1821: Greek Rebellion strangled in its cradle

OTL, the Greek Rebellion against the Ottomans got off to a good start because the Ottomans were distracted by their war against Ali Pasha.

So, POD: some traitor close to Ali Pasha takes a bag of Ottoman gold, and Iannina falls several months earlier than iOTL. By March 1821, several thousand Ottoman troops are available that, OTL, were still stuck in siege camps in the north.

OTL Kolokotronis was able to smash the small Turkish relief column that tried to march into the Peloponnese. TTL, that battle goes the other way. Tripolis is relieved, and the Ottomans spend the rest of the marching season marching to and fro, crushing the rebellion. A few fortresses hold out through the winter, but by spring 1822 the rebellion is over.

So. Consequences? I mean, besides Lord Byron living a bit longer?


Doug M.
 
Well... Greek Revolution didnt started only in Peloponese... Besides Kolokotronis marching towards Tripolitsa after liberating Kalamata there were several others fighters fighting Ottomans or besieging them... Athens and Patras were besieged... Mesologgi Ottoman garrison surrendered due to lack of supplies and so was Corinth... Greek islands kicked off the small Ottoman garrisons and armed their ships... I dont see the Revolution extinct by 1822 there were too many fronts to deal with... And as it happened in OTL when Ottomans managed to put down the rebellion somewhere another front popped out somewhere else...
 
Well... Greek Revolution didnt started only in Peloponese... Besides Kolokotronis marching towards Tripolitsa after liberating Kalamata there were several others fighters fighting Ottomans or besieging them... Athens and Patras were besieged... Mesologgi Ottoman garrison surrendered due to lack of supplies and so was Corinth... Greek islands kicked off the small Ottoman garrisons and armed their ships... I dont see the Revolution extinct by 1822 there were too many fronts to deal with... And as it happened in OTL when Ottomans managed to put down the rebellion somewhere another front popped out somewhere else...
Yes but if Ali Pasha had been defeated a couple of eariler, there would be a lot more Ottoman troops in Greece and stronger garrisons troughout the country making it easier for the Ottomans to deal with more fronts simultaneously (sp?), or at least the rebellion itself would be on a lesser scale because many local guerrilas might get discouraged.
If it still wouldn't be defeated so easily, a very important and interesting consequence might pe the Sultan not asking for the help of Muhammad Ali of Egypt. That might result in a stronger Muhammad (not losing his entire fleet), or in a less ambitious one (viewing the Sultan as strong enough to supress rebellions with his own forces).
 
The point about multiple rebellions is well taken. But through 1821, the Peloponnese was the center of the rebellion; if it had been crushed there, it could not easily have survived elsewhere.

Note that releasing a few thousand Ottoman troops would have a disproportionate effect on the early course of the war. Until early 1822, the Rebellion was almost entirely a war of small actions -- no siege or battle involved more than a couple of thousand men on either side.

Anyway. Say we handwave the details [handwave] and say that by mid-1822, the rebellion's back has been broken. Hydra and the other islands may hold out for a while -- years, perhaps, given the incompetence of the Turkish Navy -- but eventually they'll fall too.

So. Now what?


Doug M.
 
My first thought was that this was during the nadir of Ottoman internal dissolution and they were just starting to get thier act together. I doubt putting this revolt down would prevent the internal reforms in the face of Egypt breaking off... while it is a major setback for Balkan Nationalism (esp. if the old pattern of the ambitious coming to the Bosphorus is restored).

There may be a confessional/nationalist revolt eventually, but the concentration of Christians in government and the extraterritoriality provided by the capitulations is as much of a causus belli as the whole Islamic Rule thing. In either case that is decades down the line and gnawing at the capitulations while reworking public law to deal with industralization/urbanization is a priority for almost any late 1800s Ottoman government.

I figure if they can catch up to Russia (and keep the U.K. sweet while they do), they can keep the Balkans until they intergrate the whole mess.

HTG
 
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