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Being under Venetian rule since the 14th c. the Ionians, or Heptanesians, are (compared to the rest of the Greeks) well educated, accustomed to live and operate in a proper state under a proper government and a kind of political thought where political ideas are debated more than personal interests (something that happened in OTL in Greece). OTL: In 1797, Venice falls to the French Revolutionaries, and in 1800, the Ionian Islands are proclaimed an autonomous state with loose tights to the Ottoman Empire, under the guarantee of Russia. The Heptanesians (people of the Ionian Islands, since they consist of seven [=hepta in greek] islands) try to build up a new state, and the feudal nobles struggle with the emerging bourgeois and the peasants, although the later have no significant political power. John Capodistrias, noble with good education in Italy, and other young aristocrats, influenced by the French Revolution, and understanding that the bourgeois will inevitably come to power someday, try to merge the interests of the nobles with the of the merchants and middle-class citizens. In 1807, though, with the Tilsit Treaty, Russia, cedes the Ionian Islands to Napoleon and a French fleet occupies the Islands, only to be expelled by the British seven years later, while Capodistrias go in Russia to serve the Czar. Although Capodistrias had close relations with the Greek chieftains since 1806, he looses contact with them during his staying in Russia, something that played a significant role in his assassination in 1831, which led Greece to a political system that led it becoming a lesser power, subject to the interests of Britain. What if the Heptanesians, under the leadership of Capodistrias repelled the French invasion in 1807 and maintained their autonomy?
ATL: In 1807, a French fleet invades Corfu, the Capital of the Ionian State. Capodistrias and his followers decide to defend the island, and they succeed to persuade the majority of the Senate, since they have official word from the British Admiral, Collingwood for assistance. In desperate need of manpower, Capodistrias manage to pass a resolution that the peasants and low-class inhabitants of the towns who shall join the Army, should receive full political rights. This will be a turning point for the Ionian Republic, which becomes more democratic and sets the basis for social reformation and progress. The Corfiots take cover behind the famous fortifications of the town, and the French fall into a stalemate before the walls for almost a month. The Souliote-Arvanite (a mercenary unit of Albanians and Albanian-speaking Greeks from Epirus) corps which was founded a few years earlier, based in the mountainous northern part of Corfu, launches attacks on the rear of the French. Meanwhile, Capodistrias, proclaimed head of the state, denounces the Russian protection and officially asks for the assistance of the British navy, which, in October defeats the French Fleet. The French troops are now caged in an island, away from Napoleon’s main positions, with no hope to escape; so they subsequently surrender to the Heptanesians, while the British get two naval bases in the islands (in Corfu and Zante) and some good trade deals, especially concerning Zante’s raisins and Corfu’s olive oil. The Treaty of Paris (1815) recognizes the status quo in the Ionian State and the Great Powers proclaim a joint guarantee of the independence of the Ionians. It seems that Capodistrias managed to use the mistrust of the powers for the interest of the Ionians. In the years to come, the Ionian State flourishes under the leadership of Capodistrias, who is recognized as the savior of the State and hence is able to apply the reformations he wishes with no particular opposition. The economy of the islands flourishes too, since education boosts the activities of the islanders, while they are free to trade in the Ottoman Empire as (namely) subjects of it. As a result, the Greek ship-owners of the ottoman areas, raise the Heptanesian flag and consider Capodistrias as their patron. Strengthened in this way, the Heptanesian commercial fleet in the end dominates East Mediterranean trade and the Greeks of the Empire that formerly operated as trade agents of the Europeans, now come to the service of the Ionian state.
In 1817, three Greek patriots founded the “Filiki Eteria”, a secret organization which aims in the liberation of Greece from the Ottoman rule. Of course, they turn to the Ionian State for assistance. Capodistrias refuses direct involvement of the State, since it is nominally subject to the Empire and bound by the Great Powers. He insists on the independent action of the Filiki, but he retains financial assistance by Heptanesian funds coming through personal accounts of certain people. The Filiki turns also to the Greeks of Russia. The Czar is anxious now to show good manner towards the Greeks in order to regain their trust which was lost with the Treaty of Tilsit. He orders Alexander Ypsilandis, a high-rank officer of his army to involve in the Filiki and he soon becomes the head of the organization. In 1820, the Pasha of Epirus, Ali, a bloodlust megalomaniac, declares his independence from the Sultan, who orders the governors of Albania, Rumeli and Peloponnesus to campaign against the rebel Pasha and crush him. With Peloponnesus and Rumeli almost empty from Ottoman troops, it is the right time for the Greeks to act. In February 1821, Alexander Ypsilandis, with a force of Greek patriots, crosses the river Pruth and marches into Ottoman-held Moldavia, while the Greeks of Peloponnesus and Rumeli