War of Greek Independence

GREEK INDEPENDENCE, WAR OF, the name given to the great rising of the Greek subjects of the sultan against the Ottoman domination, which began in 1821 and ended in with the establishment of the independent kingdom of Greece. The circumstances that led to the insurrection and the general diplomatic situation by which its fortunes were from time to time affected are described elsewhere (see GREECE : History; TURKEY : History). If we exclude the abortive invasion of the Danubian principalities by Prince Alexander Ypsilanti (March 1821), which collapsed ignominiously as soon as it was disavowed by the tsar, the theatre of the war was confined to continental Greece, the Morea and the adjacent narrow seas. Its history may, broadly speaking, be divided into three periods : the first (1821-24), dur ing which the Greeks, aided by numerous volunteers from Europe, were successfully pitted against the sultan's forces alone; the second, from 1824, when the disciplined troops of Mehemet Ali, pasha of Egypt, turned the tide against the insurgents; the third, from the intervention of the European Powers in the autumn of 1827 to the end.

When, on April 2, 1821, Archbishop Germanos, head of the Hetaeria in the Morea, raised the standard of the cross at Kalavryta as the signal for a general rising of the Christian popu lation, the circumstances were highly favourable. In the Morea itself, in spite of plentiful warning, the Turks were wholly un prepared; while the bulk of the Ottoman army, under Kurshid Pasha, was engaged in the long task of reducing the intrepid Ali, pasha of Iannina (see ALT, Pasha of Iannina). Another factor, and that the determining one, soon came to the aid of the Greeks. In warfare carried on in such a country as Greece, sea-girt and with a coast deeply indented, inland without roads and intersected with rugged mountains, victory—as Wellington was quick to ob serve—must rest with the side that has command of the sea. This was assured to the insurgents at the outset by the revolt of the maritime communities of the Greek archipelago. The Greeks of the islands had been accustomed from time immemorial to seafaring ; their ships were well armed, to guard against the Barbary pirates and rovers of their own kin; lastly, they had furnished the bulk of the sailors to the Ottoman navy which, now that this recruiting ground was closed, had to be manned hastily with impressed crews of dock-labourers and peasants. The Turkish fleet, "adrift in the Archipelago"—as the British seamen put it— though greatly superior in tonnage and weight of metal, could never be a match for the Greek brigs, manned as these were by trained, if not disciplined, crews.

Outbreak of the Insurrection.

The war was begun by the Greeks without definite plan and without any generally recognized leadership. The force with which Germanos marched from Kalavryta against Patras was composed of peasants armed with scythes, clubs and slings, among whom the "primates" exercised a somewhat honorary authority. The town itself was destroyed, but the citadel remained in the hands of the Turks till 1828. Meanwhile, in the south, leaders of another stamp had appeared: Petros, bey of the Maina (q.v.) chief of the Mavromichales, who at the head of his clan attacked Kalamata and put the Mussul man inhabitants to the sword; and Kolokotrones, a notable brigand once in the service of the Ionian government, who—forti fied by a vision of the Virgin—captured Karytaena and slaugh tered its infidel population. Encouraged by these successes the revolt spread rapidly; within three weeks there was not a Mussul man left in the open country. The flames of revolt now spread across the Isthmus of Corinth : early in April the Christians of Dervenokhoria rose, and the whole of Boeotia and Attica quickly followed suit ; at the beginning of May the Mussulman inhabitants of Athens were blockaded in the Acropolis. In the Morea, mean while, a few Mussulman fortresses still held out. One by one they fell, and everywhere were repeated the same scenes of butchery. The horrors culminated in the capture of Tripolitsa, the capital of the vilayet. In September this was taken by storm ; Kolokotrones rode in triumph to the citadel over streets carpeted with the dead ; and the crowning triumph of the Cross was cele brated by a cold-blooded massacre of 2,000 prisoners of all ages and both sexes. This completed the success of the insurrection in the Morea, where only Patras, Nauplia, and one or two lesser fortresses remained to the Turks.

