Реферат: A War Of Independence Essay Research Paper

because “he thought a conference might be inevitable, but insisted that it could not be held until

diplomatic relations between Russia and Turkey were reestablished” (Temperley, 333).

Furthermore, I think it is self-evident that while he was turning down all proposals for official

settlement, he was breaking fresh ground concerning his relations with Greece and weakening

the position of the other Powers. However, now that Canning is ready to sit at the table of

negotiations, Tsar Alexander I died (December 1st, 1825), and his successor, Nicholas I, ‘”was

much less willing than Alexander I to sacrifice the real interest of Russia to dreams of

international cooperation.” (Anderson, 63). However, Canning sent the Duke of Wellington to

congratulate the new Tsar, giving him instructions to avoid the possibility of war.

In the meantime, Str. Canning met Mavrokordatos in January 1826 and the latter expressed the

Greeks’ preference of a solution provided by the powers in concert” and not a solution coming

from the Russian side alone. (Dakin, 178). Actually, at the third National Assembly of the

Greeks one of the main issues of the agenda was to vote and give official permission to Canning

to interfere. Here I give in translation an extract from the letter addressed to Str. Canning, in

regard to the British intervention: “Your Excellency, the legal plenipotentiaries of the Greek

Nation request you to employ for it (the Nation) your favorable cooperation [...]. They give you

the power to negotiate and carry out a peace in accordance to the honor and the interests of the

Greek Nation.” (Mamoukas, 132-133). Canning having the ‘green light’ instructed Wellington to

inform the Tsar about the proposal the Greek government made in 1825 (Act of Submission).

However, Nicholas sent an ultimatum to the Porte in an effort to settle his differences with the

Turks himself, directly. He also told the stunned Duke of Wellington that he would not sent an

ambassador to Constantinople unless England would back up the Russian ultimatum. (Dakin,

179). Anyhow, in this gloomy atmosphere the protocol of 4th April 1826 was signed in St.

Petersburg. According to this protocol Greece was declared an autonomous but tributary state,

and the `Greek territory’ had to be evacuated by the Turks. However, it failed to define what

was to be included in the ‘Greek territory’ (Temperley, 355). To the same respect Isambert

writes that when Nicholas asked whether France should participate in the entente, Wellington

was negative saying that France was opposed as much as Austria to the employment of `moyens

coercifs’ in the East. (Isambert, 259-260). In this attitude we can more clearly perhaps discern