Islands in a ‘State of Emergency’. Ionian Neutrality and Martial Law During the Greek Revolution

Abstract

The British Protectorate of the Ionian Islands, and particularly Corfu, was a nodal point in maritime communications. Since its very creation under the Treaty of Paris (November 1815), it gave the British a significant advantage in terms of information gathering. When a general uprising broke out in the Greek mainland, the British authorities put the islands in a state of emergency. Strict Ionian neutrality was declared and harsh measures were justified, which aimed to maintain ‘public tranquility’ and to secure the islanders from any revolutionary ideas coming from the mainland. The implications of this neutrality are little studied, perhaps because of the perceived peripheral role of the Ionian Islands in the Greek struggle. Yet, as this paper shows, the islands were deeply affected by developments taking place in the mainland, such as the rebellion of Ali Pasha of Ioannina between 1819 and 1822, when the British increased military presence in the region. Instead of discouraging the ties between the islanders and the Greek Revolution as intended, British reactions produced the opposite result. They further alienated the Anglo-Ionian state from the Ionian society. The present article analyses how British officials utilized disproportionate fears over the spread of revolutionary ideas in the islands, as well as military escalation in the region, to impose harsh measures on the islands and to ‘normalize’ emergency strategies. It builds upon relevant literature not only on the movement of information in the Mediterranean, but also on British policy over the so-called ‘Greek Question’.