revolt and force the Ottomans to take cover in the castles. The Greek Revolution has begun. The Great Powers of west Europe declare the Revolution illegal, while Russia typically maintains a neutral stance, but also finances the army of Ypsilandis. The Sultan reacts with rage and he orders the execution of the Greek-Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople. In the same time, the Turks massacre the Greeks population in the capital and other cities of the Empire, while their army crushes Ypsilandis who is captured and held in the prisons of Bucarest. The Czar issues an ultimatum demanding the immediate halt of the massacres and the withdrawal of the Ottoman army from Moldavia and Wallachia. The Ionian State also issues an ultimatum asking the halt of the massacres, especially in Preveza and Vonitza, two towns of the Greek mainland which where parts of the Ionian state until 1799, but they where captured by Ali Pasha. The two ultimatums are not accepted by the Sultan. The Czar, pressured by the Holy League, and especially Austria, is not taking any action yet, but Capodistrias decides it is time for action. In late May 1821, the Heptanesian Army assembles in the small Epirotan town of Parga, and rapidly marches against Preveza. The Ottoman guard of Preveza and the nearby Arta meet the Heptanesians in Nicopolis, near the site that Octavian defeated Marcus Antonius. While the Ottoman army is consisted mainly by irregular corps, the Heptanesians have a proper, well trained and even better equipped army; the result is predestinate: the Ottomans are crushed, and the Heptanesian Army rushes into both Preveza and Arta, while Vonitza surrenders without a battle. The main body of the Ottoman Army in the region, occupied to the siege of Ali in Ioannina, has not the time or the opportunity to react, until they finally manage to break the defence of the city, but they do so with great losses. With Ali’s army crushed and the rebel Pasha dead, they now turn southwards, against the Heptanesians. Commander Hursit sends an ultimatum to Capodistrias, demanding the withdrawal of the Heptanesian Army and its return to the Islands. Capodistrias answers that his actions were perfectly legal, because, as a subject of the Empire has a word for what happens in the state, and that the towns he seized were legally parts of the Ionian State, but they were occupied by the rebel Pasha. Hursit does not accept the answer, and the two armies face each other in the narrow valley of river Louros. The Heptanesian army easily repels the Ottoman attacks, while the corps of Suliotes outflank Hursit from the mountains. It all ends with the destruction of the Ottomans. With no proper army to face, by the end of summer the Heptanesians easily occupy Epirus forming a line extending from Argyrocastro and Chimara in the north to Metsovo and Heptachori in the west. Meanwhile, the Greeks in the South succeed in taking control of Peloponnesus and most of Rumeli, along with the most of the Cyclades islands. The only parts that are still in the hands of The Ottomans are Methone and Corone, Patra and Rio in Peloponnesus and Athens, Nafpactos and Antirio in the Rumeli, along with a stripe of land between Lamia and Athens. Various political bodies have been founded, along with a National Assembly in Epidavros. Many Greeks want unification with the Ionian State and to trust Capodistrias as Head of the Nation, but the potentate families of Peloponnesus, also influenced by the Czar who wants to control in some extend the Greeks, manage to stop the initiative. Capodistrias on his behalf, wished the initiative to fail, since he understood it wasn’t yet time for the Ionian State to declare its independence from the Sultan. In addition, he didn’t want to get “mixed-up” to the Europeans with those Greek chieftains that were responsible for the massacre of the Ottoman population in Tripoli, the capital of Peloponnesus. Instead, in order to legitimate his policy to Europe, he sends a missive to the Porte, by which he justifies the action of the Ionian State and requests the legitimization of the Heptanesian possession of Epirus and reconciliation with the Sultan. Of course, again, the Sultan refuses any negotiation with the “rebels”, sends out the Fleet and orders a new army to be assembled in Larissa. Austria is furious about the Greek revolt and especially the success of the Heptanesians, since it doesn’t want a firm state to maintain control of the Straits guarding the Adriatic. Britain is also concerned about the straightening of the Ionian State, despite their commercial partnership. The Czar is also cautious for the prestige the Heptanesians among the Greeks and the other Balkan nationalities. The suspicion that Capodistrias corresponds with Serbian, Albanian and Montenegrin officials, strengthens the anxiety of the Powers, which decide to intervene against the Ionian state. France decides not to take part in the action, since any annoyance to the British and the Austrians is welcomed, and Russia offers nothing more than “political support”. The British and the Austrian Fleets gather in the port of Bari, and the British ambassador in Corfu hands an ultimatum to the Heptanesian Government, by which the powers demand the withdrawal of the army from Epirus, the renouncement of the Greek Revolution, and compensation to the Ottoman Empire. The Heptanesian Senate, in which the nobles have the majority, passes a resolution by which Capodistrias is held responsible for the damage to the relations of the State with the Powers, but the Assembly, mostly consisted by peasant and bourgeois representatives, supports