Greek War of Independence

From 1821 to 1829, Greek revolutionaries fought a successful war for independence against the Ottoman Empire, known as the Greek War of Independence, the Greek Revolution, or the Greek Revolution of 1821. The British, French, and Russian empires aided the Greeks from 1826 onward, while the Ottomans received support from their vassals, notably the Eyalet of Egypt. This conflict established modern Greece, a nation later expanded to its present borders. Greeks in Greece and abroad commemorate the revolution each year on 25 March, their Independence Day.

All Greek lands, except the Ionian Islands, fell under Ottoman control during the 15th century, around the time of Constantinople’s fall. Sporadic but unsuccessful Greek uprisings occurred over the following centuries. In 1814, a secret group called the Filiki Eteria (Society of Friends) formed to liberate Greece, planning revolts in the Peloponnese, the Danubian Principalities, and Constantinople. The insurrection was set for 25 March 1821, the Orthodox Feast of the Annunciation, but Ottoman authorities discovered the plans, forcing an earlier start.

The first revolt began on 21 February 1821 in the Danubian Principalities but was quickly suppressed. This spurred Greeks in the Peloponnese into action, and on 17 March 1821, the Maniots declared war first. In September 1821, Greeks under Theodoros Kolokotronis captured Tripolitsa. Revolts in Crete, Macedonia, and Central Greece broke out but were crushed. Greek fleets succeeded against the Ottoman navy in the Aegean, blocking Ottoman reinforcements by sea. Tensions among Greek factions led to two civil wars. The Ottoman Sultan called on Muhammad Ali of Egypt, who sent his son Ibrahim Pasha with an army to crush the revolt in exchange for territory. Ibrahim landed in the Peloponnese in February 1825 and controlled most of the peninsula by year’s end. Although an Ottoman-Egyptian invasion of Mani failed, Athens fell, and revolutionary morale dropped.

Russia, Britain, and France decided to intervene, sending naval squadrons to Greece in 1827. They destroyed the Ottoman-Egyptian fleet at the Battle of Navarino, shifting the war’s momentum. In 1828, a French expeditionary force pressured the Egyptian army to withdraw. Ottoman garrisons in the Peloponnese surrendered, and Greek revolutionaries retook central Greece. The Ottoman Empire declared war on Russia, allowing the Russian army to move into the Balkans. This forced the Ottomans to accept Greek autonomy in the Treaty of Adrianople, along with semi-autonomy for Serbia and the Romanian principalities. After nine years of war, Greece was recognized as an independent state under the London Protocol of February 1830. Further talks in 1832, through the London Conference and the Treaty of Constantinople, set the new state’s final borders and made Prince Otto of Bavaria its first king. The revolution’s slogan, *Eleftheria i thanatos* (“Freedom or death”), became Greece’s national motto.

**Background**

**Ottoman Rule over Greece**

Constantinople’s fall on 29 May 1453, along with the later collapse of Byzantine successor states, ended Byzantine sovereignty. The Ottoman Empire then ruled the Balkans and Anatolia (Asia Minor), with few exceptions. Orthodox Christians had some political rights under Ottoman rule but were considered inferior subjects. Most Greeks were called *Rayah* by the Turks, a term for the large non-Muslim subject population.

Meanwhile, Greek intellectuals and humanists who had migrated west before or during the Ottoman invasions—such as Demetrios Chalkokondyles and Leonardos Philaras—began calling for their homeland’s liberation. Demetrius Chalcondyles urged Venice and “all of the Latins” to aid the Greeks against “the abominable, monstrous, and impious barbarian Turks.” Yet Greece remained under Ottoman rule for several more centuries.

The Greek Revolution was not an isolated event; many failed independence attempts occurred throughout the Ottoman era. In the 17th century, resistance in the Morea and elsewhere was strong, as seen in revolts led by Dionysius the Philosopher. After the Morean War, the Peloponnese came under Venetian rule for 30 years, remaining in turmoil as bands of klephts multiplied. The first major uprising was the Russian-backed Orlov Revolt of the 1770s, which was crushed after limited success. Following its suppression, Muslim Albanians ravaged many parts of mainland Greece. However, the Maniots continually resisted Ottoman rule, defeating several incursions, most famously in 1770. During the Second Russo-Turkish War, the Greek community of Trieste funded a small fleet under Lambros Katsonis, which harassed the Ottoman navy; klephts and armatoloi (mountain guerilla fighters) also rose again.

At the same time, some Greeks held privileged positions in the Ottoman state as members of its bureaucracy. Greeks controlled the Orthodox Church through the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, whose higher clergy was mostly Greek. Thus, under the Ottoman millet system, the Patriarchate’s predominantly Greek hierarchy enjoyed control over the empire’s Orthodox subjects.