Meanwhile, north of the Isthmus, the fortunes of war had been less one-sided. In the west Khurshid's lieutenant, Omar Vrioni (a Mussulman Greek of the race of the Palaeologi), had inflicted a series of defeats on the insurgents, and relieved the Acropolis; but the rout of Mohammed Pasha, who was coming to his aid in the defile of Mount Oeta, forced him to retreat and the campaign of 1821 ended with the retirement of the Turks into Thessaly. The month of April had witnessed the revolt of the principal Greek islands, Spetsae, Psara, Hydra and Samos. Their fleets were divided into squadrons, of which one, under Tombazes, was deputed to watch for the entrance of the Ottomans into the archipelago, while the other under Andreas Miaoulis sailed to blockade Patras and watch the coasts of Epirus. At sea, as on land, the Greeks opened the campaign with hideous atrocities.

General Character of the War.

These inauspicious begin.

pings, indeed, set the whole tone of the war, which was frankly one of mutual extermination. On both sides the combatants were barbarians, without discipline or competent organization. At sea the Greeks rapidly developed into mere pirates, and even Miaoulis, for all his high character and courage, was often unable to prevent his captains from sailing home at critical moments, when pay or booty failed. On land the presence of a few edu cated Phanariots, such as Demetrios Ypsilanti or Alexander Mavrocordato, was powerless to inspire the rude hordes with any sense of order or of humanity in warfare ; while every lull in the fighting was the signal for internecine conflicts due to the rivalry of the leaders. Their cause, indeed, was helped more by the impolitic reprisals of the Turks than by the heroism of the insurgents. All Europe stood aghast at the news of the execution of the Patriarch Gregorios of Constantinople (April 22, 1821) and the wholesale massacres that followed. The cause of Greece was now that of Christendom, of the Catholic and Protestant West, as of the Orthodox East. European Liberalism, too, gagged and fettered under Metternich's "system," recognized in the Greeks the champions of its own cause; while even conservative statesmen, schooled in the memories of ancient Hellas, saw fn the struggle a fight of civilization against barbarism. This latter belief, which was, moreover, flattering to their vanity, the Greek leaders were astute enough to foster ; the propaganda of Adamantios Coraes (q.v.) had done its work; and wily brigands, like Odysseus of Ithaka, assuming the style and trappings of antiquity, posed as the champions of classic culture against the barbarian. All Europe, then, hailed with joy the exploit of Constantine Kanaris, who on the nigl t of June 18-19 succeeding in steering a fireship among the Turkish squadron off Scio, and burned its flagship.

Expedition of Dramali,

1822.—Meanwhile Sultan Mahmud, now wide awake to the danger, had been preparing for a syste matic effort to suppress the rising. The threatened breach with Russia had been avoided by Metternich's influence on the tsar Alexander; the death of Ali of Iannina had set free the army of Khurshid Pasha, who was charged with the task of reducing the Morea. In the spring of 1822 two Turkish armies advanced southwards: one, under Omar Vrioni, along the coast of western Hellas, the other, under Ali, pasha of Drama (Dramali), through Boeotia and Attica. Omar was held in check by the mud ramparts of Missolonghi; but Dramali crossed the Isthmus and with the over-confidence of a conquering barbarian advancea to the relief of the hard-pressed garrison of Nauplia. He crossed the perilous defile of Dervenaki unopposed; and at the news of his approach most of the members of the Greek Government assembled at Argos fled in panic terror. Demetrios Ypsilanti, however, with a few hundred men joined the Mainote Karayanni in the castle of Larissa, which crowns the acropolis of ancient Argos. This held Dramali in check, and gave Kolokotrones time to collect an army. The Turks, in the absence of the fleet which was to have brought them supplies, were forced to retreat (Aug. 6) ; the Greeks, inspired with new courage, awaited them in the pass of Dervenaki, where the undisciplined Ottoman host, thrown into confusion by an avalanche of boulders hurled upon them, was annihilated. In western Greece Omar Vrioni stoutly opposed and was forced to abandon the siege of Missolonghi and retire northwards.

Civil War Among the Greeks.

