GREECE. 213 GBEECE. (lent, and assumed the government at the beginning of 1828. Purt_v quarrels, liowever, broke out again almost ininu'diatcly. Un .June 5. 1S27, the Greek garrison in the Acropolis of Athens, which had held out alter the lower town was taken, capitu- lated. The Greek cause seemed in a most deplor- able condition ; but the probable results of Turk- ish success in strengthening the power of Jlehemet Ali in Egjpl stirred the European cabi- nets at last to intervention. The London protocol of July 6, IS'27. signed by England, France, and Russia, called for an armistice and intervention. The Porte, still supported by Austria, refusing to liear from the Powers on the subject, the allies strengthened their naval forces in the Jlediter- ranean. The defiant action of Ibrahim Pasha precipitated the desperate battle in the Bay of Xavarino, October 20th, in which the combined Egi'ptian and Turkish Meet was practically de- stroyed by a mucli lighter force. Soon after a French force landed in the Morea, and Ibrahim Pasha found himself compelled to withdraw his army. The onslaught made by Russia upon the Ottoman Empire in 1828-29 finally forced the Porte to accept a settlement proposed by the Powers. In the Treaty of Adrianople (q.v.) be- tween Turkey and Russia, September 14, 1829, the Porte pledged its consent to wliatever ar- rangements the Powers might conclude in respect to Greece. The London Protocol of the Great Powers, in February, 18.30. declared Greece an independent kingdom, and was accepted by the Porte. In that country meanwhile the cessation of war had been followed by a period of great unrest. Great dissatisfaction was felt with the course adopted by Capo d'Istria in neglecting to call the popular assembly, and in ruling after the manner of a dictator. Capo d'Istria was as- sassinated October 9, 18.31, in Nauplia, and Greece was for a short time ruled by a regency of seven men. On Jlay 7, 1832, after long negotia- tions with various foreign princes, Otho, the sec- ond son of King Louis I. of Bavaria, was made King by the Powers, and landed in Greece early in the following year. The reorganization of the country was undertaken under a Bavarian regen- cy, the King being only seventeen years of age. A loan of OO.nOO.OOO francs was guaranteed by the Powers. King Otho came of age in 1S35, and in the same year the seat of government was trans- ferred from Nauplia to Athens, Recent Hlstory. The Greeks from their ear- liest history have lieen devoted to constitutional government and to the principle of popular parti- cipation in the political life of the State. This was denied to them under the Bavarian rule, con- stitutions being frowned upon by the Continental Powers at that time. Thus the Govemment was out of touch with the people, and the discontent u'as increased by the faulty administration of the finances, which burdened the country with un- profitable taxation. England and France urged upon King Otho the advisability of giving the people a constitution, but he delayed until the revolution was already under way. This broke out in a bloodless way at Athens, September 15, 1843, and the King was compelled to yield. The new Constitution, however, did not restore the local self-government sO dear to the Greek, nor satisfy the aspirations of the people. At the open- ing of the war between Russia and Turkey in 18.53 Greece prepared to invade Turkey, hoping that the time had come to recover the Hellenic heritage. To prevent any alliance between Greece and Russia, French and English forces landed at the I'iraus in 1854, and remained in occupation until 1857. Tliis incident increased the national discontent with the King and liis Guvernmcnt. The popular feeling, stimulated by the example of a regener- ated Italy, took revolutionary form in 1802. In February the garrison at Nauplia revolted; and that of Athens followed in October. Otlio was deposed, and, failing to obtain the support of the Powers, was compelled to leave the country. The choice for a new sovereign finally fell upon the second sun of the King of Denmark, who be- came King of Greece as George I. The choice be- ing acceptable to England, that country ceded to the new monarch the seven Ionian Islands, which since 1815 had constituted a republic under a British protectorate. This was an im- portant accession, as the islands were prosperous and had constantly desired reunion with Greece. By the Constitution of 1804 the legislative func- tions of government were vested in the Boulc, comprising a single chamber, elected by universal suffrage for a term of four years. So demoraliz- ing had been the experience of the country that brigandage was not suppressed until 1870. Perhaps the greatest national aim of the con- stitutional kingdom has been the restoration of the historic Hellas; and the dissatisfaction of the people with existing territorial conditions has been a continual disturbing element in the East- ern situation. The Congress of Berlin (q.v.) in 1878 recommended a readjustment of the unfair and unscientific northern boundary ; but Turkey refused to make the concessions demanded, and war between the two countries seemed inevitable. Finally, after protracted negotiations, the Powers in 1881 accepted the compromise offered by the Porte, giving Greece all Thessaly south of the northern watershed of the Salanibria, including Larissa and Trikala, and in Epirus running the boundary along the Arta River, leaving Arta to Greece. Greece was not satisfied with this settle- ment, but accepted it under protest as the best arrangement possible at the time. The island of Crete Avas regarded by the Greeks as a natural Hellenic possession, and the desire for its union with the kingdom was intensified by sympathy for the Cretans under Turkish misrule. The bloody conflict between the Christians and Mo- hammedans that broke out in Crete in 1896 led Greece to make an attemjit to annex the island. This action brought about the interference of the Powers, who decreed the autonomy of Crete and proceeded to compel Greece to withdraw her forces. The Cretan disturbances gave the war party in Greece an opportunity to fan the embers of na- tional passion into life, and to bring on a war with Turkey, in the hope of arousing Macedonia to revolt, and winning much of the desired ter- ritorv on the north. Greece was wholly unpre- pared for such a conflict. Her army was ill or- ganized, poorly officered, and insuflficiently sup- plied with hospitals and commissariat, while the Turkish armies were in a comparatively efllcient condition. Yet, in spite of all restraining counsel, and without any countenance from the Powers, without whose support, such a contest was des- tined to be futile, the war party precipitat- ed the struggle. Greek irregulars ojiened the fighting in Macedonia early in April. ISO". They were probably incited by persons liigh
