View source for Mer-Égée

{{Short description|French department in the Ionian Islands (1797-1802); today part of Greece}}
{{Infobox former country
|native_name          = <small>''Département de Mer-Égée''</small>
|conventional_long_name = Department of Mer-Égée
|common_name          = Mer-Égée
|year_start           = 1797
|year_end             = 1798
|flag                 = Flag of France
|image_flag           = Flag of France (1794–1815, 1830–1958).svg
|image_map            = SeptinsularRepublic1801.jpg
|image_map_caption    = The three departments of Greece
|official_languages = [[French language|French]]
|common_languages = [[Greek language|Greek]]
|status = [[Departments of France|Department]] of the [[French First Republic]]
|admin_center_type = [[Prefectures in France|Chef-lieu]]
|admin_center = [[Zakynthos (city)|Zakynthos]]<br />{{coord|37.78|20.89|display=inline}}
|government_type      =
|leader_title1 = Commissioner
|leader_name1 = Chriseuil de Rulhière
|era                 = French Revolutionary Wars
|event_pre           = [[Treaty of Campo Formio]]
|date_pre            = 17 October 1797
|event_start         = Establishment
|date_start          = 7 November
|date_end            = 25 October
|event_end           = Fall of Zakynthos
|date_post           = 25 March 1802
|event_post          = [[Treaty of Amiens|Official disbandment]]
|p1                   = Venetian rule in the Ionian Islands
|flag_p1 = Flag_of_the_Republic_of_Venice.svg
|s1                   = Septinsular Republic
|flag_s1 = Flag_of_the_Septinsular_Republic.svg
|s2                   = Pashalik of Yanina
|flag_s2 = Flag of the Ottoman Empire.svg
|today        =  [[Greece]]
}}
'''Mer-Égée''' ({{IPA|fr|mɛʁ eʒe|lang}}; [[French language|French]] for "[[Aegean Sea]]") was one of three short-lived [[French departments of Greece]]. It came into existence after [[Napoleon]]'s [[Fall of the Republic of Venice|conquest]] in 1797 of the [[Republic of Venice]], when Venetian Greek possessions such as the [[Ionian islands]] fell to the [[French Directory]].
==History==
The [[Departments of France|department]] included the islands of [[Zante]] ([[Zakynthos]]), [[Kythira]] and the [[Strofades]], as well as Dragamesto (modern [[Astakos]]) on the Greek mainland. Despite its name, the department was mostly not in the Aegean, but the [[Ionian Sea]], apart from Kythira and its dependencies.
Its prefecture was at the town of [[Zakynthos (city)|Zante]] (Zakynthos). The territories were lost to [[Russian Empire|Russia]] in 1798 except Dragamesto that was captured by [[Ali Pasha of Ioannina|Ali Pasha]], ruler of the [[Pashalik of Yanina]], and the department was officially disbanded in 1802.
During the [[French rule in the Ionian Islands (1807–1814)|renewed French control of the area in 1807–1809]], the department was not re-established, the constitutional form of the [[Septinsular Republic]] being kept.
==Administration==
===Commissioner===
The Commissioner of the Directory was the highest state representative in the department.
{| class="wikitable" style="width: 70%;"
! align="left" |Term start
! align="left" |Term end
! align="left" |Office holder
|- valign="top"
|18 October 1797<ref>{{cite book |last=Bellaire |first=J.P. |title=Précis des opérations générales de la division française du Levant|publisher=Magimel & Humbert|date=1805 |page=11 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=NQtCAAAAcAAJ&q=d%C3%A9partement+d%27ithaque&pg=PA10}}</ref>||3 March 1799||'''Chriseuil Omer François de Rulhière'''
|}
== See also ==
* [[Corcyre|Department of Corcyre]]
* [[Ithaque|Department of Ithaque]]
* [[French rule in the Ionian Islands (1797–1799)]]
* [[Treaty of Campo Formio]]
* [[History of Zakynthos]]
== References ==
{{reflist}}
* {{cite book | first=Chriseuil | last=de Rulhière | title=Essai sur les isles de Zante, de Cerigo, de Cérigotto et des Strophades, composant le département de la Mer-Égée | trans-title = Essay on the islands of Zakynthos, of Kythira, of Antikythira and the Strofades, forming the department of ''Mer-Égée'' | publisher = Dessenne | location = Paris | year = 1800–1801 | url = http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k678243 | language = fr}}
* {{cite book |title=Les Îles de la Grèce |last=Lacroix |first=Louis |year=1853 |publisher=Firmin Didot |page=638 |language=fr|trans-title=The Islands of Greece}}
* {{cite book |title=Les Îles Ioniennes pendant l'occupation française et le protectorat anglais|last=Pauthier|first=G.|year=1863 |publisher=Benjamin Duprat|location=Paris|language=fr|trans-title=The Ionian Islands during the French occupation and the British protectorate}}
{{Annexed departments of the French First Republic}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mer-Egee}}
[[Category:Former departments of France in Greece]]
[[Category:States and territories established in 1797]]
[[Category:History of Zakynthos]]
[[Category:1797 establishments in France]]
[[Category:States and territories disestablished in 1798]]