The victorious outcome of the year's fighting had a disastrous effect upon the Greeks. Their victories had been due mainly to the guerilla leaders; Mavrocor dato, whose character and antecedents had marked him out as the natural head of the new Greek state, in spite of his successful de fence of Missolonghi, had been discredited by failures elsewhere, and the Greeks thus learned to despise their civilized advisers and to underrate the importance of discipline. The temporary re moval of the common peril let loose all the sectional and personal jealousies and the year 1823 witnessed the first civil war between the Greek parties. These internecine feuds might easily have proved fatal to the cause of Greece. All semblance of discipline and cohesion had vanished from the Greek fleet. Had Khosrev, the new Ottoman admiral, been a man of enterprise, he might have regained the command of the sea and, with it, that of the whole situation. But the fate of his predecessor had filled him with a lively terror of Kanaris and his fireships ; he contented himself with a cruise round the coasts of Greece. On land the Turks gained some initial successes, but in the end the harassing tactics of the guerilla bands forced them back northwards. At the end of the year the Greeks were once more free to renew their internecine feuds. Just when these feuds were at their height, in January, 1824, the most famous of the Philhellenes who sacri ficed themselves for the cause of Greece, Lord Byron, arrived at Missolonghi. The year was destined to be a fateful one for the Greek cause. The large loans raised in Europe, while pro viding the Greeks with the sinews of war, provided them also with fresh material for strife. To the struggle for power was added a struggle for a share of this booty, and a second civil war broke out, Kolokotrones leading the attack on the forces of the Government. Early in 1825 the Government was victorious and Kolokotrones was in prison.

Intervention of Mehemet Ali.

A new and more terrible danger now threatened Greece. Sultan Mahmud, despairing of suppressing the insurrection by his own power, had reluctantly summoned to his aid Mehemet Ali, pasha of Egypt, whose well equipped fleet and disciplined army were now thrown into the scale against the Greeks. Crete, subdued a year previously, now became the base of operations against the Greeks. On June 19, the Egyp tian fleet, under Ibrahim. Pasha, sailed from Alexandria. Khosrev, too, emboldened by this new sense of support, ventured to sea, and although his attack on Samos was frustrated by Miaoulis's fireships, he succeeded in joining Ibrahim off Budrun; two inde cisive engagements followed with the united Greek fleet on Aug. 5 and io. The object of Ibrahim was to reach Suda Bay with his transports, which the Greeks should at all costs have pre vented. A first attempt was defeated by Miaoulis on November 16, but the Greek admiral was unable to keep his fleet together, thus leaving the sea unguarded. Ibrahim again set sail, and reached Suda without striking a blow. Here he completed his preparations and, on February 24, 1825, landed at Modon in the Morea with a force of 4,00o regular infantry and 50o cavalry. The rest followed, without the Greeks making any effort to inter cept them. The conditions of the war were now completely changed. The Greeks, who had been squandering the money pro vided by the loans, affected to despise the Egyptian invaders, but they were soon undeceived. Ibrahim had laid siege to Navarino, and after some delay a Greek force of some 7,00o very mixed men was sent to its relief. On April 19 they were met by Ibrahim at Krommydi with 2,000 regular infantry, 40o cavalry and four guns. The Greek entrenchments were stormed at the point of the bayonet by Ibrahim's fellahin at the first onset and the defenders broke and fled. The news of this disaster, and of the fall of Pylos and Navarino that followed, struck terror into the Greek Gov ernment ; and in answer to popular clamour Kolokotrones was taken from prison and placed at the head of the army. But his guerrilla tactics were powerless against Ibrahim, who marched northward, seized Tripolitsa and made this the base from which his columns marched to devastate the country far and wide.

Reshid "Kutahia" Besieges Missolonghi.

Meanwhile from the north the Ottomans were making another supreme effort. The command of the army that was to operate in west Hellas had been given to Reshid "Kutahia," pasha of Iannina, an able gen eral and a man of determined character. On April 6, after bribing the Albanian clansmen to neutrality, he passed the defile of Makrynoros, which the Greeks had left undefended, and May 7 opened the second siege of Missolonghi. For twelve months the population held out, repulsing the attacks of the enemy, refusing every offer of honourable capitulation. This resistance was ren dered possible by the Greek command of the sea, Miaoulis from time to time entering the lagoons with supplies ; it came to an end when this command was lost. In Sept. 1825 Ibrahim, at the order of the sultan, had joined Reshid before the town; piecemeal the outlying forts and defences now fell, until the garrison staked all on a final sortie. This took place on the night of April 22, 1826; but a mistaken order threw the ranks of the Greeks into disorder. The Turks entered the town pell-mell with the retreating crowd.

