The European Perception of Greece as an Investment Market in the Nineteenth Century

Introduction It is not only Greece’s present financial problems and its trouble to attract foreign investors that encourage the research of the past of this chapter of financial history. In addition, Greece’s past provides an inspiring case study that illuminates bankers’ investment decisions in crisis-ridden markets. After its Struggle for Independence from 1821 onward, Greece became a nation state in its own right in the year 1830, independent from the Ottoman Empire (Zelepos, 2014, 37-53). In the preceding Ottoman time there was no foreign investment in the area at all. However by the brink of the Balkan wars in 1911-1912, Greece was perceived by foreign investors as a well-established investment market for state loans as well as private investment in various sectors of trade and industry. How was this process driven forward in spite of the three financial breakdowns that occurred during this period (1825, 1843 and 1893)? How were the ups and downs of the Greek economy perceived and interpreted from abroad? The aim of this chapter is to show interconnections between financial, political and cultural history concerning the development of foreign investment in Greece.