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278-532: The Republic was established after a joint Russo-Ottoman fleet captured the islands and ended a two-year rule by the French Republic . Although the islanders had hoped for complete independence, the new state was granted only autonomy , becoming tributary to the Ottoman Porte , and de facto under Russian domination. Nevertheless, it was the first time Greeks had been granted self-government since

556-639: A Libro d'Oro , where the aristocratic families were inscribed. Their nature differed from island to island: in Corfu, they were obliged to reside in Corfu city; likewise in Kythira and Zakynthos they mostly dwelled in the capital, whereas in Cephalonia a rural nobility persisted, and no clear distinction was evident in Lefkada. Nevertheless, the power of the nobility rested on the ownership of land, and as

834-549: A Venetian subject. Ali arrived in the town with his Albanians as a show of force, and when he could not find Avronites, Ali seized a number of Venetian subjects, including the Venetian consul. They were released only after Missolonghi's leaders declared that they would pay the debt themselves, and Ali took 500 barrels of merchandise bound for the Ionian Islands as a guarantee, although these barrels were never returned to

1112-422: A 40-member legislative body ( Corpo Legislativo ), with ten members each from Corfu, Cephalonia, and Zakynthos, four from Lefkada, two each from Ithaca and Kythira and one from Paxoi) and a seventeen-member Senate (with four members each from Corfu, Cephalonia, and Zakynthos, two from Lefkada, and one each from the other islands). The new Senate appointed Ioannis Kapodistrias as Secretary of State. On 26 October,

1390-407: A French port, were rejected. Hostilities began on 9 November with skirmishes between the two sides. On 19 November, Ushakov arrived from Lefkada with the remainder of the fleet. His main priority was to restore order to the island, where the collapse of French authority had unleashed an orgy of looting, murder, and arson. Count Nikolettos Voulgaris was appointed to head the civil administration, while

1668-524: A Governor-General and an Imperial Commissioner, with Julien Bessières the first to occupy the latter post. The British had reacted to the French takeover of the islands by a naval blockade, which impeded both trade and the supply of the islands. The resulting hardships, and the activities of British agents, inflamed anti-French sentiments, and some Ionian captains petitioned the British commander-in-chief in

1946-706: A Philhellene (translated into Greek by Stamatis) being printed and circulated in large numbers. Chabot, the military governor of the Islands, received news of the Russo-Ottoman declaration of war on France on 3 October 1798, at Lixouri. At this time, Ali Pasha's forces had already assembled in the settlements around Butrint. Biding his time, Ali invited adjudant-général Roze for negotiations to Filiates , but once he had learned as much as he could about French strength and dispositions at Corfu and elsewhere, he ordered him taken prisoner to Yanina. Ali tried to repeat

2224-576: A buffer between French and Austrian territories in the Adriatic; whereas for Napoleon the islands were a critical stepping-stone for his ambitions in the Eastern Mediterranean, which would soon lead to his invasion of Egypt . As the French diplomat Jacques Baeyens notes, the whole "Ionian adventure" was a personal project for Napoleon, who consulted nobody, least of all the ruling French Directory , before sending French troops to occupy

2502-563: A campaign in 1785. Himara held out, however, as Ali had other issues to tend to. He failed to establish secure rule over Ioannina and made enemies of the local Turkish and Greek communities, who protested to the Sublime Porte. He was dismissed from his position in favour of his rival, Kurt Pasha, and was called upon by the Sultan to campaign against Kara Mahmud Pasha Bushati of Shkodër , whose attempts at creating an independent state forced

2780-571: A certain James Kallender, who happened to be on the island and became its military governor. The initiative was quickly denounced by the British ambassador to the Porte, the Earl of Elgin , but constitutional order was not restored until five Ottoman vessels and a British warship arrived before the island on 12 September 1801. A similar secessionist movement also briefly took hold of Ithaca, where

3058-413: A class they derided mercantile activity, which was left to the urban burghers; as a result, the latter also came to amass wealth and land. The burghers in turn challenged the nobility's claim to monopolize local authority and aspired to join the ruling class, while the peasantry was largely politically marginalized. The Venetian authorities were left in a position of mediator, but still had to acknowledge

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3336-666: A common refuge for klephts and brigands fleeing the Ottoman authorities of the Greek mainland. With the Islands as a secure base, they often launched raids on the Turkish-held shores. In turn, Ali Pasha harassed the Republic's citizens, and imposed heavy tolls on its vessels in the harbours he controlled. During this period, Ali Pasha in a series of campaigns suppressed the rebellious Souliots , who defied his authority. Advised by

3614-508: A community under his jurisdiction. Villages would even threaten to separate, such as in 1802 when the inhabitants of Chebelovo complained that Ali favoured their neighbours over them. Communities that were unhappy with Ali's rule were able to appeal to the Ottoman kadi courts or the central government itself, so it was crucial that Ali maintained good standing with his connections in Constantinople since his position as dervendji-pasha

3892-641: A correspondence war over the nature of the new polity. On 6 April [ O.S. 21 March] 1800, the Treaty of Constantinople was concluded between Russia and the Ottomans, joined later by the British, creating the Republic of the Seven United Islands ( Italian : Repubblica delle Sette Isole Unite ; Greek : Πολιτεία τῶν Ἑπτὰ Ἑνωμένων Νήσων ), the first autonomous Greek state since

4170-578: A court of appeal—and criminal courts—two magistrate's courts and an appeals court. Unlike Venetian times, when judges were chosen by the heads of the noble families, now the judges were appointed by the Provisional Municipality, which had also the right to issue pardons. A similar pattern was followed in the other islands, with the notable exception of Cephalonia, which traditionally had been divided into multiple provinces; now no less than five Provisional Municipalities were established on

4448-576: A handful of exclaves on the Epirote mainland , namely the coastal towns of Parga , Preveza , Vonitsa , and Butrint , were the sole remaining overseas possessions of the once mighty Republic of Venice in the East. In 1795, the Islands' population was counted as 152,722. Under Venetian rule, the society of the Ionian Islands was divided into three classes, analogous to those of Venice itself:

4726-608: A handful of exclaves on the Epirote mainland , namely the coastal towns of Parga , Preveza , Vonitsa , and Butrinto , had been Venetian possessions for centuries, thereby becoming the only part of the Greek world to escape conquest by the Ottoman Empire , developing a distinct local culture, and becoming a place of "dynamic interaction between the West and [...] the Greek East", indeed serving as "Greek culture's window on

5004-487: A head in Cephalonia, where the existence of a large middle class increased dissatisfaction with the reactionary local government. To this was joined the rivalry between the island's capital, Argostoli , and the town of Lixouri , and between the noble families of Metaxas and Anninos. On 24 August 1800 an armed mob of civilians and rebel soldiers seized the government house in Argostoli, as well as ransacking and destroying

5282-644: A liberation of Greece. In July 1797, Rigas Feraios published his Constitution of the Hellenic Republic , based on the French revolutionary constitutions of 1793 and 1795 . For a time Napoleon appeared receptive to proposals of a Greek uprising, and entertained contacts with the Maniots in southern Greece, Ali Pasha of Yanina , and Ibrahim Pasha of Scutari . He even sent the Corsican Greek military officer Demetrio Stefanopoli as his envoy to

5560-487: A local administrative council of six members and a treasury, but a central treasury would exist in Corfu. The Senate was the ultimate executive authority, and its president the head of state . A Small Council of 40 would be elected by the Great Councils of the three largest islands, and would be responsible for justice, the selection of officials, and advising on legislation. Each island's council would have to ratify

5838-617: A local legislative assembly, the Administrative Body. While the British-controlled islands returned to normality, the French-held islands of Corfu and Paxoi, under Donzelot and Imperial Commissioner Mathieu de Lesseps , suffered from the effects of the British blockade, which became official on 10 November 1810. French rule in the Ionian Islands (1797%E2%80%931799) The First period of French rule in

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6116-527: A marriage between Ali and Emine, the daughter of the Kaplan Pasha of Gjirokastër. Eventually, the villages surrounding Tepelena formed a confederacy against Hamko and forced the woman and her family out of the town; she was later ambushed and defeated by the men of Hormovë and Kardhiq , two Christian and Muslim Albanian villages respectively. Hamko and Ali's sister were captured by the men of Kardhiq, raped and then humiliated by being forced to walk through

6394-621: A mile of the coast. These conditions obstructed trade in Epirus as well as Ali Pasha's ambitions. Significant geopolitical shifts occurred in the Europe prior to Ali Pasha challenging Venice. The Treaty of Jassy in 1792, which allowed Greeks to sail under the Russian flag, significantly boosted Greek shipping and trade with the Crimea . The French Revolution 's influence reached Ali's domain, with

6672-622: A mix of governmental ineffectiveness and deliberate policy, the bulk of the local populace was kept in a state of ignorance: there were no printing presses or schools, and the majority of the population was illiterate. Only the privileged classes, who could send their sons to study abroad, had access to higher education. As the medievalist William Miller remarked, "If the Corfiotes of that day seemed [...] to be ignorant and superstitious, poor and indolent, they were what Venice had made them". A further distinguishing feature between rulers and ruled

6950-473: A new constitution, and designed the new flag of the state. The so-called 'Byzantine Constitution' ( constituzione bizantina ), thus named most probably because it was composed in Constantinople (ancient Byzantion ), comprised 37 articles. It envisaged an aristocratic federal republic, with a local administration on every island, headed by three syndics , to be chosen annually from the Great Council of

7228-498: A payment. The battle itself occurred on the 12th of October as Ali observed from a vantage point above Nicopolis in the same location where Roman Emperor Augustus had watched the Battle of Actium . Ali observed as his son Mukhtar lead a cavalry charge, and the hastily constructed French defences were soon overwhelmed by Ali's superior forces, which aside from Albanians also included Greeks and Albanian Souliotes . The fall of Preveza

7506-451: A potential French invasion. Ali did not wait for the French to act and strategically positioned his troops near Butrint, setting a trap for the French. He lured the French adjutant general Rose, who was temporarily in charge at Corfu, to a meeting near Igoumenitsa . Rose, wrongfully believing in Ali's professed allegiance to the French, was taken prisoner, tortured, and sent to Ioannina in chains;

7784-585: A precautionary guarantee to protect him from his opponents in the Ottoman capital. Likewise, the British government, which opened in 1769 for the first time a consulate in Arta , established a permanent consular representation by 1803 and appointed John Philip Morier as "General Council in the Morea and Albania", centred in Ali Pasha's capital, Ioannina. This probably represents the earliest official recognition of

8062-643: A response from the Ottomans. Ali was then sent on another campaign in the Russo-Turkish War of 1787–1792 , in which he also secretly established contacts with the Russians. In reward for his services at Banat during this war, he was granted the Sanjak of Trikala in 1787, which was suffering from brigand raids. Ali's success in the pacification of brigandage in Trikala earned him the role of supervisor of

8340-485: A sham: Mocenigo sent an envoy to every island with prepared lists of the representatives to be elected. Finally, when the Constitutional Assembly convened on 27 October, Mocenigo simply replaced the entire Legislative Council, which was to prepare the lists of the candidates for public office, with his own choices, and appointed Ioannis Kapodistrias as its secretary and rapporteur. Kapodistrias presented

8618-467: A spit above a fire. His actions intimidated the neighbouring villages into submission, earning him governorship of Ioannina soon thereafter. Additionally, the region of Himarë was seen as a point of concern for the Sublime Porte due to its support and collaboration with the Russian Empire and Venice . Serving as the governor of Delvinë , Ali claimed jurisdiction of the region and organised

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8896-460: A stalemate. Ali eventually retreated to Tepelena, and Kurt attempted to impress the Sublime Porte by sending severed heads as evidence of Ali's demise, but the unrest continued nonetheless. Through his actions, Ali was able to greatly undermine Kurt's authority and garner enough attention from the Venetians to establish diplomatic relations with them. In 1783, Ali sent a declaration of friendship to

9174-593: A tax-farmer. The principal role of geography in the communal groups of his time were comprehended by Ali. He insisted that Ioannina, located in the Greek district of Epirus , was Albanian. He also considered the Albanian population who lived in the area not as immigrants but as indigenous people of the region. He tried to justify his plans on the territories under foreign protectorate on the Ionian coast also by insisting that they were part of "Albania" as well. Language

9452-399: A treasury, but a central treasury would exist in Corfu. The Senate was the ultimate executive authority, and its chairman the head of state . A Minor Council of 40 would be elected by the Great Councils of the three largest islands, and would be responsible for justice, the selection of officials, and advising on legislation. On 21 June, at Ushakov's instigation, a Greek Orthodox archbishopric

9730-703: A truce. The 1792 attack ended in a Souliote victory, and in the negotiations, the Botsaris clan managed to become recognized by Ali Pasha as the lawful representative clan of Souli and George Botsaris as the one who would enforce the terms of peace among the Souliotes. Ali, however, would not forget this humiliation. Despite his setback in Souli, Ali Pasha retained an influential standing in Constantinople . For example, Ali managed to use his influence to reverse

