Greeks v Franks – why culture still matters

During the period of the crusades Greeks would refer to western Europeans by the generic term ‘Frank’, derived from the name of the leading barbarian tribe of the west. The word still lives on as a name for white people in Urdu and Hindi – Firangi – as well as Thai and Vietnamese, for whom US soldiers were called Farang (or ‘black Farang’ for African-American troops). According to Norman Stone’s history of Turkey, the word for syphilis in Turkish is likewise derived from Frank (it was also called ‘the French disease’ in 15^th century Italy).

‘Frank’ is a useful term that really needs to be brought back to illustrate the great divide between the Greeks and their opponents in this current crisis, the people of what is sometimes referred to as ‘core Europe’, roughly the boundaries of Charlemagne’s empire – France, Germany, the Low Countries and northern Italy.

As Greece collapses, why I am looking at maps of 9^th century Europe? Because at the heart of the current tragedy is the inability of the ruling class to appreciate that history and culture matter (and because I’m weird, obviously).