What Independence for Greece? Abbé De Pradt’s Point of View

Abstract

In numerous writings published between 1821 and 1828, Abbé de Pradt
approached the questions concerning Greece’s future independence from two quite
different, if not completely opposite, points of view. On the one hand, he argued that
Greece could and should achieve its independence by its own efforts, without the
intervention of any foreign power, and that consequently it should also be entirely free to
choose its own institutions. But, on the other hand, he wanted to emphasise the benefit
that Europe could gain from this independence by making Greece play the role of a barrier
against the expansion of Russian power. And this strategic role implied another principle
for defining the territory and political regime of the new state. We shall see how, as the
situation evolved, this second logic prevailed over the first.