French Involvement in the Greek War of Independence

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Published: Jan 7, 2022
DOI: https://doi.org/10.12681/historein.25062
Keywords:
Greek War of Independence France Empire
Anna Karakatsouli
Department of Theatre Studies, University of Athens
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8979-7041
Abstract

During the wars of the eighteenth century France lost most of its colonies. By 1821 the Restoration had also negated all the gains from Napoleon’s European expansion, meaning France could hardly be considered an imperial power. After 1823, however, it actively turned its focus to the Levant in order to regain a position of power. This article argues that France displayed extraordinary resilience in world politics. It managed to make major inroads into peripheral regions, such as Greece, and achieved considerable influence in the Mediterranean and an important degree of informal power. The article traces some highly diverse French projects and projections in the Eastern Mediterranean to better integrate French interventions in revolutionary Greece into the deployment of France’s global colonial ambitions.

Article Details
  • Section
  • II. THE GREEK REVOLUTION AND THE EMPIRES
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Author Biography
Anna Karakatsouli, Department of Theatre Studies, University of Athens

Anna Karakatsouli is Associate Professor at the Theatre Studies Department of the University of Athens. She studied European History and Culture in Athens, Strasbourg and Paris. She has been an Expert Associate in the project of the new edition of the History of Humankind by UNESCO (Paris) and Vice-director at the Alexander S. Onassis Foundation (Athens). Her research interests include intellectual history, history of colonialism and history of the book.  She is member of the Administrative Committee of the National Scholarships Foundation (IKY) and member of the Committee for the State Literary Awards. Editor and translator of several scholarly books, she speaks English, French, German and Russian.

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