Karaiskakis.—The fall of Missolonghi, followed as this was by the submission of many of the more notable chiefs, left Reshid free to turn his attention to east Hellas, where Gouras had been ruling as a practically independent chief and in the spirit of a brigand. The peasants of the open country welcomed the Turks as deliverers and Reshid's conciliatory policy facili tated his march to Athens, which fell at the first assault on Aug. 25, siege being at once laid to the Acropolis, where Gouras and his troops had taken refuge. Round this the war now centered; for all recognized that its fall would involve that of the cause of Greece. In these straits the Greek Government entrusted the supreme command of the troops to Karaiskakis, an old retainer of Ali of Iannina, a master of the art of guerilla war, and, above all, a man of dauntless courage and devoted patriotism. A first at tempt to relieve the Acropolis, with the assistance of some dis ciplined troops under the French Col. Fabvier, was defeated at Chaidari by the Turks. The garrison of the Acropolis was hard pressed and the death of Gouras (October 13) would have ended all, had not his heroic wife taken over the command and inspired the defenders with new courage. For months the siege dragged on, while Karaiskakis fought with varying success in the moun tains, a final victory at Distomo (February 1827) over Omar Vrioni securing the restoration to the Greek cause of all conti nental Greece, except the towns which were actually held by the Turks.

Cochrane and Church.—It was at this juncture that the Greek Government, reinforced by a fresh loan from Europe, handed over the chief command at sea to Lord Cochrane (earl of Dundonald) and that of the land forces to General Church, both Miaoulis and Karaiskakis consenting to serve under them. Cochrane and Church at once concentrated their energies on the task of relieving the Acropolis. Already, on February 5, Gen. Gordon had landed and entrenched himself on the hill of Mu nychia, near the ancient Piraeus. When Church and Cochrane ar rived, a general assault on the Ottoman camp was decided on. This was preceded, on April 25, by an attack, headed by Cochrane, on the Turkish troops established near the monastery of St. Spiridion, the result of which was to establish communication between the Greeks at Munychia and Phalerum. The monastery held out for two days longer, when the Albanian garrison sur rendered on terms, but were massacred by the Greeks as they were marching away under escort. For this miserable crime Church has, by some historians, been held responsible by default ; it is clear, however, from his own account that no blame rests upon him (see his MS. Narrative, vol. i. chap. H. P. 34)• The as sault on the Turkish main camp was fixed for May 4; but, un fortunately, a chance skirmish brought on an engagement the day before, in the course of which Karaiskakis was killed, an ir reparable loss in view of his prestige with the wild armatoli. The assault on the following day was a disastrous failure. The Greeks, advancing prematurely over broken ground and in no sort of or der, were fallen upon in flank by Reshid's horsemen and fled in panic. Church held Munychia till the 27th, when he sent instruc tions for the garrison of the Acropolis to surrender. On June 5 the remnant of the defenders marched out with the honours of war, and continental Greece was once more in the power of the Turks. Had Reshid at once advanced over the Isthmus, the Morea also must have been subdued; but he was jealous of Ibra him and preferred to return to Iannina to consolidate his con quests.

Renewed Anarchy.—The fate of Greece was now in the hands of the Powers, who after years of diplomatic wrangling had at last realized that intervention was necessary if Greece was to be saved for European civilization. The worst enemy of the Greeks was their own incurable spirit of faction, and a third civil war had only been prevented by the arrival of Cochrane and Church. Under their influence a new National Assembly met at Troezene in March 1827 and elected as president Count Capo d' Istria (q.v.), formerly Russian minister for foreign affairs; at the same time a new constitution was promulgated which, when the very life of the insurrection seemed on the point of flickering out, set forth the full ideal of Pan-Hellenic dreams. Anarchy fol ol lowed; lowed; war of Rumeliotes against Moreotes, of chief against chief ; rival factions bombarded each other from the two forts at Naup lia over the stricken town, and in derision of the impotent govern ment. Finally, after months of inaction, Ibrahim began once more his systematic devastation of the country. To put a stop to this the Powers decided to intervene by means of a joint demon stration of their fleets, in order to enforce an armistice and corn pel Ibrahim to evacuate the Morea (Treaty of London, July 6, 1827). The refusal of Ibrahim to obey, without special instruc tion from the sultan, led to the entrance of the allied British, French and Russian fleet into the harbour of Navarino and the battle of October 20, 1827 (see NAVARINO). This, and the two campaigns of the Russo-Turkish War of 1828-29, decided the issue.