Demonstrators clash with riot police in front of the Greek parliament in Athens. 'There is rising despair, sullen anger and a lot of fear. The mix is combustible,' says Prof Costas Lapavitsas. Photograph: Angelos Tzortzinis/AFP/Getty
The warships have been replaced by spreadsheets. Back in 1850,Greece knew it was in trouble when the Royal Navy arrived at Piraeus. This time, the pressure comes from banks, hedge funds and the team of officials of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the European Central Bank (ECB) and the EU, who will take up residence at one of the swankier hotels in Athens.
For students of history, what is happening in Greece this week has echoes of the Don Pacifico affair, the classic case of British gunboat diplomacy in the mid-19th century. David Pacifico was a Portuguese Jew who had never set foot in Britain but had British citizenship by virtue of being born in Gibraltar. He became the Portuguese consul in Athens, where his house was burned down by an antisemitic mob. After unsuccessfully appealing to the Greek government for compensation, he asked Britain for help, and his case was taken up, with gusto, by the foreign secretary, Lord Palmerston. A naval squadron was sent to the Aegean, Greek ships were seized and Piraeus, Athens' port, was blockaded. Don Pacifico got his compensation.
