I - 27 : Crete's Long Way Home

The Flag of the Crete State can still be bought but as a Souvenir only

There are flags, which were once important, but nobody recognizes them anymore. The flag of the Russian Imperial Navy is one example. Another is the flag of Crete, a once semi-autonomous country. The island joined Greece only in 1913, full 83 years after the birth of modern Greece. Its accession  was delayed for decades by European power politics.

Surrender of Ali Pasha at Navarino in Sept 1828 after the Defeat of the Turco-Egyptian Fleet

Navarino looks in fact rather different - the painter was never there

Directly or indirectly, all European powers had their dirty hand in the game. Catherine the Great, Russia dreamt of an orthodox Greece that controlled the Straits and would grant it unrestricted access to the Mediterranean. Germany was interested in the Middle East for its oil and forged a strategic alliance with the Ottoman Sultan. It also got the Pergamon Altar for helping to modernize the military. Great Britain’s aim was stability and peace in order to pursue its imperial interest. In any case, it did not want a strong naval rival in the Mediterranean. France flip-flopped in his alliances between Russia and Turkey for its own benefits and was an unreliable ally for anyone.

War of Independence from 1821 - 1830 actually ended with the Battle of Navarino in 1828

The price for these power games was paid by the Cretans. The islanders actively participated in the War of Independence from 1822 – 1829. Their bishops, local leaders and thousands of combatants were executed. The island was handed over to Egyptian Pasha Mohammed Ali who ruled it with an iron fist. Crete was the Sultan’s gift to Ali Pasha for sending troops. The Turks and Egyptians knew where the sympathy of the local population was. Their response was systematic repression. Crete became a grave yard. 25% of the population died. The equivalent to more than 100'000 people

The Majority of Muslim Cretans (red) lived on the North Coast and in the Central Mountains

Great Britain put a blind eye to these sufferings. They did not want Crete to be part of the new Greek nation for fear it becoming a Russian Naval Base. The Russian presence in the Aegean from 1769 – 1774 was still a fresh memory.  To make matters worse, there was a sizable Turkish minority (25%) on Crete, mostly living in the coastal towns. These were Greeks who had converted to Islam and adopted Turkish names but were – as a matter of fact – locals and spoke Greek. They knew they had no future if the island joined Greece. The resistance against the Ottomans thus morphed into a civil skirmish against the Turci – even though they were mostly relatives and old friends.

Cretan Rebels fighting in the Mountains against the Turkish Army (Gravure is from 1866)

The history of Crete is thus full of rebellions which broke out in frightening frequency. There were never enough Ottoman troops on the island to pursue the rebels into the ravines and mountains. As someone said, “Cretans are mountain people surrounded by a sea – they fight like mountain people”. There were rebellions in 1841 and 1858, followed by the Great Cretan Revolt of 1866, each bloodier than the preceding one. By 1869 the revolt eventually died down when the Sultan promised local autonomy  – but the Ottomans did not live up to their word once the pressure was off.

The Arkadi Carnage where the entire Village got wiped out by the Turkish Attackers

1872 saw another rebellion. This time the European Powers guaranteed the “organic law “ (= local autonomy). The Sultan though was in no rush to implement these concession. The Christian Cretans were not happy. The next revolt broke out in 1878.

England and France often sided with the Ottoman Sultan for geopolitical reasons . The thought of Greece granting the Imperial Russian Navy naval stations and thus control of the Aegean and Libyan Sea was an anathema. They never said it publicly but it was behind their decision making. They preferred to leave crete in the hand of a weak Sultan rather than having a strong, ambitious naval competitor there.

The problem with their approach was that it replaced problem solving with procrastination. Crete was a pressure cooker – a small event sufficed to blow it up.  The unresolved tensions between the Turkish minority and the Greek majority were a fertile base. Another rebellion erupted in 1878. The great powers “resolved” it by imposing the Pact of Halepa on the Ottoman Sultan. It made Crete a semi-autonomous parliamentary state inside Turkey but with a Christian Governor.

March of the Ottoman Army on Athens in April-May 1897. The Greeks were routed

For the Cretan Liberals, this did not go far enough. New fighting started in 1889, again heavy handedly suppressed by Ottoman Authorities. The graveyard peace did not last. In 1895, unrest started again. This time, Greece sent weapons and volunteers. Within a few months, the Sultan lost control of Crete. Sensing weakness, the big-headed Greek government then launched an attack on Turkey in 1897. It was a disastrous decision. The Turkish army, reformed and modernized with German help, made short thrift of the invading Greek Army. By May 1897, the door to Athens stood wide open. Only the unveiled threat of a Russian intervention stopped the Turks from marching on defenceless Athens.

The International Squadron firing on Christian Positions near Chania in 1897

In the meantime, the Great European Powers assembled an international Squadron to block Greece from sending ships to Crete. Upon arrival, the Squadron’s Admirals occupied the island’s main towns and sent the remaining Turkish forces packing.  The already autonomous Crete State got a High Commissioner appointed by European Powers. They choose Prince George, the second son of the Greek King. George arrived in 1998. Crete was now de facto independent state. The Sultan's sovereignty just on paper. But procrastination again.

Prince George, Crete first High Commissioner

Crete remained independent to1913, the year of the first Balkan War when Turkey had to concedeits European possession. Finally, the island was allowed to unite with Greece.

Greece’s ever closer alignment with Great Britain in the First World War (1914 – 1918) removed the fear of a Russian naval base in the Aegean. The tensions with the Turkish minority on the island remained. During the Great Population exchange – the disturbing word for ethnic cleansing – the Cretan Turks were evicted. Crete is now ethnically a 100% Greek island.  There are Muslim monuments but they are just that – empty buildings. 

 The Union of Crete with Greece on 1 Dec 1913 was widely celebrated - here in Heraklion