Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
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. Upris-
ings broke out almost simultaneously across most of Greece and the occupied islands.
The fighting was savage and atrocities were committed on both sides; in the Peloponnese
12,000 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 proclaimed independence on 13 January 1822 at Epidav-
ros.
Regional differences over national governance twice escalated into civil war (in 1824
and 1825). The Ottomans took advantage and by 1827 the Turks (with Egyptian rein-
forcements) had recaptured most of the Peloponnese, as well as Messolongi and Athens.
The Western powers intervened and a combined Russian, French and British naval fleet
sunk the Turkish-Egyptian fleet in the Battle of Navarino in October 1827. Sultan Mah-
mud II defied the odds and proclaimed a holy war, prompting Russia to send troops into
the Balkans to engage the Ottoman army. Fighting continued until 1829 when, with Rus-
sian troops at the gates of Constantinople, the sultan accepted Greek independence with
the Treaty of Adrianople (independence was formally recognised in 1830).
A FEMALE FORCE
Greek women have played a strong role in Greek resistance movements
throughout history and Laskarina Bouboulina (1771-1825), a celebrated seafarer, is
one such woman. She became a member of Filiki Eteria (Friendly Society), a major
organisation striving for independence against Ottoman rule. Originally from Hy-
dra, she settled in Spetses, from where she commissioned the construction of and
commanded - as a lady admiral - several warships that were used in significant
naval blockades (the most famous vessel being theAgamemnon). She helped
maintain the crews of her ships and a small army of soldiers, and supplied the re-
volutionaries with food, weapons and ammunition, using her ships for transporta-
tion. Her role in maritime operations significantly helped the independence move-
ment. However, political factionism within the government led to her postwar ar-
rest and subsequent exile to Spetses, where she died.
Distinguished as a national heroine, streets across Greece bear her name and
her image appeared commemoratively on the (now-disused) one-drachma coin.
Moreover, her great-granddaughter, Lela Karagiannis, also fought with the resist-
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