10008-417: A trusted envoy of his own to Napoleon. As Ali was absent in the campaign against Pazvantoğlu, Lavalette was unable to hand over the letter. In reality, Napoleon's invasion of Egypt caused Ali deep concern about ultimate French designs. While the French authorities in the Islands believed in Ali's friendship and considered that his domains shielded them from attack by the Sultan's forces, Ali decided to side with

10286-489: Is known that Ali was actually employed in Kurt's service, due to a hostility that had arisen between the two upon Kurt's rejection of Ali's offer to marry Kurt's daughter, Miriem. Instead, Miriem would be married to Ibrahim Bey of Vlorë in 1765, and Ibrahim would later become Pasha of both Vlorë and Berat. As a result, Ibrahim and Ali also became rivals, and this rivalry continued until Ibrahim's death. Ali affiliated himself with

10564-481: Is now Greece. Inevitably, the French presence was resented by the local aristocracy, now deprived of its privileges, while the heavy taxation and anti-clericalism of the French soon made them unpopular with broad sections of the common populace as well. Following the French invasion of Egypt furthermore, the French presence in the Ionian Islands aroused the opposition of the Ottomans and the Russian Empire , allied with

10842-421: Is still debated among historians whether the revisions incorporated in the 1806 constitution reflected an initiative of the Russian government, or whether it was driven by a small coterie of men around Mocenigo, aiming to concentrate power in fewer hands. Nevertheless, the 'Russian Constitution', as it soon became known, strongly reinforced the position of Russia and the pro-Russian elements in the Republic, arousing

11120-502: Is unfounded, as Ali's family was of local Albanian origin. They had achieved some stature by the 17th century; Ali's great-grandfather, Mustafa Yussuf from the Gjirokastër region, was a notable brigand, warrior and clan chieftain who eventually obtained the title of bey and possibly official recognition as the deputy governor of Tepelena. Ali's grandfather, Muhtar Bey, was also a bandit chieftain who fought both for and against

11398-471: The protopapas Mantzaros, a Catholic and an Orthodox priest, two Jews, six nobles, ten burghers, two craftsmen and six peasants. Widmann was appointed to chair the body, but he resigned during its first session, and was replaced by the Corfiot noble Spyridon Georgios Theotokis . The nobles tried to mobilize anti-Jewish sentiment against the council, and a riot broke out on its second session on 28 June, but

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11676-477: The Marseillaise , in their original lyrics or in various translations and adaptations, traditional Greek revolutionary songs, and the works of Rigas Feraios and the republican Zakynthian poet Antonios Martelaos , enjoyed great popularity. For the first time, extensive use of the Greek language was made in public documents, which were headed with the words "Liberty" and "Equality", and dated, in imitation of

11954-522: The Bektashi sect, although he was not particularly anti-Christian or self-consciously Muslim and showed no favouritism to either group as a ruler. Venetian records indicate that Ali and his cousin, Islam Bey of Këlcyrë , were part of a force of 9,000 Muslim Albanians under Sulejman Çapari, the aga of Margariti , who were engaged in conflict with the Souliotes in 1772, and it is possible that Ali

12232-607: The Fall of the Byzantine Empire . According to the provisions of the treaty, the Ionian Islands would be a single federal state, with the individual islands preserving a degree of autonomy. It would follow the long-established model of the Republic of Ragusa , being an aristocratic republic led by the "primates and notables", and under Ottoman suzerainty, as token of which they would pay an annual tribute of 75,000 piastres to

12510-556: The French Revolutionary calendar , as the "First Year of Greek Liberty" ( Χρόνος πρῶτος τῆς Ἐλευθερίας τῶν Γραικῶν ). The new political and administrative reality also demanded that new terms were invented, and thus introduced into the modern Greek language along with the ideas of the French Revolution. All these events signified a complete break from the Venetian regime. The Provisional Municipality of Venice

12788-475: The Morea , where they could continue their occupation of plundering. Ali's new position also meant that he could orchestrate legitimate and illegitimate protection rackets that gave him enough resources to recruit mercenaries and set aside money for bribes. Around this time, Ali went to Missolonghi to collect a debt owed by Michaeles Avronites, a local sea captain who was originally from Cephallonia and therefore

13066-502: The Morea . As Pasha, Ali slowly laid the foundations for the creation of an almost independent state, which included a large part of Albania and mainland Greece. During his rule, the town of Ioannina developed into a major educational, cultural, political and economic hub. In order to achieve his goals, he allied with all religious and ethnic groups in his territory. At the same time, he did not hesitate to fiercely crush any opponent, and he also developed relations with European powers. By

13344-560: The Morea . In response, Kurt moved his troops southwards in Epirus and placed pressure upon the Venetians and the armatoles to restrict Ali's approach. The Sublime Porte was forced to intervene in the situation, and Ottoman general Cezayirli Gazi Hasan Pasha , who was already dispatched to dispose of the Albanian irregulars in the Morea, was instead sent to Macedonia and Thessaly to re-establish regional order. Gazi Hasan Pasha, although aided by local Turks, armatoles and Greek peasants,

13622-491: The Neapolitan Army opposing Napoleon and the French, Gentili collaborated with Ali in a surprise attack on Nivicë in 1798, a town which at this point was the most prosperous on the coastal littoral Butrint and Vlorë . Gentili ferried Ali's troops through the Ionian straits by night in contravention of the treaty between the Venetians and the Porte. Landing in the bay at Lukovë to the north, Ali's troops outflanked

13900-609: The Sanjak of Ioannina . His diplomatic and administrative skills, his interest in modernist ideas and concepts, his popular Muslim piety, his respect towards other religions, his suppression of banditry, his vengefulness and harshness in imposing law and order, and his looting practices towards persons and communities in order to increase his profits caused both the admiration and the criticism of his contemporaries, as well as an ongoing controversy among historians regarding his personality. As his influence grew, his involvement in Ottoman politics increased culminating in his active opposition to

14178-526: The Sanjak of Ohrid in 1796–7 and of the Sanjak of Vlora and Berat in 1810. Ali first appears in historical accounts as the leader of a band of Albanian brigands who became involved in many confrontations with Ottoman state officials in Albania and Epirus. He joined the administrative-military apparatus of the Ottoman Empire, holding various posts until 1788, when he was appointed pasha, ruler of

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14456-500: The Treaty of Campo Formio of 17 October, the last vestiges of the Republic of Venice were swept away. According to its provisions, Austria annexed most of the mainland domains of Venice, including the city itself. The Ionian Islands, the "most valuable part of Venice" according to French Foreign Minister Talleyrand , were left to the "full sovereignty" of France. Very quickly, the Provisional Municipalities of

14734-477: The Treaty of Campo Formio , in which the Ionian Islands and neighbouring ports were transferred to France. These strategic locations, long coveted by Ali, were now under French control. Ali, using the alias 'Mustafa', allegedly held the governorship of Arta from 1796. The French established garrisons and a naval presence in the region, and were welcomed as liberators in places like Preveza. Napoleon's growing influence and victories inspired many in Europe, including

15012-547: The Treaty of Tilsit , but retained many of the institutions of the Septinsular Republic. The French were evicted from most of the islands by the British in 1809–10; only Corfu resisted until 1814. In 1815, the British established the United States of the Ionian Islands . At the end of the 18th century, the Ionian Islands ( Corfu , Zakynthos , Cephalonia , Lefkada , Ithaca , and Kythira ) along with

15290-408: The tricolour revolutionary cockade on pain of execution. The nobles were opposed to the French from the outset, and maintained contacts with Austria, never losing the opportunity to foment popular resentment, but even the new democratic clubs like the "Patriotic Society" and the "Constitutional Club", making full use of the very liberty granted by the French, began criticizing Gentili and questioning

15568-411: The 'Honourable Deputation' had been rejected, and only the presence of the British troops kept its supporters out of Corfu city. In this atmosphere, Mocenigo's arrival was welcomed by both sides: the nobles felt that he would support their authority, while the lower classes hoped that he would liberate them from it. Indeed, Mocenigo immediately began to reform the institutions of the Republic, by limiting

15846-530: The 'Honourable Deputation' joined with 14 representatives of the "so-called nobility", as they were termed, to take over power; on the next day, the nobles signed the new constitution. The new regime of Corfu was not welcome to the Allied powers of the Second Coalition , nor to the noble-dominated Senate: in early March 1802, on the invitation of Theotokis, a British force landed on Corfu and joined with

16124-411: The 'heads of the republic' ( capi della repubblica ), came one each from the three major islands of Corfu, Cephalonia, and Zakynthos, while the fourth came either from the three islands or from Lefkada, and the fifth either from Lefkada or from the minor islands. The principato had a rotating presidency, with a tenure of one year; for that year, the president was also the head of state and prince of

16402-400: The Albanian brigands while Catalcali remained in his fortress in the distant Chalkis of Euboea . With this new Ottoman administrative position, Ali eliminated the military and civil officials appointed by Kurt in favour of his own men, and established a network between the leaders of Albanian bands and the captains of armatoli . Albanian fighters that refused to serve Ali were relocated to

16680-491: The Arts, Economy, Police, Public Education, and Military Affairs. These committees exercised administration in their respective fields and could propose laws and select their officials, but their approval was the purview of the Provisional Municipality council. Justice was reformed wholesale, with the introduction of French legal principles and the establishment of civil courts—seven county courts, two courts of first instance, and

16958-527: The Balkans, founding settlements such as Kruševo , but many also migrated to foreign countries, forming an Aromanian diaspora . The same campaign of persecution was launched towards Sarakatsani communities. At this point in time, the Souliotes , a Christian Albanian community whose lands were located in Ali's Pashalik, would pay their taxes to their spahi in Ioannina, Bekir Bey. Ali preferred to take

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17236-463: The British flag, and attacked French sympathizers on the islands. However, British troops failed to arrive, and the French in Corfu quickly suppressed the uprising. The British established a Governor-General in Zakynthos (General Oswald until 1810, General George Airey until 1813, and General Sir James Campbell after). Each island was governed by a Governor with a five-member Executive Council, and

17514-695: The British, as part of the War of the Second Coalition . No less than the Patriarch of Constantinople , Gregory V , issued a proclamation to the Islanders denouncing the "ungodly" French, calling upon them to rise in revolt, and promising, on behalf of the Ottoman Porte, to allow the Islands to choose their own form of government. In autumn 1798, a joint Russo-Ottoman fleet evicted the French from

17792-487: The Constitutional Assembly convened, which on 5 December 1803 passed the new constitution of the Republic. Its 212 articles were a mixture of progressive principles and restrictions on political rights that ensured the oligarchic nature of the state. While the Venetian-era hereditary nobility was abolished, a new civic aristocracy ('constitutional nobility') took its place. Based on property or academic qualifications, it

18070-414: The Directory was established at Corfu, a post provisionally occupied by Gentili. In turn, each department was to send a representative to the Directory in Paris. As an integral part of the French Republic, the French Constitution of 1795 was applied across the islands, and all Ionian public authorities and vessels were to be issued with French insignia and passports. The defence of the new French possession

18348-427: The French becoming a powerful force in the area. French consul Esprit-Marie Cousinéry, a supporter of Greek independence, and de Lassale, the consul of Preveza , discussed the possibility of French support in Ali's ambitions. Lassale's mission included securing timber from Epirus for the French Navy, thereby offering arms and ammunition to Ali for subduing Suli and Himara . By 1797, Venice fell to Napoleon, leading to

18626-410: The French flag was hoisted, all public officials and soldiers took an oath of allegiance to Napoleon, the embassies and agencies of the Republic abroad were abolished, and all domestic bodies apart from the courts and the Senate as well. These measures annoyed Napoleon, who replaced Berthier as Governor-General with François-Xavier Donzelot . His chief task, according to the instructions sent by Napoleon,

18904-433: The French general Sebastiani at Zakynthos. On 3 February 1803, the provisional Senate announced the creation of new electoral colleges, the so-called sincliti , replacing the old councils of the nobility. Nevertheless, membership to these was restricted by a series of property, citizenship, religious, and professional qualifications, so that they had a pronounced oligarchic character. These sinliti in turn elected

19182-404: The French had even offered Ali Pasha the crown of Albania once they had taken the Morea , but it became increasingly clear that this was not going to occur. Indeed, British traveller Henry Holland reported in 1815 that during a personal conversation with Ali it apparently emerged that Napoleon, at a certain point, had promised Ali the position of King of Albania, but Holland also remarked that Ali

19460-414: The Great 's " Greek Project ". Disregarding Venetian neutrality, many Isladers, including nobles, participated in attempts to provoke a Greek uprising against Ottoman rule, such as the Orlov Revolt or the raids of Lambros Katsonis and Andreas Verousis  [ el ] . Others, especially from Cephalonia, settled in the Crimea , recently conquered by the Russian Empire. Nevertheless, support for

19738-422: The Greek Orthodox protopapas , Gerasimos Soumakis, led the ceremony of planting the tree of liberty on 23 July; at Cephalonia, Jacobin clubs were established, and proposed the abolition of Christianity and the restoration of Ancient Greek religion and of the Olympic Games ; everywhere the burning of the Libro d'Oro and the symbols of nobility was accompanied by festivities by the populace. In Zakynthos,

