The history of Greece is filled with major disasters and impressive recoveries. Even its birth in 1832 was a triumph over the odds, assisted by the decision of the UK and France to come to the rescue of an independence movement on the brink of defeat. Greece then spent half the years until 2006 in default, having had to restructure its debts six times.

Yet despite its many setbacks and notwithstanding its present predicament, it is arguably the most successful state to emerge out of the ashes of the Ottoman Empire and has proved a beacon of prosperity and stability compared with the rest of the Balkans.