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The Philhellenic movement

The Greek War of Independence (1821-1830) triggered a tidal wave of support in Europe and the Americas, especially in England, France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland and the U.S.A.

Philhellenic committees held fundraisers and distributed relief supplies to the Greeks; at the same time, pre-eminent literary figures – poets and writers including Goethe, Shelley, Pushkin, Byron, Chateaubriand – and artists such as Delacroix were inspired by the heroism of the Greeks.

Some 1200 volunteers from 14 countries came to fight on the battlefield; of those, 400 gave their lives for the freedom of Greece.