20016-412: The Greek mainland, Russia signed alliances with Himariot and Cham Albanian beys on 27 June 1804. Souliot refugees were mobilized for an offensive, which was cut short when Ali Pasha learned of the Russian plans and an Ottoman naval squadron made an unexpected appearance off Corfu. As French–Ottoman relations began to warm in 1805, the Russians began raising native military formations for the defence of

20294-509: The Imperial Commissioners convened the island's Great Council on 20 July, which according to the constitution elected the three syndics, the three senators-representatives and the other public officials. In all cases, the offices were equally apportioned among representatives of the island's three towns, Argostoli, Lixouri, and St. George's Castle . After this was done, on 27 July the Imperial Commissioners felt able to proclaim

20572-608: The Ionian Islands ( Greek : Πρώτη Γαλλοκρατία των Επτανήσων ) lasted from June 1797 to March 1799. Following the fall of the Republic of Venice in May 1797, the Ionian Islands , a Venetian possession, were occupied by Revolutionary France . The French instituted a new, democratic regime and, following the Treaty of Campo Formio , annexed the islands to France, forming the three departments of Corcyre (Corfu), Ithaque (Ithaca) and Mer-Égée (Aegean Sea). Originally widely welcomed, French rule began to grow oppressive to

20850-722: The Ionian Islands and Mani, who on his return in 1798 openly spoke of a restored Byzantine Empire and "Franco-Greek liberty" up to the Bosporus . At the same time, in Ancona , an "Executive Directory for the Commerce of Corsica, Malta, Zakynthos, Cephalonia, Corfu, the French Isles of the Adriatic, the Archipelago, and Egypt" was established with Greek and French members, aiming to collect intelligence and foment insurrection. In

21128-682: The Ionian Islands, enrolling Souliots, Himariots, Acarnanians , and Moreots into the so-called ' Greek Legion ', which was placed under the command of the Greek-born Major General Emmanouil Papadopoulos . In autumn 1805 the Greek Legion participated in the Anglo-Russian invasion of Naples , and in 1806 it fought against the French at the Bay of Kotor . Mocenigo's influence became decisive in

21406-584: The Ionian cause in Saint Petersburg. The negotiations between Russia, the Porte, and the Islands, led to the signing of the Treaty of Constantinople on 2 April 1800, which created the Septinsular Republic , under joint Russian and Ottoman protection. The new state proved politically unstable, but retained its precarious autonomy. The islands remained de facto under Russian influence and military protection, becoming thus involved in

21684-470: The Ionian people, coupled with the predatory behaviour of French troops, made them increasingly unpopular. The quartering of troops among the Corfiot citizenry—a necessity due to the complete lack of barracks—was also greatly resented. Although the Greek clergy had supported the installation of the democratic regime and even participated actively in it, the French generally treated the clergy with hostility, as can be seen by their demand that all clerics wear

21962-502: The Islands at that time, crippled by lack of money, interest, and supplies from the metropole. As the French Revolutionary Wars erupted into northern Italy, Venice was shaken to its core: the spread of radical Jacobin ideals among her subjects, the undisguised hostility of the victorious French armies to the ancient aristocratic republic, and the dismal state of Venetian finances and military preparedness led to

22240-415: The Islands, however; informed of the bad state of public finances, he toured Italy for several months trying to secure funds, mostly in vain, until he succeeded in concluding a 500,000- franc loan with the Republic of Ragusa . The pro-French elements in Zakynthos soon sent emissaries to Napoleon for an outright annexation of the Islands to France. In Corfu, the pro-Venetian tendency initially prevailed in

22518-489: The Lion of Yannina. His native name was Albanian : Ali Tepelena , and he was referred to as Ali Pashë Tepelena or Ali Pasha i Janinës ; and in other local languages as Aromanian : Ali Pãshelu ; Greek : Αλή Πασάς Τεπελενλής Ali Pasas Tepelenlis or Αλή Πασάς των Ιωαννίνων Ali Pasas ton Ioanninon (Ali Pasha of Ioannina ); and Turkish : Tepedelenli Ali Paşa ( تپه‌دلنلي علي پاشا ). Ali Pasha

22796-612: The Mediterranean, John Stuart , for aid in expelling the French from the islands. Indeed, in October 1809 a British expeditionary force under Brigadier John Oswald arrived at Zakynthos, and issued a proclamation promising to restore the Ionian Islands' liberty and independence. Due to the small size of the French garrisons, the British quickly occupied Zakynthos and Cephalonia (4 October), Ithaca (8 October), and Kythira (12 October), installing provisional administrations according to

23074-496: The Morea. Ali's escape caused concern throughout Greece, and Kurt responded by sending 6,000 soldiers to the Bay of Arta to cut Ali off from his southern route and to trap him next to the sea, distributing funds along the way to local chieftains. Ali also recruited his own allies, including his cousin Islam Bey of Këlcyrë , the son of Sulejman Çapari and aga of Margariti Hasan Çapari, and Demoglou of Konispol . These allies kept

23352-410: The Ottoman Empire. At the behest of the Russians, the Souliotes had reportedly gathered 2,200 men who were ready to take up arms against Ali Pasha, and in response, Ali immediately mobilised his forces. With a force of 3,000 men and aided by the Çapari family of Paramythia , Ali attacked Souli , but the assault failed with considerable losses even though a Russian support fleet never materialised to help

23630-623: The Ottoman Turks. Muhtar had died during the 1716 siege of Corfu . Ali's father, Veli Bey , was a local ruler of Tepelena . Ali himself was born in Beçisht , although some claim that he was born in the adjacent town of Tepelena. Ali's father, Veli Bey , was involved in a rivalry with his cousin, Islam Bey, who was also a local ruler. Islam Bey was appointed mutasarrıf of Delvinë in 1752, but Veli Bey managed to kill him and thereby succeed his cousin as mutasarrıf in 1762. Veli Bey

23908-546: The Ottoman army and the subsequent pardoning of Pazvantoğlu, Ali Pasha and his Albanians distinguished themselves during the fighting, earning Ali the title " Aslan " ( the Lion ) from the Porte . However, Ali Pasha's engagement in this campaign and the French's anger over his actions against their ally Pazvantoğlu strained his relations with France. Ali, in turn, was also disappointed with the failure of French promises of support; aside from pledges of financial and military support,

24186-494: The Ottoman rule the Albanian language has not been officially recognized. Albanian has become a fully written language with its own script only from the mid-19th century, while written Greek was a well established language within the Ottoman Empire. The formal bureaucratic language of the Empire was entirely replaced with Greek in the pashalik, and in Ali's court diplomatic business was exclusively conducted in Greek as well as much of

24464-420: The Porte to recognise that Ali had a stronger power-base. Ali marched an army of 2,000–3,000 Albanians through Thessaly , dispersing them along the journey to intimidate local towns and villages and to extract wealth from them. At Trikkala , Ali led his own detachment of 300 soldiers into the near-deserted town as many of the inhabitants had already fled upon his approach. Once a certain amount of protection money

24742-560: The Provisional Municipality, hoping to be included in a reorganized Venetian state. Eventually, however, the pro-French faction won out, particularly after attempts to get Austria to intervene in Corfu failed to elicit any response; on 5 October Napoleon declared himself ready to cede Venice itself to the Austrians, but was determined to keep the Ionian Islands. The pro-French faction eventually prevailed in Lefkada as well, while Cephalonia remained divided, and Preveza pro-Venetian. Finally, in

25020-491: The Republic signed a treaty with Ali Pasha, who was represented by the Metropolitan of Nafpaktos Ignatios. Approximately 3,000 Souliotes settled in the Ionian Islands, mostly in Corfu and Paxoi, where they were provided with farmland. The warlike Souliotes struggled to fit in their new environment, stealing cattle and firewood from local residents and lamenting the loss of their homeland. Anxious to expand its influence to

25298-468: The Republic. The principato further appointed the four ministers: for foreign affairs, war and naval affairs, interior affairs, finances and justice. The local governments of the islands were not changed, but the constitution of 1806 abolished many of the more progressive and liberal clauses of its predecessor. Above all, it effectively abolished the Republic's autonomy by recognizing the right of Russia to intervene in its domestic and foreign affairs. It

25576-529: The Republic. Under Mocenigo's tutelage, the Ionian Senate on 17 June 1807 declared the end of the Republic's neutrality towards France, effectively bringing the islands into the War of the Fourth Coalition on the side of Russia. This situation was exploited by Ali Pasha, whose ambition to occupy the Ionian Islands was well known and had received Napoleon's backing, as the Republic was now in

25854-416: The Russian conflicts with France and Ali Pasha. The Septinsular Republic survived until 1807, when the Treaty of Tilsit once again surrendered the islands to France. While the Republic was abolished, its constitution and forms of governance were retained during this second period of French rule . The renewed French presence in the area aroused the opposition of the British, who instigated a naval blockade of

26132-473: The Russian flag was hoisted in the town hall, and remained there despite French threats to the inhabitants. A squadron of the Russo-Ottoman fleet arrived soon after, and after the refusal of the French to surrender, began to besiege the fortress. Eventually the rest of the fleet under Ushakov arrived, and after several days of close blockade and bombardment, the French surrendered on 17 November. Ushakov allowed 20 French officers to depart for France immediately, but

26410-513: The Russian orbit. In spring, Ali's forces attacked Lefkada. The reinforcement of the island with Russian and Souliot troops, and the failure of Ali's troops to capture the Castle of Santa Maura , led to the attack being broken off. Nevertheless, on 2 June the Senate resolved the establishment of an 'Ionian Encampment' ( Campo Jonio ) on Lefkada, comprising the Republic's regular forces as well as all

26688-461: The Russian plenipotentiary, Mocenigo was the most influential person in the state, with a decisive voice in all matters, and soon began to undermine the constitution by creating extraordinary committees, bypassing the ordinary courts, and establishing a 'Sublime Police', staffed by his own nominees and controlled by him. Relations between the Republic and its neighbour Ali Pasha were tense and complicated. The Ionian Islands, and especially Lefkada, were

26966-454: The Russians; this and later requests for Russian mediation remained unanswered, even as Ali Pasha, with the Sultan's backing, moved to eradicate the last centres of Souliot resistance. The Souliots who managed to escape from Ali's forces made for Parga, but they were forced to cross the sea to the Septinsular Republic in March 1804, after Ali Pasha threatened to attack the city. In November 1803,

27244-465: The Russo-Ottoman fleet was Cephalonia. As in Zakynthos, there too a broad pro-Russian movement, fanned by Russian agents, the clergy, and the nobility, had come into existence. The French under Captain Royer disposed of no more than 350 men, who had to defend the island's two major towns, Argostoli and Lixouri. Given that both were completely unfortified, and amidst daily growing and more blatant hostility by

27522-415: The Senate took their oaths on it. With Theotokis having died on 24 November, a new president of the Senate and head of state of the Republic was elected: Antonios Komoutos  [ el ] from Zakynthos. The following period saw a flurry of legislative and administrative activity: between January and March 1804, laws concerning local administration, shipping, rural communes, and education were passed,

27800-423: The Senate. The Senate remained the main executive body, with three branches for foreign affairs, interior and finance affairs, and military affairs. Each island retained its own government for the time being, headed by a dean or rector ( pritano ), while his two deputies were now named regents ( eggenti ). Among the progressive elements of the new constitution were the institution of juries , personal liberties,

28078-646: The Septinsular Republic's envoy to St. Petersburg, as the Tsar's plenipotentiary. In the meantime, the Treaty of Amiens led to the formal recognition of the Republic, as constituted in the Treaty of Constantinople, by France, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the Batavian Republic . Mocenigo arrived at Corfu on 1 September 1802, with five Russian vessels and 1,600 troops. In the meantime, the proposals of

28356-467: The Souliotes from their mountains. Ali wrote a letter to the Souliote captains George Botsaris and Lambros Tzavelas , in which he feigned friendship and admiration whilst asking for their assistance. The Souliotes cautiously accepted, and Botsaris wrote that, although he could not muster enough followers to join Ali, Tzavelas would join his army with 70 men as a sign of friendship. This group was placed on

28634-574: The Souliotes through a variety of means, and Lambros finally agreed when Ali offered him his freedom and lordship of Souli, although Lambros' 12-year-old son Fotos was taken as a guarantee. Once he was safe, Lambros sent Ali a letter revealing that he did not intend to fulfil his side of the bargain, regardless of whether he had to sacrifice his son or not, and that he would continue fighting against Ali and his men. Ali's men would fail to make further ground, and Ali would cut his losses by exchanging prisoners (including Fotos Tzavelas), paying ransoms and signing

28912-480: The Souliotes. The Souliotes, encouraged by their success, joined forces with klephts from the Pindus and ravaged both Greek and Albanian villages throughout Acarnania . After failing to defeat the Souliotes via direct assault, Ali took another approach. In 1792, Ali mustered 10,000 men to attack Gjirokastër in response to the town declining his imposition of a bey, but this was all part of an elaborate plan to lure

29190-405: The Sultan and Tsar and secure recognition of the new state's independence. The delegates were also tasked with producing a draft constitution and submitting it for ratification, as well as press for the restoration of the Islands' maritime and land frontier with the withdrawal of Ali Pasha from Butrinto, Preveza, and Vonitsa. The delegation included Orio, nominated as ambassador to St. Petersburg, and

