HISTORY
INDEPENDENCE
529
Athens’ cultural
infl uence is dealt a fatal
blow when Emperor
Justinian outlaws the
teaching of classical
philosophy in favour
of Christian theology,
by now regarded as
the ultimate form of
intellectual endeavour.960
Byzantine General
Nikiforos Fokas
launches the
‘Expedition to Crete’,
liberating the island.
Coastal defences are
fortifi ed, and Chandax
becomes capital. A
powerful land-holding
class emerges.1204
Marauding Frankish
Crusaders sack
Constantinople.
Trading religious
fervour for self-
interest, the
Crusaders strike
a blow that sets
Constantinople on the
road to a slow demise.1209
Geoff rey de
Villehardouin parcels
out the Peloponnese
into fi efs; he paves the
way for his nephew,
another Geoff rey,
who appoints himself
Prince of Morea (the
name given to medieval
Peloponnese).Venetian artillery struck gunpowder stored inside
the ruins of the Acropolis and badly damaged the Parthenon.
The Ottomans restored rule in 1715, but never regained their former
authority. By the end of the 18th century pockets of Turkish offi cials and
aristocrats had emerged throughout Greece as self-governing cliques that
made cursory gestures of obligation to the sultan in Constantinople. Also,
some Greeks had gained infl uence under the sultan’s lax leadership or en-
joyed privileged administrative status; they were infl uential church clerics,
wealthy merchants, landowners or governors, ruling over the provincial
Greek peasants. But there also existed an ever-increasing group of Greeks,
including many intellectual expatriates, who aspired to emancipation.
Russia campaigned to liberate its fellow Christians in the south, and
sent Russian agents to foment rebellion, fi rst in the Peloponnese in 1770
and then in Epiros in 1786. Both insurrections were crushed ruthlessly –
the latter by Ali Pasha (1741–1822), the Ottoman governor of Ioannina (who
would proceed to set up his own power base in defi ance of the sultan).Independence
In 1814 businessmen Athanasios Tsakalof, Emmanuel Xanthos and Nikola-
os Skoufas founded the fi rst Greek independence party, the Filiki Eteria
(Friendly Society). The underground organisation’s message spread quickly.
Supporters believed that armed force was the only eff ective means of lib-
eration, and made generous fi nancial contributions to the Greek fi ghters.
Ali Pasha’s private rebellion against the sultan in 1820 gave the Greeks
the impetus they needed. On 25 March 1821, the Greeks launched the
War of Independence. Uprisings broke out almost simultaneously across
most of Greece and the occupied islands. The fi ghting was savage and
atrocities were committed on both sides; in the Peloponnese 12,
Turkish inhabitants were killed after the capture of the city of Tripolitsa
(present-day Tripoli), while the Turks retaliated with massacres in Asia
Minor, most notoriously on the island of Chios.
The campaign escalated, and within a year the Greeks had captured
the fortresses of Monemvasia, Navarino (modern Pylos) and Nafplio in
the Peloponnese, and Messolongi, Athens and Thebes. The Greeks pro-
claimed independence on 13 January 1822 at Epidavros.
Regional diff erences over national governance twice escalated into
civil war (in 1824 and 1825). The Ottomans took advantage and by 182 7
the Turks (with Egyptian reinforcements) had recaptured most of the
Peloponnese, as well as Messolongi and Athens. The Western powers in-
tervened and a combined Russian, French and British naval fl eet sunk
the Turkish-Egyptian fl eet in theBattle of Navarino in October 182 7.
Sultan Mahmud II defi ed the odds and proclaimed a holy war, prompt-
ing Russia to send troops into the Balkans to engage the Ottoman army.The poet Lord
Byron was one
of a large group
of philhellenic
volunteers who
played an active
role in fanning
the independence
cause. Byron’s
war effort was cut
short when he
died in 1824.