Showing all posts tagged: the united states of the ionian sea
For a brief period, the seven main islands (and a slew of islets) in the Ionian Sea were a protectorate of Great Britain, including Corfú. It would be a great passport to have, which is perhaps a way that Greece could create some much-needed revenue.
United States of the Ionian Islands - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The United States of the Ionian Islands (Greek: Ηνωμένον Κράτος των Ιονίων Νήσων, Inoménon Krátos ton Ioníon Níson, literally “United State of the Ionian Islands”; Italian: Stati Uniti delle Isole Ionie) was a state and amical protectorate of the United Kingdom between 1815 and 1864. It was the successor state of the Septinsular Republic. It is located in modern Greece, to whom it was ceded as a gift of the United Kingdom to the newly enthroned King George I,[5] at the end of the protectorate.
Prior to the French Revolutionary Wars, the Ionian Islands had been part of the Republic of Venice. With the dissolution of that polity under the 1797 Treaty of Campo Formio, it was annexed into the French Republic, created into the French departments of Greece. Between 1798 and 1799, the French were driven out by a joint Russo-Turkish force. The occupying forces founded the Septinsular Republic, which enjoyed relative independence under nominal Ottoman suzerainty and distant Russian control from 1800 until 1807.
The Ionian Islands were then occupied by the French following the treaty of Tilsit. In 1809, the United Kingdom defeated the French fleet off Zakynthos on 2 October, and captured Kefalonia, Kythira, and Zakynthos. The British took Lefkada in 1810. Corfu remained under French rule until 1814.
The Congress of Vienna agreed to place the Ionian Islands under the exclusive “amical protection” of the United Kingdom. Despite British military administration, the Austrian Empire was guaranteed commercial status equal to the UK. The arrangement was solidifed with the ratification of the “Maitlandconstitution” on 26 August 1817, which created a federation of the seven islands, with Lieutenant-GeneralSir Thomas Maitland its first “Lord High Commissioner of the Ionian Islands”.
On 29 March 1864, the United Kingdom, Greece, France, and Russia signed the Treaty of London, pledging the transfer of sovereignty to Greece upon ratification; this was meant to bolster the reign of the newly-installed King George I of the Hellenes. Thus, on 28 May, by proclamation of the Lord High Commissioner, the Ionian Islands were united with Greece.[6]
