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Revision as of 20:04, 2 June 2004 by Radgeek (talk | contribs) (Incorporated material from History of Ottoman Greece)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)The Greek War of Independence was fought from the Greeks' declaration of indepdence from the Ottoman Empire on March 25 (now Greek Independence Day) 1821 until the modern state of Greece was granted independence by the Treaty of Constantinople in July 1832.
The Ottoman Empire had ruled all of Greece, with the exception of the Ionian islands since its conquest of the Byzantine Empire over the course of the 14th and 15th centuries (see: History of Ottoman Greece). But in the 18th and 19th century, as revolutionary nationalism grew across Europe (due, in part, to the influence of the French Revolution), and the power of the Ottoman Empire declined, Greek nationalism began to assert itself and drew support from Western European "philhellenism". In 1814, Greek nationalists formed a secret organization called the Friendly Society (Filiki Eteria) was formed in Odessa. With the support of wealthy Greek exile communities in Britain and the United States, the aid of sympathisers in western Europe and covert assistance from Russia, they planned a rebellion. John Capodistria, an official from the Ionian Islands who had become the Russian Foreign Minister, was secured as the leader of the planned revolt. On March 25 1821, the Orthodox Metropolitan Germanos of Patras proclaimed the national uprising. Simultaneous risings were planned across Greece, including in Macedonia, Crete and Cyprus. With the advantage of surprise, and aided by Ottoman inefficiency, the Greeks succeeded in liberating the Peloponnese and some other areas.
The Ottomans soon recovered, and retaliated violently, massacring the Greek population of Chios and other towns. The retribution, however, drew sympathy for the Greek cause in western Europe—although the British and French governments suspected that the uprising was a Russian plot to seize Greece and possibly Constantinople from the Ottomans. The Greeks were unable to establish a coherent government in the areas they controlled, and soon fell to fighting among themselves. Inconclusive fighting between Greeks and Ottomans continued until 1825, when the Sultan sent a powerful fleet and army from Egypt to ravage the Aegean islands and the Peloponnese.
The atrocities that accompanied this expedition, together with sympathy aroused by the tragic death of the poet and leading philhellene Lord Byron at Missolonghi in 1824, eventually led the western powers to intervene. In October 1827 the British and French fleets, on the initiative of local commanders but with the tacit approval of their governments, attacked and destroyed the Ottoman fleet at Navarino. This was the decisive moment in the war of independence. In October 1828 the French landed troops in the Peloponnese to stop the Ottoman atrocities. Under their protection, the Greeks were able to regroup and form a new government. They then advanced to seize as much territory as possible, including Athens and Thebes, before the western powers imposed a ceasefire.
A conference in London in March 1829 proposed an independent Greek state with a northern frontier running from Arta to Volos, and including only Euboia and the Cyclades among the islands. The Greeks were bitterly disappointed at these restricted frontiers, but were in no position to resist the will of Britain, France and Russia, who were largely responsible for Greek independence. By the Convention of May 11 1832 Greece was finally recognised as a sovereign state. Capodistria, who had been Greece's unrecognised head of state since 1828, was assassinated in October 1831. To prevent further experiments in republican government, the powers insisted the Greece be a monarchy, and the Bavarian Prince Otto was chosen to be its first King.