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Part 65: A Shining Star in a Stormy Sky


One country that was spared much of the hardship and heartache of the 1848 Revolutions was the small Mediterranean Kingdom of Greece. Unlike much of Europe, Greece was a relatively liberal state for its time; it was adorned with a fully functioning constitution, a moderately liberal monarch in King Leopold, a democratically elected chamber of Parliament in the Vouli, a (mostly) free press, and a semblance of economic freedom and upward mobility for all Greeks in the years leading up to 1848. Greece also enjoyed a degree of political stability and unity in the years following its War for Independence as King Leopold and Prime Minister Ioannis Kapodistrias would strive to form broad consensuses with other parties on most legislative initiatives during this period. Sadly, this era of good feelings would not last forever as repeated crop failures and the collapse of the French economy would send Greece, along with the rest of Europe into a terrible recession beginning in late 1845/early 1846. Although Greece would weather these turbulent storms better than most, social unrest quickly followed these developments bringing an end to the political détente which had ruled Greece since 1830.

The ruling Kapodistriakoi would bear the brunt of this displeasure as they lost 16 of their 57 seats in the 1845 National Elections, forcing then Prime Minister Andreas Metaxas into an early retirement. This in turn would cause the party to essentially collapse as its’ former members became divided among its peers. In their place emerged the Liberal Party (Fileléfthero kómma) of Alexandros Mavrokordatos who championed tax reform, lower tariffs on trade, electoral reforms, and closer relations with Britain among several other policies. Due in part to their strong support among the merchant class and the political elites of Greek society, as well as Mavrokordatos’ generally good relationship with King Leopold; Alexandros Mavrokordatos was appointed as the Third Prime Minister of Greece in mid-January of 1846.

However, as the Liberals lacked a majority of seats in the Vouli with only 24, a coalition was made necessary with the remaining members of the Kapodistriakoi, now branding themselves as the People’s Party (Laïkó Kómma) under Panos Kolokotronis and Constantine Kanaris. While they would retain many of progressive and populist platforms of Ioannis Kapodistrias, they would also emphasize more conservative policy positions on various issues, giving the party a more traditionalist flair compared to its predecessor. In return for their support for Mavrokordatos’ new Government, Panos Kolokotronis and Constantine Kanaris would retain their previous posts as Minister of the Army and Minister of the Navy respectively, while several of their allies would be appointed to other key posts in the new administration as well. Unfortunately, this situation would not bring the desired political stability that had been hoped for by King Leopold and Alexandros Mavrokordatos as the third major player in Greek politics, Ioannis Kolettis and his Nationalist Party (Ethnikistikó Kómma) clamored for an increased portfolio within the new administration.

Of the three major parties in Greek Politics at the time, the Nationalist Party held the most seats in the Vouli with 43; they had originally possessed 37 seats after the 1845 Elections although this number quickly grew when the Kapodistriakoi collapsed prompting several former members to caucus with the Nationalist Party. Among other things, the Nationalist Party had gained a strong following in Central Greece by advocating for the expansion of the Greek state to include all lands inhabited by Greeks. They also called for closer relations with France, the empowerment of the Legislature at the expense of the monarchy, and extensive land reform and labor reform. For these reasons, along with King Leopold's and Alexandros Mavrokordatos’ personal distaste for Ioannis Kolletis, the Nationalists were essentially barred from positions of power within the Mavrokordatos Ministry.

Suffice to say, this arrangement did not sit well with the Nationalist politicians and their supporters within the government and the media around the country. They routinely used their numbers in the Vouli to oppose the Mavrokordatos Ministry; they filibustered key votes on crucial legislative initiatives, they slow rolled the appointment of various judges and ministers, and they would even disrupt ceremonial procedures within the Vouli just to prove a point. One particularly notorious example would see the former Strategos Yannis Makriyannis speak on the floor of the Vouli more than 15 hours just to filibuster a simple vote on the naming of a post office in Amfissa. Another case would see the renowned soldier and much admired leader of the War for Independence, Vasos Mavrovouniotis use his prerogative as the ranking member of the Vouli's Military Affairs Committee to delay key procedural votes on various funding bills and modernization efforts through the use of archaic rules and bombastic speeches. Displays like these would ultimately ground the Legislator to a halt on all but the most important measures thanks to the intransigence of Ioannis Kolettis. Meanwhile, their supporters in the press - of which there were many – routinely attacked the Mavrokordatos Government for its failings in resolving the chronic economic crises that were afflicting Greece throughout the mid-1840’s. Tensions would ultimately come to a head when the neighboring Ionian Islands burst into revolt against the British in early 1848.