29468-470: The Sultan particularly in the face of the French, had his subjects in Karpenisi write to the patriarch of Constantinople and inform him that they were in fear of banditry should Ali leave them unprotected. This failed, and Ali was forced to take to the field personally with a force of 20,000 Albanians, leaving Mukhtar in charge in Ioannina. Despite the eventual failure of the Ottoman campaign once Ali left

29746-434: The Sultan to return to Epirus to address these issues whilst maintaining diplomatic communications with the French as he still contemplated a strategic alliance with them. He purportedly offered to join forces with the French in exchange for control over the island of Santa Maura as well as former Venetian territories on the mainland, and the right to station a garrison on Corfu . However, General Louis François Jean Chabot ,

30024-563: The Sultan's tax collectors as well, interfering with the collection and disposal of government tax revenue through the bribery of officials or the allocation of tax collecting duties to his family and supporters. In fact, the higher ranks of the Greek Orthodox Church colluded with Ali to the extent that bishops were willing to act as his tax collectors. By pledging their loyalty to Ali, communities could put themselves under his jurisdiction. At times, Ali Pasha would pay to bring

30302-553: The Sultan, particularly after news of the French defeat in the Battle of the Nile arrived. In preparation for the inevitable conflict, the ruler of Yanina patched up his differences with all neighbouring rulers and magnates, as with the Souliotes . The French invasion of Egypt had upset the balance of power in the East, and caused a rapprochement between the Ottomans and the Russian Empire , who concluded an alliance in July 1798 (although

30580-594: The Sultan. This was a victory for the Sultan, and a disappointment for the Islanders, who had been promised the right to choose their own form of governance in the proclamations of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople , Gregory V , and the head of the Russian fleet, Admiral Fyodor Ushakov . The new state's constitution, once agreed, would be approved by the signatory powers. As the new state lacked military forces, Russian and Ottoman forces would remain to garrison its forts and guarantee its security until

30858-465: The Tsar about the events in Constantinople, but in vain; Theotokis, who now was recognized as head of state with the title of prince , even dismissed Orio from his position. On 26 December 1800, the two envoys to Constantinople arrived in Corfu as 'Imperial Commissioners', i.e., the Sultan's representatives in the islands, with the task of overseeing the implementation of the 'Byzantine Constitution'. On 13 January [ O.S. 1 January] 1801,

31136-589: The Venetian Lion of Saint Mark holding a bundle of seven arrows, symbolizing the islands, and a Bible; suggestions with more revolutionary overtones, such as the rising phoenix , were rejected. On 1 November 1800, the new constitution and flag were formally sanctioned by the Grand Vizier and blessed by the Patriarch in Constantinople. The Ionian envoys to St. Petersburg, Orio and Kladas, protested to

31414-450: The Venetian administration at Corfu at the risk of an accusation of treason. Expecting to receive the title of Pasha of two tails at any moment, Ali asked them to intercede at the Sublime Porte on his behalf to hasten the process. The Venetians followed through, and in return, Ali disrupted Mustafa Koka, the Pasha of Delvinë and a political opponent of the Venetians. The Sublime Porte

31692-544: The Venetian authorities, the imposition of French rule was rapidly accomplished not only on Corfu, but on the other islands as well. The only resistance was provided by some elements of the Venetian garrison troops, but these were quickly disarmed and disbanded; only the volunteer companies at the exposed possessions of Butrint, Parga, Lefkada, and Kythira, as well as the armatoloi troops in Preveza and Vonitsa, were retained in French pay. Although Widmann nominally remained

31970-473: The Venetian regime was still widespread enough that when the new provveditore generale , Carlo Aurelio Widmann , arrived in 1795, he could rely on the assistance of the local communes, leading nobles, the Jewish community of Corfu, and both Orthodox and Catholic clergy, to raise the necessary funds to pay for the garrisons and administrative personnel. This also shows the parlous state of Venetian defences of

32248-463: The West", through which Western European ideas and culture were transmitted to the Greek world. Under Venetian rule, the population of the islands was divided into three classes: the privileged nobility, the urban middle class ( cittadini ) and the commoners ( popolari ). The nobility were mostly landowners, and derided mercantile activity, which was left to the urban burghers; as a result, the latter also came to amass wealth and land, and aspired to join

32526-419: The accompanying Albanian pseudo-nobility. Ali conceived an independent state that almost certainly would have been controlled by this Albanian military and aristocratic elite. As Pasha, Ali was supported by an exclusively Albanian military establishment, which included many people who had undertaken brigandage activities earlier in their life. Ali Pasha also used Albanian tribesmen to put down Greek rebellions in

32804-476: The appeals process, and of three gendarmerie companies to provide police services. Comeyras left Corfu in early September, before his successor arrived; he died at Ancona of an epidemic. Among the beneficial measures of the French authorities were the great care shown to public health and education. The public school system—which was partly funded by secularizing Catholic Church property—was expanded and French-language public schools founded. A "National Library"

33082-426: The arrogant behaviour of armed Ottoman soldiers in the city. With its own troops unable to contain the situation—most of the available forces had been shipped to Cephalonia—the Senate handed over authority to the Russians, under Lt. Colonel Karl Hastfert, so as to prevent a general massacre and restore order. The Russian intervention calmed the situation, but the Senate requested that the Ottomans remove their troops from

33360-416: The burghers and peasantry further. By this time, the city of Corfu was virtually under siege by the rural population, which ransacked the nobility's country estates. While the Senate became increasingly powerless, power increasingly shifted to a group of burghers (Spyridon Delviniotis, Karolos Manesis, and Alexandros Avgoustos Kogevinas) who maintained contacts with the peasantry. To counter the restiveness of

33638-407: The capitulation of the island. A detachment of 700 Russians, along with a few Turks, landed on the island and joined the mass assembled in the town, laying siege to the citadel. The French garrison surrendered on 25 October. Vernier and 54 others were left free to return to France, while the rest were moved to Glarentza as prisoners of war, before being shipped to Constantinople. The next target of

33916-573: The captured French grenadiers and officers, they were sent to Constantinople. There, they were imprisoned in the Yedikule Fortress . The massacre at Preveza had far-reaching implications, influencing the rise of Greek nationalism and being remembered in songs and literature by figures such as Lord Byron . Preveza was left in ruins as the properties of the Greeks were seized by Ali and redistributed among his Albanians. The surviving population

34194-556: The cession of the mainland exclaves of the Ionian Islands, was rebuffed. Gentili did, however, lift the prohibition on Ottoman ships from traversing the Straits of Corfu , which had been in place since the 1718 Treaty of Passarowitz . This allowed Ali to move over sea against his rival, Mustafa Pasha of Delvino . In July/August 1797 (or in Easter 1798, according to other sources), his forces sailed to Lukovo and committed massacres against

34472-486: The city, with 40 noblemen, 40 burghers, 14 merchants, and 6 artisans; the rest of the members would come from the countryside. Executive power was vested in a committee of four procuratori , who were elected from among the 'Best Ones' and chaired its proceedings. The council decided on all matters, and also elected the three representatives of the island to the Ionian Senate, which was intended to retain its original functions. The definition of nobility, and with it suffrage,

34750-468: The coast to Vlorë. Concurrently, during the winter of 1797-1798, Ali dealt with regional conflicts at the request of the Ottomans, particularly against the rebel governor Osman Pazvantoğlu who had begun carving out his own polity centred around Vidin in modern Bulgaria . The Ottomans had already dispatched a force of 50,000-100,000 men under Küçük Hüseyin Pasha to crush the rebellion, and they sent for Ali's help. Ali, reluctant to appear subservient to

35028-474: The commander-in-chief of the French forces on Corfu, rejected this proposal. By September 1798, with the declaration of war between the French and the Ottomans, Ali's stance became clear. Ali Pasha quickly assembled his forces, although historical accounts differ as to whether Ali secured a commission to confront the French through diplomatic channels in Constantinople or whether the Porte's slow response led Ali to unilaterally mobilize over 20,000 troops against

35306-542: The conflict and established a 22-member Committee of Public Safety, with themselves and Colonel Nikolaos Pierris as chairmen. In the end Metaxas' revolt was subdued by a compromise reached by Ioannis Kapodistrias: the previous government of the island resigned on 20 May, and the Commissioners along with the Committee of Public Safety took over the island's governance, with the aim of pacifying the island and disarming

35584-417: The countryside; not infrequently, Venetian official who ventured to the country to arrest some outlaw, were forced back in humiliation. The Venetian regime was more concerned with maintaining its rule than providing efficient administration. Thus ten murders were punished with ten years in prison, while speaking ill of the Venetian governor—the provveditore generale da Mar —was punished with twenty. Out of

35862-498: The daughters of Ibrahim Pasha of Berat. When Ali gained power, Ali's sister, Shainitza, was married off to Sulejman of Gjirokastër; Sulejman's family came from Libohovë in Zagoria , where Ali built a fortified seraglio as his sister's dowry. One claim suggests that she was first married to Sulejman's brother, also called Ali, but he died or was murdered by Sulejman with Ali Pasha's permission. Shainitza's third son, Adem, would become

36140-660: The death penalty imposed on the Pasha of Negroponte after he pleaded to Ali for help. Although he had obtained his power through force in a lawless environment, it was crucial for Ali Pasha to maintain peace and stability to ensure that his coffers remained full. Ali would offer protection to towns and villages in return for their loyalty, thereby increasing his control over his expanding territories by appointing his representatives and negotiating appropriate terms and tax arrangements. Correspondence from Ali's subjects during this period make heavy use of flattering and obsequious phrases whilst Ali's replies are terse and factual, reflecting

36418-788: The defence. Unable to withstand the vastly larger numbers of Ali's troops, on 25 October the French blew up the fortifications and evacuated to Corfu, along with the Greek inhabitants of the town and its environs. At the same time, Ali's forces moved on Preveza. There the French, anticipating an attack, had begun erecting fieldworks at the isthmus leading to the town, at the site of ancient Nicopolis . On 22 October Ali himself, accompanied by his son Mukhtar and some 4,000 foot and 3,000 horse, appeared. The French, under général de brigade Jean Jacques Bernardin Colaud de La Salcette  [ fr ] , could muster only 440 French regulars, 200 militiamen, and 60 Souliotes. The ensuing Battle of Nicopolis

36696-632: The delegates, the Corfiot Count Antonio Maria Capo d'Istria  [ el ] and the Zakynthian Count Nikolaos Gradenigos Sigouros Desyllas , remained in Constantinople to conduct negotiations with the Porte, while Orio and another delegate, Kladas, were to represent the Ionian cause in Saint Petersburg. In the negotiations that followed, the Constantinople delegates were pitted against the Saint Petersburg ones in

36974-406: The delegation, he was replaced as head of the Senate by Spyridon Theotokis. Once in Constantinople, however, the delegation quickly realized that the Porte was not interested in recognizing the Islands' independence, but rather in creating a vassal state under Ottoman suzerainty. At the suggestion of the Russian ambassador, Vasily Tomara  [ ru ] , the delegation submitted a memorandum to

37252-500: The destruction of Moscopole , a once-prosperous cultural centre in south-eastern Albania that had been continuously raided by Albanian irregulars from 1769 onwards due to their pro-Russian stance and support of the Orlov Revolt . The Aromanian population of Moscopole was forced to flee from the region and find refuge in regions outside of Ali's control, both in and out of the Ottoman Empire . Many Aromanians scattered throughout

37530-442: The draft constitution to the Constitutional Assembly on 22 December. These moves aroused considerable opposition, but Kapodistrias successfully argued that there was no alternative that would enjoy the consent of St. Petersburg, and the new constitution was approved five days later. The new constitution vested sovereignty in the so-called 'active nobility', determined by income and academic titles. This restriction actually resulted in

37808-401: The ecclesiastical administration was reformed, and the ministries were established. The Republic now became truly a proper state, and aroused the expectations and hopes of the Greek intelligentsia: Adamantios Korais and Eugenios Voulgaris dedicated their works to the Republic. Nevertheless, due to the machinations of Mocenigo, the Russians never ratified the new constitution. Furthermore, as

38086-515: The election of the Ierotheos Kigalas on 19 February 1800. On 21 June 1799, the Senate decided to send a twelve-member delegation to Constantinople and Saint Petersburg to express its gratitude to the Sultan and Tsar, but also press for the restoration of the Islands' maritime and land frontier with the withdrawal of Ali Pasha from Butrint, Preveza, and Vonitsa, and their recognition as an independent state. As Angelo Orio participated in

38364-410: The elections of the new provisional authorities and their installation were orderly and peaceful, that was not the case in the other islands. Class and personal rivalries dominated the process there, and the arbitrary interventions of Ushakov's representative, Nikolai Tiesenhausen . In Zakynthos, for example, a plot was hatched to murder the nobles on 12 September 1799, the day the island's Great Council

38642-482: The end of the war against France. The mainland exclaves of Parga, Vonitsa, Preveza, and Butrinto, on the other hand, would remain under Ottoman control but would enjoy a special status similar to that of the Danubian Principalities . At the same time, without consulting their colleagues in Saint Petersburg or the provisional government in the Islands, Capo d'Istria and Sigouros Desyllas also composed

