Page 126 - Beholding Liberty!

Symbolic scene with Athena Archegetis leading
the Greeks to the battle illustration (frontispiece)
in the edition of Jean-Pierre Guillaume Pauthier, Helléniennes, ou Élégies
sur la Grèce, Paris 1825
Library of the Hellenic Parliament [cat. no ΙΙ.8.C.19]
would not, in essence, be able to form a regular army despite the fact that its political leaders attempted to do so three times during the Struggle, relying mainly on the armed Phil- hellenes and the “foreign” Greeks who originated from other regions of the Ottoman Empire and the Seven Islands. The lack of a regular army certainly damaged the Struggle, both in war and in its political aspect, as it contributed to the dif- fusion of public funds, to anarchy, to the lack of government and to political unrest. It did however assist from other view- points, since this initial type of war was the only one known to the armed Balkan citizens of the period at a time when it provided the advantage of the few waging war against the many, and indeed with the hope of victory.
The Philhellenic movement in England and in particular the Philhellenic Committee in London, through their action, contributed to the gradual shift of England and its Minister of Foreign Affairs, George Canning, in favor of the Greeks in 1823. England’s increasingly obvious shift convinced Russia and France to declare similar attitudes towards the Greeks, gradually changing the hostile diplomatic setting that had prevailed initially in Europe against the Greeks to a friendli- er one. The civil war of 1824 froze the philhellenic feelings of Europe for a while, however, the invasion by Ibraim and the resulting bad position of the Greeks, but above all, the proud defense and exodus of Missolonghi lifted the philhel- lenic movement to a high point once again. This was the movement that led to Navarino in 1827, and to the Protocol of London in 1830.
These facts had already brought about major changes, within the revolutionary Greek society as well which, owing to the unfortunate war developments that followed its fateful civil war, had be- gun to turn ever more systematically toward foreigners in order to win their assistance and protec- tion. Thanks to the faith of its intellectuals and citizens in western political models and values, the main power toward which the Greeks turned was ultimately England and not Russia, our tradition- ally friendly fellow Orthodox believers. From England they received a loan in 1824 and 1825, they also requested England’s protection officially and in writing in 1825 and 1826, they also received independence – but not autonomy – from England as it appeared in 1839. And after the proposal of Theodoros Kolokotronis, to the National Assembly in Troizina in 1826 and 1827, regarding the leadership of their armed forces, they voted for professional English soldiers: the old friend of The- odoros Kolokotronis from his service under English control of the Seven Islands, Richard Church as leader of the Greek land forces, and the famous sailor Thomas Cochran as leader of the Greek nau- tical forces. Later, in fact, at the naval battle of Navarino, in order to help the Greeks and prevent slaughters by Ibraim in the Peloponnese, England and Russia accepted France’s proposal to send 15,000 armed men to Moria. Indeed, in 1828 and 1829, the French mission under General Maison
126 BEHOLDING LIBERTY!