March 25, the Independence Day in Greece March 25 is both a _________________ and _________________ holiday (Annunciation).

March 25 is the _________________ for Evangelos and Evangelia. There is a school flag _________________ in every town and village and a big armed forces parade in Athens, the _________________ of Greece. The Byzantine Empire fell to the Turks in 1453 and the Greeks remained under the _________________ rule for nearly 400 years. During this time their language, their religion and their sense of identity remained strong. On March 25, 1821 the _________________ Germanos of Patras _________________ the Greek flag at the Monastery of Agia Lavra in the Peloponnese and one more _________________ started against the Turks. The people of Greece shouted " _________________ or Death" and they fought the War of _________________ for 9 years (1821-1829) until a small part of modern Greece was finally _________________ and it was declared an independent nation. The struggle for the liberation of all the lands inhabited by Greeks continued. In 1864, the _________________ Islands were added to Greece; in 1881 parts of Epirus and Thessaly. Crete, the islands of the Eastern Aegean and Macedonia were added in 1913 and Western Thrace in 1919. After World War II the _________________ islands were also returned to Greece. The Greek flag " _________________ or Death" was the motto during the Greek Revolution against the Ottoman Empire. It is believed that the nine _________________ of the flag reflect the number of syllables in the Greek phrase Freedom or Death. The line pattern was chosen because of their similarity with the wavy sea that surounds the _________________ of Greece.The interchange of blue and white colors makes the Hellenic Flag on a windy day to look like the _________________ Sea. The Greek Square _________________ that rests on the upper left-side ofthe flag demonstrates the respect and the devotion that Greek people have for the Greek _________________ Church and signifies the important role of _________________ in the formation of the modern Hellenic Nation. During the dark years of the Ottoman rule, the Greek Orthodox Church helped the Greeks to retain their cultural characteristics: the Greek language, the Byzantine religion and generally the Greek _________________ identity. Today, Christianity is still the dominant religion among Greeks. Therefore the existence of the Cross is justified. Cross enslaved religious revolution lines bishop Ionian independence ethnic parade national Christianity shores Ottoman Dodecanese nameday capital freedom(2) raised liberated Aegean Orthodox