Pre-20th Century History of Crete
Between 5700 and 2800 BC, Neolithic Cretans lived in caves or basic houses. These people were hunter-gatherers who also farmed and raised livestock. The Minoans arrived in Crete in about 3000 BC from North Africa or the Middle East, bringing with them the skills necessary for making bronze. The Minoans thrived, as their use of bronze allowed them to build better boats and thereby expand their trade opportunities.
Around 2000 BC they built their first palace of Knossos, the palace of Faistos and the palace of Malia and improvements in technology allowed them to produce fine pottery and jewellerywhile the Minoans became the first advanced civilisation to emerge in Europe.
The ‘golden age’ of the Minoans was from 1700 BC to 1380 BC. Palaces destroyed by a natural disaster in 1450BC– probably resulting by a volcanic eruption at the island of Santorini – brought Minoan civilisation to an abrupt halt.
Crete then underwent over three millennia of occupation by various forces. First were the Mycaeans from the mainland (1400-1100 BC), then came the Dorians, also from the mainland (1100-67 BC), although this period saw almost constant warfare between Crete’s city states. The Romans took over in 67 BC; in 27 BC Gortyn (present-day Gortyna) became the capital of (and most powerful) city of Crete. When Rome’s power declined at the end of the 4th century AD, Crete became part of the Byzantine Empire and was ruled from Constantinople (Istanbul). The Arabs conquered Crete in around 824; the Byzantines reclaimed it in 961 and sold it to the Venetians in 1204; it fell to the Turks in 1669 and became part of the Ottoman empire; it was given to Egypt in 1830, and returned to the Ottomans in 1840.
Modern History of Crete
After a series of rebellions the Ottoman occupation is over in 1898, and Crete was then ruled by an independent administration under international protection. This arrangement continued for the next 15 years until 1913 when Crete was officially unified with Greece.
In April 1941, German forces invaded Greece marching from Yugoslavia and Bulgaria.
The resistance is transferred to Crete where the heroic Battle of Crete takes place on the morning of 20 May 1941 with the German air raid under the codename “Unternehmen Merkur (“Operation Mercury”). After one day of fighting, the Germans had suffered appalling casualties and none of their objectives had been achieved. The next day, through miscommunication and the failure of Allied commanders to grasp the situation, Maleme airfield in western Crete fell to the Germans, enabling them to fly in reinforcements and overwhelm the Allied forces.
Although the island, after a month of battles fell to hands of the German army, it did not come without consequences for the invaders. The most important being the serious delay of marching to Russia that left them vulnerable to the Russian winter. Adolf Hitler, in light of the heavy casualties suffered by the parachutists, forbade further large scale airborne operations. In addition, the Battle of Crete was unique in three respects: it was the first-ever mainly airborne invasion; it was the first time the Allies made significant use of intelligence from the deciphered German Enigma code; and it was the first time invading German troops encountered mass resistance from a civilian population.
The end of the WWII in 1945 found the people exhausted and the nation in pieces. From 1946 to 1949, the country is led to Civil War. After the 1950’s Greece stability is steadily restored and significant economic progress progressively occurs after Greece joins the EU in the 1980’s.
Greece had a smooth transition to the Euro in 2002, a successful Greece EU presidency in 2003, and successfully hosted the 2004 Athens Olympic Games.
Due to this period of peace and also due to its favourable climate, the island of Crete became one of the most prosperous areas of Greece with tourism and agricultural products becoming the mainstays of Cretan economy.
Today, tourism provides an important economic boost to the island. Infrastructure built in the last twenty years accommodates this latest influx of visitors. The superb climate and diverse beauty of the island beckon to people from all over Europe.
Sources: Lonely Planet, BBC, Wikipedia, Internet