38920-469: The event these machinations came to nothing, once the French were committed to the invasion of Egypt, rather than the Balkan provinces of the Ottoman Empire. While initially enjoying broad support, the French regime soon began to loose some of its appeal. The heavy taxation and strict fiscal administration were widely resented, while the dismissive attitude of the French towards religion and the traditions of

39198-424: The exclusion some of the old noble families, that had become impoverished in the meantime. A Legislative Senate of 17 members (four each for Corfu, Cephalonia, and Zakynthos, two for Lefkada, and one each for the minor islands), of whom nine served for three years and eight for four, was given legislative authority, while executive authority was vested in a five-member college, the principato . The members, known as

39476-521: The existing laws. The first major military operation was against Lefkada, in April 1810, where Greek auxiliaries under Theodoros Kolokotronis and the British major Richard Church played a particularly important role. Despite strong French resistance, the garrison surrendered on 16 April. On 29 May 1810, on the Paxoi islands a pro-British uprising broke out. The rebels evicted the small French garrison, raised

39754-620: The fall of the last remnants of the Byzantine Empire to the Ottomans in the mid-15th century. In 1807, the republic was ceded to Napoleon's French Empire , but the islands kept their institutions of government. The British gradually took control of the islands from 1809 on, and following the Treaty of Paris , the islands were formally organised into the United States of the Ionian Islands under British protection. The Ionian Islands ( Corfu , Paxoi , Zakynthos /Zante, Kefalonia , Lefkada , Ithaca , and Kythira /Cerigo) along with

40032-509: The flag of the Septinsular Republic was formally raised at Corfu. The mission of the Imperial Commissioners—Antonio Maria Capo d'Istria was soon replaced by his son, Ioannis Kapodistrias , the future first governor of Greece—quickly proved problematic: the reactionary nature of the new constitution, which limited political power to the nobility, immediately made it controversial, as the common people had grown used to

40310-462: The fleet sailed to Zakynthos via Koroni . On Zakynthos, the French position was precarious. The nobles on the island were joined by a large pro-Russian faction, while leading members of the French administration were missing at this crucial moment: commissioner Chriseuil de Rulhière  [ fr ] was in Paris, the head of the administration was in Corfu for consultations, and general La Salcette

40588-527: The formal correspondence. Ali also used the Greek script to write in Albanian and to transliterate Turkish in his personal correspondence. The usage of Greek, however, did not in any way make Ali Greek, just as his role as Ottoman appointee did not in any way make him Ottoman. He was first and foremost considered as an Albanian. The stability brought about by Ali Pasha's reign allowed the regional centre of Ioannina to become more cosmopolitan, connecting Ali to an international network. As his fame grew, so to did

40866-541: The formation of a body of 64 men, the 'Honourable Deputation of the City, Boroughs, and Villages of Corfu' ( Onoranda Deputazione della città, borghi e ville di Corfù ), which declared the 1800 constitution as void, and began drafting a new, more democratic constitution. The constitution proposed by the 'Honourable Deputation' vested sovereign power in Corfu in a 240-member council of 'Best Ones', elected for life in general, albeit indirect, suffrage. 100 members would come from

41144-415: The front lines before Ali had Tzavelas and his men seized, chained and sent to Ioannina, with some being killed on the spot. Ali, aided by his son Muhtar , proceeded with his attack on Souli, but Botsaris was well-prepared with solid defensive positions. The 1,300 Souliote defenders retreated from their villages and were pushed to the inner mountains of Souli. Ali attempted to coerce Lambros into betraying

41422-424: The governor of Libohovë, and her daughter from her first marriage was married to Veli Bey of Këlcyrë . In his early years, Ali distinguished himself as a bandit in the mountains. Ali's growing reputation as a notorious bandit forced the Ottoman government to take action, and they authorised Ahmet Kurt Pasha of Berat to subdue him. He was eventually captured by Kurt, possibly twice but definitely in 1775 when it

41700-424: The gradual erosion of Venetian rule in its mainland possessions ( Terraferma ), and the eventual Fall of the Republic of Venice to Napoleon Bonaparte in May 1797. In the Ionian Islands, the news of the French advance into Lombardy in 1796 led Widmann to take extraordinary measures to strengthen the defence of the Islands, even investing his own private fortune for the cause. French agents were already active in

41978-499: The greater civic rights and liberties enjoyed during the French Republican rule. To this were added local grievances and power struggles, which resulted in secessionist tendencies in some islands. Already during the latter part of 1799, political tensions had led to the start of infighting, both among the nobility, as well as between the nobility and the other classes. While at Corfu, under the direct supervision of Ushakov,

42256-404: The head of the administration, actual power lay with Gentili. When Venetian commissioners arrived bearing 60,000 ducats for the payment of army and fleet and the loans Widmann had contracted, the money was simply confiscated by the French. The Austrian court protested the unilateral French occupation, but could do little about it. In the ongoing negotiations, Napoleon for a while pretended that

42534-407: The houses and villas of the administration members. A new government was formed on 9 September, but only after Count Konstantinos Chorafas was given plenipotentiary powers and a force of Russian troops, the unrest was suppressed. This peace did not last long, and a revolt under the nobleman Efstathios Metaxas broke out in May 1801. In response, the Imperial Commissioners came to the island to mediate in

42812-469: The inhabitants. Local passions hindered their work, however: in late May, the delegation of Lixouri withdrew from the committee and the Lixouriotes made threatening moves against Argostoli, forcing the Imperial Commissioners to visit Lixouri in person to calm matters. At the same time, the brothers Andreas and Kaisar Metaxas refused to acknowledge the Committee of Public Safety and rose in revolt, which

43090-449: The inviolability of a citizen's home, and religious tolerance. The constitution also contained a clause that made knowledge of the Greek language mandatory for any candidate for public office after 1810, while from 1820 on all public documents were to be exclusively in Greek. The new constitution went into force on 27 December, when the Metropolitan of Corfu blessed it and the president of the Constitutional Assembly and deputy president of

43368-410: The island militias. At the same time, a fortification programme was begun, and Ioannis Kapodistrias was named Commissioner Extraordinary to oversee it. The defence of Lefkada soon attracted widespread support, and even klepht captains from the mainland rushed to join it, including Katsantonis , Kitsos Botsaris , Dimitrios Karaiskos , Georgios Varnakiotis , and most notably, Theodoros Kolokotronis . It

43646-529: The island, at Argostoli , Livatho , the Castle of Saint George , Asos , and Lixouri . On 5 July, in an official ceremony, the liberty tree was planted in the main square of Corfu city , while the flag of St. Mark was thrown into a pyre, to be replaced by the French tricolour . On the next day, the Provisional Municipality of Corfu ordered the Libro d'Oro , the emblems of the Venetian Republic,

43924-521: The island, the inhabitants submitted. In Lefkada, the anti-French agitation had also had a profound effect; the local authorities informed the French that they could not count on the support of the populace, which was rapidly arming itself, against the Russians. The French, under Major Mialet, withdrew to the Castle of Santa Maura. Reinforced by the garrison of Vonitsa, and some remnants of the garrison of Preveza, he disposed of about 500 men. On 28 October,

44202-450: The island. Conversely, when the Russians announced their intention of removing their own troops, the Senate president Theotokis implored the Russian to remain and ensure the islands' domestic tranquility and external security. Nevertheless, on 25 August 1801, the occupying powers officially handed over control of the fortresses and departed. This act seriously undermined the stability of the government, whose repressive measures only alienated

44480-467: The islanders, and aroused the enmity of the Ottoman and Russian Empires . In 1798, a joint Russo-Ottoman campaign was launched against the islands, culminating in the four-month siege of Corfu . Its fall in March 1799 signalled the end of French rule, and the islands were reorganized as the Russo-Ottoman protectorate of the Septinsular Republic . The islands were again annexed to France in 1807 after

44758-444: The islands from the Russian admiral Dmitry Senyavin . As the Russians departed, French troops replaced them in all islands, as well as the mainland dependency of Parga . Finally, on 1 September, contrary to his instructions to preserve the Islands' constitution, Berthier as Governor-General declared the annexation of the Septinsular Republic to France. Berthier moved swiftly to abolish the Republic's attributes as an independent state:

45036-491: The islands petitioned Napoleon to annex the islands outright, and Gentili's reports to Napoleon also indicated that the population was favourable to a full integration with the French Republic. On 1 November Napoleon's stepson Eugène de Beauharnais arrived at Corfu, and on the same day announced to the Provisional Municipality the terms of the Treaty of Campo Formio, and the annexation of the islands to France. The news

45314-568: The islands were to be incorporated into the Cisalpine Republic , but in the end, Austria was forced to accept the fait accompli to secure her own control over Dalmatia from the spoils of the Venetian state. As in the Venetian metropolis, the French established new administrations in the form of Provisional Municipalities. In Corfu, the body comprised the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Corfu , Francisco Fenzi ,

45592-469: The islands, most notably the French consul in Zakynthos, the merchant Constantine Guys, who not only fomented anti-Venetian feeling, but was suspected of orchestrating the arson of his own consulate on 29 October, an event that was used by Napoleon as one of the pretexts for his declaration of war against Venice. Rumours of the self-abolition of the Great Council of Venice on 12 May spread quickly to

45870-410: The islands. The Islands were to be Consequently, on 26 May, Napoleon ordered his fellow Corsican, the général de division Antoine Gentili , to begin preparations for a military occupation of the Ionian Islands. A mixed Franco-Venetian fleet with 3,159 men sailed on 13 June from Malamocco . The ships flew the Venetian flag of St. Mark , since Gentili was ostensibly merely the representative of

46148-557: The islands. In October 1809, British forces easily took Zakynthos, Cephalonia, Ithaca, and Kythira, followed by Lefkada in April 1810. Only Corfu, Parga, and Paxoi held out, amidst a deteriorating supply situation, until the 1814 and the resignation of Napoleon. The Islands then passed under British control, and were formed into the United States of the Ionian Islands in 1815. Ali Pasha of Yanina Ali Pasha , or Ali Pasha of Tepelena ( Albanian : Ali Tepelena ; 1740 – January 24, 1822), commonly known as Ali Pasha of Ioannina ,

46426-439: The islands. While pro-French elements (the karmanioloi ) were instructed by Guys on the meaning of concepts like "liberty" and "equality", many nobles mobilized against them, with proposals were made to kill all French sympathizers. Despite such agitation, order was kept, and the definite news of the political change in the metropolis, with the establishment of a new, republican Provisional Municipality of Venice , in early June,

46704-431: The last Venetian provveditore of Argostoli, was appointed head of the Senate, and entrusted with the creation of a constitution for the new state. Orio's draft constitution comprised 28 articles and one addendum, and envisaged a thoroughly aristocratic regime, with each island headed by a Great Council composed of the nobles and the upper bourgeoisie. The Great Councils would elect the senators. Each island would retain

46982-409: The last Venetian provveditore of Argostoli, was appointed head of the Senate, and entrusted with the creation of a constitution for the new state. Orio's constitution envisaged a thoroughly aristocratic regime, with each island headed by a Great Council composed of the nobles and the upper bourgeoisie. The Great Councils would elected the senators. Each island would retain a local administration and

47260-622: The laws passed by the Senate. In addition, the use of the Greek language was sanctioned for the first time in the courts. Ushakov also restored the Orthodox Archbishopric of Corfu , which had been abolished in the 13th century by the Angevin rulers of Corfu. On 21 June 1799, the Senate sent a twelve-member delegation to Constantinople and Saint Petersburg , drawn from the upper classes of each island, to express its gratitude to

47538-480: The local government entertained contacts with Zakynthos. When the Imperial Commissioners arrived on 18 August on the island with the intention of installing a constitutionally-based administration, the local government resigned. Pro-British sentiments were limited to the capital of Vathy, however, while the rural population supported the Commissioners' efforts. Even Corfu was not spared unrest: on 8 June [ O.S. 27 May] 1801, bloody riots broke out due to

47816-460: The local population, forcing them to submit to Ali's authority. Relations became strained in 1798, after Ali received orders from the Sultan to provide troops for a campaign against another powerful regional ruler, the pasha of Vidin , Osman Pazvantoğlu . Chabot sent his adjutant, Schaeffer, ostensibly to demarcate the boundaries at Butrint, but in reality to dissuade Ali from obeying, as the French had good relations with Pazvantoğlu. Ali Pasha used

48094-634: The mainland exclaves of Butrint and Parga; Ithaque comprised Lefkada, Ithaca, Cephalonia and other minor islands, as well as Preveza and Vonitsa on the mainland; Mer-Égée comprised Zakynthos, Kythira and Antikythira , and other minor islands. Each department was run by a five-member committee ( commission départementale ) and its administration was divided into twelve sections (Commerce and Arts, Police, Gambling, Theatre, National Guard, Waters and Cisterns, Public Buildings, Military Lodgings, Furniture and Food Provisions, Health and Prisons, Public and Private Schools, Mores and Religions). Each department

48372-430: The meantime, commissioners from the Provisional Municipality of Venice arrived in Corfu, informing Widmann of events and bringing orders to maintain order and begin the democratization of the local administration. Widmann tried to ensure consensus by issuing a notarized declaration of public concord, but only 177 citizens, of whom 71 nobles, signed it. The French fleet arrived on 27 June, and the French troops disembarked on

