ABSTRACT This article focuses on a sovereign state, Greece, obliged, virtually from its birth, to repay debt obligations throughout the 19 th century. Who were the main actors in a “non-reciprocal” political and eco- nomic relationship? Greek politicians, foreign diplomats and fi- nanciers, Greek journalists all perceived, negotiated or popularized the theme of Greek sovereign debt and defaults according to dif- ferent political agendas, cultural backgrounds and expectations. Our chief interest here lies in how the Greek debt story was shaped and presented through the press, a new institution in Greece. Framing Greek debtology Debt stories nowadays are usually fashioned from the follow- ing ingredients: excessive government debt as the fundamental problem, fiscal mismanagement in an environment of world finan- cial crisis as a cause, national governments as the culprits, and fis- cal consolidation as the solution. In Greece, macroeconomic instability was supposed to be cured through participation in the international monetary system. Different voices were heard and interpretations put forward in this matter. Some analyses found that German financial journalists often promoted proposals for cri- sis management that contradicted the German government’s poli- cies. However, these proposals were embedded in two dominant causal stories: excessive government debt (the debt story) and flaws Greek Sovereign Debt and Loans in 19 th -Century Public Discourse Maria Christina Chatziioannou Institute for Historical Research National Hellenic Research Foundation 21