Lecture 4

Outbreak of the Greek Revolution

I. Revolt of Ali Pasha

A. Ali Pasha, the "Lion of Ioannina" was an Albanian warlord who gained control of most of Epiros (northwestern Greece & modern Albania).

1. He was a ruthless warrior and oppressed and murdered his enemies, Christian and Muslim alike.

2. By 1819 Ali Pasha was in open revolt against Sultan Mamoud

B. Ali made overtures to the Filiki Etaireia and he even hoped to approach the tsar through this route. IN the end this was unsuccessful and Ali tried to use the threat of the Etaireia as a means to gain the support of the Porte. This too failed.

1. In 1820 Ottoman troops moved against Ali and his sons.

2. Alexander Ypsilantis noted this and ordered Kolokotronis to encourage and the Souliots to create disturbances at the same time.

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II. War in the Principalities

A. Alexander Ypsilantis wanted to begin a revolt as soon as possible, while the Ottomans were occupied with Ali Pasha.

1. His plan was to rely on support for the Etaireia in Serbia and Bulgaria and to move rapidly to Thrace, Macedonia, Epiros, and--above all--the Peloponnesos.

2. This was in the autumn of 182

3. Preparations lagged in the Peloponnesos and Ypsilantis was forced to delay his plans.

4. Ypsilantis decided to begin the war with an invasion of the Principalities (essentially modern Romania).

a. This would provide a diversion for the main revolt in the Peloponnesos.

b. He sought to urge to Ottomans to cross the Danube, in violation of treaties with Russia.

5. On 5 March 1821 Ypsilantis crossed into the Principalites and began the revolt.

a. He had an army of 4,500 men, including 700 Greek students who made up the "Sacred Band."

b. His artillery was comprised of four cannons!

B. Course of the war.

1. There was no cooperation with the Rumanian rebels.

2. The tsar and the patriarch condemned Ypsilantis.

3. The Ottomans resisted and Ypsilantis troops were disunited.

4. Ypsilantis decided to make a stand at Dragatsani.

  1. The Sacred Band was annihilated and the revolt was at an end.
  2. Ypsilantis crossed into Austria where, despite a safe conduct, he was thrown into prison and held for 7 years until he died (the Austro-Hungarian Empire was not at all sympathetic to revolutionary causes, for obvious reasons).
  3. Ypsilantis’ last consolation was hearing the news that Kapodistrias had been named the first governor of an independent Greece.

5. Some of Ypsilants’ subordinates hold out longer, forcing the Turks to keep large numbers of troops in the Principalities

a. Olympios held the monastery of Sekoul, where he and his men blew themselves up.

           b. Farmakis surrendered on a cease-fire, but he was tortured and executed.

"Thus perished two of the great sons of the Greek nation; and thus ended a campaign ill prepared and ill conducted from the outset, redeemed only by the outstanding but almost futile heroism of hardened chiefs and of unseasoned youg idealists. Ipsilantis had lived in a world of fantasy. None of the things on which he had counted had come to fruition: there was no attack on Constantinople, no help from Russia, no assistance from Vladimirescu, and no widespread support from the Serbs and Bulgarians." Dakin, p. 39

III. Revolt in the Morea (Peloponnesos)

A. Demetrios Ypsilantis, brother of Alexander, had been given the military command of the Etaireia in the Peloponnesos.

B. Many of the Greeks felt that if they acted and provoked the Turks, then the Russians would intervene.

  1. Murder of Turks began as early as 19 March (Old Style, 30 March in the Gregorian calendar).
  2. On 22 March (April 2) the Mani rose and on the next day Petrobey Mavromichalis laid siege to Kalamata.
  3. The best known event in the revolt was when Germanos, Archbishop of Patras, raised the standard of revolt at Agia Lavra near Kalavryta on 25 March 1821 (April 5).
  4. The islands of Hydra, Spetses, Psara revolted soon thereafter.
  5. The Greeks quickly took many of the fortresses of the Peloponnesos, since they were not well defended. No less that 15,000 Turks perished.

C. Revolts in the North and in Asia Minor were unsuccessful.

  1. The Turks put these down with considerable savagery.
  2. Massacres took place in Constantinople, Psara, Chios, and many of the cities of Asia Minor.
  3. These revolts did, however, occupy Turkish troops.

D. In the Morea operations centered around the fortresses that remained in Ottoman hands.

  1. Monemvasia and Navarino (Pylos) soon fell.
  2. There was a great battle for Tripolitsa (Tripoli).

    a. Demetrios Ypsilantis commanded 12,000 troops.

    b. The kelfts—especially Kolokotronis and Petrobey—wanted to get the booty in the city, so they persuaded Ypsilantis to go elsewhere.

    c. Tripolitsa fell to the Greeks and at least 8,000 people were massacred. "It is often said that had greater clemency been shown, the Greeks could have arranged for the capitulation of most other towns." Dakin, p. 42

E. The Initial Turkish Response.

  1. Ali Pasha and the Russians were regarded as the main dangers.
  2. There were massacres in Thessaloniki, Asia Minor, and Constantinople, and the patriarch Gregory V was murdered, but the Sultan sought to restrain these excesses. He did not want to give the Russians an excuse to intervene.
  3. Ali Pasha and the Greeks made an alliance, but this had little practical effect.
  4. Khursid Pasha sent against Ali Pasha and on 5 February 1822 Ali was killed.
  5. Until this time the Otttoman state had not been able to devote any energy to putting down the Greek revolt.

 

For a detailed narrative of the Revolution, go to http://www.lib.msu.edu/sowards

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