Реферат: A War Of Independence Essay Research Paper

That is how we move to the year 1825. In Greece, at that time there was civil war. Ibrahim

Pasha –employed by the Sultan as extra help– set foot onto the Peloponnese and was directing

to Nafplion and yet Mavrokordatos had imprisoned Kolokotronis, a prominent Greek general.

Luckily for the Greeks he was later freed (31 May 1825) after Koundouriotis’, a prominent

politician, persistence. Greeks were in a dreadful plight and under such precarious

circumstances human beings sometimes in their efforts to escape, fail to see some pitfalls.

Similarly, the members of the Greek government facing the danger of being swallowed by the

Sultan, signed the “Act of Submission” (July 22nd, 1825) that was addressed to England. The

Greek delegation reached London in September 1825 and met with Canning on the 29th of the

same month. The delegation asked from Canning to choose a monarch for Greece expressing at

the same time their preference for Leopold, Duke of Saxe-Comburg. Much to the disappointment

of the Greek delegates, Canning’s reaction was far from their expectations: he politely rejected

their proposal claiming that he could not abandon the neutral policy he had adopted till then, for

he would put into danger the British interests. After all, what was Canning doing: two steps

forward one step backward? Was he doing the Greeks a good turn and when they ate the bait he

was to cool their heels to have grounds to ask something in return or was he just cautious not to

attract the attention of the European powers and of Turkey putting at stake his country’s interests,

as he was claiming? Bearing these questions in mind, should we accept, that those Greeks who

had signed this particular Act of Submission — actually at that time there were two more Acts of

Submission, one addressed to Russia and another one to France — were traitors, as more or less

Kordatos characterizes them? (Kordatos, 31). I believe that Kordatos’ stance is absolute; I

definitely agree that by this Act the Greeks opened a path for Canning for more intervention but

did they have any alternative? And furthermore, as Isambert observes, had not been Canning

(exercising an unquestionably sophisticated diplomacy) who in his letter on 1 December 1824,

was encouraging the Greeks to a future British intervention? (Isambert, 185).

After the Act of Submission Canning “was ready to negotiate between Turkey and Greece

single-handed and at once. Also, he was prepared to consider cooperation with Alexander of

Russia” (Temperley, 342). Similarly, Anderson writes “By September Canning was willing to

mediate between the Porte and its Greek subjects, and to cooperate in this way with Alexander”