Conference of Poros
The Conference of Poros was a meeting held in 1828 by British, French and Russian diplomats to determine the borders of independent Greece.
Background
In 1821, the Greeks had revolted against the Ottoman Empire. As the Greek plight attracted much sympathy, in 1827 the British, French and Russian fleets had destroyed the Ottoman and Egyptian fleets at the Battle of Navarino. After the battle, the London conference of 1832, consisting of the British Foreign Secretary and the French and Russian ambassadors, met to determine what would be the borders of Greece once independence was gained from the Ottoman Empire.[1]
The Conference
Unable to reach an agreement in London, the British, French and Russian ambassadors to the Sublime Porte were instructed to meet on the island of Poros in September 1828 to resolve the problem. There were two main options:[1]
- Greece to cover everything south of a line running from the Gulf of Volos up to Arta.
- Greece to consist of just the Peloponnese and everything north of the Isthmus of Corinth was to remain Ottoman.
There were also two more intermediate options between the two extremes.[1] According to the memorandum presented by Ioannis Kapodistrias the northern Greek border should reach a line from Delvino to Thessaloniki or at least the most southern line from Preveza to Lamia.[2] After much discussion, the three ambassadors reported that Greece should stretch from Arta to Gulf of Volos with the islands of Euboea and Samos, and possibly Crete included as well.[1] The leading pro-Greek voice at the conference was Stratford Canning.[1] The ambassadors all reported that this was the most defensible line possible and to just limit the Greek state to the Peloponnese would cause hundreds of thousands of Greeks to flee south, overwhelming the cash-strapped Greek state. The conference also concluded that Greece should be a monarchy.[1]
Result
The British prime minister, the Duke of Wellington, who was hostile to the whole idea of granting Greece independence, rejected the Conference's report, saying his aim "was not to conquer territory from the Porte, but to pacify a country in a state of insurrection". Wellington stated he wanted the Greek state to consist only of the Peloponnese with the rest of Greece remaining Ottoman.[3] Britain, France and Russia accepted the Poros Conference's recommendations as the basis of negotiation only, which caused Canning to resign in disgust.[4] The Sublime Porte still believed that the war could be won, and having had already rejected the demand for an armistice, likewise rejected the conference's recommendations. However, after being defeated in the Russo-Turkish War of 1828–29, the Ottomans were finally force to accept the idea of Greek independence. Under the terms of the Treaty of Adrianople, in September 1829, the Ottomans promised to accept whatever decision reached by the London Conference.[4]
On 3 February 1830, the London Conference decided to offer Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg the Greek throne, with a border far short of what the Poros Conference had decided. This caused Leopold to decline the offer of the Greek throne on 21 May 1830, saying he would only accept a Greek throne with the borders agreed to at the Poros Conference.[5]
References
Sources and Further reading
- Anderson, M.S. The Eastern Question, 1774-1923: A Study in International Relations (1966) online
- Brewer, David The Greek War of Independence, London: Overlook Duckworth, 2011
- Crawley, Charles William. The Question of Greek Independence (Cambridge University Press, 2014).
- v
- t
- e
People | |
---|---|
Events |
|
People | |
---|---|
Organizations | |
Publications |
|
Greek involvement in
the Napoleonic Wars
- Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774)
- Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca
- Greek Plan of Catherine the Great
- Russo-Turkish War (1787–1792)
- French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars
- Fall of the Republic of Venice
- Republican French rule in the Ionian Islands
- Septinsular Republic
- Greek Legion
- Imperial French rule in the Ionian Islands
- Albanian Regiment
- Adriatic campaign of 1807–1814
- 1st Regiment Greek Light Infantry
- United States of the Ionian Islands
- Patras
- Salona
- Navarino
- Livadeia
- 1st Acropolis
- Tripolitsa
- Arta
- Acrocorinth
- Nauplia
- 1st Messolonghi
- 2nd Messolonghi
- 3rd Messolonghi
- 2nd Acropolis
- Kalamata
- Wallachian uprising
- Alamana
- Gravia
- Valtetsi
- Doliana
- Lalas
- Vasilika
- Drăgășani
- Sculeni
- Vasilika
- Trench
- Peta
- Dervenakia
- Karpenisi
- Greek civil wars
- Sphacteria
- Maniaki
- Morea
- Lerna Mills
- Mani
- Distomo
- Arachova
- Kamatero
- Phaleron
- Chios expedition
- Martino
- Koronisia
- Petra
- Constantinople
- Thessaloniki
- Navarino
- Tripolitsa
- Naousa
- Samothrace
- Chios
- Psara
- Kasos
- Cyprus
- Agamemnon
- Aris
- Hellas
- Karteria
- Messenian Senate
- Directorate of Achaea
- Peloponnesian Senate
- Senate of Western Continental Greece
- Areopagus of Eastern Continental Greece
- Provisional Regime of Crete
- Military-Political System of Samos
treaties and protocols
- Congress of Laibach
- Congress of Verona
- Protocol of St. Petersburg (1826)
- Treaty of London
- Conference of Poros
- London Protocol of 1828
- London Protocol of 1829
- Treaty of Adrianople
- London Protocol of 1830
- London Conference
- Treaty of Constantinople
- Greek expedition to Syria (1825)
- Russo-Turkish War (1828–29)
- Chian Committee
- Odysseas Androutsos
- Fotos Bomporis
- Kostas Botsaris
- Markos Botsaris
- Notis Botsaris
- Tousias Botsaris
- Laskarina Bouboulina
- Constantin Denis Bourbaki
- Stefanos Chalis
- Sotiris Charalampis
- Giannis Chondrogiannis
- Dimitrios Christidis
- Panagiotis Danglis
- Hatzimichalis Dalianis
- Dimitrios Deligeorgis
- Dimitrakis Deligiannis
- Kanellos Deligiannis
- Athanasios Diakos
- Dionysis Diakos
- Konstantinos Dimidis
- Ioannis Dimoulitsas
- Adam Doukas
- Georgios Drakos
- Yiannis Dyovouniotis
- Georgios Filippopoulos
- Asimakis Fotilas
- Panagiotakis Fotilas
- Angelis Gatsos
- Antonios Georgantas
- Germanos III of Old Patras
- Georgios Gevidis
- Konstantinos Gofas
- Vasileios Goudas
- Ioannis Gouras
- Dimitrios Gouvelis
- Konstantinos Gouvelis
- Angelis Govios
- Dimitrios Indares
- Isaiah of Salona
- Antonios Kalamogdartis
- George Kalaras
- Dimitrios Kallergis
- Athanasios Kampetis
- Athanasios Kanakaris
- Konstantinos Kanaris
- Stefanos Kanellos
- Ioannis Kapodistrias
- Viaros Kapodistrias
- Stamatios Kapsas
- Georgakis Kapsokalyvas
- Anastasios Karatasos
- Panagiotis Karatzas
- Georgios Karaiskakis
- Aristeidis Karnalis
- Nikolaos Kasomoulis
- Ioannis Kolettis
- Apostolis Kolokotronis
- Ioannis Kolokotronis
- Panos Kolokotronis
- Theodoros Kolokotronis
- Michail Komninos Afentoulief
- Alexandros Kontostavlos
- Panos Koronaios
- Georgios Kountouriotis
- Lazaros Kountouriotis
- Michalis Kourmoulis
- Ioannis Krestenitis
- Lykourgos Krestenitis
- Stamatis Krestenitis
- Antonios Kriezis
- Nikolaos Kriezotis
- Kyprianos of Cyprus
- Konstantinos Lagoumitzis
- Georgios Lassanis
- Georgios Lechouritis
- Leonardos Leonardopoulos
- Georgios Liologlou
- Lykourgos Logothetis
- Andreas Londos
- Yiannis Makriyiannis
- Ioannis Mamouris
- Anastasios Manakis
- Manto Mavrogenous
- Alexandros Mavrokordatos
- Antonios Mavromichalis
- Demetrios Mavromichalis
- Georgios Mavromichalis
- Konstantinos Mavromichalis
- Kyriakoulis Mavromichalis
- Petrobey Mavromichalis
- Dimitrios Meletopoulos
- Andreas Metaxas
- Konstantinos Metaxas
- Hatzigiannis Mexis
- Andreas Miaoulis
- Antonios Miaoulis
- Panagiotis Michanidis
