London Protocols on Greece

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The London Protocols to Greece dealt with the creation of a Hellenic state. In the first London Protocol of March 22, 1829, the boundaries of the new state of Greece were set in a paper by three major European powers . In the years 1830 and 1832, modifications of the joint agreements were made in further protocols, also after coordination with the Ottoman Empire .

prehistory

After the outbreak of the Greek Revolution , the great powers had to deal with the situation in the southern Balkans . While the Holy Alliance was originally opposed to the Greeks' desire for freedom, the attitude of Great Britain, France and Russia changed after a long time. The successful intervention of Egyptian auxiliary troops under Muhammad Ali Pasha in the Balkans and at sea for the benefit of the Ottoman Empire made a suppression of the uprising likely. Great power interests, but also known atrocities of war, led to a change of mood in Europe, and philhellenes such as Lord Byron supported the Greeks in their struggle for a state of their own.

On July 6, 1827, Great Britain, France and Russia agreed in the London Treaty on an intervention in favor of the Greek revolutionaries and asked for an armistice, which was rejected by the Ottoman side. The following naval battle at Navarino on October 20, 1827 put the fleet of the Ottoman Empire as good as out of action. The Sultan was also forced to withdraw the majority of his army units from Greece because the Russians were advancing overland to Constantinople in 1828 due to the outbreak of the Russo-Turkish War . A defeat on the Turkish side, which was gradually becoming apparent, led the Allies to consider how things should continue in the region.

Protocol of 1829

The representatives of Great Britain, Russia and France - Foreign Minister George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen , Envoy Christoph von Lieven and Jules de Polignac  - signed the London Protocol on March 22, 1829 with the results of the talks. The regions of Central Greece, the Peloponnese and the Cyclades were declared an independent state of Greece. Its border should then run from the Gulf of Arta in the west to the Gulf of Volos in the east. For the new state an annual tribute of 1.5 million Turkish piasters was planned to the Sultan, under whose suzerainty he would remain. A Christian prince should receive Greece as a fief from the Sultan and the first election of the ruler should be made by the three powers and the Sublime Porte together.

Further course

However, the Greek President Ioannis Kapodistrias refused to comply with the request to lift all Greek blockades except the area of Morea and the Cyclades and to withdraw the Greek corps from Livadia , Epirus and Attica . The military advance of the Russians to Adrianople came to the aid of the Greeks and suddenly changed the situation. Russia ignored British concerns about a weakening of the gate and forced the Ottoman Empire in the Peace of Adrianople on September 14, 1829 to give advance approval to the amendment of the London Treaty. The defeated opponent of the war effectively recognized the future independence of Greece.

Protocol from 1830

In the London Protocol of February 3, 1830, the provisions were changed so that Greece should form a completely independent and tribute-free state under its own king. A line running west from the outflow of the Aspropotamos via Vrachori to the Gulf of Malia was determined as its northern limit ; Also Euboea , the Cyclades and the island of Skyros should belong to Greece. Furthermore, the crown of Greece was offered to Prince Leopold von Sachsen-Coburg , who, however, renounced the crown and instead became King of the Belgians .

Protocol from 1832

Kingdom of Greece 1832 (dark blue)

The territories were established a few months later, in the London Protocol of August 18th July. / August 30, 1832 greg. , again specified by the three protecting powers. The new state of Greece now included the Peloponnese peninsula and a few nearby islands, the mainland south of the Gulf of Arta to the Gulf of Volos , the island of Evia, the Cyclades and the Northern Sporades .

Thessaly , Epirus, Macedonia , Crete and most of the islands were under the sovereignty of the Ottoman Empire .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.gautschy.ch/~rita/archaeologie/antikenrez.html

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