SEPTINSULAR REPUBLIC

The 'Septinsular Republic' (, ) was an island republic that existed from 1800 to 1807 under nominal Ottoman sovereignty in the Ionian Islands. It was the first time Greeks had been granted even limited self-government since the fall of the last remnants of the Byzantine Empire to the Ottomans in the mid-15th century.
The seven islands constituting the Republic were:

★ Kerkyra (Corfu)

★ Paxi (Paxos)

★ Lefkada (Leucada/Santa Maura)

★ Kefalonia (Cephalonia)

★ Ithaki (Ithaca)

★ Zakynthos (Zante)

★ Kythira (Cythera/Cerigo)

Contents

Background

The Septinsular Republic

Aftermath

Background

By the late 18th century, the Ionian Islands had been under Venetian authority for centuries. In the 1797 Treaty of Campo Formio however, the Venetian state was abolished, and the islands were ceded to the French Republic. The arrival of the French sparked great enthusiasm among the islands' inhabitants, and was marked by acts such as the burning of the ''Libro d'Oro'', the abolition of aristocratic privileges and the adoption of the French Constitution of 1795.
Soon however, and despite several progressive measures adopted by the French administration, the population was alienated due to heavy taxation and the undisciplined behaviour of French soldiers. This discontent was used by a joint Russo-Ottoman force under Admiral Ushakov to evict the French from the islands. In March 1799, the city of Corfu fell after a four-month siege, ending French rule.

The Septinsular Republic

In 1800, the so-called "Byzantine" Constitution was approved in Constantinople by the Sultan, establishing the Septinsular Republic as a tributary state to the Ottoman Empire. Political power was once again restricted to the aristocracy, exercised through the Senate, which led to discontent, but the Republic existed practically as a Russian protectorate. Hence, in the 1807 Treaty of Tilsit, they were again ceded by Russia to Napoleon's French Empire, and incorporated in the Illyrian provinces.

Aftermath

In 1809-1810, the British took all the islands except Corfu, where a French garrison persisted until 1814. In the Treaty of Paris (November 5, 1815), the islands were formed into the "United States of the Ionian Islands" under British protection.