ABSTRACT
Richard Cobden's first (and only) visit to the Greek kingdom in the spring of 1837 passed unnoticed. This chapter examines Cobden's appeal to Greek liberals and political economists with the twofold view of accounting for its comparative longevity in the nineteenth century and presenting a process of 'conditional appropriation', which proved decisive (and, probably, fatal) for Cobdenism in Greece. The study of Greek responses to Cobdenism contributes to a better understanding of the transfer of ideologies from Western Europe to Greece, a field of Greek historiography still largely neglected, while its conclusions can be indicative of the ways in which the 'British example' and its ingredients were interpreted abroad. The interest of the Greek story of Cobdenism is primarily a case of the way in which Cobden's ideas were appropriated in an environment geographically, economically and politically remote from their birthplace.
