Graeco-Ottomanism Against Pan-Slavism: Vlasis Gavriilidis and His Views on Russian Balkan Policy

Гръкоосманизъм срещу панславизъм: Власис Гавриилидис и неговият поглед върху руската балканска политика

Исторически преглед, 81 (2025) No. 2, pp. 122-144 (ISSN 0323-9748)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.71069/IPR2.25.SK05

Slaveya Kotova / Славея Котова

Faculty of History, Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”

Abstract: In the years following the Crimean War, a segment of the Greek elite recognized the incompatibility between the so-called “Great Idea” of Greek unification and Russian imperial ambitions regarding the Straits and the Ottoman capital. On an ideological level, the rise of Pan-Slavism also posed a threat to Greek claims of cultural supremacy over the Orthodox Slavic populations in the Balkans, fueling Russophobic sentiments within Greek society. Against this backdrop, the Bulgarian-Greek church dispute erupted, reinforcing fears of a Slavic conspiracy orchestrated by Russia. It was in this context that Vlasios Gavriilidis’ text Greece and Pan-Slavism appeared in 1869. The present article critically examines the historical overview of Russian eastern policy as presented by the author.

Keywords: pan-slavism, Greece, Gavriilidis, Helleno-Ottomanism, russophobia, Bulgarian church question.

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