the Governor and accuses the Senators for treason. There are clashes in the streets of Corfu and other island towns, and the nobles are forced to draw back. Capodistrias sends a missive to the Powers by which he proves that all his actions were justified and legal. He asks that a summit should be held, in order to overcome the crisis, but in the same time he calls back to Corfu most of the Heptanesian Army, which takes guard positions before the British base in the western coast of the island, and the small but perfectly battle-worthy Fleet. He also sends a letter to George Canning, a prominent official of the British diplomacy serving in Constantinople, explaining that a Greek state is inevitable to arise from this conflict, and it is in Britain’s interest to have a partnership with it. In April 1822, the united British and Austrian Fleets enter the Corfu Straits from the Northern Passage and head towards the town. The small Heptanesian Fleet holds position between the town and the islet of Vido, in order to protect the Capital. The battle begins, with the Austrians holding the western wing and the British the eastern. The exchange of cannon shots is fierce, with the attacking fleets gaining more space and causing large casualties to the Heptanesians, both in ships and men. Suddenly, the lookouts of the united fleets notice a group of about twenty small vessels coming fast towards their rear, taking advantage of the northern wind which was in their favor “fireships!” they shout. What the Austrians thought to be a triumph turned to a disaster that day in the Corfu Channel. They lost seven warships, with the flagship of the fleet among them, and about 3500 men. Their fleet was trapped between the fireships, the Heptanesian Fleet and the British, who suddenly “forgot” how to sail and they blocked the escape routes of the Austrians who had no space to maneuver. The British lost only a small ship which was rammed by an Austrian trying to dodge away from a fireship. It later appeared that, after Canning informed London about the letter he received form Capodistrias, the British government issued orders to the Admiral of the Mediterranean to avoid causing much damage to the Heptanesians and, in the case the later show signs of success, withdraw from the battle. The result of the Sea Battle of Corfu was the severe bitterness of the Austrians who swore never to trust the British again, the delirious joy of the Heptanesians and the Greeks (and many Italians who hated Austrian rule) and George Canning gaining a better position in the hierarchy of the British diplomacy and assigned to negotiate with the Ionian State. Meanwhile, the Ottoman Fleet came out the Dardanelles and sacked Chios, a large island of the Aegean Sea which had joined the Revolution, causing massive catastrophe, massacred the Greek population and taken many prisoners who were sold in the eastern slave-markets. When later the Flagship of the Fleet was set afire by Canaris’ fireship gave only a little comfort to the Greeks. The Catastrophe of Chios, though, made a great impression in Europe, strengthening the movement of Philhellenism, especially since prominent artists and scholars, such as Lord Byron and Eugene Dellacroix, joined it. Hundreds of European volunteers joined the Greek revolutionaries, including many ex-officers of Napoleon. In May, the Ottoman army assembled in Larissa, numbering up to about 40.000 men, fortunately for the Greeks, split in two columns: the first, of 28,000, marched against the Cattara pass, guarded by the Suliote corps, some local militia and a regiment of Heptanesians. The battles in the mountainous area of Pindos wasn’t easy for the Ottomans, who suffered great casualties, but the defenders were too few to hold for ever. So, they gave space for time, in the hope that the main body of the Heptanesian army, coming back from Corfu, would make it in time to save the stake. The second column, led by Dramalis Pasha, consisted by 12,000 men, took the way to Lamia, in order to march to Attica and relieve the guard of the Acropolis in Athens which was under siege by the revolutionaries. The famous warlord Androutsos, leading a small party of irregulars, managed to delay Dramalis for two days at the Gravia caravanserai (this actually happened in OTL), damaging the morale of the Ottomans, who even so managed to capture Amfissa and Itea. In the battle with the main body of the revolutionaries that took place near the ancient site of Delphi, Dramalis failed to defeat his opponents, and he soon found himself trapped in the valley of Amfissa. In May 24th, the Heptanesian Army met with the Ottomans at Metsovo. The battle was bloody and fierce. Mountain picks and ridges passed from the one opponent to the other many times, attacks and counter-attacks cost the lives of many. Two days later, the Ottoman army had lost most of their cavalry, i.e. the Ottoman nobles that hold the army together, and many artillery batteries, which was the best corps of their force, and in addition, about 5,000 foot soldiers. They knew that they couldn’t last for long, and if attacked, they would be scattered and annihilated. There was only one move available: retreat! For fifteen days the Ottomans and the Heptanesian armies rallied in the mountains of Pindos, with the regular Ionians marching firm, the irregulars chasing the withdrawing enemy with haste, and the Ottomans just running to save themselves. One by one, the stray units of the Ottomans were destroyed by the Greek irregulars, while any attempt of counterattack, was crushed by the regular army. Few were the Ottomans that managed to reach the Thessalic