48650-606: The model of the Republic of Ragusa . The same assurances were repeated in a proclamation by the head of the Russian fleet, Fyodor Ushakov , who also emphasized that the joint fleets were operating to liberate the Islanders from the "heathen French". The French fought back in the propaganda war, with pamphlets like the To the Rhomaioi of Greece by the Greek Konstantinos Stamatis and Emile Gaudin's Reflections of

48928-477: The more established presence of pro-French and Jacobin-influenced elements led to some violence against the nobility, but elsewhere the new regime took power mostly peacefully, and proceeded to reform society and administration; following the abolition of the nobility's privileges, proposals were made for debt relief , and a land reform involving the feudal lands, increasing the competences of local government, etc. The French revolutionary songs Carmagnole and

49206-452: The mountain districts between Tepelena and the outskirts of Yanina for the next two years. The Porte forced Kurt to directly challenge Ali's disruption, and although Kurt could muster a force of 10,000 men and 100 cavalry, he would not be able to defeat Ali in the mountain passes and resorted to besieging Tepelena. Ali had no other option but to break through the siege and make way for Butrint , which Kurt interpreted as an attempt to return to

49484-401: The name "Albania" by the British government. Ali Pasha navigated the changing political landscape as the French sought to undermine Venetian influence in the region. Professing animosity towards the Venetian aristocracy, Ali secretly communicated with Napoleon, then in northern Italy , despite the risk of treason as France and the Ottoman Empire edged towards war. The French, eager to counter

49762-554: The necessity of French presence in the Ionian Islands; the Constitutional Club was eventually closed by the French authorities. French diplomatic manoeuvring, notably the cession of Venice to Austria, also estranged parts of the populace: in December 1797, rumours began circulating that the same fate awaited the Ionian Islands, with the mainland exclaves to be sold to the Ottomans. Chabot intervened forcefully to quell

50040-423: The new, pro-French Provisional Municipality of Venice, and the expedition intended to avoid possible secession of the colony from the metropolis. In reality, Napoleon instructed Gentili to encourage the local inhabitants to pursue independence, by reminding them of the glories of Ancient Greece; the scholar Antoine-Vincent Arnault was sent along as observer for Napoleon and a political advisor and propagandist. In

50318-473: The next day, amidst tumultuous reception by the local populace, led by the Orthodox primate ( protopapas ), Georgios Chalikiopoulos Mantzaros , who gifted Gentili with a copy of Homer 's Odyssey ; the nobility reacted to Gentili's proclamation, on 29 June, that the French brought liberty to the Islands with reserve and suspicion. Nevertheless, with the support of the populace and the resigned stance of

50596-406: The nobles and burghers before troops restored order, and in Lefkada. On Zakynthos, the turmoil continued, with constant clashes between rival groups and coalitions. While the central government planned a coup, another, pro-British coup broke out first. On 20 February 1801, Zakynthos seceded from the Republic, raising the British flag instead, apparently with the support of a supposed British colonel,

50874-399: The nobles of each island. The syndics elected a dean ( πρύτανις ) as head of administration for four-month tenures. The Senate in Corfu remained the highest authority of the federal state, composed of the representatives of the islands. Its president, the archon , was the head of state. The constitution was printed in Greek, with heavy use of Italian loanwords for administrative terms, by

51152-471: The nobles to undertake the governance of the Ionian Islands, thereby restoring the previous status quo . On 6 May, the commanders of the two fleets announced that the Ionian Islands would comprise a unitary state, governed by a Senate ( Γερουσία ) in Corfu city, composed of three representatives each from Corfu, Cephalonia, and Zakynthos, two from Lefkada, and one each from Ithaca, Kythira, and Paxoi . The Venetian nobleman Angelo Orio  [ el ] ,

51430-610: The nobles to undertake the governance of the Ionian Islands, thereby restoring the previous status quo . On the next day, the Great Council of Corfu was reconstituted; its very first action was a vote of thanks to the Allied rulers, the Ottoman Sultan, the Russian Emperor, and the British King. In Zakynthos, however, the local noble council preferred to direct its thanks exclusively to the British, an expression of

51708-425: The notables of Ioannina that they petitioned the Sultan for his appointment on his behalf. Whatever the case, the earliest known reference to Ali as the Pasha of Ioannina is dated to the 15th of March, 1788. In that same year, he delegated the title of Pasha of Trikala to his son, Veli . Ali Pasha secured his position by establishing relationships with influential people and rewarding his supporters and allies. He

51986-743: The number of foreigners in his court. Ali wanted to establish a sea-power in the Mediterranean which would be a counterpart of that of the Dey of Algiers , Ahmed ben Ali. However, in order to gain a seaport on the Albanian coast, Ali Pasha had to deal with Venice , which controlled the ports and the Ionian straits. The Venetians had obtained an agreement from the Sublime Porte in 1788 that barred Turkish vessels from accessing these Venetian holdings, as well as banning Ottoman gun emplacements within

52264-421: The official treaty was delayed until January 1799). As the joint Russo-Ottoman fleet set sail for the Ionian Islands, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople , Gregory V sent a missive to the clergy and people of the Islands, denouncing the impious and godless French, urging the inhabitants to drive them off, and assuring them that the Sublime Porte would allow them to choose their own form of government, on

52542-402: The ongoing Ottoman military reforms . He was one of the most prominent leaders. After being declared a rebel in 1820, he was captured and killed in 1822 at the age of 81 or 82, after a successful military campaign against his forces. In Western literature , Ali Pasha became the personification of an "oriental despot." Ali Pasha was variously referred to as Tepelena, Ioannina/Janina/Yannina, or

52820-480: The opportunity to complain of the lack of reciprocation for his friendly gestures, and claimed that only if the French provided him with 10,000 troops and 100,000 sequins would he be able to disobey the Sultan. In mid-June, Napoleon's aide-de-camp , Lavalette , arrived in the Islands, bearing news of the capture of Malta and a letter from Napoleon to Ali Pasha, urging him to put faith in Lavalette and in turn send

53098-561: The other ambassadors, requesting the recognition of the Islands as an independent and federal state, under the protection of the European powers. Two of the delegates, the Corfiot Count Antonio Maria Capodistrias and the Zakynthian Count Nikolaos Gradenigos Sigouros Desyllas remained in Constantinople to conduct negotiations with the Porte, while Orio and another delegate, Kladas, were to represent

53376-435: The other islands and finally captured Corfu on 4 March [ O.S. 20 February] 1799, while the autonomous Ottoman strongman Ali Pasha of Yanina took the opportunity to seize Butrinto, Preveza, and Vonitsa from the French. In all the islands they occupied, the Russians at first installed provisional administrations of nobles and burghers alike. On 22 March, however, the Russian authorities invited assemblies of

53654-489: The pasha of Delvinë's forces occupied while Ali continued further south towards Arta and Preveza . These manoeuvres alerted the Venetians, and the pashas of Trikkala and Euboea were asked to send their armies to aid Kurt. Ali, contrary to what Kurt expected, changed direction and marched towards Yanina , subduing and fortifying important villages along the way. Kurt's troops, under the command of his son-in-law Ibrahim Bey, were unable to defeat Ali, and this resulted in

53932-478: The patents of nobility and coats of arms of the noble families to be likewise destroyed. This provoked the reaction of the nobles, who destroyed the liberty tree. Although a bounty of 500 thaler was placed on the unknown perpetrators, they were never found. Similar events spread across the islands: at Zakynthos, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Cephalonia and Zakynthos , Francesco Antonio Mercati and

54210-416: The patriarchal press in Constantinople. The new constitution was strongly reactionary, reversing the gains of the bourgeoisie in particular, in favour of the old noble families; even the titles of nobility granted in 1799, after the French left, and which were mostly given to the wealthy burghers, were rescinded. In keeping with the reactionary ideas embodied in the constitution was also the new flag, sporting

54488-405: The peasantry was organized to support the siege. The Russo-Ottoman forces were further augmented by 3,000 Albanians sent by Ali Pasha, while on the French side volunteer detachments from Corfu and Cephalonia distinguished themselves. On 3 February 1799, three French ships managed to break the blockade and went to Ancona , carrying pleas for reinforcements—as well as art objects looted from Corfu—but

54766-409: The people of Missolonghi. Similar intimidation tactics were used across Epirus by Ali, who although serving in this administrative position for only five months, managed to impose order and a systemic tax regime, as well as amass enormous personal wealth. In 1779, Ahmet Kurt Pasha had returned to power through intrigue and bribery of the Sublime Porte . Ali openly challenged Kurt in an effort to get

55044-486: The point of marching on Corfu city, but the warnings of the Ottomans to the 'Honourable Deputation', and the French consul, Romieu, who addressed the peasants, temporarily calmed matters. With the situation still volatile, the Russians secured the agreement of the other Great Powers to send their own troops to the islands, with the Zakynthian count Giorgio Mocenigo , a former Russian ambassador to Florence and briefly

55322-442: The populace, and the increasing demands for civic rights, the Senate gave Theotokis dictatorial powers. Theotokis formed an 'Extraordinary Committee of Public Safety' ( Commissione Estraordinaria di Pubblica Sicurezza ) composed of Dimitrios Armenos, Stamos Chalikiopoulos, and Ioannis Kapadokas, but the rebellious lower classes refused to accept its authority. Instead the burghers and peasants elected their own delegates, resulting in

55600-475: The populace, and the radical ideas of the French Revolution were implemented with the abolition of the local nobility, the equality of the social and religious communities (Orthodox, Catholic, and Jewish) and the installation of democratic regimes and local self-government on the islands. The French also created the islands' first public education system, and introduced the first printing press in what

55878-537: The population, the French decided to withdraw to the Assos Castle , and thence evacuate to Lefkada. Upon their departure from Argostoli, the inhabitants, joined by armed peasants, tore down the French flag and hoisted the Russian one instead. Amidst rioting and violence, the democratic regime was abolished. When the Russo-Ottoman fleet arrived on 29 October, the island was no longer under French control. The French garrison of Lixouri successfully evaded to Lefkada, but

56156-627: The power dynamic between them; villagers often wrote to Ali with complaints about the Souliotes thieving their sheep or about raids from klephts, usually from neighbouring villages. The people of Kokosi in Thessaly wrote to Ali in 1794 on behalf of Platini Scourpi , Koffi and other villages, requesting the prolonged stay of one of Ali's boluk-bashis (officers) with his men to continue protecting them from bandits. The villagers of Kato Soudena also offered to pay Ali Pasha so that they may be placed under his protection. Ali did not only provide protection from bandits, however, as he offered protection from

56434-466: The power of the Ottomans, assisted Ali in ending the independence of the Himariotes. Ali impressed the French, particularly General Antoine Gentili , with his admiration for Napoleon, and he even arranged a marriage between his alleged illegitimate daughter and a French adjutant general. In a clandestine meeting, Ali sought military assistance and naval access around Corfu . Influenced by Ali's charm and strategic considerations as well as Himara's ties to

56712-425: The power of the noble families, who often were a law on themselves and could even raise military corps of their own; while the nobles were content to pursue their private feuds and plot and conspire against each other for local office, they were also able of concerted action against the Venetian authorities, when they felt their interests threatened. Venetian writ ran lightly in the cities, and was almost non-existent in

56990-402: The power of the nobles as well as the autonomy of the individual islands. Mocenigo established a new provisional government or 'regency' ( reggenza ) in each island, where executive power was concentrated in the hands of a regent ( reggente ), who in all cases had to come from a different island, but was assisted by two deputies chosen by him from the island's population. While Theotokis, who

57268-486: The powerful and ambitious Ali Pasha of Yanina, semi-autonomous Ottoman ruler of much of Albania and mainland Greece . Already on 1 June 1797, Ali Pasha himself had taken the initiative, sending a letter to Napoleon expressing his respect and admiration, hopes of friendly relations, and the dispatch of four French artillery NCOs to train the Pasha's own artillery. Both Napoleon and the Directory received this with favour, and instructed Gentili to establish amicable relations with

57546-405: The presidency of the Senate passed to Count Spyridon Georgios Theotokis of the distinguished Theotokis family, who had previously headed the Provisional Municipality under French rule. Once in Constantinople, however, the delegation quickly realized that the Porte was not interested in recognizing the Islands' independence, but rather in creating a vassal state under Ottoman suzerainty. Two of

57824-423: The privileged nobility, the urban middle class ( cittadini ) and the commoners ( popolari ). The noble families, who enjoyed full Venetian citizenship, were on top of the pyramid, and provided the members of the ruling council of each island. Originally restricted to Italian settler families, from the 16th century on this group also included Greek families. As in Venice, Corfu, Cephalonia, and Zakynthos each had

58102-433: The process (some by roasting alive and impalement) whilst the rest of the population were sent to Ali's farms near Trikkala . Their land was then divided up and partitioned for cultivation by Ali's subjects in Saranda . Ali left a small square fortress at Shën Vasili to guard the entrance to Himara and to watch over the remaining population of Nivica. This campaign led to the annexation of Himara, extending Ali's control along

