View source for United States of the Ionian Islands

{{Short description|British protectorate in western Greece (1815–1864)}}
{{EngvarB|date=December 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}
{{Infobox former country
| native_name            = {{native name|el|Ἡνωμένον Κράτος τῶν Ἰονίων Νήσων}}<br>{{small|{{transliteration|el|Inoménon-Krátos ton Ioníon Níson}}}}<br />{{native name|it|Stati Uniti delle Isole Ionie}}
| conventional_long_name = United States of the Ionian Islands
| common_name            = Ionian Islands
| era                    = 19th century
| status                 = Protectorate
| status_text            = [[Protectorate]] of the [[British Empire]]
| empire                 = British
| government_type        = [[Federation|Federal]] oligarchy
| year_start             = 1815
| year_end               = 1864
| event_pre              = Congress of Vienna
| date_pre               = 9 June 1815 (signed)
| event_start            = Protectorate established
| date_start             = 9 November
| event1                 = Constitution
| date_event1            = 26 August 1817
| event2                 = Resolution for union with Greece
| date_event2            = 26 November 1850
| event3                 = [[Treaty of London (1864)|Treaty of London]]
| date_event3            = 29 March 1864
| event_end              = Union with [[Kingdom of Greece|Greece]]
| date_end               = 28 May
| p1                     = French rule in the Ionian Islands (1807–1814){{!}}French rule in the Ionian Islands
| flag_p1                = Flag of France (1794–1815, 1830–1958).svg
| s1                     = Kingdom of Greece
| flag_s1                = Kingdom of Greece Flag.svg
| s2                     = Ioannina Eyalet
| flag_s2                = Flag of the Ottoman Empire.svg
| image_flag             = Flag of the United States of the Ionian Islands.svg
| flag                   = Flag of the United States of the Ionian Islands
| flag_link              =
| image_coat             = Coat of arms of the United States (of the Ionian Islands).svg
| image_map              = Ionian Islands.svg
| image_map_caption      = The Republic's territory extended to the seven main islands plus the smaller islets of the [[Ionian Sea]]
| capital                = [[Corfu (city)|Corfu]]
| official_languages     = {{ubl|[[Greek language|Greek]]|[[English language|English]]|[[Italian language|Italian]]}}
| common_languages       = [[Venetian language|Venetian]]
| religion               = [[Greek Orthodox Church|Greek Orthodox]]
| currency               = [[Ionian obol|Obol]] (1818–1864)
| legislature            = Parliament
| house1                 = [[Greek Senate#Ionian Senate|Senate]] (executive){{ref|executive|b}}
| house2                 = Legislative Assembly
| title_leader           = Monarch/Protector
|leader1                = [[George III]]
|year_leader1           = 1815–1820
|leader2                = [[George IV]]
|year_leader2           = 1820–1830
|leader3                = [[William IV]]
|year_leader3           = 1830–1837
|leader4                = [[Queen Victoria|Victoria]]
|year_leader4           = 1837–1864
|representative1        = [[Thomas Maitland (British Army officer)|Sir Thomas Maitland]] (first)
|year_representative1   = 1816–1824
|representative2        = Sir [[Henry Knight Storks]] (last)
|year_representative2   = 1859–1864
|title_representative   = [[Lord High Commissioner of the Ionian Islands|Lord High Commissioner]]
|title_deputy           = President of the Senate
|deputy1                =
|year_deputy1           =
|deputy2                =
|year_deputy2           =
| stat_year1             = 1864
| stat_area1             = {{convert|1813|mi2|km2|0|disp=number}}
| ref_area1              = <ref name="MFA-Treaty of London">{{cite web |url=http://www.mfa.gr/greek/the_ministry/eny/1864_london_treaty.doc |title=Treaty of London |access-date=21 July 2006 | publisher=Greek Ministry for Foreign Affairs |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050308000116/http://www.mfa.gr/greek/the_ministry/eny/1864_london_treaty.doc |archive-date=8 March 2005 |quote=The Ionian Islands were formally united with the Kingdom of Greece on 2 June 1864. This was the first expansion of the Greek kingdom since its foundation. The national territory increased by 1,813 square miles and the population by 236,000.}}</ref>
| stat_pop1              = 236,000