Calling for Enosis with the Kingdom of Greece, the Eptanesian protestors quickly seized control of the islands of Paxi, Ithaca, and Lefkada, while sporadic riots on Corfu, Zakynthos, Cephalonia, and Kythira nearly overwhelmed the meager British garrison on the islands. Unfortunately for the Eptanesians, the British authorities were not completely overwhelmed and once they regrouped, they began a ruthless campaign to re-subjugate each of the Ionian Islands one after the other. While they would eventually succeed in restoring British control over all the islands, they would not succeed in quenching the violence as unrest continued to simmer for weeks on end leading to an unfortunately high number of casualties among the protestors. As a result, many dozens were killed, hundreds more were imprisoned, and an untold number were forced to flee the islands or face continued persecution. The overly harsh nature of the British response would however spark tremendous outrage in the neighboring Kingdom of Greece leading many thousands of Nationalist voters to march on the British Embassy in Athens demanding justice. Demonstrations would carry on for days on end outside the British Consulate, before spreading to the Hellenic Parliament Building and the Royal Palace as the protestors demanded a response from their government.


The situation in the Ionian Islands presented a serious problem for the Anglophilic King Leopold and Alexandros Mavrokordatos who had both gone to great lengths to shore up the Greco-British Relations over the years, to the point where Britain had become Greece's chief ally, trading partner, and benefactor. However, this heavy-handed response against Ionian civilians, against ethnic Greeks was simply indefensible by any measure, forcing the Greek Government to issue a diplomatic objection to London, denouncing their use of force against the people of the Ionian Islands. Surprisingly, no meaningful response would initially come from this Greek missive as the British Government was occupied with more important matters, namely the ongoing war against Persia, the war in the Low Countries, and the burgeoning revolt in Ireland which occupied the majority of their efforts throughout much of 1848. But as the situation on the Ionian Islands continued to fester unresolved, Sir Robert Peel’s government was finally forced to take action on the matter in late Summer.

Writing to the High Commissioner of the Ionian Islands, Baron Seaton, Peel ordered him to settle the matter with the Eptanesians forthwith and by whatever means necessary as Her Majesty's Government did not wish to deal with yet another crisis at the moment. Moreover, Peel informed Seaton that given the low priority of his post in comparison to Belgium, Persia, and Ireland, he could expect little aid in the immediate future. The message was clear, Seaton was being ordered to pursue other, more peaceful methods of ending the violence on the islands rather than continuing to use force. On the 26th of August, Baron Seaton announced a general amnesty for all dissidents involved in the revolt with all those arrested going free. Additionally, those newspapers which had been shuttered under martial law were now allowed to be reopened and exiled Eptanesians were permitted to return home without fear of persecution or imprisonment. While Baron Seaton's amnesty would bring an end to much of the ongoing violence, it would not effectively resolve the preexisting issues that had sparked the revolt in the first place, namely a growing desire on the part of the Eptanesians for Enosis with the Kingdom of Greece.

While, the situation on the Ionian Islands would temporarily settle down, the unrest in Greece was only starting as other groups of agitators and activists would try to take advantage of the demonstrations in Athens to push their own agendas, including members of Prime Minister Alexandros Mavrokordatos' own party who pushed for extensive electoral reforms. Although the Liberals pushed for a broad swath of changes and reforms ranging from expansion of the Vouli to the abolishment of the Senate; the most heated issue of contention by far was the hated 10 Drachma (₯) poll tax, with many calling for its reduction or total elimination.

For the average laborer in Greece, 10 Drachma represented a sizeable percentage of a single month’s earnings making it a relatively expensive tax for the average man in Greece at the time.[1] Many believed that the tax had been imposed as a means of prohibiting the poor from voting as they could not easily afford this high cost to vote. Whether it was intended to do so or not, the end result was the same; those who could not afford to pay the tax could not vote, while those who could, did. Many would even consider the Poll tax to be a violation of the 1831 Constitution which proscribed suffrage as a universal right for all male citizens with no clauses pertaining to their wealth or office. Several activists and lawyers would argue that any effort to impede or otherwise disenfranchise lawful citizens of their right to vote represented an illegal act, an act which they claimed the Poll tax to be.

