Greece of Melouna

Greece of Melouna () was a nominal and proverbial expression in Greece of 19th century, that couldn't realize the national dream of Megali Idea.
Background
Melouna was the northernmost point of the Kingdom of Greece after the annexation of Thessaly and Arta in 1881. For the past 60 years, the northern border of Greece has been the Arta-Volos line, and despite the Megali Idea, the small Kingdom had not succeeded in expanding its territory except through a gift from the British Empire, the Ionian Islands in 1864.
The events
Ethniki Etaireia was a secret organization which proceeded to support the Greek rebellions for union in Macedonia, Epirus, Crete and elsewhere.
Under its political pressure, the Greek government decided to confront the Ottoman empire in the . However, the Greek army suffered defeat in the border line, with the Greeks abandon shamefully the fortress and customs of Melouna and flee to Larissa.
Larissa and Trikala were abandoned without a fight, and after the Battle of Farsala, Greece asked the intervension of the great powers. After the Battle of Domokos, the Ottoman army crossed the Thermopylae and only the ultimatum of the great powers saved the 19th-century Greek state. In the Cretan theatre, the Greek army had some limited success and Crete was granted autonomy after the end of the war.
Consequences
The defeat in the war caused later the break out of the Goudi coup, and Eleftherios Venizelos emerged in the Greek political scene.
According to some nationalists and right-wingers, in 2019 Greece returned to Melouna because of the Prespa Agreement.

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