| ref_pop1               = <ref name="MFA-Treaty of London" />
| today                  = {{Flag|Greece}}
| footnotes              = {{note|language||Italian was used as the official language of administration during the first Parliament only.}}
{{note|executive||The Senate is listed in the Constitution as the Executive branch of government. It shared legislative power with the Legislative Assembly, and in some British sources it appears as the ''Executive Council''.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z8ZN3sMulRcC&q=ionian%2520islands%2520senate%2520executive&pg=PA679 |title=Select Documents on the Constitutional History of the British Empire and Commonwealth: "The Empire of the Bretaignes," 1175–1688 |last=Fieldhouse |first=David |date=1985 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=9780313238970 |page=679 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=STFYAAAAcAAJ&q=ionian%2520islands%2520senate%2520executive&pg=PA115 |title=Ionian Islands. Letters by Lord C. Fitzroy and documents from other sources, on past and recent events in the Ionian Islands; shewing the anomalous political and financial condition of those States |last=Fitzroy |first=Charles |date=1850 |page=115 |language=en}}</ref>
}}
References: Capital city;<ref>Constitution of the Ionian Islands, Article II</ref> languages.<ref>Constitution of the Ionian Islands, Article IV</ref><ref>Constitution of the Ionian Islands, Article V</ref>
}}
The '''United States of the Ionian Islands'''{{efn|{{langx|el|Ἡνωμένον Κράτος τῶν Ἰονίων Νήσων|Inoménon-Krátos ton Ioníon Níson|United State of the Ionian Islands}}; {{langx|it|Stati Uniti delle Isole Ionie}}}} was a [[Greeks|Greek]] [[state (polity)|state]] and [[British protectorate|amical protectorate]] of the [[United Kingdom]] between 1815 and 1864. The [[succession of states|successor state]] of the [[Septinsular Republic]], it covered the territory of the [[Ionian Islands]], as well as the town of [[Parga]] on the adjacent mainland in modern [[Greece]]. It was ceded by the British to Greece as a gift to the newly enthroned [[George I of Greece|King George I]],<ref>''[[The Times]] (London)'' 8 June 1863 p. 12 col. C</ref> apart from Parga, which had been sold to [[Ali Pasha of Ioannina]] in 1819.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.visit-preveza.com/parga_history | title=::&#91; History of Parga &#124; Prefecture of Preveza &#93;:: }}</ref>
==History==
Before the [[French Revolutionary Wars]], the Ionian Islands had been part of the [[Republic of Venice]]. When the 1797 [[Treaty of Campo Formio]] dissolved the Republic of Venice, [[French rule in the Ionian Islands (1797–1799)|they were annexed]] to the [[French First Republic|French Republic]]. Between 1798 and 1799, the French were driven out by a joint [[Russian Empire|Russo]]-[[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] force.
After the [[War of the Fourth Coalition]], the Ionian Islands were [[Imperial French rule in the Ionian Islands|occupied by the French Empire]] as stipulated in the [[Treaty of Tilsit]]. In 1809, Britain defeated the French fleet off [[Zakynthos]] island on 2 October, and captured [[Kefalonia]], [[Kythira]], and Zakynthos. The British proceeded to capture [[Lefkada]] in 1810.
Under the [[s:Treaty between Great Britain and Russia, respecting the Ionian Islands|Treaty between Great Britain and [Austria, Prussia and] Russia, respecting the Ionian Islands]] ([[Treaty of Paris (1815)|signed in Paris on 5 November 1815]]), as one of the treaties signed during the [[Treaty of Paris (1815)|Peace of Paris (1815)]], Britain obtained a protectorate over the Ionian Islands, and under [[s:Treaty between Great Britain and Russia, respecting the Ionian Islands#ART.VII|Article VIII]] of the treaty the [[Austrian Empire]] was granted the same trading privileges with the Islands as Britain.<ref>{{cite book|last=Hammond |first=Richard James |year=1966 |title=Portugal and Africa, 1815–1910 : a study in uneconomic imperialism|url=https://archive.org/details/portugalafrica180000hamm |url-access=registration |publisher=Stanford University Press |page=[https://archive.org/details/portugalafrica180000hamm/page/2 2] |isbn=0-8047-0296-9}}</ref>
During this period, the British brought thousands of Maltese labourers to the Ionian Islands to work as builders and artisans, forming the basis of the [[Corfiot Maltese]] community.
