A measure of understanding
Queen Frederica of the Hellenes.
A true blue aristocrat. The granddaughter of Kaiser Wilhelm II. Princess of Hanover, Duchess of Brunswick and Lunenburg. She was the mother of ex-King Constantine II. The Queen, the Greek left, loves to hate, even today.
The clip is based on her 1971 book "A Measure Of Understanding".
No Hellenic Queen, was vilified as much as Queen Frederica was. This is her side of the story.
For the heroic struggle of tiny Greece against the Axis powers she says: "The spirit of Greece had wings again. Nothing was impossible", when Greece offered the world the first victory against the Axis, chasing the Italians, through Albania in World War II.
"Hence you will not say that Greeks fight like heroes but that heroes fight like Greeks." she repeats Sir Winston Churchill's quote. And: "Two world powers against small Greece. What a glory for us and what a shame for others."
A young aristocrat, surrounded by communist revolutionaries and palace sycophants well schooled in Byzantine intrigue, she had to be a quick study.
She did more than "do in Rome as Romans do " she went out of her way and embraced her adopted country and people. There is a picture, of her and King Paul being literally carried on the shoulders, of ex-communist prisoners in Macronisos, in her book "A measure of understanding" p.114 picture 13 here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/14272407@N03/1984639520/
She became Queen, on April 1st 1947, when King George II died, having been recently restored to the throne on September 1, 1946.
During the war against the communist insurrection of 1944-1949, the Queen set up 53 child-camps
Παιδο(υ)πόλεις, to help orphan and poor children. Alexandra Mela and Lina Tsaldari's Commissioned Ladies organization were also instrumental in locating and caring about the children. She toured Greece during these difficult years, where 10% of the Hellenic population was refugees: "I mu
st have danced in every village square" she said, comment on picture 15. Red Cross and the United Nations estimates 28000 Greek children were abducted by the communists and taken behind the Iron Curtain for "re-education / brainwashing". The Queen personally visited the camps and there are Hellenic
Royal records, that prove, 33989 children visited the camps from 1947 until 1964. Queen Frederica worked tirelessly for the cause of Liberty, even offering to carrying this struggle behind the Iron Curtain against the brutal invasion of Hungary by the USSR on November 4, 1956, lobbying relentlessly,
for the Hellenic causes, to US Secretary of State General George C. Marshall, Field Marshall Smuts and Sir Winston Churchill even Marshal Tito. Getting political support and desperately needed economic aid for war ravaged Greece. One does not expect the communists, or their sympathizers, to acknowl
edge, any of her efforts. Her influence on then young ex-King Constantine II, was a motherly protective instinct, rather than her "wanting political power or dominating her family". One should acknowledge ex-King Constantine's mistakes were his and his alone. Constantine was only 27 years old in 196
7. The coup leaders were both ruthless and determined to succeed, no matter what. The King needed a good mentor in the Palace, he had none. History, the harshest of judges, will be kinder to Frederica. Her finest hour was during the difficult years 1947-1957, when her travels from Belgrade to India,
helped Greece weather the biggest storm in its history, visiting injured soldiers, lobbying ceaselessly for uniting Cyprus with the Motherland. "The prestige of England for us foreigners lies not in the greatness of her Empire, nor has it dwindled yet in the value of a small island, but it lies in
the greatness of her spirit" Letter to Sir Winston Churchill 3.4.1957 p.187. "A small Greek island has become the test case. Unimportant as Cyprus is, she is like a mirror within which each nation will see its own soul". Letter to General Marshall 3.29.1956 p.192. In her book she offers no opinion
on the Junta. Richard Clogg in his book "A short history of Greece" he describes Frederica as "strong - willed". She clashed with conservative icons Field Marshall Papagos, and Constantine Karamanlis, whom she saw as overstepping their bounds, and they saw her as overstepping her bounds. It is true
, her family obeyed a state order, to join the Bund Deutscher Madel organization, of Hitler youth. The people of Greece are fair people. Let this clip be a small step to reevaluating Queen Frederica's contributions to Hellenic history. Queen Frederica of the Hellenes, died in Madrid Spain,on Februar
y 6,1981, during cataract surgery, at the age of 64. She is buried in Greece, in the Tatoi mausoleum, next to Palo, her love: "We shall always be together. There is no separation, just a long road."

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