Europe 221
MID#4137
Started in February 1998. See the narrative in the 2 United States of America/345
Yugoslavia dyad dispute list.
MID#4186
Started in February 2000. See the narrative in the 2 United States of America/345
Yugoslavia dyad dispute list.
MID#4295
Started in August 2000. See the narrative in the 20 Canada/345 Yugoslavia dyad
dispute list.
MID#4343
Started in November 2000. See the narrative in the 2 United States of America/345
Yugoslavia dyad dispute list.
200 United Kingdom/350 Greece
MID#71
Dispute Number: 7 1
Date(s): January 17, 1850 to April 15, 1850
Participants: 200 United Kingdom/350 Greece
Outcome (and Settlement): Yield by side B (Negotiated)
Fatalities: None
Narrative: This dispute describes a British blockade of Greece informally known
as the “Don Pacifico Incident.” Don Pacifico was a Portuguese Jew and a prominent
figure in the Jewish community who resided in Athens. On April 4, 1847, a mob—
headed by the two sons of the Greek minister of war—vandalized Pacifico’s home,
allegedly while Greek police watched. There was little doubt that the vandalization
was lawless, but Greek authorities put forward little effort to stop it. The reason for
the mob and the vandalization stems from some lingering anti-Semitic sentiment in
Greece at the time. On this weekend, Greeks typically celebrated Easter by burning
an effigy of Judas Iscariot. However, the Greek government ordered the police to
prevent this activity, to which the mob blamed Jewish influence. Pacifico’s home just
happened to be near where the annual effigy burning took place.
Pacifico filed a claim against the Greek government for compensation, which
approximated 32,000 pounds sterling when direct and indirect losses were esti-
mated. Greece, by this time, was rather impoverished and lax with these issues and
made no effort to compensate Pacifico. Simultaneously, Pacifico—who was born
in Gibraltar, and thus was a British subject—made an appeal to the British govern-
ment for intervention. Britain, which played a heavy hand in supporting Greek