A few years later [[Greek nationalism|Greek nationalist]] groups started to form. Although their energy in the early years was directed to supporting their fellow Greek revolutionaries in the [[Greek War of Independence|revolution against the Ottoman Empire]], they switched their focus to ''[[enosis]]'' with Greece following their independence. The [[Party of Radicals (Ionian Islands)|Party of Radicals]] (Greek: Κόμμα των Ριζοσπαστών) was founded in 1848 as a pro-''enosis'' political party. In September 1848, there were skirmishes with the [[British Army|British]] garrison in [[Argostoli]] and [[Lixouri]] on [[Kefalonia]]. The island's populace did not hide their growing demands for ''enosis'', and newspapers on the islands frequently published articles criticising British policies in the protectorate. On 15 August 1849, another rebellion broke out, which was quashed by [[Henry George Ward]], who proceeded to temporarily impose [[martial law]].<ref>[http://www.ionion.com/english/kefalonia/culture/history/british.htm British Occupation]</ref>
On 26 November 1850, the Radical MP John Detoratos Typaldos proposed in the Ionian parliament the resolution for the ''enosis'' of the Ionian Islands with the [[Kingdom of Greece]] which was signed by Gerasimos Livadas, Nadalis Domeneginis, George Typaldos, Frangiskos Domeneginis, Ilias Zervos Iakovatos, Iosif Momferatos, Telemachus Paizis, Ioannis Typaldos, Aggelos Sigouros-Dessyllas, Christodoulos Tofanis. In 1862, the party split into two factions, the "United Radical Party" and the "Real Radical Party". During this period of British rule, [[William Ewart Gladstone]] visited the islands and recommended their reunion with Greece, to the chagrin of the British government.{{citation needed|date=December 2020}}
On 29 March 1864, representatives of the United Kingdom, Greece, France, and Russia signed the [[Treaty of London (1864)|Treaty of London]], pledging the transfer of sovereignty to Greece upon ratification; this was meant to bolster the reign of the newly installed [[George I of Greece|King George I of the Hellenes]].  Thus, on 28 May, by proclamation of the Lord High Commissioner, the Ionian Islands were united with Greece.<ref>{{cite book | last = Hertslet | first = Edward | author-link= Edward Hertslet | title = The map of Europe by treaty | url = http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k960368/f31 | format = PDF | access-date = 21 July 2006 | page = 1609 }}</ref>
==Languages==
According to the second constitution of the Republic (1803), Greek was the primary official language, in contrast to the situation in the [[Septinsular Republic]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dircost.unito.it/cs/docs/settinsula.htm|title=Costituzione Della Repubblica Settinsulare|trans-title=Constitution of the Septinsular Republic|date=1803|language=it|website=Università di Torino: Dipartimento di Scienze Giuridiche}}</ref> Italian was still in use, though, mainly for official purposes since the [[Venetian Republic]]. The only island in which Italian ([[Venetian language|Venetian]]) had a wider spread was [[Cephalonia]], where a great number of people had adopted Venetian Italian as their first language.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kendrick |first=Tertius T. C. |title=The Ionian islands: Manners and customs |publisher= J. Haldane |year=1822 |page=106 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v7sNAAAAQAAJ&q=The+Ionian+islands:+Manners+and+customs. |access-date=8 February 2011}}</ref>
==States==
[[File:Coat of arms of the United States (of the Ionian Islands).svg|thumb|right|250px|The [[British royal arms]] surrounded by the emblems of the seven Ionian Islands. From top, clockwise: [[Corfu]], [[Zakynthos]], [[Ithaca (island)|Ithaca]], [[Paxos]], [[Kythira]], [[Lefkada]], [[Cephalonia]].]]
The United States of the Ionian Islands was a federation.  It included seven island states, each of which was allocated a number of seats in the parliament, the [[Greek Senate#Ionian Senate|Ionian Senate]]:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! width=100| State
! width=100| Capital
! Members elected
|-
! [[Corfu]]
| [[Corfu (city)|Corfu]]
| 7
|-
! [[Cephalonia]]
| [[Argostoli]]
| 7
|-
! [[Cythera (island)|Cythera]]
| [[Kythira (town)|Kythira]]
| 1 or 2<ref name="Legislative Assembly rotation">Cythera, Ithaca, and Paxos each elected one member, but the three elected a second member in rotation. Constitution of the Ionian Islands, Article IV</ref>
|-
! [[Ithaca (island)|Ithaca]]
| [[Vathy, Ithaca|Vathy]]
| 1 or 2<ref name="Legislative Assembly rotation" />
|-
! [[Paxos (island)|Paxos]]
| [[Gaios]]
| 1 or 2<ref name="Legislative Assembly rotation" />
|-
! [[Lefkada]]
| [[Lefkada (city)|Lefkada]]
| 4
|-
! [[Zakynthos]]
| [[Zakynthos (city)|Zakynthos]]
| 7
|}
==Government==
[[File:2 Ionian oboli 1819.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Ionian two-[[obol (coin)|oboli]] coin, 1819]]
[[File:30 oboli, Ionian Islands, 1862.jpg|thumb|30 oboli, Ionian Islands, 1862]]
The British organised administration under the direction of a [[Lord High Commissioner of the Ionian Islands|Lord High Commissioner]], appointed by the British government. In total, ten men served in this capacity, including [[William Ewart Gladstone|William Gladstone]] as a Lord High Commissioner Extraordinary (in office 1858–1859).
