The United States of the Ionian Islands
The British liberated the Ionian islands from Napoleon, then gave them fifty happy years and the game of cricket.
1815
King George III 1760-1820 to Queen Victoria 1837-1901
The British liberated the Ionian islands from Napoleon, then gave them fifty happy years and the game of cricket.
1815
King George III 1760-1820 to Queen Victoria 1837-1901
The Treaty of Paris in 1815 sought to settle the affairs of Napoleon Bonaparte, defeated at Waterloo and banished to the island of St Helena. Among the issues were the Ionian Islands (which include Zakynthos, Lefkada and Corfu) off the west coast of Greece.
AFTER the Ottoman Empire conquered Constantinople and much of Greece in 1453, the Ionian Islands were lucky. Most remained under Venetian control, and flourished as part of a trading bloc which brought prosperity, and respected local culture.*
The French Republic annexed Venice and her possessions in 1797, but made harsh colonial taskmasters, and the islanders were not sorry when a joint Russian and Ottoman force evicted them in 1800. Constantinople announced a new ‘Septinsular Republic’,* and prudently appointed their Orthodox Christian allies as administrators.
Napoleon’s French Empire regained the islands in 1807, but the British liberated Zakynthos two years later, and in 1815 the Treaty of Paris recognised ‘The United States of the Ionian Islands’, a British Protectorate. Rapid improvements in transport, education and government followed, and British culture from cricket to afternoon tea became fashionable.
Nonetheless, Greek independence in 1832 made reunion an imperative,* and on May 28th, 1864, at the recommendation of William Gladstone, the Ionian Islands were handed over to Athens.*
Constantinople was the capital of the Ottoman Empire, as it had been capital of the Roman Empire before it; the seat of government was often referred to as the Porte. The capital moved to Ankara in 1923, when the Turkish nationalists abolished the Ottoman Empire and formed the Republic of Turkey. Constantinople was subsequently renamed Istanbul.
Greek independence was completed on May 7th, 1832, with the Treaty of Constantinople and the founding of the Kingdom of Greece. Her first King, Otto, was not very popular, but the accession of George I in 1863 made reunion more attractive. (Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, was born in Corfu, and is a grandson of King George I of Greece.)
William Ewart Gladstone, later one of Britain’s greatest Prime Ministers, was at this time Chancellor of the Exchequer. He had been appointed Extraordinary Lord High Commissioner of the Ionian Islands for a few months in 1859.
Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.
From which country did the British acquire the Ionian islands in 1815?
From the French Empire of Napoleon Bonaparte.
Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.
The French Empire held the Ionian islands. The British defeated Napoleon at Waterloo. They took control of the islands.