The Greek question was still unsettled. In 1826, the Greeks formally asked for the mediation of England. Canning's objection to intervening unasked having thus been removed, he invited the co-operation of Russia in making representations to the Porte which should be based on the protocol of St. Petersburg and suggested measures of coercion in case of refusal; to this the tsar consented. The coercion was to take the form of a pacific blockade of Morea, so as to force Ibrahim Pasha to evacuate the country by cutting off his supplies. Austria and Prussia, in the conference of the five Powers of the Grand Alliance in London in 1827, protested against coercion of the Porte for revolutionary purposes, and withdrew; but on the suggestion of France the protocol was made into a treaty, and as the Treaty of London was signed by the three Powers on July 6, 1827. By its public articles the Powers agreed to secure the autonomy of Greece under the suzerainty of the sultan without any breach of friendly relations with Turkey. But by additional secret articles it was agreed that in the event of the Porte not accepting the offered mediation, consuls should be established in Greece and an arm istice proposed to both belligerents and enforced by the Powers.
The armistice, accepted by the Greeks, was refused by Ibrahim Pasha, pending instructions from Constantinople, though he con sented to keep his ships in the harbour of Navarino. In the meantime the Greeks destroyed a Turkish flotilla off Salona and Ibrahim, taking this as a breach of the convention, set sail from Navarino northwards. The Russian and French fleets joined the British fleet at Navarino, and on Oct. 20 attacked the Turkish and Egyptian fleets and destroyed them (see NAVARINO, BATTLE oF). Turkey broke off diplomatic relations with the three Powers concerned, and the sultan issued a proclamation denouncing the cruelty and perfidy of the European Powers and summoning the Muslims to a holy war. Canning had died and England had gone back to her policy of preserving Ottoman integrity, so the struggle that followed was restricted to Russia and Turkey. Although Turkey was in the midst of confusion due to the destruction of the janissaries, and the new army was small and hardly formed, the resisting power of the Turks was raised to its utmost by the attitude of the Powers, and Russia had to fight two very hard and difficult campaigns before General Diebitsch could dictate terms of peace at Adrianople, Sept. 14, 1829. The Treaty of Adrianople between Turkey and Russia provided that the Danubian prin cipalities were to become practically independent ; that the dis tricts of Anapa and Poti were to be ceded to Russia; and the Greek question was to be settled according to the terms of the Protocol of March 22. But in order that Russia should not enjoy
the prestige of having emancipated Greece unaided, the other Powers decided to give further concessions to Greece, and this was expanded into the Treaty of London of May 7, 1832, by which Greece became an independent kingdom under the Bavarian prince Otto (see GREECE: History).
Turkey suffered a series of serious internal revolts after the reverses had reduced her prestige. Bosnia and Albania revolted. In 183o the French occupied Algiers. Mohammed Ali Pasha, the governor of Egypt, was found to have intrigued in the revolt of Albania and in Damascus. He was recalled and replied by open revolt, sending his army under his son Ibrahim Pasha to invade Syria. Mohammed Ali Pasha's hope was to seize the Sultanate and to start a new dynasty—a hope which seemed, feasible when, after capturing Damascus and Aleppo and de feating the Turkish army in Konia, Ibrahim invaded Kutahia. As France was supporting Egypt, Turkey endeavoured to draw England into an alliance against Egypt. Palmerston refused in spite of the efforts of Stratford Canning, and Mahmoud II. in desperation asked for help from Russia. The Treaty of Unkiar Skelessi was signed July 8, 1833, and the Russian army came to the Bosporus to help the Turks against the Egyptian army, which was now threatening to march on the capital. England and France, suspicious of a Russian army at the gates of Constantinople, now mediated. They forced Mohammed Ali to stop the march of the Egyptian army, and made the sultan accord the hereditary governorships of Adana, Crete, Tripoli and Damascus to Moham med Ali, which put a temporary end to the war. The Treaty of Unkiar Skelessi had included clauses which permitted Russian warships to pass through the Straits, and to land troops if neces sary, and which closed the Straits to warships of all the other Powers, clauses which seemed to place Turkey in the power of Russia. After securing peace under these humiliating conditions Mahmoud once more began to prepare his army while Mohammed Ali increased his with recruits from the provinces which had been given him. In 1839 Mahmoud sent a Turkish army against the Egyptians in Syria, but was badly beaten by the forces of Ibrahim Pasha at Nezib in the north of Syria. Mahmoud died in Constan tinople while the battle was actually in progress (July 23, 1839). Mahmoud II.'s reign opened seriously the period of Westerniza tion in Turkey. In addition to the army reforms already men tioned, the medical school was opened by experts from Europe, and the civil service was set on foot on a modern basis. A number of students were sent to Europe for the first time, a newspaper and the first official printing press were established. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of the Interior were organized, as well as the Ministry of Public Works and the supreme council of legal affairs. The naval and military schools and the school of engineering founded by Selim III. were reorganized, and in 1838 a council of public instruction was formed. The basis of compulsory elementary education was laid down by a royal proclamation which forbade children who had had no elementary education to take up any craft. And the Pious Foundations were unified and organized into a Ministry.