The Ionian Islands had a bicameral legislature, titled the "Parliament of the United States of the Ionian Islands" and composed of a Legislative Assembly and Senate.<ref>
Constitution of the Ionian Islands, Article VII
</ref>
The 1818 constitution also established a High Court of Appeal to be called the Supreme Council of Justice of the United States of the Ionian Islands, of which the president was to be known as the Chief Justice, who would rank in precedence immediately after the President of the Senate.
The successive Chief Justices were:
* John Kirkpatrick 1820–1835
* Sir James John Reid 1837–?
* Sir Charles Sargent 1860–?
* [[Patrick Colquhoun (lawyer)|Sir Patrick MacChombaich de Colquhoun]] 1861–1864
==See also==
* [[List of Greek countries and regions]]
* [[List of Lord High Commissioners of the Ionian Islands]]
* [[Order of St Michael and St George]], a British [[order of chivalry]] created in honour of the protectorate.
==Footnotes==
{{Notelist}}
{{Reflist}}
==Further reading==
* {{cite book | last=Gekas | first=Sakis | title = Xenocracy: State, Class, and Colonialism in the Ionian Islands, 1815–1864 | publisher=Berghahn Books | year=2016 | isbn=9781785332623 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J2joCwAAQBAJ }}
* Hannell, David. "The Ionian Islands under the British Protectorate: social and economic problems." ''Journal of Modern Greek Studies'' 7.1 (1989): 105–132. [https://muse.jhu.edu/article/264445/pdf online]
* Hannell, David. "A Case of Bad Publicity: Britain and the Ionian Islands, 1848–51." ''European History Quarterly'' 17.2 (1987): 131–143.
* Knox, Bruce. "British policy and the Ionian Islands, 1847–1864: nationalism and imperial administration." ''English Historical Review'' 99.392 (1984): 503–529.
* {{Ιστορία του Ελληνικού Έθνους | volume = 11 | last=Moschonas | first=Nikolaos | chapter = Τα Ιόνια Νησιά κατά την περίοδο 1797–1821 |trans-chapter=The Ionian Islands in the period 1797–1821 | pages = 382–402 }}
* Pagratis, Gerassimos D. "The Ionian Islands under British Protection (1815–1864)." in ''Anglo-Saxons in the Mediterranean. Commerce, Politics and Ideas (XVII–XX Centuries),'' (Malta, 2007) pp: 131–150. [http://www.academia.edu/download/753478/Gerassimos_PAGRATIS__The_Ionian_Islands_under_British_Protection.doc online]{{dead link|date=May 2023|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}
* Paschalidi, Maria. "Constructing Ionian identities: the Ionian Islands in British official discourses; 1815–1864" (PhD dissertation, UCL (University College London), 2010. [https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/19415/1/19415.pdf online]
* Schumacher, Leslie Rogne. "Greek Expectations: Britain and the Ionian Islands, 1815–64.” in ''Imperial Expectations and Realities: El Dorados, Utopias and Dystopias,'' edited by [[Andrekos Varnava]], (Manchester University Press, 2015), pp.&nbsp;47–65. [www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1wn0scs.8 online]
==External links==
{{Commons category|United States of the Ionian Islands}}
{{Wikisource|Treaty between Great Britain and Russia, respecting the Ionian Islands|Treaty between Great Britain and Russia, etc. respecting the Ionian Islands; signed at Paris 5th November 1815.}}
* {{cite web |url=http://134.76.160.151/rmc/nbu.php?page_id=02a1b5a86ff139471c0b1c57f23ac196&show_doc=GR-II-1817-05-02-en&ACCS_logfile_entry_identifier=d51f333884d1732bc25377a1913ff9e0 |title=Constitution of the Ionian Islands |access-date=21 July 2006 |publisher=University of Kassel }}{{Dead link|date=July 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
* [http://www.dircost.unito.it/cs/docs/isolejonie.htm "Constitution of the Ionian Islands" in Italian]
* {{cite web|url=http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/s/4h1r4o | title=Territories of the British Empire, History of the Ionian Islands |access-date=2 July 2014 | publisher=David Rumsey Map Collection }}
{{History of the Ionian Islands|state=expanded}}
{{British overseas territories}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ionian Islands, United States Of The}}
[[Category:United States of the Ionian Islands| ]]
[[Category:States and territories established in 1815]]
[[Category:States and territories disestablished in 1864]]
[[Category:History of modern Greece]]
[[Category:Greece–United Kingdom relations]]
[[Category:1815 establishments in the British Empire]]
[[Category:1815 establishments in Europe]]
[[Category:1864 disestablishments in Europe]]
[[Category:Former British colonies and protectorates in Europe]]