The Poll taxes’ various proponents defended the payment of the fee as a noble sacrifice in the pursuit of democracy, that ensured voters were making an investment in the direction of the state. Others described it as a necessary evil meant to help finance the entire election process which were certainly expensive enterprises. However, while some funds collected did pay for the hosting of elections and the staging of debates between candidates, most funds found their way into the Government’s general fund and were spent on other things unrelated to the election process. Ultimately, the Vouli agreed, rather quickly and quietly, that the Poll Tax should be reduced from 10 Drachma to 5 and that it would only be imposed for National Elections.

Another often overlooked reform passed by the Vouli in early 1848 regarded the National Bank of Greece, which was accused of prejudice against poor farmers and entrepreneurs. According to various editorials at the time, the Bank had been repeatedly rejecting requests for loans by small sustenance farmers and small business owners to expand their enterprises or modernize their equipment. Other accounts depict ridiculously high rates of interest on the loans they did receive, with some rates being as high as 25% in a few rare cases. Larger plantations and wealthy merchants, however, were not subject to the same high interest rates of their smaller counterparts and were, more often than not provided generous loans without much time or effort. The apparent discrimination of the Bank against poor borrowers was not something that the Government could stand by and watch, and so new regulations were imposed upon the Bank requiring it to provide loans to all interested parties regardless of wealth or property. Additionally, interest rates were to be fixed at one equal rate for all borrowers, rather than a set of differing rates for different individuals.

The final set of reforms adopted by the Greek Government in the Spring of 1848 regarded the Government’s regulation of the press. Henceforth, the restrictions on the media’s coverage of the Church, the Royal Family, and the Government were lifted making the Greek Press a truly free press. Other efforts by the activists to diminish King Leopold’s constitutional powers met with very little success however, as the King jealously guarded his prerogative against any challengers, while the radical demands to abolish the monarchy and empower the office of the Prime Minister met with little success as well. Eventually, with the Poll tax lowered, the restrictions on the press lifted, and the National Bank regulated the protests came to end for a time. However, as 1848 wore on this began to change as boatloads of refugees started to land on Greece's shores.


The first to arrive in the Fall of 1848 were a few hundred Moldavians who fled to the Kingdom of Greece after the failure of the revolutions in their homeland in late October. They were joined a few months later by the arrival of several thousand Vlach, Neapolitan, and Sicilian refugees after the collapse of the Wallachian Revolution in January 1849 at the hands of the Russian and Ottoman Empires, and the failure of the Sicilian Revolution in late April 1849 following the re-imposition of Bourbon rule over the island of Sicily. The next few months and years would also see a number of Poles, Hungarians, and Czechs journey to Greece seeking to escape the conflict and oppression in their home countries, while a small number of French liberals would travel to Greece out of contempt for the new Bonapartist regime. Of all the peoples to travel to Greece in 1848 and 1849, the most numerous group of new arrivals were by far the Germans who landed in Greek ports by the thousands.

Generally referred to as the Forty Niners (49ers), or Sarantaenniarides in Greece, these migrants were comprised mostly of former German revolutionaries from Baden, Bavaria, and Schleswig-Holstein who fled abroad after the failure of their uprisings in their home states. Most traveled to other, more liberal states within the German Empire like Hesse and Frankfurt, while others would choose to travel abroad to the Americas or British Australia. Some would go to Switzerland and Italy, while some went to France and Great Britain. Most surprisingly of all, a few thousand would make the journey to the small Mediterranean Kingdom of Greece owing to its liberal constitution, its democratic system of government, and its free press; Greece's vibrant culture and ancient wonders were certainly a major draw to many as well.

