clean as yours, but...'
0:28:15 > 0:28:17But not too bad for the first one.