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
Philiki Etaireia
(“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: Peloponnisos), in Greece north of the Gulf of
Corinth
(Korinthiakos), 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.
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Understanding the Ottoman Empire
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
Theodoros Kolokotronis
and
Georgios Kountouriotis, who was head of the government that had been formed in January 1822 but that was forced to flee to the island of
Hydra
(Ydra) in December 1822. After a second civil war (1824), Kountouriotis 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
(Athina) in August 1826, and the Athenian
acropolis
in June 1827.
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
Volos
to south of
Arta
;
Prince Otto of Bavaria
had accepted the crown, and the Turkish
sultan
had recognized Greek independence (Treaty of Constantinople; July 1832).