- Spyros Milios
- Nikolaos Mykonios
- Zachos Milios
- Alexander Negris
- Konstantinos Negris
- Theodoros Negris
- Diamantis Nikolaou
- Konstantinos Nikolopoulos
- Ioannis Notaras
- Antonis Oikonomou
- Ioannis Orlandos
- Andronikos Paikos
- Georgios Panou
- Dimitrios Panourgias
- Nakos Panourgias
- Grigorios Papaflessas
- Anagnostis Papageorgiou
- Dimitrios Papanikolis
- Emmanouel Pappas
- Christoforos Perraivos
- Nikolaos Petimezas
- Vasileios Petimezas
- Dionysios Petrakis
- Andreas Pipinos
- Kyriakos Pittakis
- Anastasios Polyzoidis
- Konstantinos Rados
- Ioannis Rangos
- Panagiotis Rodios
- Dionysios Romas
- Georgios Sachtouris
- Georgios Sekeris
- Theofanis Siatisteus
- Georgios Sisinis
- Ioannis Skandalidis
- Zisis Sotiriou
- Nikitas Stamatelopoulos
- Georgios Stavros
- Joseph Stephanini
- Ioannis Stratos
- Sotirios Theocharopoulos
- Zafeirakis Theodosiou
- Emmanouil Tombazis
- Iakovos Tombazis
- Ioannis Trikoupis
- Anastasios Tsamados
- Melchisedek Tsouderos
- Kitsos Tzavellas
- Theodoros Tzinis
- Loukas Vagias
- Thanasoulas Valtinos
- Dimitrios Varis
- Meletis Vasileiou
- Domna Visvizi
- Alexakis Vlachopoulos
- Konstantinos Vlachopoulos
- Pieros Voidis
- Liolios Xirolivaditis
- Demetrios Ypsilantis
- Christoforos Zachariadis
- Andreas Zaimis
- Germanos Zapheiropoulos
- Evangelos Zappas
- Marigo Zarafopoula
- Nikolaos Zervas
- António Figueira d'Almeida
- Joseph Balestra
- Samuel Barff
- Paul Marie Bonaparte
- Karl Rudolf Brommy
- Lord Byron
- François-René de Chateaubriand
- Richard Church
- Giuseppe Chiappe
- Lord Cochrane
- Giacinto Collegno
- Charles Fabvier
- Adam Friedel
- Vincenzo Gallina
- Thomas Gordon
- Constantin Guys
- Emmanuel Han
- Frank Abney Hastings
- Carl von Heideck
- Samuel Gridley Howe
- George Jarvis
- Karl Krazeisen
- Henrik Nikolai Krøyer
- Ludwig I of Bavaria
- Ernst Michael Mangel
- Sophie de Marbois-Lebrun, Duchess of Plaisance
- Vasos Mavrovouniotis
- Johann Jakob Meyer
- Jonathan Miller
- Julius Michael Millingen
- August Myhrberg
- Karl von Normann-Ehrenfels
- Hadži-Prodan
- Maurice Persat
- Theobald Piscatory
- Maxime Raybaud
- Auguste Regnaud de Saint-Jean d'Angély
- Giuseppe Rosaroll
- Annibale Santorre di Rossi de Pomarolo, Count of Santarosa
- Friedrich Thiersch
- Auguste Hilarion Touret
- Edward John Trelawny
- German Legion [el]
- Serbs
- David Urquhart
- Olivier Voutier
- James Jakob Williams
(Danubian Principalities)
Sacred Band
- Athanasios Agrafiotis
- Anastasios Christopoulos
- Diamandi Djuvara
- Stefanos Kanellos
- Alexandros Kantakouzinos
- Georgios Kantakouzinos
- Rallou Karatza
- Stamatios Kleanthis
- Georgios Lassanis
- Constantine Levidis
- Dimitrie Macedonski
- Anastasios Manakis
- Giorgakis Olympios
- Yiannis Pharmakis
- Michael Soutzos
- Roxani Soutzos
- Athanasios Tsakalov
- Tudor Vladimirescu
- Konstantinos Xenokratis
- Alexander Ypsilantis
- Demetrios Ypsilantis
- Nikolaos Ypsilantis
- Christoforos Zachariadis
Military | |
---|---|
Scientific |
- Dimitrios Ainian
- Fotis Chrysanthopoulos
- Ioannis Filimon
- George Finlay
- Ambrosios Frantzis
- Lambros Koutsonikas
- Konstantinos Metaxas
- Panoutsos Notaras
- Panagiotis Papatsonis
- Anastasios Polyzoidis
- Georgios Tertsetis
- Spyridon Trikoupis
- Eugène Delacroix
- Louis Dupré
- Peter von Hess
- Victor Hugo
- François Pouqueville
- Alexander Pushkin
- Karl Krazeisen
- Andreas Kalvos
- Dionysios Solomos
- Theodoros Vryzakis
- Hellas
- The Reception of Lord Byron at Missolonghi
- Greece on the Ruins of Missolonghi
- Le siège de Corinthe
- The Massacre at Chios
- The Free Besieged
- Hymn to Liberty
- The Archipelago on Fire
- Loukis Laras
- The Apotheosis of Athanasios Diakos
- 25 March (Independence Day)
- Hymn to Liberty
- Eleftheria i thanatos
- Pedion tou Areos
- Propylaea (Munich)
- Garden of Heroes (Missolonghi)
- Royal Phalanx
- Evzones (Presidential Guard)