plain, and there was nothing that could stop the Heptanesian Army from conquering the rich lands. By the end of July, Capodistrias ordered his army to build a defensive position at the castle of Platamon, a medieval fort at the gates of Macedonia. Dramalis saw that he couldn’t march neither to the east nor to the north, and decided to advance to Naupactus, which was still in Ottoman hands, seeking rescue from the Fleet. But, the revolutionaries were skirmishing from the mountains causing more and more casualties, until the pathetic remnants of Dramalis’ column reached at the gates of Naupactus. The Spring of 1822 saw the Greeks victorious in every front, with the exception of Chios. They also had improved their position towards the Great Powers, which, in addition, had actually broken the Holy League. Capodistrias deployed the Army in a defensive line towards Macedonia, sent the Suliotes to settle in Argyrocastro and maintain an understanding with the Albanians, and shifted his eyes to Europe. While Capodistrias was occupied with the international relations of his state, the Greek revolutionaries of Peloponnesus and Rumeli, as proper Greeks, started to fight one another seeking power over the future Greek state (there were two civil wars in OTL). The Peloponnesians fought against the Rumeliotes, then some Peloponnesian allied with the Rumeliotes against the rest e.t.c. There was plain chaos in Southern Greece for about a year and a half, much to the joy of the Sultan who saw the opportunity to strike back... even without his army! He had finally understood that his main problem was the revolutionaries and not the Ionian State, with which could compromise in the end. Egypt, ruled by Muhammad Ali was a vassal state of the Empire. It had vast abilities in terms of men and money, while its army was trained by ex-Napoleonists in the European manner of fighting. In March 1823, the Egyptian Fleet sailed to Greece. Their first stop was the small island of Kasos, which Ibrahim, Muhammad’s stepson who was in command of the expedition, thought it would be the best “subject” on which he could warm up his troops. The inhabitants of Kasos hadn’t a chance: those that weren’t slain were sold in the slave-market of Alexandria. The next target was Crete, where an uprising movement had control over the mountains. Ibrahim was smart, though: instead of campaigning in the mountains, he chose to attack any village in the plains that he suspected was helping the rebels. In less than a month, the Cretan rebels abandoned the struggle. Now it was the turn of Peloponnesus, which appeared to be an easy target, since the Greeks, instead of building up their defense, they were occupied with killing each other. In May, Ibrahim, set foot on Peloponnesus, at the peninsula of Messenia, relieving the Ottoman guards of Methone and Corone. The only opposition he faced was a small, badly equipped and even worse commanded, unit under Papaflessas in the area of Maniaki. Ibrahim’s troops easily crushed the desperate Greeks, and they marched to the North. Even in this dramatic situation, the Greeks didn’t stop the civil war. Many prominent chieftains and politicians were dead or in prison, while the troops of the so-called “legal” government were campaigning against the Opposition. By the end of the summer, Ibrahim had conquered most of Peloponnesus, except Mani, Argolis and some mountainous areas. When, finally the Greeks decided to come to an understanding, they launched requests for help to the chieftains of Rumeli and the Ionian State. The Rumelians rejected the request on the excuse that the Peloponnesians didn’t help them deal with Dramalis, seeking to the destruction of the mighty chieftains of Peloponnesus. Capodistrias replied that he could only sent a regiment, since the Ottomans were ready to launch an offensive from Macedonia. This was actually true and anyway the Heptanesian regiment played a significant part repelling Ibrahim’s attack at Myloi, near Nauplion. Ibrahim, understood that it was too risky to launch another attack to Argolis were the remaining rebel forces were massing up, and he made an amphibious attack on Messolonghi, at Rumeli. The Rumelians were crushed before they could organize a proper defense, and only Caraiskakis formed a line at Monasteraki, but he made clear that he wouldn’t keep it for ever if not reinforced. That was true, even more now that Muhammad Ali was sending more troops in Greece after the Sultan promissed him. The southern Greeks had no alternative than calling the Ionian State for help. They even summoned an Assembly in the island of Hydra, passing a resolution that they would join the Ionian State, they recognize Capodistrias as head of the Hellenic nation, and they would submit to any suggestions he would make on the organization of the new Greek state. Capodistrias had now all the cards in his hands. He only needed to send Ibrahim out from Greece . The Ottoman offensive could be easily repelled at Platamon and the mountains around Grevena, and the Suliotes had already made a contact with the Albanian chieftains, who were about to sign a separate armistice. Meanwhile, the Serbs and Montenegrins were in a state of unrest, demanding more autonomy from the Porte. If an understanding with Muhammad Ali could be made on the ground that he preferred more land around Egypt than a few remote possessions in the Balkans, the stake of Greek Independence would be won. Leaving a regiment at Platamon and 3.000 irregulars in the mountains, the Heptanesian Army advanced to the Isthmus, while the Fleet, united with the vessels from the Aegean, headed to Messenia....