A protester, with a crying girl in his arms, shouts at riot police after clashes during a rally against the government's new austerity measures in Athens September 25, 2011. Greek riot police fired teargas at anti-austerity protesters pelting them with bottles outside parliament on Sunday in the first such unrest after a summer lull.Reuters
A protester, with a crying girl in his arms, shouts at riot police after clashes during a rally against the government's new austerity measures in Athens September 25, 2011. Greek riot police fired teargas at anti-austerity protesters pelting them with bottles outside parliament on Sunday in the first such unrest after a summer lull.ReutersFormer conservative minister Kostis Hatzidakis is covered with blood after about 200 leftists attacked him with stones and sticks, shouting: "Thieves! Shame on you!" in central Athens December 15, 2010. Athens police fired teargas at protesters who threw petrol bombs at two luxury hotels in the central Syntagma square outside parliament on Wednesday as Greek protests against government austerity measures escalated.ReutersA photographer is seen in flames as he tries to escape after he caught fire from a petrol bomb during riots in front of the parliament in Athens February 23, 2011. Greek police clashed with protesters on Wednesday as thousands of workers marched to parliament to protest against austerity policies aimed at helping the country cope with a huge debt crisis. The photographer did not suffer from any injuries.ReutersA man pours a flammable liquid on his body to set himself on fire outside a Piraeus bank branch in Thessaloniki in northern Greece September 16, 2011. The 55-year old man had entered the bank and asked for a renegotiation of his overdue loan payments on his home and business, according to police, which he could not pay, but was refused by the bank.ReutersA man sets himself on fire outside a bank branch in Thessaloniki in northern Greece September 16, 2011. The 55-year old man had entered the bank and asked for a renegotiation of his overdue loan payments on his home and business, according to police, which he could not pay, but was refused by the bank.ReutersA policeman tries to extinguish a fire on a man after he set himself ablaze outside a bank branch in Thessaloniki in northern Greece September 16, 2011. The 55-year old man had entered the bank and asked for a renegotiation of his overdue loan payments on his home and business, according to police, which he could not pay, but was refused by the bank.ReutersA policeman tries to extinguish a fire on a man after set himself ablaze outside a bank branch in Thessaloniki in northern Greece September 16, 2011. The 55-year old man had entered the bank and asked for a renegotiation of his overdue loan payments on his home and business, according to police, which he could not pay, but was refused by the bank.ReutersA protester confronts riot police guarding the entrance to Thessaloniki's International Trade Fair during a protest against austerity September 10, 2011. Police fired dozens of tear-gas during violent clashes in Greece's second largest city. The debt-laden Greek government vowed on Saturday to stay the course of austerity, sending a message to its increasingly frustrated lenders it will do everything it takes to avoid a bankruptcy that would rock the euro.ReutersPolicemen try to escape a fire from a petrol bomb during riots at a May Day rally in Athens May 1, 2010. Angry protesters set fire to garbage cans and two TV outside broadcast vans in Athens as thousands of Greeks marched through the capital on May Day to protest against austerity measures they say only hurt the poor.ReutersProtesters from the Greek Communist-affiliated trade union PAME burn bills for a new one-off income tax during a rally against government's new austerity measures in Athens, September 28, 2011. EU and IMF inspectors will return to Greece on Thursday to decide whether Athens has done enough to secure a new batch of aid vital to avoid bankruptcy, while Germany suggested a new bailout may have to be renegotiated.ReutersRiot police stand guard in front of the parliament during a rally against the government"s new austerity measures in Athens, September 25, 2011.ReutersThe kiosk of Dimitris Ptohos burns during riots in Athens in this June 29, 2011 file photo. The Athens vendor, who watched his drinks kiosk and all its contents burn to the ground during running battles between riot police and anti-austerity protesters, has reopened, now deeply in debt, three months later. Dimitris Ptohos, whose name means "poor Dimitri" in Greek, was heartbroken when a mobile telecoms transmitter set alight by rampaging youths rolled down the central Syntagma Square into his kiosk at the height of the mayhem, setting it ablaze in front of him. Picture taken June 29, 2011.Reuters
Europe is engulfed in a debt crisis not too dissimilar from the one that the U.S. is going through. The crisis was triggered in May 2011, with the refinancing of public debts in Greece. Since then, a number of so-called "austerity measures", as reported by the Wall Street Journal, have angered the general public, who are expressing their anger through street protests.
As an indication of the kind of crisis the Eurozone is currently going through, the ongoing bailout of Greece's finances precedes similar rescue packages for Ireland (€85 billion in November, 2010) and Portugal (€78 billion in May, 2011).
The result is total mayhem across European countries and cities, with demonstrations against both politicians and banks.
For a pictorial representation of the crisis in the Greece, check out these photographs.