Some of those who traveled to Greece sought to enjoy its liberal system of government and free press which enabled them to promote and practice their political views without fear of persecution. Most however, were simply poor peasants and laborers who had unfortunately joined the losing side in these uprisings and now sought to escape the reach of the vengeful victors. Others came to Greece seeking land and work as many thousands had lost their homes, their property, and their very livelihoods thanks to the Revolutions, and while land was generally in short supply, work was not thanks to the booming shipping industry and expanding industrial sector. All told, some 38,000 men, women, and child would settle in Greece, either permanently or temporarily between 1848 and 1860 as a result of the 1848 Revolutions and the fallout that ensued.[2]

While Greece had attracted a few hundred Philhellenes, historians, archaeologies, artists, and romanticists to its shores in years past, the arrival of such a large host of people in Greece over such a short period of time would prove to be quite disruptive to the young Kingdom. Many thousands were penniless beggars carrying with them little more than the shirts on their backs, others possessed radical agendas which proved troublesome for the Greek Government, and while none of them were particularly notorious criminals or radicals, there were numerous dissidents and former soldiers in their ranks. Most of the men in fact, had actively taken up arms against their regional lords and monarchs only a short while ago, before they were forced to flight by the resurgent Conservatives posing a slight concern to the Greek Government.

Nevertheless, every effort was taken to house and feed these refugees at a great expense to the Greek Government initially, however, over time their services to the Greek state would prove enormous. Among their number were several hundred engineers and architects, artisans and artists, doctors and professors who quickly found work in Greece, building roads and bridges, creating works of art and composing symphonies, treating the sick, and teaching the young. They would also provide a much-needed boost to Greece’s nascent industrial sector, its media industry, the Greek Military, and the Hellenic Socialist party which rapidly grew from a small clique of fringe activists and intellectuals to a few thousand supporters by the start of 1850.


Aside from the financial cost to care for the refugees, the language and religious difference of the Sarántaenniarides also posed a signifanct issue for the Greek Government. Many were Protestant Germans or Catholic Italians with little understanding of the Greek language or Greek Culture. Although most intellectuals were well read on the history and works of Ancient Greece, nearly all of them were ignorant of the modern nation state and its people aside from what they had been told in the often glamorized and highly inaccurate accounts of the Greek War for Independence found in their local newspapers. Efforts to accommodate these religious and cultural differences would meet with some trouble on occasion as various groups of migrants accidentally provoked violent altercations with their new Greek neighbors after committing various gaffes and faux pas.

The most alarming incident would come about following an attempt by several refugees to establish a Catholic church in Athens, which provoked public outrage throughout the Spring of 1850. Over the course of April and May 1850, several hundred Orthodox priests, parishioners and devout practitioners demonstrated outside the proposed sight of the church on the west side of the city, denouncing the papists and their plots to subjugate the Greek Church. The protests would fortunately remain relatively peaceful for their entire duration, outside of a few minor incidents by a few violent agitators. Generally, though, these refugees were welcomed with open arms by the people of Greece whose hospitality was exemplary. Even the poorest of households in Greece considering it their duty and their honor to be gracious and generous hosts to those in need.

Over time a few of the Sarántaenniarides would choose to leave Greece for other lands and other opportunities, but the vast majority would choose to stay with most settling in and around Athens, Crete, and the Peloponnese. A particularly large group of Germans, now known in posterity as the Morean Germans, would settle in the cities of Tripolitsa, Kalamata, and Sparta where they would manage to retain trace elements of their language and culture to this day. Many of the other Forty Niners in Greece, particularly those from smaller groups, however, would eventually assimilate into their local community, adopting the Greek language and Greek customs in the span of a few generations, with only their Hellenized family names providing any insight into their foreign origin. Despite this, the Sarántaenniarides would have a few lasting effects on Greek culture as well, namely the popularization of the Christmas Tree in Greece, the translation of various literary works into Greek, and the introduction of a few foreign dishes into the Greek culinary menu among several other innovations and developments. There would be other political repercussions for their arrival in Greece however.

The stream of refugees journeying to Greece in 1848, quickly grew into a flood by late 1849 as nearly one thousand people arrived on Greece's shores every month, before reaching its peak of nearly 2,500 men, women, and children in July of 1849 alone. While this number would quickly subside to a few hundred by the end of the year, the damage had been done as this coincided perfectly with the 1849 National Elections. Sadly, some concerns had begun to mount of a growing erosion of Greek culture as wave after wave of foreigners came to their lands in steadily increasing numbers with apparent end in sight. Many Greeks openly disagreed with the Mavrokordatos Government's handling of the situation, which combined with the sudden resurgence of unrest on the Ionian Islands earlier that Summer and the subsequent British reprisals against the Eptanesians served to greatly undermine the Liberal Party and their coalition partners during that year's elections.

