War of Greek Independence

War of Greek Independence, (1821–32), rebellion of Greeks within the Ottoman Empire, a struggle which resulted in the establishment of an independent kingdom of Greece.

The rebellion originated in the activities of the Philikí Etaireía (“Friendly Brotherhood”), a patriotic conspiracy founded in Odessa (now in Ukraine) in 1814. By that time the desire for some form of independence was common among Greeks of all classes, whose Hellenism, or sense of Greek nationality, had long been fostered by the Greek Orthodox Church, by the survival of the Greek language, and by the administrative arrangements of the Ottoman Empire. Their economic progress and the impact of Western revolutionary ideas further intensified their Hellenism. The revolt began in February 1821 when Alexander Ypsilantis, leader of the Etairists, crossed the Prut River into Turkish-held Moldavia with a small force of troops. Ypsilantis was soon defeated by the Turks, but, in the meantime, on March 25, 1821 (the traditional date of Greek independence), sporadic revolts against Turkish rule had broken out in the Peloponnese (Modern Greek: Pelopónnisos), in Greece north of the Gulf of Corinth (Korinthiakós), and on several islands. Within a year the rebels had gained control of the Peloponnese, and in January 1822 they declared the independence of Greece. The Turks attempted three times (1822–24) to invade the Peloponnese but were unable to retrieve the area.

Internal rivalries, however, prevented the Greeks from extending their control and from firmly consolidating their position in the Peloponnese. In 1823 civil war broke out between the guerrilla leader Theódoros Kolokotrónis and Geórgios Kountouriótis, who was head of the government that had been formed in January 1822 but that was forced to flee to the island of Hydra (Ýdra) in December 1822. After a second civil war (1824), Kountouriótis was firmly established as leader, but his government and the entire revolution were gravely threatened by the arrival of Egyptian forces, led by Ibrahim Pasha, which had been sent to aid the Turks (1825). With the support of Egyptian sea power, the Ottoman forces successfully invaded the Peloponnese; they furthermore captured Missolonghi in April 1826, the town of Athens (Athína) in August 1826, and the Athenian acropolis in June 1827.

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A History of War

The Greek cause, however, was saved by the intervention of the European powers. Favouring the formation of an autonomous Greek state, they offered to mediate between the Turks and the Greeks (1826 and 1827). When the Turks refused, Great Britain, France, and Russia sent their naval fleets to Navarino, where, on October 20, 1827, they destroyed the Egyptian fleet. Although this severely crippled the Ottoman forces, the war continued, complicated by the Russo-Turkish War (1828–29). A Greco-Turkish settlement was finally determined by the European powers at a conference in London; they adopted a London protocol (February 3, 1830), declaring Greece an independent monarchical state under their protection. By mid-1832 the northern frontier of the new state had been set along the line extending from south of Vólos to south of Árta; Prince Otto of Bavaria had accepted the crown, and the Turkish sultan had recognized Greek independence (Treaty of Constantinople; July 1832).