58380-403: The reinforcements never arrived. The capture of Vido island on 1 March 1799 signalled the beginning of the end for the besieged, and the garrison capitulated on 4 March, on condition that the French troops be repatriated immediately. In all the islands they occupied, the Russians installed provisional administrations of nobles and burghers. Very soon, the Russian authorities invited assemblies of

58658-529: The rest were sent to captivity in Constantinople. With the fall of Lefkada, Corfu remained as the last bastion of French control in the Ionian Islands. There too, the anti-French and pro-Russian sentiment had been gaining ground, and the exhortations of commissioner-general Dubois largely failed to have an impact. French forces on the island, augmented by the garrisons of Ithaca and Parga, amounted to 1,500 infantry and some 300 artillerymen, as well as 8 naval vessels. To augment this force, on 23 October martial law

58936-427: The ruler of Yanina. Gentili met in person with Ali at Butrint during his tour of the islands, and French envoys, notably adjudant-général Roze, were frequent visitors at his court in Yanina. Roze was even wed to an adopted daughter of Ali's. Ali managed to convince the French of his good intentions, showering them with honours and providing food—and even feigning interest in Jacobin ideals—but his main objective,

59214-404: The ruling class. In this contest, the rural peasantry was generally politically marginalized. This medieval social order was upset after the Fall of the Republic of Venice in 1797, when the islands came under French control. Shortly after, in the Treaty of Campo Formio , the islands were annexed to the French Republic and organized into three departments . The Republican French were welcomed by

59492-433: The rumours, and expelled the Catholic archbishop Francisco Fenzi, who was considered as the instigator of the rumours, on 11 April 1798. Conversely, the news of the French occupation of Malta and Alexandria , as part of Napoleon's invasion of the Ottoman territories in the Levant , were received with enthusiasm. The main external concern of the French administration was its relationship to its most important neighbour,

59770-399: The run-up to the revision of the 1803 constitution, scheduled for 1806. On Mocenigo's suggestion, the Senate instituted a 'Decemvirate' ( Δεκανδρία ) to study the changes to the constitution; in the end, the council's suggestions reflected Mocenigo's designs. When the sincliti were convened to elect their representatives to the Constitutional Assembly on 13 September 1806, they turned into

60048-421: The same stratagem with the commandant of Butrint, but he sent only Lieutenant Steil and a Greek priest; both were arrested and brought to Yanina. Ali composed a letter to Chabot, demanding the cession of the mainland exclaves, as well as the Castle of Santa Maura on Lefkada. A second letter followed soon after, where he demanded the surrender of Corfu itself. The new commissioner-general, Dubois, arrived at about

60326-484: The same tactic would be used on the French sub-lieutenant in Butrint. In October 1798, after securing Butrint and Igoumenitsa, Ali's troops attacked the coastal town of Preveza , which was defended by a small garrison of French soldiers, Souliote fighters, Ionian islanders and local pro-French Greeks. Ali's campaign was made easier by his former enemy, the Albanian chieftain George Botsaris of Souli, who allowed Ali's men passage through Souliote territory in exchange for

60604-441: The same time, and on 13 October issued a proclamation to the inhabitants of the three departments. During the following days, the commandant of Butrint reported that Ali's troops were moving to occupy the heights around the town, and asked for reinforcements. The attack began on 18 October . Chabot sent général de brigade Nicolas Grégoire Aulmont de Verrières  [ fr ] with 300 men, and came himself to supervise

60882-476: The severed and salted heads of their companions, and were subjected to jeers and abuse from the pro-Ottoman populace as they marched at the head of a grand procession organised by Ali Pasha for his victorious troops. The women and young girls were sold into slavery. Notable among the captured French was Louis-Auguste Camus de Richemont, the commander of the French engineers, who was spared due to Mukhtar's admiration for his bravery. Along with other survivors, including

61160-399: The siege of Vidin along the Danube . Despite being distant, Ali received reports from his son Mukhtar on the situation in Epirus. These reports detailed subversive activities by the French, particularly their efforts to incite revolt among the Souliotes through the distribution of leaflets and tricolour cockades. Recognizing the potential threat to his rule, Ali obtained special permission from

61438-475: The spoils of war and resumed his life of banditry. In 1778, Ahmet Kurt Pasha was disgraced and dismissed as a result of the schemes employed by Mehmed 'Kalo' Pasha of Yanina , who then took over the Sanjak of Avlona . The guardianship of the mountain passes was bestowed upon a Turk from Thessaly known as Catalcali Haci Ali Pasha ; the local Albanians did not like him, and so he appointed Ali Pasha – at this point Ali Bey – as his deputy to establish order amongst

61716-466: The streets with a man on her back. From then on, Hamko would instil a desire for revenge in Ali, who would avenge his mother by massacring the inhabitants of Kardhiq in his later years. Ali would have two sons with Emine, the daughter of Kaplan Pasha of Gjirokastër . The first would be Muhtar Pasha , and the second would be Veli Pasha . Ali's youngest son, Selim, would be born to a slave much later in 1802. Both of his sons with Emine would be married to

61994-493: The strong pro-British tendency on the island, due to the close commercial links centred on the currant trade. On 6 May [ O.S. 24 April] 1800, the commanders of the two fleets announced that the Ionian Islands would comprise a single state, governed by a Senate (Γερουσία) in Corfu city, composed of three representatives each from Corfu, Cephalonia, and Zakynthos, two from Lefkada, and one each from Ithaca, Kythira, and Paxoi . The Venetian nobleman Angelo Orio ,

62272-475: The subjugated populations who saw the French advances as a liberation march. This environment set the stage for Ali Pasha's manoeuvres to strengthen his position, and he formed an alliance with Napoleon I of France , who had established François Pouqueville as his general consul in Ioannina, with the complete consent of the Ottoman Sultan Selim III . The French already had consuls at Arta and Preveza when Ali Pasha unsuccessfully tried to approach Louis XVI as

62550-402: The suburbs were disarmed without major incident. Preparations for a siege also included the levelling of the quarter of Sano Rocco at the main entrance to the city, and the fortification of the island of Vido. The first enemy ships arrived off the city on 5 November, landing troops north and south of the city. Russian offers for a capitulation, including the immediate transfer of the garrison to

62828-401: The successful establishment of lawful government on the island. This proved premature, for in August, the peasantry around Lixouri rebelled, seized the town, and expelled the government garrison. Kapodistrias and Andreas Panas tried to mediate a settlement, but the rebels, backed by the local Austrian vice-consul, refused. Similar unrest also broke out in Kythira, where rioting peasants attacked

63106-494: The suspicions of France. In the meantime, the shifting alliances in Europe impacted the Republic as well, with Ottoman Turkey drifting away from Russia, and towards France. On 6 January 1807, the Ottoman Porte notified the Republic of the declaration of war with Russia . As de jure the Republic was an Ottoman vassal, the Porte demanded the Ionian Islands' adherence to the Ottoman camp against Russia. France followed by recalling its envoy and terminating its diplomatic relations with

63384-438: The taxes directly into his own hands, and Bekir was promptly imprisoned upon his rejection of Ali's proposal. The Souliote confederacy posed a continuous threat to Ali's Pashalik by constantly raiding and terrorising the surrounding villages. The Souliotes were incited against Ali by Russian Empress Catherine the Great , who after the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca in 1774, was acknowledged as the protector of all Orthodox Christians in

63662-412: The territories under Ali's control as "Albania." This, by Ali's definition, included central and southern Albania , and parts of mainland Greece ; in particular, most of the district of Epirus and the western parts of Thessaly and Macedonia . He managed to stretch his control over the sanjaks of Yanina , Delvina , Vlora and Berat , Elbasan , Ohrid and Monastir , Görice , and Tirhala . Ali

63940-423: The territories under his control with almost exclusively Albanian armatoles. The discarded Greek armatoles became klephts and their subsequent anti-armatoloi activity was not only brigandage, but also a form of resistance against Ottoman rule. Ali also targeted wealthy Muslim landowners under the guise of bringing justice for the peasant population whilst increasing his own wealth. In 1788, Ali's troops completed

64218-401: The time of his accession to the Pashalik of Yanina, several almost-independent Albanian and Greek towns of the region reversed their approach of hostility against the Ottoman rule and pledged their loyalty to Ali. Ali's policy as ruler of Ioannina was mostly governed by expediency; he operated as a semi-independent despot and pragmatically allied himself with whoever offered the most advantage at

64496-410: The time. It was Ali Pasha and his Albanian soldiers and mercenaries who subdued the independent Souli . At this point, Ali Pasha's priority was to create a centralised governing system by neutralising the numerous disruptive factions vying for power in his Pashalik, including the klephts , armatoles , Christian notables, and Albanian beys and agas . For example, Ali replaced Greek armatoles from

64774-442: The tolls of " Toskëria and Epirus ". In the meantime, Kurt Pasha had died and was succeeded by his ally in Berat, Ibrahim Pasha. The Porte awarded Ali with control of Ioannina, however, the accounts on how this occurred vary; some suggest that Ali surrounded Ioannina with his forces and presented a forged document from the Sultan without giving the Porte enough time to object, while others suggest that he gained enough support from

65052-596: The town capitulated without resistance, surrendering after the intervention of Archbishop Ignatios, who acted on Ali's behalf. Ali then focused on Parga , a refuge for those fleeing Turkish rule and a longstanding irritant to Epirus' rulers. Ali extended an offer of autonomy to Parga, which the inhabitants resolutely declined, citing their commitment to liberty and opposition to tyranny. This resistance would become another thorn in Ali's side. Meanwhile, Ali's ambitions extended to Aetolia-Acarnania , southeast of Vonica. His attempts to exert influence there were initially thwarted by

65330-427: The town, which is situated at the entrance to the narrow valley which leads into Himara from the landward side. Ali's men attacked Nivica and Shën Vasili , the neighbouring village to the north, on Easter Sunday when the inhabitants were at prayer, taking the town and other villages and then reducing them to ruins. They ravaged as far north as Himara itself, and it was said that 6,000 unarmed civilians were slaughtered in

65608-399: The troops of the Republic. The Ottomans also disapproved of events, although they recognized the necessity of reforms to the original constitution. The Porte charged Theotokis, who remained president of the Senate, to restore the previous status quo, until proper deliberations involving the Allied powers, the Imperial Commissioners, and the islanders could take place. The rural population was on

65886-560: The turncoat Georgios Botsaris , Ali pursued a strategy of encircling the area of Souli with forts and besieging it. Already in 1800, the Souliots wrote to Theotokis for aid against the designs of Ali Pasha. The latter in turn threatened the inhabitants of Parga, to prevent them from lending any aid to the Souliots. By 1803, the position of the Souliots had grown dire, and they implored the Septinsular Republic for ammunition. A Souliot embassy visited Mocenigo, conveying an appeal to Tsar Alexander. Mocenigo gave them some ammunition, but secretly from

66164-417: The villages and towns around Gjirokastër before eventually subjugating Gjirokastër itself. In an act of vengeance on the people of Hormovë for their part in the humiliation of his mother and sister, Ali would attack the village with over 1,000 men after lulling the town into a false sense of friendship. The men were killed, the women and children sold into slavery, and the leader of Hormovë was roasted alive on

66442-423: The walls of the citadel, while the peasants opened the jails, looted the administrative buildings, and burned the tree of liberty along with all official documents at the Square of St. Mark's. The looting spread to the houses of individual pro-democratic citizens, as well as to the Jewish quarter. A delegation of nobles, led by Count Nikolaos Gradenigos Sgouros and the protopapas Soumakis went to Ushakov to offer

66720-448: Was Ali's Supreme Council. The Commander-in-chief was the founder and financier, Ali Pasha. Council members included Muhtar Pasha , Veli Pasha , Celâleddin Bey , Abdullah Pashe Taushani and a number of his trusted men like Hasan Dervishi , Omar Vrioni , Meço Bono , Ago Myhyrdari , Thanasis Vagias , Veli Gega and Tahir Abazi . Ali's own perception of group identity derived from the ancient legacy of Albanian banditry along with

66998-409: Was a defining element of Ali's identity, as well as of his government and the region he controlled in general. Ali's native language was Albanian. His degree of proficiency in written Greek is debatable, but it is known that he was able to speak the language. Albanians and Greeks exchanging languages was quite common in the 18th century. Ioannina was located in a largely Greek-speaking area, and during

67276-410: Was able to work well with Mocenigo, remained as President of the Senate (and thus titulary head of state), the existing Senate was dissolved on 30 December 1802, and a provisional Senate appointed by Mocenigo, to general dissatisfaction. The new regime was quick to stamp out any sign of dissent or rebellion, and pro-French sentiment was frowned upon, particularly after the positive reception of a speech by

67554-402: Was also part of Ahmet Kurt Pasha's force in 1775 during Kurt's campaign against the Souliotes. The first military action in which Ali is confirmed to have participated in was Ahmet Kurt Pasha's conflict with Mehmed Pasha Bushati in 1776; Ali and his cousin Islam distinguished themselves during the subsequent engagements around Kavajë and Tirana , but Ali fell out with Kurt over the division of