Ioannis Kolettis and his Nationalists, would deftly take advantage of their rival's weaknesses by stoking the fears of the people. Their anti-Turkic policy positions and support for Greek communities beyond the borders of the Kingdom of Greece also aided his cause to great effect as the Mavrokordatos Government had done little to help the Greeks beyond their borders, while kowtowing to foreign interests. This fear mongering would succeed for when election day finally arrived, the Nationalists won an easy victory, securing 53 seats in the Vouli out of 94, while the remaining 41 were largely divided between the Liberals (18 seats) and the People's Party (23 seats).

King Leopold would at first attempt to retain Alexandros Mavrokordatos as Prime Minister of a new minority Government, but recognizing that the new political environment would be disadvantageous to him, Mavrokordatos politely declined the King's offer. Leopold would then offer the position to his good friend and confidant, Panos Kolokotronis. Yet in spite of Kolokotronis' deep seated interest in the office, he would similarly decline the position and instead proposed his ally Constantine Kanaris for the office instead given his cordial relations with many of the Nationalists. Kanaris would accept the role when the King asked him, but when he attempted to form a government, he discovered to his dismay that any government he created would be largely impotent, and solely reliant upon the support of the Nationalists. This situation quickly proved untenable and Kanaris was forced to resign after little more than a month in office. This situation would continue for several more weeks, before King Leopold, under pressure from both the right and the left approached Ioannis Kolettis. Despite their differences in policy and their personal disagreements, Kolettis graciously accepted the King's offer to become the 5th Prime Minister of Greece.


The Kolettis Ministry would prove to be a rather divisive, if productive Premiership as it would see several important pieces of legislation come to the fore. In response to the recent waves of refugees, Kolettis and the Nationalists, along with some Liberals and Conservatives, passed into law several laws reaffirming Greek as the official language of the Greek Government and Greek Orthodoxy was recognized as the preeminent religion of the Kingdom of Greece. This would spur something of a controversy when several Liberal Representatives attempted to propose establishing Demotic Greek as the official language of the Greek state instead of Katharevousa Greek. This proposal was quickly shouted down by several of their peers who viciously chased the offending legislators from the Parliament building altogether, bringing an end to the debate. The Nationalists would also sponsor legislation providing a modest increase to the funding the Church of Greece received from the Government to assist it in the fulfillment of its responsibilities. Aside from this however, the Kolettis Ministry would prove to be surprisingly welcoming to the new immigrants and even encouraged it in some instances especially when the refugees in question possessed skills or practiced trades that were of value to Greece.

Other areas of importance for the Greek Government under Ioannis Kolettis regarded land reform, education reform, and electoral reform. The National Land Cadastre was reopened by the Kolettis Ministry and subsequently empowered to purchase land from prospective sellers and distribute it to willing buyers. The University of Athens was endowed with several hundred thousand Drachma by the Greek Government to provide financial assistance to needy students, as well as those who exhibit particular worth or merit as scholars. Following the completion of the 1850 Census which returned a new total population of 1,366,551 people for Greece, Ioannis Kolettis supported the expansion of the Vouli from 94 members to 136. The measure proved immensely popular amongst all the parties and was passed without much delay. Once complete, Kolettis then called for snap elections to fill the new vacant seats and to no one's surprise, the final vote was in his favor with 81 seats for the Nationalists, 30 for the People's Party, 23 for the Liberal Party, 1 seat for the new Socialist Party, and 1 Independent Representative who caucused with the Nationalists.

The final major policy of the Kolettis Government regarded the office of the Prime Minister itself. For years, the Prime Minister had been appointed at the discretion of the King, regardless of which party ruled in the Vouli. Most recently, King Leopold had appointed Alexandros Mavrokordatos and Constantine Kanaris to the post despite possessing less seats than the Nationalist Party. Ioannis Kolettis set out to change this, and enacted the "Dedilomeni Principle", an unspoken rule between the Legislature and the Crown, which would oblige the King to appoint Ministers from the plurality party in the Vouli. Surprisingly, the measure found a degree of support among the Liberals in the Vouli who also championed the initiative, pushing it beyond the 2/3rds majority threshold needed to overcome King Leopold's veto threats. Despite King Leopold's resistance to such an act, the Crown would eventually consent to the endeavor once an amendment was attached to the bill enabling the King to still pick his Premier from among the ranking members of the party in power, rather than its leading member providing the Monarch with a degree of flexibility in regards to his choice of Prime Minister.

