Greece travel

The Greek war of Independence and the Revolution of 1821

The Greek war for Independence in 1821

No doubt the Greeks had wanted their freedom from the very beginning of the Ottoman rule, but in the 18th century the idea of a free Greece grew into an organized plan. With Russian help a revolt started in 1770, which failed.

Inspired by the French revolution and the heroic poems (thourios) of Rigas Feraios, the Greeks did not give up, and the secret society Philiki Eteria ("Friendly Union") was founded in 1814 in Odessa of Russia by Nikolaos Skoufas, Emmanuel Xanthos and Antonios Tsakalof. Weapons and funds were collected, and help was sent from Greeks in exile as well as other countries on the Balkan and the Mediterranean sea.

The revolution started when Alexander Ypsilantis invaded Jassy and declared Greece a free country. In the Peloponnese the Archbishop of Patras Paleon Patron Germanos lead the uprising in 23 of March 1821.

The Greek army of the Peloponesse was lead by Theodoros Kolokotronis. Other famous Greek leaders of the revoloution where Georgios Karaiskakis, Athanassios Diakos, Odysseas Androutsos, Grigorios Dikaios or Papaflessas, while in the seas, Konstantinos Kanaris, Laskarina bouboulina and Andreas Miaoulis fight the Turkish fleat with their ships.

The Greeks may have gotten certain aid from abroad, but they had to fight on their own. The Turks got help from Egypt and the whole of the Peloponnese was captured by the Egyptian army by 1826.

The year after a republic was proclaimed, and Ioannis Kapodistrias was declared as the first governor of Greece. The same year European countries decided to help Greece and after failed negotiations with Turkey, Britain, France and Russia sent naval forces to Greece. Turkey was forced to accept peace, and the so called London Protocol declared the independence of Greece in 1830.

Many parts of Greece were soon given back to the Ottoman empire, though, and several parts of Greece were not free until the beginning of the 20th century.

Greek history