67832-469: Was an Albanian ruler who served as Ottoman pasha of the Pashalik of Yanina , a large part of western Rumelia . Under his rule, it acquired a high degree of autonomy and even managed to stay de facto independent. The capital of the Pashalik was Ioannina , which, along with Tepelena , was Ali's headquarters. Conceiving his territory in increasingly independent terms, Ali Pasha's correspondence and foreign Western correspondence frequently refer to

68110-413: Was appointed mutasarrif of Ioannina at the end of 1784 or beginning of 1785 on the condition that he lead 1,000 troops on campaign, possibly as part of the military response to the Russian annexation of Crimea . Ali did not keep his promise to the Sublime Porte ; instead of going on campaign for the Ottomans, Ali focused his attention on Hormovë as part of a greater effort to impose his rule over

68388-463: Was assassinated shortly after when Ali was ten, and Ali was brought up by his mother, Chamko (or Hanko/Hamko), who originally hailed from Konitsa . Ali's mother Hamko was forced to take control of Veli's band in order to retain her family's position. She was said to have poisoned Ali's half-brother (along with the boy's mother) in order to secure Ali's inheritance. She had a great impact on Ali's personality, and Ali deeply respected her. Hamko arranged

68666-453: Was assumed by the Division du Levant , whose commanding general was also the supreme police authority, and a naval squadron of ten ships. Due to a sudden illness, Gentili had to return to Corsica to recuperate, where he died almost immediately. As his replacement, the Directory briefly envisaged the distinguished general and future King of Sweden, Jean Bernadotte ; but in the event, the général de division Louis François Jean Chabot

68944-431: Was born into the Albanian Meçohysaj clan; they were Christian Albanians who converted to Islam in the Ottoman period. The family was attributed a legendary ancestry as descendants of a Mevlevi dervish named Nazif who migrated from Konya to Tepelene through Kütahya , and Ali himself would make similar claims to foreigners and Ottoman Turks in order to claim legitimacy to landholdings. Nonetheless, this tradition

69222-442: Was broadened to all those who had an income of 1,000 thalers , regardless of residence or profession. Events proceeded quickly: the draft constitution was sent to the Senate on 21 October 1801, and ten days later, the 'Honourable Deputation' demanded from Theotokis to appoint representatives of the nobility to form a common provisional government for Corfu. In a highly symbolic display of unity and class reconciliation, on 28 November

69500-425: Was chosen. The new commissioner-general, Comeyras, did not arrive in Corfu until 28 July 1798, and immediately engaged in the reorganization of the islands' administration with much energy. His tenure proved brief, however, as barely a month later he was recalled and replaced with François Louis Dubois  [ fr ] . Among his achievements were the establishment of a five-man team of legal experts to revise

69778-407: Was composed of many former nobles as well as burghers. This new aristocracy formed the electorate for the sincliti , which continued to elect the Senate and the legislative body as before. The Constitution of 1803 introduced the principle of separation of powers , and instituted a new body, the censors ( censori ) who were to safeguard compliance to the Constitution and function as advisors to

70056-405: Was declared and a militia formed, followed by compulsory levies from the wealthy and confiscations of food and animals. On 2 November, the inhabitants of Corfu city were disarmed, but when the French tried to repeat this at the suburb of Mantouki the next day, they met violent resistance, leading to the bombardment and evacuation of the suburb, and the looting of the Platytera Monastery . The rest of

70334-423: Was displaced to the marshlands around the Ambracian Gulf , and the town's population was estimated to have drastically fallen from 16,000 to 3,000 inhabitants. Nonetheless, Ali transformed Preveza into a naval base and one of his favoured residences, earning it the moniker " Portsmouth of Albania." After the conquest of Preveza, Ali Pasha shifted his focus to Vonica , located across the Ambracian Gulf. This time,

70612-500: Was extremely bloody, with most of the French troops killed or captured, the latter including La Salcette. After capturing Preveza, Ali had the pro-French inhabitants publicly executed, and torched the town. Using the unsuspecting Metropolitan of Arta , Ali then lured the Prevezans who had fled to Aktion to return, and had them too beheaded. The French prisoners were subjected to torture, and those who survived were sent to Constantinople . Vonitsa too surrendered afterwards, and only Parga

70890-491: Was further aided by Metropolitan Ignatios of Arta, an agent of Ali, who effectively weakened the resolve of the Greek defenders through counter-propaganda. When the town was finally conquered, a major slaughter occurred against the local people as retaliation for their resistance. Ali ordered the execution of 300 Greeks in front of him, and when a number of those who fled returned on the false promise of amnesty, 170 of them were executed. Survivors were marched to Ioannina bearing

71168-419: Was further subdivided into cantons with a municipal committee for each (five-member for cantons under 5,000 residents, seven-member for above). Cities were also divided into cantons, which received new names evocative of the new ethos: Liberty, Equality, Fraternity, France, Greece, Commerce, etc. A French commissioner, who had to sign off on all decisions, was assigned to each department; a commissioner-general of

71446-423: Was granted the Sanjak of Tirhala in 1787, and he delegated its government in 1788 to his second-born Veli Pasha , who also became Pasha of the Morea Eyalet in 1807. Ali's eldest son, Muhtar Pasha , was granted the Sanjak of Karli-Eli and the Sanjak of Eğriboz in 1792, stretching for the first time Ali's control down to Livadia and the Gulf of Corinth , except Attica . Muhtar Pasha also became governor of

71724-476: Was in Lefkada and then Preveza. The burden of defending the island fell on Major Vernier, who disposed of 400 French soldiers and 500 militia. The fleet appeared off the island on 24 October. While many of the inhabitants of Zakynthos town fled to the interior in fear of bombardment, large numbers of peasants, bearing Russian flags, streamed into the town to prevent the French and their supporters from providing any resistance. The latter were forced to retreat behind

72002-399: Was left to lodge a formal but ineffective protest, on 4 August, to the French ambassador, Lallemant. In August, Gentili began a 40-day tour of the Islands, confirming the firm installation of the new regime, but Arnault resigned on 29 July. The lawyer Pierre-Jacques Bonhomme de Comeyras  [ fr ] was appointed as his successor on 7 January 1798. He did not immediately come to

72280-423: Was left to resist Ali's forces. General Chabot tried to enlist Mustafa Pasha of Delvino against Ali Pasha, but failed. The Russo-Ottoman fleet arrived at Kythira on 7 October 1797. The French garrison, 68 strong under Captain Michel, refused repeated offers of surrender. After naval bombardment and attacks by Ottoman infantry, on 13 October the French agreed to surrender the island's fort under terms. From Kythira

72558-489: Was made governor of Thessaly in 1799 to clear the region of bandits, soon followed by all of Rumeli . Ali was able to extract taxes beyond the strictly-defined borders of his realm, as his power extended beyond the areas that were formally recognised as his. By 1803, several villages in the district of Florina were finalising the terms of their tax collection with Ali, and Ali's tax-collecting powers would eventually extend as far north as Prilep by assuming fake identities as

72836-400: Was met with calm and restraint. The fate of Venice and of its possessions was to be decided between France and Austria . No mention of the Ionian Islands was made in the Preliminaries of Leoben . The two sides had different objectives: the Austrians wanted to keep the French out, and welcomed the possibility that the islands would come under the rump Venetian Republic envisaged at Leoben, as

73114-466: Was never totally secure. When one of Ali's lobbyists in the Phanariot elite informed Ali that there was a rival bid for control of the passes in 1797, Ali was encouraged to make a higher offer to the treasury and to ameliorate relations with the local communities he collected taxes from, as their complaints could serve as a justification for the authorities granting control of the passes to his rival. By 1798, Ali Pasha's influence extended to Veroia . He

73392-493: Was not able to defeat and drive out the Albanians. However, he later succeeded in pacifying the Albanians in the Morea, but peace was only temporarily restored as the Albanians continued to pour into the region. Meanwhile, Ali had returned to Tepelena to restore his family's position and solidify his power base. Upon learning that the Sublime Porte refused to restore him in place of Ahmet Kurt Pasha, Ali ordered his tribal and feudal allies to attack Kurt's local garrisons, ravaging

73670-406: Was not convinced by the offer, because he distrusted the French. As such, Ali's alliance with France continued to sour. Upon his return to Ioannina, Ali felt compelled to align with the Sultan's efforts to expel the French from Epirus, marking a significant shift in his regional allegiances. In June 1798, as the French advanced their ambitions in Ottoman-controlled Egypt , Ali Pasha was engaged in

73948-475: Was only suppressed after heavy combats on 15 June: Andreas surrendered, but Kaisar fled to Corfu. In the meantime, Lixouri had voted for secession from the Argostoli-based government, and sent envoys to Corfu demanding a separate administration for the town; at the same time, the dissatisfied peasants of Anogi also rebelled and began attacking Lixouri, until troops sent by the Committee of Public Safety clashed with them and drove them back. In order to restore order,

74226-403: Was opened in May, and a "National Printing Office" under the Frenchman Jouenne on 11 August. The French also planned to establish further printing presses, send children to France for education, and create a regular shipping route to Italy. The French occupation of the Islands gave rise to hopes among Greek emigrants and intellectuals in Western Europe that they could be used as a springboard for

74504-514: Was peacefully extracted from the town, Ali and his men left and proceeded to Farsala , where he and Catalcali Haci (who was still Ali's superior) plotted against Ahmet Kurt Pasha. Ali's first action was to take the district of Acarnania , where his soldiers had already visited Missolonghi and yet again extracted more tributes from the citizens. Ali arrived with 4,000 men, occupying the regional capital of Vrachori ( Agrinion ) and re-joining his Albanian troops that had returned from their ravaging of

74782-403: Was re-established on the islands as the Metropolis of Corfu . The aged protopapas Mantzaros elected to fill the post, but died before he could be consecrated. A heated and protracted struggle between the priest Petros Voulgaris and the scholar and former archbishop of Kherson and Astrakhan , Nikiforos Theotokis , followed, but with Ushakov's intervention the new see was finally filled with

75060-419: Was received with great enthusiasm by the council, which awarded Eugene with a sword, and voted to send a delegation to convey its gratitude to Napoleon. On 7 November, Napoleon issued a decree creating the departments ( départements in French, πολιτομερίδια in Greek) of Corcyre , Ithaque , and Mer-Égée . Corcyre comprised the island of Corfu and its neighbouring island groups, and

75338-423: Was religion, where the official Roman Catholicism of the Venetian authorities was opposed by the popular Greek Orthodox identity, expressed in the veneration of each island's saint or saints. Increasingly during the 18th century, Orthodoxy also provided a link to a rising European power, the Russian Empire . A pro-Russian current emerged, and several Islanders entered Russian service, especially during Catherine

75616-438: Was soon appointed to the post of Dervendji-Pasha , and he began to further consolidate his power in Epirus . He married his sons to the daughters of Ibrahim Pasha in Berat in order to secure their alliance as well as the borders of his Pashalik. During war-time, Ali Pasha could assemble an army of 50,000 Albanian men in a matter of two to three days and could double that number in two to three weeks. Leading these armed forces

75894-447: Was still heavily in debt to the Albanian fighters who put down the Greek revolt in the Morea in 1769–1770, with astronomical sums being owed in back pay. Ali's high prestige amongst the Albanian fighters, as well as his satisfactory diplomatic solutions that normalised Venetian-Turkish relations, highlighted the fact that he was now the de facto force in the region, bypassing both Ahmet Kurt Pasha and Kara Mahmud Pasha of Shkodër . Ali

76172-590: Was suppressed. With Arnault as its political advisor, the Provisional Municipality of Corfu became the supreme executive authority on the island. Its chairman and vice-chairman were elected by secret ballot among its members for terms of one month. Sessions of the council were opened to the public (but confined to 40 attendees); closed sessions could be held to discuss a subject, but all decision-making had to be public, and every citizen could request to speak during these sessions. Eight committees ( comitati ) were created for Public Salvation, Health, Food, Commerce and

76450-460: Was taken captive by armed peasants, while those of Argostoli managed to reach Assos only to surrender to the Russians, and be in turn transported to Constantinople. In Ithaca, the local inhabitants convinced the French garrison, under Captain Millet, that resistance was futile, and urged them to withdraw to Corfu. Unlike the other islands, the withdrawal of the French took place in an orderly and friendly atmosphere. When Ushakov sent two of his ships to

76728-472: Was there that Kapodistrias first came into contact with some of the chief military leaders of the subsequent Greek War of Independence. Ultimately, the fate of the Septinsular Republic would be decided in the battlefields and chanceries of Europe: in the Treaty of Tilsit in July, the Ionian Islands were ceded once again to Napoleonic France. On 20 August, French troops landed on Corfu, followed three days later by General César Berthier , who received control of

77006-402: Was to convene and elect the new government. While the plot was not carried out, its instigator, Antonio Martinengo, managed to bribe Tiesenhausen and secure an amnesty, whereas his co-conspirator Tsintos was shot. Due to the restiveness of the rural population, on 18 January 1800, the first repressive measures against the lower classes were announced. The mounting political passions came first to

77284-405: Was to defend the islands, and above all Corfu, against the mounting British threat. In November 1807, Napoleon regulated the administration of the new French possessions : the internal structure of the Republic was retained largely along the lines of the 1803 Constitution, including the Ionian Senate (although its members were now appointed rather than elected), but the administration was overseen by

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