For the Kingdom of Greece, the Revolutions of 1848 would come and go without much controversy. The various protests in March and April of 1848 had been effectively dealt with and a potential crisis had been averted. While the arrival of many thousands of refugees and immigrants would prove to be a concern in 1849, by 1850 the situation had settled down once again bringing peace to the land. When that year’s Independence Day celebrations arrived on the 25th of March, the streets of Athens were filled with jubilant crowds, spectacular fireworks shows, competitions, boat races, and feasting. Despite the tension of the previous year, Athens was aflutter with activity as honored guests, foreign dignitaries, and prominent politicians gathered to witness the spectacle of the day. Singers sang their songs, musicians played their instruments, dancers danced, actors acted, and the people celebrated as the remaining veterans of the War for Independence paraded through the city like conquering heroes. The greatest spectacle of all was reserved for the King.


Departing from the royal palace on the Eastern edge of Athens, King Leopold, his eldest son Prince Constantine, and his younger son Prince Alexander rode around the entire circumference of the city before making their way back to Syntagma Square at the head of their guard in a brilliant spectacle of pomp and circumstance. This day was a good day for Leopold. As the great crowned heads of Europe now cowered and cowed, Leopold stood tall and proud for he had succeeded where others did not. The parvenu dynasty of a parvenu state had endured while the ancient houses of Orleans, Wittlesbach, and Hapsburg struggled to survive. Whereas the streets of Paris and Vienna were filled with barricades and the blood of their people, the streets of Athens were filled with confetti and flower petals, music and merriment, joyous celebration and raucous revelry. When the King’s procession finally entered the plaza at the end of their long parade, the crowd erupted into celebration, a celebration which would continue well into the night, a celebration that would be remembered for many years to come.

While the Kingdom of Greece was generally at peace over the course of 1848 and 1849, the same can not be said of its people as several hundred Greek citizens journeyed abroad to aid in the struggle for liberty. Many hundreds went to the Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia to aid them in their revolts against the Ottomans and Russians, with a few dozen even taking part in the last, desperate stand by the revolutionaries at Targoviste. Others would make the short voyage across the Ionian sea to the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies where they would aid in the failed revolution there. Finally, several hundred men would travel to the Po river valley where they would fight alongside the Lombard Revolutionaries and the Sardinian army against the hated Austrian Empire.

Next Time: Risorgimento

[1] Unfortunately, I don’t have any specific sources detailing what the typical Greek laborer's wages were in the 19th Century in OTL, but I can make a generalization based on British wages around the same time for equivalent professions. The people most likely effected by a Poll tax would be unskilled to low skilled laborers. The average British worker made about 30 to 40£ a year around 1850 for a low skilled laborer job or equivalent occupation. Based on this the average Greek laborer would make somewhere around 830 to 1110 Drachma per year at an exchange rate of 27.8 Drachma to 1 Pound Sterling. However, Greece being a much poorer country than 19th Century Britain and having a much lower cost of living, this wage would likely be a good bit lower even with the changes ITTL. so while, 10₯ defiantly wouldn’t bankrupt the average voter, it would still be an unnecessarily high fee for many voters to stomach just to be able to vote in an election.

[2] At a glance, this may appear to be an absurdly huge number of people, but it is important to note that this is the total number of people who travel to Greece between 1848 and 1860. In this same period of time in OTL, over one million German refugees traveled to the United States alone, while many more tens of thousands traveled to Australia, South America, Switzerland and the UK. Added to this were tens of thousands of Italian refugees, Polish refugees, Hungarian refugees, and Irish refugees making this one of the largest mass migrations of people in modern history.

Its also important to note, that while the situation in Europe after the revolutions will be a good bit different than it was in OTL, there will still be many hundreds of thousands of disenfranchised and disillusioned people seeking a new beginning in a new land. Most will still go to the United States as per OTL, but a decent number of immigrants and refugees might be attracted to Greece as it is much more stable, more prosperous, and more liberal than it was in OTL.